#JusticeForYves: When Lebanon Is A Jungle, Not A Country

Yves Nawfal was celebrating his 26th birthday at a pub called Powder in Faraya on Friday when he got in an altercation with a guy named Charbel Khalil and his friends over a girl. Normally, as is expected in such a familiar setting at a pub, the fight was supposed to be broken up by the pub’s owner – which he thought he did – and everyone goes home with a bunch of stories about their testosterone-high adventures to tell their friends.

Except that wasn’t the case and Yves Nawfal, who had texted his mother that same evening saying “je suis comblé maman, je t’aime,” is not okay and is dead, because he was unfortunate enough to live where the concepts of justice and accountability are foreign.

What happened was the following:

Charbel Georges Khalil, from the nearby village of Hrajel, who knows his way well in such scenarios, was not satisfied with the resolution the bar owner enforced. Instead, he got his men: Charbel Moussa Khalil and Juliano Saadeh to block the road for Yves and his friends. Soon enough, the road got opened through both groups’ connections, and they went on their way.

Instead of stopping at that level of intimidation, however, Khalil decided to ambush Yves and his friends as they left. He held out his semi-automatic gun and, along with his accomplices, fired at Yves’ convoy of two cars 17 times. Yves and his friends were unarmed. He hit Yves with 4 bullets, severely injuring him, and also injured Yves’ companion Saba Nader, whose father owns Bankers Insurance.

That same evening, calls on social media were up in flames to provide 12 units of O+ blood for Yves Nawfal, for an urgent operation in an attempt to stabilize him and possibly save his life. In medical terms, Yves would have been for anesthesiologists and physicians a class 6 patient whose surgical intervention was the only hope for him to live. Yves did not make it.

His killer, Charbel Khalil, is now nowhere to be found. He has sought refuge with one of Keserwan’s very influential figures, whose name is unknown yet, and who is keeping Mr. Khalil away from the cops that are actively searching for him. Clearly, the only way Charbel Khalil is to be found is by the politician hiding him to give him up.

The following are two pictures of Khalil, whose face is circled in red in one of them, posing with a gun next to some church because that’s how someone like him goes about his days:

 

 

And the following is a video of the assault via LBC:

We live in a jungle where rule of law does not exist, where you can do whatever you want – even kill – and still get away with it through the help of the many Lebanese that are always above the law, on whom there’s no accountability, who never face the consequences of their actions.

Charbel Khalil, who’s only 27, already did a similar thing to another victim last year and was not arrested for it. He was not thrown in jail, in which case Yves would have still been alive and his mother wouldn’t be grieving now, and social media wouldn’t be seething over such a heinous crime taking place just because the murderer is so influential he could get away with murder.

What happened after last year’s assault was probably also something similar to what took place this time: political intervention, silencing of the victim, media blackout, everyone goes about their days normally.

But not this time. How do you get away with murder in Lebanon? You need connections. How else would someone with a criminal past of assault like Khalil still be around to drink at pubs and get into altercations and kill?

The problem here isn’t just Khalil. It’s that there are those Lebanese that are above the law who can get you away with murder, hide you from justice until people forget.

But there comes a time when your face is plastered across every social media platform, news service, and blog that your connections should fail you, they should give you up, and you should face justice for the young life you took, whose entire future you took and whose family you just bereaved.

16 years ago, my family went through something similar. It was also in the news. My uncle was shot by a lunatic in our hometown. We were bereaved. I remember my grandmother weeping, my mother wailing, his children oblivious. The only solace we got back then wasn’t the many people that came to the funeral, the many who wished mercy on his soul and the support the family got. No, it was that my uncle’s killer – also influential, also well connected and also a psychopath – faced his own justice too.

Yves’ family, friends, and loved ones not only need but demand justice. Charbel Khalil has to be given up. The Keserwani influential person protecting him cannot hide him anymore, and shouldn’t be allowed to hide any killers and criminals from justice. It’s high time Mr. Khalil faces retribution for what he did.

Rest in peace Yves. I didn’t know you, but your loved ones have made sure everyone knows that you were very loved.

78 thoughts on “#JusticeForYves: When Lebanon Is A Jungle, Not A Country

  1. I agree that the real problem is not Khalil, it’s actually the politicians who are obstructing justice, so why not name him? How come you named everyone involved except the only person who needs to be brought out and held accountable publicly? Perhaps you also didn’t know? Then we need to urge the sources to give him up!

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  2. The media did cover this, yes, but what pisses me off the most is how they cover it.

    I keep hearing about “sa7eb noufouz keserwani”. Well Lebanese media, if you want to mention him 1) be sure it is this “sa7eb noufouz” who is hiding him 2) for the love of God, name him!

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  3. What a lovely story. I am not sure if one should be ashamed since he was born in that country or he should be ashamed of those politicians whose destroying the world.

    We have lived in a country that is full of emotions and hatred but never thought of abuying the laws which would have left us out of all such a misery.

    No matter what happened or what the guy who dies said to the other criminal, he should not even stop his car from the beginning.

    I guess that this is a social, political and a humanitarian corruption that have lead to that and no one blame those kids, one should blame his family who tought him them that such a thing is legal and it shows how strong you are.
    One would also blame the government whose all citizens are in comma among them my family who still lives there.

    I have always heard:” this is it and nothing will change”. Thats because you were all stealing and living the life and no one of you thought about the future of that country instead you were all busy thinking from the below part of your body cz thats how we all think.

    No more words can explain how each liberal democratic person would thinka about what is going on.

    Keep sayimg that this was the goverent fault where it was really your misery and lack of ambition as well as belief in that coutry that placed us in this country.

    Instead of spending daddys money at all these shitties places and in the end they show on tv that lebanon has thr best clubs, which really no one cRes about anymore, try to find some jobs for all these leavnese people whose looking forward to learn and enlighten other peoples world.

    Thats why we will always stay behind as the mentality had been gone so wrong that you cannot talk to anyone about your plans.

    Lastly, i want to mention that one should be aware of that media back home as they are all lacking the truth.
    They got the ok from an outside party to spread the virus of ms pornhub as they all ate some money to do so. You can check all their websites on that day and you will know what i am saying.
    Most of us who lives outside knows whats wrong and we always mention it. And to whom whose answer is ” why sont u come back, you are just throwing words” i would say: i have lived in that country but not to a point where i can stay malfucntioned due to all these reasons we have mentioned. At least i am hurt that i live far away from my family but i am doing something good as i am keeping my daddys money for his social security as many of you are spening it.

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  4. So Farid AL Khazen condemned the thing. I guess FB is Fares Bouez : is he saying anything? I was also told that it was Brahim Kanaan. My proposal is to ask all these potentially highly Inn highly people if they are, yes or no, protecting this Charbel Khalil guy.

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  5. We have to keep sharing posts like this and as you said “plaster” that thug’s face everywhere we can so he has nowhere to hide.

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  6. a similar accident happened in zahle on christmas night, except this time the guy was hit by mistake by his own friends in the brawl, in typical shiite fashion they accused the others of the shooting, also before that shiite bandits entered a home on the outskirts of deir el ahmar while hiding from the police shot and killed the two home owners and fled, like it or not kesserwen and other cazas like kesserwen is one the few left where there is the minimum of state and law, here you have to go in hiding when you commit a crime over there you dont…just sayin, think abou it

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    • Typical imbecilic lebanonese reply to anything: “you sinki it’z bad in kissirwan? go see za chi3a zey kill and zey eat your brainz and zey urinate on your corpse typical shi3a fachan sinki abaout it”. Ok, imbecile. We thought about it, and now we feel sorry for Charbel Khalil: let’s apologize to him.

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      • And coincidentaly just this morning a guy from the 7amye clan got into a brawl in kaslik shot randomly outside the club injured and killed a 20 year old girl , like it or not tony what i said is true, being neutral dooesnt mean turning your back on the truth

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    • You’re joking right? It’s true that some places in Lebanon aren’t as lawless as others but please do not include Keserwan in the law-abiding category.
      Once you go above Zouk Mikayel that “caza” you speak of becomes as tribal as Baalbeck only they bend over and pray on Sundays instead of Fridays.
      And stick to a language you can actually master.

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        • True. Also Keserwan sucks balls. They were basically the reason why Fouad Chehab stepped down in 1964 and didn’t seek a second term, they were barking at him left and right.
          Not that I’m a chehabist or a proponent of second terms (I prefer the historical mistake of independence to never have been conceived in the first place) but at least we wouldn’t have ended up with a lame duck president like Charles Helou (despite the fact he was a decent dude), ergo the PLO would’ve been nipped in the bud.
          And that was one hell of a tangent, I apologize for digressing.

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      • you must be from baalbeck or something , why so mad? you are comparing zouk mikayel now to britel or something? there is no room for comparison here, and please care to point out the law abiding cazas, and trust i am a bnetter english speaker than you are

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  7. I will put all politicians under the accountability act and if this story teaches anything its that we should not follow any politicians anymore, They should all be accountable because whomever is hiding this murderer cannot hide him without the help and silence of others in the government if he wants to hide him he cannot do it forever so the accomplices are many. we as parents should go make a stand infront of the parliament and fire every politician if this murderer is not apprehended and hanged for all i care if this is not his first time he will do it again and again. mothers and fathers should not be put in this position ever again, because a murderer knows someone in governement.

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  8. No justice without a Death Penalty. so even if they find the killer and put him in jail… would this be enough, is this a justice….

    Personally, I prefer the jungle more than living in such a country were we kill each other for a stupid reason. Animals kill to eat and protect themselves but not for religion, color, race, gender….

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  9. It’s Farid Haykal El Khazen who is hiding him. And now what will people do about it? You guys live in Lebanon, not Switzerland, and the smallest “leader” has the blood of thousands on his hands, and they all roam free. So yes, ma wa22afit 3ala Yves. Allah ysabber emmo w 3aylto.

    It would be more useful by the way to publish a close-up picture of Charbel Khalil and his accomplices so that people can recognize them, and maybe even call the cops.

    And finally, to the person who commented about the incident with the shiites, what’s the point that you’re trying to make? That christian criminals should be forgiven because shiite criminals are not better? If you want to build a country, your only hope is that the police acts on crimes regardless of the perpetrator. My recipe for tolerance is simple: I just sprinkle common sense on everything.

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  10. Pingback: #JusticeForYves : No more guns in criminal hands. | Thoughts of the Young Arab Adult

  11. Hey all
    in this case you can only blame the media and the police ” moukhabarat ” you should know something there is nothing such as they don’t wont to give the political name if the police want the killer to be found they can bring him in less than two hours but welcome to Lebanon. relying on the past experience in this country no matter how pressure you made or you interfere i doubt that your gonna reach to a conclusion the killer will not be found i can assure you. May the soul of Yves rest in peace and god help his family.

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  12. Doesn’t Charbel have a family? Interrogate them. Get search warrants for their homes and properties. Tap their phones. Observe their travelling routes. The same goes for his accomplices. Surely someone must be an initial lead. Don’t wait for the police to do this. Investigative journalists are very often the ones who pick up on leads like these because they can’t be controlled by political figures. Clowns like this Charbel guy are and all those who associate with them are the future law obstructionists. The same way whoever is hiding him is keeping Yves’ family from getting their deserved closure, if this douchebag isn’t caught, others will not feel threatened to do the same.

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    • If he killed people just for having a bar fight, one assumes that’s a behavior he didn’t exactly invent. I daresay this isn’t a case for investigative journalism as much as it is for law enforcement.

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  13. Is this report an authenticated version, how formal it is ? I do not mean to be against or taking side, I suggest that we wait and see what the formal Lebanese security report would say.
    The case in hands of media and public while the formal authorities have not issued their report yet.

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  14. There are two ways to achieve justice: 1) The state captures and prosecutes this man, 2) the family waits patiently for him to relax, hires a professional, has him killed. I would give option (1) two weeks and then instigate option (2)

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  15. لك ايييه رجّال يا شربل !! و الله بس بدّك واحد يعلّقك بسيّارتو و يشحطك وراه من فاريّا وصولا لحراجيل لعند امك.قال اشكال عشان بنت, بس بشك تطّلع بنت بواحد جحش عشكالتك. تفه على هيك تربية شو صارت متفشّية بهل البلد. الله يرحمك و يصبّر أهلك.

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  16. Unfortunately this is why Lebanon remains the country it is. Because of the machismo and stupidity of some Lebanese men, the rest of the country has to suffer. I hope justice prevails in this case and that all are prosecuted, including the person two hiding this guy. As long the people remain tribal, Lebanon will always remain a third world country.

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  17. I have been reading with some interest the comments left on this page, and I would like to end the day sharing two ideas here:

    1 – the funny one is that, thanks god, we are lucky not to have shiites bandits from kesrwan tribes!
    2 – the ugly one is that I am not sure there is that much difference between this Charbel and people here asking for him to be hanged, killed, towed, or whatever other torture one can imagine. I am sincerely convinced that this guy acted like this because he was listening to speeches based on violence, disrespect for others, and lack of contempt for the law. Which are exactly the kind of speeches some of you guys are having. And which are exactly the kind of speeches your children are listening to on a daily basis …

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    • Bravo! A plea for rule of law is a plea for justice and due process, both of which are antithetical to mob rule and mentality.

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  18. OF COURSE THIS CAN HAPPEN IN LEBANON. What do everyone expect? live in peace? love? enlightenment? When there is no proper spiritual education, when only outdated religions rule and seperate people, when EGO has taken over all people’s souls, when hatred, competition & jealousy are taught in families and schools, when every citizen enables others by letting go, forgiving, tolerating, by NOT reporting to the authority reckless behaviours, danger, risks.. when people can have ZERO driving education, ZERO awereness, ZERO counsciousnss.. without mentioning the arrogance of being the best, Jupiter’s leg ! Well, It is hard to say it; it is the people; the enabelers, the passive, the lebanese citizens who keep complaining and stay home without doing anything. They are scared and weak and are not ready to challenge a government, a militia or, even worst, the reality. Keep on hiding behind your fingers and sadly tragedies are all you will get. I know this hurts reading it and it hurts even more saying it. But this is the TRUTH.
    The people of the country must build a constitution in order to build a proper country. Be builders rather than just tenants; and then you will have the strength of keeping things in order since you are in control of the roots and such event could have been prevented by a strong national security.
    May Yve’s soul rest in peace and leave a legacy of a turning point which will lead to a turning face of the country.
    Namasté

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  19. Always sad to read such stories. I urge you all to stop stating lebanon “as a jungle, “felteneh”, “ma fi dawleh”, etc… Instead we should be focusing on clearly stating the perpetrators behind this incident, bring shame to the politician who protected him, do not elect him, bash him in public, stand behind the law and justice will prevail.
    Yves, May he rest in peace, could be the sparkle that could set new laws in this country.

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  20. first charbel khalil was not the shooter cos he was not at the place when yves got shot
    second he decided to take responsibility of what happend instead his friends who came to help him after his jaw was broken cos he tried to stop the guys from harrasing his friend the girl
    third the guys yves and friends called for backup and and for guns
    fourth the shooting happened when the car was going at least 70km/hour and so it was not cold blooded as shown by the media and lot of shots were directed to the weels
    and last and the most important is that charbel is ready at any second to present himself to the police as soon as his family and him make sure that the justice will be just not like all the media in Lebanon that are so controlled and so manipulative
    and i pray God to have mercy on Yves but i say justice for justice not justice for Yves

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    • Gjjjfff, we have located you using your IP address. Since you are so keen on protecting your friend Charbel we will unfortunately have to bring you in for investigation. As for your friend and his gang, justice will be made soon. And it won’t be pretty.

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  21. no meed for i p number i can give u my phone number and am not hiding
    i was not there and i heard the story first like everybody and i said he is so stupid and more to do that but later i met lot of guys who were there and i was shocked that the story in the media is 80% different than reality and u will see that in the court i am not protecting anyone and charbel is not my friend bas what i wrote is 100% ba3den who are u to call for investigations … i say the kiĺlers shuld be in jail and i don’t like to be living in a jungle but justice should be always be for justice

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  22. Who is the disgusting position that is hiding this criminal. Everyone should know the dirty politician who hides criminal . Is ja3ja3 or 3won ?

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  23. DUDE GET SOMEOEN TO EDIT YOUR ENGLISH. WTF DOES THIS MEAN “Yves would have been for anesthesiologists and physicians a class 6 patient whose surgical intervention was the only hope for him to live…”

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    • This is medical jargon for how critical Yves was. The sentence is perfectly clear. Just because you did not get it, it doesn’t mean i need to get “SOMEONE* TO EDIT [MY] ENGLISH.”

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  24. Lebanon has hung people in the past, I remember it vaguely when two guys breaking and entering got the death penalty for it, even-though only one of the guys was responsible for the death of the homeowner. As a response, the government condemned the incident and hung both of them (in Tabarja) to scare the public/people of Lebanon. – (don’t quote me on this, as I remember it vaguely and the event was in the late 90’s)

    Here we have a repeated offender / habitual criminal where the country fails to abide the laws that it imposes on all others. If the country cannot put a stop to it, and the politicians are cowards and do no serve the people then how and why should the people act in a respectable way?

    A country is only a reflection of its Leader.

    All I am trying to say is that the country is run by criminals and people act like them because they are protected by those criminals. I would love to see the hoarder of criminals (here I am referring to the active/inactive politician who is protecting him) hand him over to the public/government and show respect towards the country you are serving and not to some criminal of the streets that makes the rules, but should have been taught better by his family and the surrounding he grew up in!

    How can you compare a broken jaw in comparison to closing the street, shooting at a convoy and killing a person? With a working legal system and law abiding citizens we wouldn’t have people carrying guns and shooting around like some wild wild west cowboy.

    To those of you who argue, broken jaw therefore I shall call on my hommies and have people shoot at a car does not make it any less violent. Once again, the guy could have beaten him, but have someone or yourself shoot at a person does not make it any better. All of the people involved, should be taking accountability for the of their actions.

    From:
    – calling people to close a street… (which wouldn’t happen anywhere in a civilized place
    – to carrying guns
    – to destroy other peoples property (ie. the car or even the tired)
    – to shooting at an individual

    shows the lack of respect this crowd has.

    To all the others, I agree with freedom of speech, however going back and forth and bringing religion into it is unnecessary, and will only add more oil onto a flame resulting in more conflicts and more hate! People in a country with no structure/organization/respect will be constantly angry. Change your perception, and educate your family if you choose to have one.

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  25. wlak tfou 3a heik 3amel w heik terbeye, w ya 3eib l ychoum 3a heik chab, w hal mou7it ly mchaja3o eno ye2tol w ye7mol sle7 w meftekher fy. mfaker 7elo zalame byet3ada 3a 3alam ma ma3a sle7 w kermel chou ??? mich 7erzen 7ata l khilef ly sar eno yes7ab fy sle7o. yrou7 yendab houwe w 3ayelto welle by ched 3a mchado, w kalem yousal

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  26. w yalle 3am by defe3 3anno, charef chouf l footage taba3 l camera w ma tredele by charafak 3a 7ake l nes wala tesma3 la 7ada, wel media manna hal2ad ghashime la tetehem 7ada hal2ad zour. kelo bel te72i2 w bel camereyet

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  27. Pingback: #JusticeForYves: The Killer Has Been Caught & This Is How You All Helped | A Separate State of Mind | A Lebanese Blog

  28. I love how he’s holding the gun so calm and cool with the tux too. They’re treating it like a toy. Can i have one so i can use it on him too? The title is 100% accurate btw.. #justiceforyves

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  29. charbel khalil and his gangs should be killed the same as the egyptian that killed the lebanese family years ago, charbel khalil and his fucking filthy gang their blood should be shed, they deserve not to live in a modern society.

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