Lebanese readers are no strangers to Ibrahim al-Amin’s inflammatory style, nor to the repetitive cycle of threats and insults he pens whenever his masters feel under pressure. As the political climate tightens, al-Amin predictably shifts into high gear, flooding his publication with contemptuous rhetoric and dangerous insinuations.

It’s clear that al-Amin is skilled in little else. He has spent years mastering a style that seems crafted solely for stoking division and spreading vitriol. If there were a body to govern ethical journalism, al-Amin would likely be exiled to the farthest reaches of the earth—or, at the very least, placed under a quarantine of sorts, as a menace to both journalism and the country. 

The predictable allegiance he displays toward his sponsors, while perhaps comprehensible as self-preservation, leaves no excuse for his ongoing venom against Lebanon’s Christian communities. His frequent rants in Hezbollah’s yellow-tinted propaganda sheet, masquerading as a newspaper, demonstrate a disdain that seems more deeply entrenched with every passing day.

What’s more troubling is the persistence of veiled threats scattered throughout his diatribes. We wouldn’t have commented on al-Amin or his vile and ridiculous “theories” if they didn’t include threats from those who control him. History tells us that many attacks and assassinations in Lebanon have been preceded by public “warnings” of the kind that is found in al-Amin's columns. Lokman Slim’s murder is a recent, painful example. 

Those who have made a habit of bending to foreign interests, projecting accusations of “treason,” are now well-known for their eagerness to shift blame for the country’s plight. And yet, the trail of devastation left by endless cycles of conflict in Lebanon is clear for all to see. The so-called patriotic loyalty, which al-Amin frequently touts, only reveals itself in servitude to outside agendas.

If anyone deserves being questioned about the nation’s destruction through futile wars, it’s us asking them, not the other way around.

In his recent columns, al-Amin has been defending his masters with tales of their supposed efforts to uplift the poor and underprivileged, citing their work in providing healthcare and education outside of the corrupt State system. Yet he conveniently avoids addressing the fact that these “benefactors” are the ones that have held the reins of Lebanon’s “corrupt State” alone for years, leading us to the brink of collapse. Such selective amnesia is a hallmark of al-Amin's writing.

What al-Amin truly doesn’t want is for us to discuss the ongoing devastation, displacement, and human cost that Lebanon is enduring. To him, people are mere numbers, faceless and inconsequential.  Isn’t he the one who once said that five thousand pregnant women in Gaza would replace those who died? This is precisely the sentiment emblematic of the disregard his camp displays toward human life. To those of al-Amin’s ilk, the people are simply part of a numbers game in a wider regional struggle.

His recent attempts to depict Iran as a peaceful dove and benign player that has no influence over his masters or Lebanon are no less misguided as Iranian officials openly boast that what they call “the Resistance” is one of their main arms in the region. 

We repeat, unequivocally, that we have never feared the threats of al-Amin or his ilk, nor were we ever deterred by their history of intimidation and crime, both public and covert. We have endured through their violent tactics, standing resilient even when they were at their peak, and we will continue to confront them as their current outbursts will not shake us. We stand ready—so let them rant on!