Rapper Arrested After Criticizing Leadership’s Wartime Conduct

Lebanese military intelligence arrested rapper Jaafar Touffar on Tuesday after he criticized the country’s president and prime minister over their stance towards the U.S. and Israel amid escalating Zionist violence in southern and eastern Lebanon.

Touffar, whose legal last name is Iskandar, received a phone call from military intelligence around 4 p.m. ordering him to report to the barracks within one hour, according to the Freedom of Opinion and Expression Coalition, a watchdog group comprising 14 Lebanese and international organizations. The group said the rapper was not informed of the reasons for the summons or the judicial authority behind the order, but he nevertheless complied with the request and arrived at the barracks around 5 p.m.

Touffar, originally from the northern town of Hermel, has been a prominent voice in the country’s rap scene since 2008. His music blends rap with traditional ‘ataba and other elements of Lebanese folklore, and frequently addresses political struggle and social inequality.

“What kind of state are you talking about, Mr. President?” Touffar rhymed in the video he released shortly before his arrest. “A state bending over to the Americans and sucking up to the Israelis? This is Satan’s dream of paradise.”

He also challenged the government’s policies during Israel’s ongoing aggression, adding: “Is it in the state’s interest to order its army to flee while a war rages on its borders? Or for its people to be exterminated while its prime minister behaves like a thickheaded fool?”

Following his arrest, the Freedom of Opinion and Expression Coalition issued a statement condemning the detention, arguing that Touffar’s remarks fall within the scope of constitutionally protected speech.

“The military establishment’s use of its power to pursue critics of the president constitutes an expansion of its authority to investigate civilians and a dangerous erosion of rights and freedoms,” the coalition said. The group called for Touffar’s immediate release and urged authorities to halt any measures restricting his fundamental rights.

The issue of free speech in Lebanon drew significant attention during the country’s 2019 protest movement, when activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens were subjected to interrogations, detentions, and censorship by judicial and security authorities. Many of those cases were linked to Lebanon’s defamation laws — legislation critics say is outdated and frequently used to silence dissent. Several incidents have sparked widespread debate online and renewed calls from rights groups for reforms aimed at better protecting free speech.

“It is particularly troubling, in the context of the current war, that the military prosecution and military intelligence are attempting to suppress political speech, especially when criticism of public officials falls entirely outside their jurisdiction,” Ghida Frangieh, a lawyer at Legal Agenda, told The Public Source.

Frangieh pointed to a precedent from the 2019 uprising, when protester Khaldoun Jaber was arrested and allegedly tortured by military intelligence. At the time, the military court ruled that it did not have jurisdiction over cases involving criticism of the president of the republic — a decision that Frangieh believes should have sent a clear message to halt such abuses.

Earlier this month, the military intelligence also arrested Ali Berro, a provocative social media influencer and correspondent for Al-Manar TV. Berro similarly criticized the government’s conduct during the war. In a video posted online, he lashed out at officials, calling the Cabinet a “government of dogs.” Beirut’s Appeal Public Prosecutor Raja Jamous accused him of inciting sectarian violence, insulting the president of the republic, and inciting the killing of Lebanese soldiers.

Both Touffar and Berro are still being detained at the time of writing.