Marhaba.
I live in Lebanon, Aley district. Israeli airstrike targets are at proximity of my location. Beirut, and particularly Dahieh, is completely visible from my balcony. There are also refugees sheltered in my town.
Other things to know about me: I am a leftist, and a legal and political writer.
P.S. I will answer anything (as it is with AMA posts), not only issues pertaining to the recent events.
Is there any significant segment of Lebanese society who doesn’t support the resistance?
If yes, do those who doesn’t support the resistance buy into the US/zionist ideas of the resistance being to blame for the war and do they believe that Lebanon can have good and beneficial relations to the US/zionists if they just behave?
Yes there is a significant “resistance” to the resistance. And your right in regards to blaming Hezbollah for the war. I compare the matter to a parent collectively punishing all of their children for one’s fault, and so all siblings would dislike the one at fault instead of the parent’s action. Except in reality the parent is a genocidal entity with which we had past experiences.
The opposition is not fond of zionists per se, but rather it is against any intervention in Lebanon’s affairs, be it the Unites States or Russia or any other state. This is their official stance, but one cannot be sure what their real intentions are because there is a stigma in the arab world attached to normalisation with the entity.
How influential are the opposition to resistance? Are there many of them or do they hold positions of power in society?
Basically in interested in knowing if the resistance risks being undermined by domestic friction.
They are politically influential yet not enough to undermine the resistance. Although they have a majority in parliament, it is not enough to make decisions without the consent of pro-resistance parties. This is why we still cannot elect a president, which requires 2/3 of votes. The parliament speaker is also pro-resistance and plays a role in shutting down (illegaly) any decision that doesn’t suit his party’s interests.
From a military perspective, some factions tried to challenge Hezbollah in 2008 but ate shit. Hezbollah has historically directed his arms to the domestic space as a tool of coercion, hence the claim that Hezbollah has taken the country hostage.