Couple Defy Destruction with Symbolic Wedding at Ruwais Bomb Site
In a show of defiance, a young man and a young woman on Sunday held a symbolic wedding ceremony in the bomb-hit neighborhood of Ruwais, which witnessed Thursday a devastative bombing that left 27 people dead and around 300 wounded.
The couple's wedding had been previously scheduled for Sunday, but they refused to change it in the wake of the deadly blast.
“Our joyful and mournful ceremonies are held in commemoration of the martyrs,” the groom, Ali Alaeddine, told reporters during a live broadcast of the event.
“We offer our homes and souls to the resistance,” Alaeddine said, referring to Hizbullah, before he started chanting slogans in support of the group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
For her part, the bride, Fatima Ajroush, said: “We tell the world that we do not fear anyone.”
The young couple – who arrived on the scene in a yellow convertible sports car -- then headed to the bomb site and laid a wreath of flowers.
The symbolic wedding soon turned into a popular demonstration, as residents of the area converged on the site and started chanting in support of Hizbullah and its leader.
The casualty toll is the highest in Lebanon since a massive car bomb attack on the Beirut seafront killed former prime minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in February 2005.
Hizbullah is a key supporter of President Bashar Assad and has sent fighters across the border to Syria this year to bolster government forces, which have been battling a deadly anti-regime revolt since March 2011.
A defiant Nasrallah said on Friday he himself was ready to go and fight in Syria against radical Islamists, whom he accused of being responsible for the car bombing.
On Saturday, the Syrian opposition National Coalition warned against a "cycle of violence" in Lebanon if Hizbullah continues to send fighters to help the Damascus regime.
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