Beaten by Hezbollah for a Walk in the Woods | Hezbollah's Hostages

“A Walk in the Woods,” tells the story of Ali, a young Lebanese Shi’ite, who committed a radical act with four friends: they took a walk in the woods to enjoy the beauty and peace of their own country.

Sitting in a grove listening to birds, the quiet outing of the three young men and two young women was soon interrupted by the force that really controls Lebanon: Hezbollah, the terror organization that does Iran’s bidding.

Hezbollah fighters began throwing rocks at the group, then set upon Ali with clubs, delivering a bone-shattering beating. Miraculously, the five youths managed to escape.

Later, as he recovered in his hospital bed, Ali resolved that no one should be above the law. Though loved ones warned him it was too dangerous to challenge the power of Hezbollah, he risked everything to sue his attackers.

Over the past year, the Center for Peace Communications, a New York nonprofit, interviewed Shi’ite opponents of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Sunni victims of Hezbollah in Syria, each of whom in their own way has fought back against the group’s depredations. At great personal risk, they let us record and film them bearing witness to the reality Hezbollah hides. To obscure the identity of these brave people, we have illustrated their stories with striking animation. The voices you hear, however, are theirs.

The result is Hezbollah’s Hostages, a Center for Peace Communications production which The Free Press presents exclusively to English-language audiences on successive Mondays.

© 2024 by the Center for Peace Communications. All rights reserved.