Photo: The Cradle
By Khalil Harb – Feb 24, 2025
A million-strong funeral in Beirut for Hezbollah’s martyred leader Hassan Nasrallah became a global declaration of defiance. It showed the backbone of resistance is not just intact – it is unbreakable.
The sight of Lebanese resistance flags fluttering near the border with the occupation state has long unsettled ‘Israelis’. But the massive funeral that unfolded in Beirut on Sunday afternoon for the martyred former Hezbollah secretary-general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would have commanded their undivided attention – and they were not the only ones watching.
Lebanese citizens, whether supporters or critics of the resistance movement, along with its allies across the Arab and Islamic worlds, the Global South, and even in western countries where some governments oppose it, witnessed an extraordinary moment.
Sunday’s rare mass gathering sent an unmistakable message: the spirit of those who resist oppression will never be broken. As the New York Times observed, the event was “a show of strength.”
The funeral reportedly drew an estimated 1.4 million attendees – nearly 25 percent of Lebanon’s population – positioning it as one of history’s most proportionally significant state funerals.
In stark contrast, Mahatma Gandhi’s funeral, while attracting around 2 million people, represented only about 0.5 percent of India’s population at the time. Similarly, Pope John Paul II’s state funeral saw roughly 4 million participants, or 7 percent of Italy’s population, while Arab nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser’s memorial gathered an estimated 3 million, also about 7 percent of Egypt’s populace.
The funerals of former Iranian supreme leader Ruhollah Khomeini and Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani drew even larger crowds in absolute terms – around 7 million each –but these numbers accounted for about 12.6 percent and 7.7 percent of Iran’s population, respectively.
A global gathering of defiance
From Brazil and Argentina to Ireland, India, and Nigeria, passing through Iran, Iraq, Turkiye, Yemen, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf states, voices rose in unison. Sunni and Shia Muslims, Druze, Christians, and Jews – people from distant lands – converged on a single spot just 120,000 square meters in size: Beirut’s Sports City Stadium. During that moment, it felt as if the world’s righteous were raising their fists against universal injustice.
The occupation state had hoped to end a resistance embodied by Hassan Nasrallah – and his cousin and heir apparent, Hashem Safieddine – when they assassinated him five months ago. But the mourners, who had long postponed their grief for this very moment, transformed the funeral into a new pledge of allegiance, an act of defiance that shattered the psychological siege imposed by its opponents and enemies. Indeed, the slogan for the event was “Ina Ala al-Ahd” (We Are In Covenant).
The attendees came from over 80 countries. Lebanese, Palestinians, and Syrians from across Lebanon arrived – many on foot, braving the bitter cold, trekking tens of kilometres, while others spent Saturday night at the stadium.
A funeral without fear
When low-flying Israeli fighter jets roared overhead just half an hour into the ceremony, no one flinched. Even when they repeated the provocation 30 minutes later, the crowd erupted into defiant chants of “Hayhat minna al-dhilla” (We will never accept humiliation) – a phrase famously attributed to Imam Hussain on the Day of Ashura, often echoed by Nasrallah throughout his decades of activism and leadership.
EXCLUSIVE | The moment Israeli warplanes flew over Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s funeral. pic.twitter.com/5lFZcsIeP7
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) February 23, 2025
WATCH | The moment Israeli warplanes flew over the funeral of late Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. The crowd can be heard screaming “at your service, O Nasrallah” and “death to Israel.” pic.twitter.com/ZcuwS1etc5
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) February 23, 2025
The contradictions in the scene were striking. A leader of global stature, carried on the shoulders of his people, as they mourned him without fear – even after one of the most brutal wars the enemy has ever waged on Palestine and Lebanon. Their sorrow was overwhelming, but their resolve was stronger.
Inside the stadium and in the surrounding streets, where hundreds of thousands had gathered – men, women, and children, many of them unable to hold back their tears – the atmosphere was charged with defiance. They raised their fists, facing down the “assassin” and all he represents as a symbol of colonialism in West Asia, chanting “Labbayka ya Nasrallah” (At your service, O Nasrallah).
More than a man, a movement
The message was clear: Hassan Nasrallah was more than a man. He was an idea, a symbol of resistance – not just because he defended Palestine and Lebanon, but because, for three decades, he stood with the oppressed, fought tyranny, and resisted Zionist and western hegemony.
This was no ordinary funeral. The million-strong gathering, despite all threats and intimidation, was not just an expression of grief but a declaration of unwavering allegiance to the path of the “martyred leader.” It was a global statement against oppression in all its forms.
Out of respect for the martyr and because of requests made by Hezbollah, not a single bullet was fired during the funeral – a traditional tribute at important Arab gatherings. That is loyalty.
One of the mourners speaking to The Cradle, Ahmed, from Kuwait explains:
“We are here because we need to be here. These people affirm that resistance is a way of life, and it will continue.”
Women and youth pushing through the tightly packed crowds, clutching pictures of the slain leader, were overcome with grief. They exchanged glances with strangers as if offering condolences for their shared sorrow, but their heads remained high. Their devotion to the resistance would endure, as pledged by Nasrallah’s successor, Secretary-General Naim Qassem, who addressed the martyred Nasrallah:
“We remain true to our oath. Rest assured, Sayyed [Nasrallah]. The leadership is here, the fighters are here, the resistance movements are here, the brave warriors are here, the people from all sects are here, and the entire nation is here.”
For hours, Beirut sent a resounding message to the free people of the world – Arabs, Muslims, and beyond – that, if only for a brief moment, it had become the “global capital of freedom.” Their true weapon was their will, and that remained unbroken. Their unity was inevitable, and it had only grown stronger.
And when heroic martyrs fall – like Kwame Nkrumah, Mahatma Gandhi, Patrice Lumumba, Thomas Sankara, Larbi Ben M’hidi, Amílcar Cabral, Che Guevara, and Mehdi Ben Barka – they do not die. They become sparks that illuminate the path for generations to follow.
This was not merely a Lebanese event. Dozens of planes had landed in Beirut the night before the funeral. Mohammed, a mourner in his 30s from Baghdad, tells The Cradle:
“By coming here, we complete ourselves. The message of resistance will continue.”
Abdullah, from Egypt, carrying his national flag, declares:
“I am here because I am free. Nasrallah represents us. Israel is a criminal entity, and anyone who resists it represents me and millions of Egyptians.”
The resistance lives on
History has witnessed many sacrifices and leaders who fought colonialism and occupation, and whose deaths shook the world. But in recent decades, no funeral of this scale – relative to the population – has taken place. Estimates suggest that over a quarter of Lebanon’s 5.4 million people participated, an unprecedented figure in the country’s history.
As Secretary-General Naim Qassem stated in his speech:
“You are an undefeated people. We will stand together, resist together, and pledge our allegiance together. The resistance’s supporters and the Lebanese people have united as one. Praise be to God, this gathering is a true expression of national unity, Arab unity, Islamic unity, and human unity around Palestine and justice.”
Mohammed Muls, a member of the Leadership Council of the Islamic Action Front in Lebanon, tells The Cradle that the massive and well-organized turnout, along with the speech of Hezbollah’s new secretary-general, demonstrated the political and military resilience of the resistance. However, he adds that the responsibility for continuing this resilience does not rest solely on the party – it must be upheld by everyone:
“We in the Islamic Action Front will stand alongside the resistance under the banner: ‘We remain true to our oath.’”
Muls, who hails from the northern city of Tripoli, adds:
“In the wake of this massive funeral, we feel an even greater responsibility towards the causes that have united us with the resistance – foremost among them, the cause of Palestine.”
“Palestine is a right, and it is our compass,” Naim Qassem continued. But the messages of loyalty and unity from Lebanon were equally significant.
“It seems there are many people who are confused about us. One moment, they analyze that we are finished, that the resistance is over. But the resistance continues, present and prepared. No one can strip us of this right. Resistance is the choice of free peoples for liberation. Resistance is written in blood, not ink. It is proven through sacrifice, undeterred by opposition. It will uproot the occupier – even if it takes time. Resistance transcends the croaking of frogs.”
These words will echo through the halls of the sprawling US embassy in Beirut, the second largest diplomatic mission in the world, and among those who, from the first day of Palestine’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, gambled on the resistance’s collapse.
“To those who claim sovereignty – wake up,” the secretary-general advised.
Khalil Harb
Khalil Harb is a Beirut-based journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Lebanese daily Al-Safir. He has also worked for the Associated Press and the Lebanese An-Nahar newspaper. Khalil is a graduate of the American University in Cairo.
