A Protestant mother. A Shiite son. A plea for vengeance on his killers.
But unlike many responses to political martyrdoms in Lebanese history, she yields it to God.
Last month in the Hezbollah-controlled south of Lebanon, unknown gunmen shot Lokman Slim in the head. It was a targeted assassination of a man dedicated to the hope that his small Middle Eastern nation might overcome sectarian divisions.
He was his mother’s son.
“I will not go and kill them, but ask God to avenge him,” said the grieving 80-year-old, Selma Merchak. “This comes from my faith in God as the great authority.”
Villa Slim Becomes a Cultural Tribute to a Journalist Shot Dead Dead in Lebanon Published February 23rd, 2021 - 07:05 GMT
Lokman Slim’s killing is a personal tragedy (Twitter)
Highlights
Somewhere nearby, several dogs start barking.
Villa Slim sits not far from the street sign welcoming motorists to Haret Hreik. If this municipality just south of Beirut exists in the popular imagination, it’s as a “Hezbollah stronghold.”
It’s a Saturday and Villa Slim is quiet. The garden is still adorned by flower wreaths set down during the Feb. 10 memorial marking the death of Lokman Slim, whose bullet-riddled body had been found in south Lebanon a few days before.
Lokman Slim: daring Lebanese activist, admired intellectual
By AFP - Feb 05,2021 - Last updated at Feb 05,2021
BEIRUT Lebanese intellectual Lokman Slim, found shot dead on Thursday at age 58, was an outspoken critic of the Shiite movement Hizbollah and an advocate for preserving the memory of his country s civil war.
The son of a prominent lawyer and an Egyptian mother, Slim was an activist, writer, publisher and filmmaker, as well as a leading secular voice in the Shiite Muslim community.
He advocated curbing the influence of Hizbollah, the pro-Iran and anti-Israel political party and armed group that has millions of followers in Lebanon but is labelled a terrorist group by the US, EU and other governments.
Lokman Slim. AFP
BEIRUT: A prominent Lebanese publisher and vocal critic of Hezbollah was found shot dead in his car on Thursday morning, a brazen killing that sparked fears of a return to political violence in this country gripped by social and economic upheaval.
The body of 58-year-old Lokman Slim, a long-time Shia political activist and researcher, was slumped over on the passenger seat with multiple wounds from gunshots fired at close range, security and forensic officials said.
According to AP, Slim had been missing for hours since late Wednesday and his family posted social media messages looking for him.
Lokman Slim: daring Lebanese activist, admired intellectual
Issued on: 3 min
Beirut (AFP)
Lebanese intellectual Lokman Slim, found shot dead Thursday at age 58, was an outspoken critic of the Shiite movement Hezbollah and an advocate for preserving the memory of his country s civil war.
The son of a prominent lawyer and an Egyptian mother, Slim was an activist, writer, publisher and filmmaker, and a leading secular voice in the Shiite Muslim community.
He advocated curbing the influence of Hezbollah, the pro-Iran and anti-Israel political party and armed group that has millions of followers in Lebanon but is labelled a terrorist group by the US, EU and other governments.