In a March 20, 2025 column in the Lebanese daily Nida Al-Watan, Imad Mousa, known as an opponent of Hizbullah, expressed support for the American authorities' decision to deport Dr. Rasha Alawieh, a Shi'ite Lebanese kidney-transplant specialist who had been working at Brown University in Rhode Island. Alawieh was detained at the airport upon her return from a visit to Lebanon after photos and videos of slain Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah and of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were found on her phone and after it became known that she had attended the funeral of Nasrallah and his successor, Hashem Safi Al-Din. When questioned about this Alawieh said that, as a Shi'ite Muslim, she respected Nasrallah and Khamenei as religious figures but did not support them politically.
In his column Moussa notes that Hizbullah is classified as a terror organization in the U.S. and in many other countries, and that Nasrallah was "the bitterest enemy of the U.S., responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree." Criticizing the campaign of support for Alawieh across the world, which accuses the U.S. of violating human rights, Moussa asks why, if this is the case, so many people are eager to emigrate to the U.S.
White House post on the deportation of Rasha Alawieh (X.com/WhiteHouse, March 17, 2025)
The following are translated excerpts from Moussa's column.[1]
"As a child, Rasha Alawieh probably heard quite frequently about the 1983 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Beirut, and perhaps this young 34-year-old Lebanese doctor read some of the responses of the families of the American victims. [Perhaps she] read the remarks made by Ryan Crocker, one of the [bombing] survivors,[2] after Israel assassinated [Hizbullah official] Ibrahim Aqil, one of the people who were responsible for it, early in the morning [of September 20, 2024].[3] Perhaps she is aware that the U.S. designates Hizbullah as a global terrorist organization, and that Canada, Britain, Austria and dozens of other countries classify this party [Hizbullah] in a similar way. Dr. Alawieh surely knows that the U.S. sanctions on institutions affiliated with this party and its leaders also apply to Nasrallah's son Jawad, who cried out 'death to America' at the funeral of Hizbullah's two secretary generals, along with tens of thousands of other [mourners].
"This was therefore the funeral of America's bitterest enemy, 'responsible for killing hundreds of Americans over a four-decade terror spree,' as the White House statement put it. So Dr. Alawieh's self-confessed veneration or deification of this great slain [leader], her support for him 'from a religious perspective' and her description of him as 'a big figure in our community,'[4] are statements that cannot be accepted at Logan International Airport [in Boston] or by the investigators.
"As for the pictures of [Iranian Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei that were erased from her phone but retrieved by technological means, they are [apparently] part of this doctor's veneration of the Mahdi[5] as a charismatic figure that influenced the development of humanity and is not much different from Martin Luther King.
"This is enough evidence to [justify] deporting Rasha despite the federal judge's decision to delay her deportation. She eventually returned to her homeland [Lebanon], the land of freedom and accepting others like Luqman Salim.[6] In a [post] captioned 'Bye-Bye, Rasha' on Elon Musk's platform [i.e., on X], the White House shared the Homeland Security Department's statement explaining the reason for her deportation. Even before the plane landed [back in Lebanon], social media erupted with responses expressing glee [over her deportation], alongside campaigns of solidarity with this lady from Maroun Al-Ras [in South Lebanon] which condemned America's oppressive ways, its double standards, its false democracy, its immorality and its lack of respect for human rights. This gives rise to the obvious question: of the world's 206 countries, why is the evil U.S. considered such an attractive destination by the people of the world and by anyone seeking education, freedom and asylum? Why do the people of the world pass up the Chinese passport, for example?
"Will the brilliant nephrologist find a place that befits her talents, a country that respects freedoms and understands the tenets of her faith, which have nothing to do with politics? Will Tehran be an alternative for Rhode Island?"
[1] Nida Al-Watan (Lebanon), March 20, 2025.
[2] Crocker was a political attache at the embassy at the time of the blast. Seven years later, in 1990, he was appointed U.S. ambassador to Lebanon.
[3] Crocker welcomed Aqil's assassination. See e.g. Washingtonpost.com, September 21, 2024.
[4] Alawieh actually said this about Khamenei, not about Nasrallah.
[5] In Twelver Shi'ism, the Mahdi, or Hidden Imam, is believed to be a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad who lives in a state of occultation but will emerge at the End of Days to deliver the world from injustice. The Iranian regime cultivates the belief that the Supreme Leader mediates between the Mahdi and the people and serves as the Mahdi's deputy until his appearance.
[6]Luqman Salim was a Shi'ite Lebanese journalist known as an opponent of Hizbullah. On February 4, 2021 he was shot to death in South Lebanon, a Hizbullah stronghold. Voices in Lebanon accused Hizbullah of assassinating him as part of its efforts to intimidate its opponents, including Shi'ite ones.
