A Lebanese Citizen’s Message
to Rep. Rashida Tlaib:
You Do Not Speak for Us.
Commenting on Rep. Erik Sperling’s post about Rashida Tlaib’s statements on Lebanon, journalist and political writer Elissa El Hachem — a Lebanese citizen — issues a direct, unambiguous message: Lebanon’s future belongs to the Lebanese people. Not to any foreign congressman. Not to any proxy. Not to anyone else.
Commenting on a post by U.S. Congressman Rep. Erik Sperling (@ErikSperling) regarding statements made by Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Lebanon, Lebanese journalist and political writer Elissa El Hachem published a direct open letter — speaking plainly as a Lebanese citizen who has witnessed her country used as a political platform by foreign voices that claim an authority they were never given.
I am a Lebanese citizen, and I have a message for you.
You are a Palestinian-American member of Congress representing the people of Michigan. You have enough on your plate. And if you want to spend extra time on issues not related to your constituents or the United States, keep it on Gaza or Mahmoud Abbas.
How dare you address our elected government and president by accusing them of abandoning their land and their people and becoming subcontractors for the “Israeli occupation?”
Lebanon doesn’t need your opinion. What is your affiliation with my country? Who authorized you to speak for the Lebanese people? What do you know about our history, our society, or the reality we have endured?
Your statement would be more applicable to the Islamic Republic of Iran or the IRGC. Replace “Israel” with “Iran,” and it would be much closer to reality.
But since you’re offering Lebanon lessons on its future, here’s one from history:
Israel signed peace treaties with Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994. The Abraham Accords later normalized relations with the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco. Whatever people think of those agreements, they show that diplomacy and normalization do not have to mean war.
Lebanon’s prime minister is an international judge, and our president is the former commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. They were chosen to serve Lebanon’s interests — not yours.
You are free to express your opinion. But you do not speak for Lebanon, and you do not get to dictate our country’s future.
Thank you, my friend @realazadeh.
Former Regional Media Advisor, U.S. State Department Arabic Regional Media Hub
“Your statement would be more applicable to the Islamic Republic of Iran or the IRGC. Replace ‘Israel’ with ‘Iran,’ and it would be much closer to reality.” — Elissa El Hachem, Lebanese Citizen · Faith & Freedom News
El Hachem’s reference to regional peace agreements is pointed and deliberate. Her message situates Lebanon’s current diplomatic path within a broader, decades-long arc of Arab-Israeli normalization — one in which Arab states have consistently acted in their own national interests, regardless of outside pressure or political opinion:
- 1979 — Egypt & Israel: The Camp David Peace Treaty — signed despite enormous political pressure and Arab isolation of Egypt at the time.
- 1994 — Jordan & Israel: The Wadi Araba Treaty — Jordan pursued its own national interest, defining its relationship with a neighbor on its own terms.
- 2020 — Abraham Accords: The UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco normalized relations with Israel — demonstrating that sovereignty means making your own strategic choices.
- 2026 — Lebanon: An elected president and an internationally recognized judge as prime minister are pursuing Lebanon’s future. That is their mandate. Not anyone else’s to override.
El Hachem’s letter underscores a point that tends to be lost in foreign political commentary: Lebanon’s leadership was chosen through legitimate institutional processes, not imposed by any outside actor. The president is the former commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces — a figure whose career was defined by defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The prime minister is an international judge with a record of applying international law impartially and credibly.
These are not subcontractors. These are the legitimate representatives of the Lebanese republic. And the Lebanese people — not foreign congressmembers, not regional proxies, not any external political movement — are the only ones authorized to evaluate, support, or criticize their decisions.
“Lebanon’s prime minister is an international judge, and our president is the former commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. They were chosen to serve Lebanon’s interests — not yours.” — Elissa El Hachem
What El Hachem is challenging is not merely one congressmember’s statement. It is a broader pattern: the habit of treating Lebanon as a cause to be championed, a chess piece to be positioned, or a platform for political messaging — by people who bear none of the consequences of the choices being debated.
Lebanon has paid, in blood and ruin, for being the arena where other people fight their wars, champion their causes, and project their politics. The Lebanese people have a right — hard-won and non-negotiable — to decide their own future without having it narrated back to them by those who have never lived it.
Lebanon doesn’t need your opinion.
That decision belongs to the Lebanese people alone.
How dare you address our elected government and president by accusing them of abandoning their land and their people?
That decision belongs to the Lebanese people alone. Thank you my friend @realazadeh.
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