BEIRUT: A Lebanese employee was fired from her job with immediate effect after her reply to a post by the Israeli military’s spokesman on X triggered a social media uproar.
Shortly after the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee posted on X evacuation orders for residents of southern villages on Thursday, Lebanese citizen Sarah Shayah replied, saying: “Baalbek when?”
Without any clear indication as to what she meant by her reply, many social media users lashed out at Shayah, accusing her of communicating with Israelis and calling for her prosecution.
Others saw her reply as a joke or a simple error that should not have been taken so seriously.
Screenshot taken from social media shows Lebanese citizen Sarah Shayah’s reply to IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee’s post on X on Thursday. (Social Media)
According to Lebanese media, Shayah was an employee at the non-profit Lebanese Organization for Studies and Training.
LOST’s President Dr. Rami Al-Lakkis was quoted as telling Annahar newspaper that Shayah was immediately dismissed from her job. Citing a breach of the organization’s established procedures and regulations, Al-Lakkis emphasized that her actions constituted a violation of Lebanese laws, as they are considered communication with the enemy.
A lawyer specialized in criminal law told Arab News on Friday that interacting via social media with any Israeli is “against the Lebanese penal code.”
The lawyer, who requested anonymity, said: “A person who replies, retweets, or interacts with any social media account of any Israeli national is considered a form of communication with the enemy. If found guilty, a suspect could face no less than one year in jail.”
No confirmation could be obtained as to whether any legal action had been initiated against Shayah by the time this article was published.
