Dimi Reider | dimireider.substack.com

An Israeli airstrike struck an apartment building in central Beirut, on Wednesday. The Israeli army had warned residents to evacuate about an hour before completely flattening it as day broke.

Too many are too polite to say this. But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan - which declares there is no god but allah and Muhammad is his messenger - is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish. But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions. And given their explicit repudiation of Christianity they certainly do not belong in our churches and cathedrals. I am not suggesting everybody at Trafalgar Square last night is an Islamist. But the domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook. Trafalgar Square belongs to all of us. It is a national memorial to our independence and our salvation. Last night was not like a televised football match or a St Patrick’s Day celebration. It was an act of domination and therefore division. It shouldn’t happen again.

Too many are too polite to say this. But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan - which declares there is no god but allah and Muhammad is his messenger - is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish. But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions. And given their explicit repudiation of Christianity they certainly do not belong in our churches and cathedrals. I am not suggesting everybody at Trafalgar Square last night is an Islamist. But the domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook. Trafalgar Square belongs to all of us. It is a national memorial to our independence and our salvation. Last night was not like a televised football match or a St Patrick’s Day celebration. It was an act of domination and therefore division. It shouldn’t happen again.

‼️Senior journalist Mohammad Shari, Director of Political Programming at Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV, was killed along with his wife in an Israeli airstrike on the Zoqaq al-Blat area of central Beirut. Several of his children were injured in the attack & have been hospitalized. This was not a random or incidental strike. The attack targeted his home & specific apartments within the building, resulting in his death & the wounding of family members. He was a prominent figure in Al-Manar, a key media outlet closely tied to Hezbollah, where he oversaw political programming. His role made him a visible & influential voice within the network. The strike raises serious questions about whether Hezbollah-affiliated media personnel & journalists are now being deliberately targeted as part of broader operations in Beirut. This comes amid a pattern of intensified strikes on central residential areas, including the recent large-scale building collapse in Bachoura. Shari & his wife were among those killed in the strikes across Zoqaq al-Blat, Basta, & related areas, where Lebanese authorities reported at least 12 killed & 41 injured overall. If media figures like Shari are being singled out in their homes, it points to a deliberate strategy against Hezbollah's information & media apparatus. This could be seen as an escalation in efforts to disrupt the group's narrative & morale during the ongoing conflict. The targeting of journalists - even those affiliated with what some regard as “belligerent” groups - raises concerns under international humanitarian law regarding the protection of media workers in conflict zones