Welcome back to Hezbollah’s Hostages, the weekly animated video series in which brave opponents of the terror group challenge its tyranny by speaking out. The last three episodes exposed Hezbollah’s brutal occupation of Syria—by airing testimony from one of its former fighters, and Syrian victims of its trades in sex slaves and drugs.
In today’s video we hear the voice of Hussein, a young Shi’ite in Lebanon whose education was dominated by Hezbollah’s propaganda machinery. He was taught to hate Israel and to see its people as “zombies. . . spreading and growing, who aim to conquer the entire Arab region from the Nile to the Euphrates.”
Then, as a college student, Hussein participated in exchange programs in the West. There he met Israeli students, and the deep friendships he formed with them changed his understanding of the world. When he returned to Lebanon, he began advocating—at great risk—among his fellow Shi’ites for peace with Israel.
Hussein is not alone in his convictions. Lebanese of all sects fault Hezbollah for dragging the country into ruinous wars, and yearn to reclaim their country’s historical role as the “Switzerland of the Middle East”—a cosmopolitan capital, open to all its neighbors.
But when an activist like Hussein, who strives to advance these views, actually starts to gain traction, Hezbollah does not hesitate to strike.
After the events Hussein describes in today’s episode, he and a friend were talking outside the friend’s Beirut home when a Hezbollah operative threw an explosive device at the two men. Cars were damaged, and Hussein and his friend escaped unharmed. But Hussein knew that if he didn’t flee the country, there would be another attempt. Likely soon.
Hussein is now a political refugee in Canada, which gives him the freedom to emerge from the animated landscape of this series. His full name is Hussein El Hajj Hassan—and later this week, The Free Press will release a new video in which he shares his views about the present war, the lessons of October 7, and prospects for Israeli-Lebanese peace.
Today, watch him tell his story—produced by our partners at The Center for Peace Communications.
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