First posted on Instagram
The United States has ordered Lebanon’s consul general in Detroit, Ibrahim Charara, to leave the country, declaring him persona non grata over social media posts attributed to him that praised the October 23, 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, an attack that killed 241 American service members.
The State Department formally notified Lebanon’s embassy in Washington of the decision on Saturday, November 7, the embassy told the Beirut daily Annahar. Lebanese Foreign Ministry sources told the Beirut daily Asharq Al-Awsat that Charara was given 48 hours to leave the country and was expected to fly back to Lebanon on Sunday, November 8.
The posts at the center of the expulsion date to 2021, when Charara was serving as a diplomat in Egypt, before his posting to Detroit. They were surfaced this week by the Washington Free Beacon, in a report by Chuck Ross published November 2. In a post dated November 23, 2021, Charara wrote that the “heroic resistance” had ended the American military occupation of Lebanon with a single strike. A second post from 2021 praised a drone attack on American soldiers at the Al Tanf base in Syria, writing: “From the Marines barracks in Beirut to the Al Tanf base, we will reject the occupier and defeat him.”
The Free Beacon’s report also noted that Charara had attended an Arab American community event in Dearborn, Michigan, in late October supporting Abdul El-Sayed, who was elected to the U.S. Senate from Michigan in last week’s midterm elections.
Whether Charara wrote the posts himself is disputed. A source close to the diplomat told the Lebanese broadcaster LBCI that the posts came from an old social media account that was hacked several years ago, a claim that has not been verified. It did not stop the expulsion: under diplomatic law, a host country may declare a diplomat persona non grata at any time and without giving reasons.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed the decision to Sky News Arabia, saying Washington continues to review the vetting and information of members of foreign missions in the United States to address any concerns affecting national security, and reaffirmed that the United States will not allow anyone who justifies or celebrates terrorist attacks on Americans. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has made clear that a visa is a privilege, not a right.
On October 23, 1983, two truck bombs struck buildings in Beirut housing American and French troops serving in the Multinational Force in Lebanon, killing 241 American service members, 58 French soldiers and six Lebanese civilians. Washington blames Hezbollah, which it designates a terrorist organization; the group has never claimed or denied responsibility for the attack.