Lebanese memes, posts mock Nasrallah’s call to boycott US goods in Lebanon

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is being mocked by Lebanese people online for calling for a boycott of American goods and products despite members of his organization owning American clothes and products.

Nasrallah, who has led Hezbollah since 1992 and has close ties with Iran, called for the boycott during a speech on Sunday as “part of the battle” against US President Donald Trump’s Middle East plan. In response, Lebanese people took to social media to share sarcastic memes and posts.

Sheikh Mohammed Elhajj Hasan, a Free Shia Movement cleric, shared a photo of Nasrallah’s son Jawad wearing a sweatshirt with “Timberland USA.73” written on it. Hasan wrote “before suggesting to your audience boycotting the US, please remove your son’s sweatshirt and dress him in Iranian [clothing].”

He pointed out Nasrallah’s son is the man in the center of the photo. Others shared the photo as well with similar criticism.

Dima Sadek, a Shia Lebanese journalist, shared a meme depicting cartoon character Tom from “Tom and Jerry” as a neighborhood spy speaking in a dialect from southern Lebanon, an area that is predominately Shia. He’s talking about someone named Abbas, a common Shia name. He says, “Peace be upon you Hajj, Abbas is smoking Marlboro.”

Twitter user Ma3lick’s Wrist responded to the call for boycott with several questions. “What about all the payment in US dollar? Is that halal? Why don’t they use the Iranian currency?”

Cynthia Karam, Lebanese Twitter user, sarcastically wrote in Arabic “If I see any Hezbollah member carrying an iPhone, I will complain about him to Nasrallah.”

Lebanese people have frequently responded to political situations in entertaining ways using sarcasm and jokes.

Viral videos of demonstrators singing and dancing in the streets were widely shared over the past few months. One of the most popular videos was of protesters surrounding a car with a toddler in it while they sang and danced to “Baby Shark.”

Anti-government protests have been ongoing since October last year driven by the slogan “all of them [politicians] means all of them.” Lebanese people across the country are continuing to denounce years of government corruption, and demand solutions to the country’s political and economic crisis.