Every July of every year observes the death of one of the most renowned Muslim leaders of our recent history Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.
Sayyed Fadlallah was one of a kind as a pioneer in many different fields. Volumes could be authored to cover part of his endeavors and faithful efforts.
Being one of those who were close to him for a quite long time, I want to mention few very important things about him in this article.
In the field of Islamic unity, Sayyed Fadlallah was one of the strongest leaders and workers to bring Muslims close to each other till they reach unity. He worked hard for it and paid heavy price because this does not fit certain agendas, especially in the west, namely the United States and “Israel”. An attempt against his life was carried out when many western security apparatuses, atop of them the CIA, along with Arab finance and coordination tried to assassinate him by a booby trapped car in the southern suburb of Beirut back in 1985. Thanks to Allah, he narrowly escaped the assassination because he stopped to answer a woman’s question on his way back home.
In another equally important issue, Sayyed Fadlallah believed strongly in dialogue among all to reach mutual understandings and agreements. He was among the first who called for and practiced dialogue with all parties and groups in Lebanon and abroad. His flexibility, openness and broad mindedness gained him a lot of supporters and followers in many regions in the Arab and Islamic world, especially among the new generations.
It is worth mentioning that his openness and flexibility gave him a prominent position in what we can call a new approach in understanding and analyzing Islamic jurisprudence [Fiqh], thus producing the Fatwa. He was very innovative in this regard which caused a stir among the traditional and classical religious circle, but this has been surmounted due to the flexibility of the Fiqh schools in Shia Islam.
We can easily say that he has established a school of thought that would spread in many areas and found itself a place under the sun.
Sayyed Fadlallah’s role in supporting the Resistance against the “Israeli” occupation was extremely strong and very clear. Whether in Palestine or in Lebanon, he was among the first who supported the Resistance’s military operations against the occupation, his positions in supporting the Resistance gained him a wide reputation and he was called by the western media as the spiritual guide of the Resistance fighters.
Many of the prominent cadres of the Islamic Resistance were among his students. He influenced a whole generation and raised the awareness about the importance of the resistance in sabotaging the enemies’ conspiracies and in bringing liberation, dignity and victory to Lebanon and the Lebanese.
As we commemorate the 13th anniversary of his death, he will always be remembered, revered and respected, and he will continue to serve as an icon of all the sublime meanings he sacrificed and lived his life for.
A banner painted with “Made in USA” was raised at the scene of the 1985 Bir Al-Abed blast.
In March 8, 1985 a powerful explosion rocked Beirut, near the house of Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlalah, an influential cleric who had been described as the spiritual leader of Hezbollah.
Sayyed Fadlallah was the target of the explosion, but fortunately he escaped the assassination attempt.
The massive blast killed or injured more than 100 people in Bir Al-Abed in Beirut’s southern suburb, Dahiyeh.
The Central Intelligence Agency, CIA, was blamed for the terrorist blast, according to confirmed reports by Western media.
Following the attack, a banner painted with “Made in USA” was raised at the scene of the explosion in Bir Al-Abed, in a clear indication that the people of this region consider the US as the “number 1 state sponsor of terrorism.”
Al-Manar’s Areej Fatima Al-Husseini prepared the following video that talks more about the blast.
Translated by Al-Ahed News Hezbollah holds a special place among national liberation movements, especially on a regional level. Its success is manifested through its outstanding military efficiency in confronting “Israel” to liberate territory and deter aggression. This success is also evident in the group’s soft and hard regional influences, and in its ability to politically adapt within the Lebanese system.
The triumphs and accomplishments have their own reasons and circumstances. These are both subjective and objective, to which the party adds metaphysical and spiritual factors (divine guidance) that are linked to its religious identity.
When talking about the success of this model throughout its history one must acknowledge the fact that it is not free of problems, weaknesses, and failures, and this is the case for every political actor from the greatest empires to the smallest political groups.
Hezbollah is a small organization fighting “Israel”, which is a regional entity and project with unlimited international support. Therefore, it needed material and financial assets, cadres, an incubating environment, a logistical structure, a dynamic and charismatic leadership, and a strategic geopolitical depth (national and supranational). How did Hezbollah achieve this?
The dimensions of this success and its historical circumstances are intertwined, but it is necessary to sort and disassemble them to get a clearer picture.
Also, focusing on the elements of success and uniqueness does not translate into ignoring the obstacles, challenges, and changes. Shedding light on these elements contributes to enhancing our understanding of their importance and their role in the party’s march, in a way that encourages interaction with them in terms of reform, correction, and care. Hence, their inclusion is not the result of complacency or vanity.
1- The founding generation gains experience: The first generation of Hezbollah gained experience and expertise within Lebanese and Palestinian political and military movements, during difficult times of civil war and confronting the “Israeli” enemy.
They experienced challenges, problems, and failures that reinforced their desire and need for changes and acquiring the necessary resources, skills, and networks of influential interpersonal relationships.
A number of cadres belonging to the first generation had plenty of experience in large parties such as the Amal movement, local Islamic movements, mosque groups, and a few of them were part of non-Islamic resistance forces (Fatah movement).
This generation experienced communist and nationalist ideas, argued with them, responded to them, and often competed with them.
This generation suffered the disappointments of the defeat of the Nasserist project, the kidnapping of Imam Musa al-Sadr, the assassination of Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr in Iraq, the repeated “Israeli” aggressive operations, and the expulsion of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Jordan and then Lebanon.
All of these prompted the founders to try and think in a different way. For example, from a military point of view, their collective experience contributed to the planning and implementation of the most dangerous military and security operations during the 1980s, which established a solid foundation for the party’s saga.
2- Taking inspiration from the Islamic Revolution and integrating with it.
The victory of the revolution in Iran transformed the broader Islamic world. For the Shiites this was a historic opportunity to break out of the state of oppression.
The Lebanese Shiites were the first to network with the victorious revolution, especially since some of the cadres had built strong personal relations with Iranian cadres opposed to the Shah’s regime and provided them with assistance in Beirut, in addition to religious relations with Iranian figures due to contacts through the Hawzas in Najaf and Qom.
Thus, the benefits of the Islamic revolution reached Lebanon quickly. The most prominent of these was the arrival of the training groups sent by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by order of Imam Khomeini to the Bekaa Valley through Syria following the “Israeli” invasion in 1982.
To carry on and grow, this resistance required organizational frameworks that gradually took shape until the structure of Hezbollah emerged.
The existence of this regional support for the resistance is indispensable in light of the imbalance of power. The Iranian regional political support and Iranian material resources (arms, training, and money) enabled Hezbollah throughout the decades to focus on the conflict with the “Israeli” enemy without needing to be constantly preoccupied with securing support or searching for compromises with regional powers in pursuit of protection.
The religious/ideological link between the party and the Wali al-Faqih [guardian Islamic jurist] organized the party’s relationship with Iran and facilitated an understanding between them. It allowed the latter to look at the party from several perspectives, namely the Islamic revolution, which is hostile to the American system of hegemony in the Islamic field (specifically the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine) and Iranian national security as well as preserving Shiism.
3- Solidifying the historical resistance framework of the Lebanese Shiites
Hezbollah engraved and reproduced the history of the Lebanese Shiites from the angle of their role in resisting the Ottomans, the French, and the Zionists.
Imam Khomeini’s fatwa for the delegation of the nine (they formed the nucleus of establishing Hezbollah) on the duty to resist the “Israeli” occupation with the available capabilities, no matter how modest, played a pivotal role in activating the resistance project as a religious duty first and foremost.
Thus, Hezbollah became a natural extension, compliment, and boost to the experiences of the Shiite revolutionaries at the beginning of the twentieth century and the positions of their great scholars such as Sayyed Abdul Hussein Sharaf al-Din and Imam Musa al-Sadr. All these are figures deeply enshrined in the conscience of the Shiite community, especially Imam al-Sadr (the founder of the Lebanese resistance regiments “Amal”) due to the temporal rapprochement between its experience and the birth of Hezbollah.
Therefore, loyalty to the resistance project is no longer loyalty to the party, but to the sect’s heroic role in defending the natural unity of Syria and in the face of the “Israeli” occupation since the beginning of its aggression against occupied Palestine.
4- Spreading power and confidence within an oppressed sect
The historical grievances and the structural marginalization of the Lebanese Shiites, especially after the defeat of their revolution in 1920 (and they had been defeated before that in the second half of the 18th century in Mount Lebanon), contributed to their thirst for changing their reality and the presence of a high revolutionary readiness that was being nourished by the restoration of the revolutionary practices of the Imams of Prophet Muhammad’s household (PBUH).
Hezbollah presented the resistance project under the title of confronting occupation and hegemony to which the sectarian system is affiliated. This would free the society from marginalization and oppression – the world in the party’s ideology is divided between the oppressed and the arrogant.
What helps the party perpetuate this narrative is its already strong presence among ordinary people born after the mid-1940s.
Hezbollah recalls this marginalization, which the society is actually experiencing firsthand – once directly as Shiites and once as part of the center’s marginalization of the parties in the north, the Bekaa, and the south. These areas are inhabited by an Islamic majority, and this made it easier for the party to communicate with various national groups under the rubric of confronting deprivation and marginalization.
Accordingly, Hezbollah’s success with resistance had multiple dimensions, serving as a remedy for dissipated pride dating back nearly two hundred years.
5- Filling the void in the shadow of a failed state
The civil war and the resulting settlement, which the party was not a part of, led to the emergence of a weak state incapable of carrying out many of its sovereign duties.
This allowed the party to carry the responsibility of the resistance and conduct social work for relief and development.
This state was not, in several stages, in agreement with the resistance project. It was even hostile towards it at times, including the era of Amin Gemayel and later Fouad Siniora’s destitute government.
However, it [Siniora’s government] was too weak to confront the resistance even with the help of external supporters.
This chronic state deficit that resulted in a lack of sovereignty reinforced the popular legitimacy of the resistance and forced the party to assume responsibilities that were not at the heart of its project, especially with the deterioration of the economic situation in the past two years.
6- Benefiting from the advantages of Lebanese Shiism, which tested nationalist, leftist, patriotic, and Islamic currents and produced a large number of intellectual and scholarly figures (Sheikh Muhammad Jawad Mughniyeh, Sayyed Mohsen al-Amin, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, and Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din, etc.).
It was historically characterized by a moderate tendency resulting from the peculiarities of the highly diverse and complex Lebanese reality, and later due to the many waves of migration towards Africa and the West.
In recent decades, the Shiite community has also witnessed the phenomenon of displacement to urban centers (Beirut, the southern Matn coast, and Tyre) and integration into the contracting and trade sectors, which had repercussions on their social class and political awareness.
Hezbollah had to work and grow within this type of complex Shiism, and therefore, its relationship with the general Shiite environment is based on a mixture of loyalty to it and negotiation at the same time.
This requires the party to be distinguished by social flexibility and targeted communication for each circle of its incubating environments, each of which has its own cultural, class, and regional characteristics for the Shiites themselves.
The party gradually attracted elements and cadres from these circles, which was reflected in an internal organizational vitality capable of understanding the complexities of the Shiite scene, dealing with it, and understanding its various internal sensitivities.
7- Maneuvering within the complexities of the Lebanese system resulting from deep-rooted sectarianism, its exposure to external interference, and its highly centralized financial-business economic model, required Hezbollah to maintain a safe distance. The movement positioned itself on the system’s external edge and approached it only to the extent that was needed to protect the resistance from local players with foreign ties to the United States and its allies.
Therefore, this complexity imposed on Hezbollah to weave broad horizontal relations in the general political sphere (it had to develop its political thought and initiatives to build a network of cross-sectarian national alliances) and restricted vertical relations within the political system.
However, the deterioration of the political system and its poles, leading to the danger of the state’s disintegration, put the party in a historical dilemma; it must work through the system itself to ward off the danger of the state’s collapse (a concern that has grown in the party’s awareness after the devastation that befell Syria and Iraq and the accompanying disintegration of state structures) with apprehension that engaging in regime change or reform would lead to an externally backed civil war.
From the beginning, Hezbollah, in particular, had to be aware of the external interference in Lebanon, its channels, borders, and goals, as they represented an imminent threat to it.
Just like that, the party’s local political choices could have reinforced tension or appeasement with local and international forces.
It was not possible for the party to estimate the direction of the policies of foreign powers (such as America, Saudi Arabia, and France) in internal affairs and how to deal with them regardless of the international and regional situations.
Therefore, the party has developed complex decision-making mechanisms from its developing experience in Lebanese politics, which are mechanisms that it can employ in other areas related to the resistance and its regional role.
8- The rapid positioning within the Lebanese political arena of conflict is crowded with competitors. Hezbollah came into existence amid a heavy presence of political forces, armed and unarmed, most of which have external relations. It had to expand its influence within all this fierce competition.
In its infancy, the party underwent several field tests and intense political competition with major Lebanese forces rooted locally and forces with a regional reach.
Then the party became vulnerable to severe political attacks from the anti-resistance forces, especially after 2004. The burden of this competition increased after Hezbollah confronted the leadership of a national alliance with the so-called March 8 forces and the Free Patriotic Movement.
Hezbollah’s opponents receive extensive external support and are distinguished by their presence in various cultural, media, and political spheres in the form of parties, elites, platforms, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations, which are entities closely integrated with regional and international financial and political networks hostile to the resistance.
Some of these adversaries play security roles that double their threat. This reality produces constant pressures on the party, forcing it to dedicate part of its resources and capabilities to the local political sphere. It also makes it accumulate skills, frameworks, and criteria for managing political competition in a way that guarantees it the local and national stability necessary to avoid open internal conflicts that distract it from its main mission.
9- Intellectual rivalry in a complex and open public sphere resulting from the richness of the Lebanese political and intellectual life, contrary to what is the case in most Arab countries.
The party had to present its Islamic thesis in a highly competitive intellectual market where leftist, liberal, and nationalist currents have deep roots and prominent thinkers in the region.
This is what the party quickly realized in its infancy and prompted it to self-review the Islamic state and the Islamic revolution.
The party is constantly confronting political and cultural arguments that are highly critical of its political and cultural project (apart from a fierce information war) that prompted a number of its elites and institutions to engage in this “market” and root the party’s proposals on issues such as Wilayat al-Faqih, the homeland, the Lebanese system, multiple identities, the legitimacy of the resistance weapon, American hegemony, and social justice.
As a result, despite the party’s intense preoccupation with the issue of resistance and its requirements from the tactical cultural discourse, it finds itself obliged to engage in many discussions and develop its intellectual, research, and scientific institutions and cadres – a challenge still facing the party.
10- The ability to transform geography into its environment.
The geographical contact of the Shiite communities in Lebanon with occupied Palestine in southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa made this environment targeted by “Israeli” aggression and under constant and imminent threat.
Thus, the party gained enormous influence and wide embrace within these communities through the success of its experiment in resistance, liberation, and deterrence.
This contact and the success of the party produced what is called the incubating environment, which is the most important element in the success of the resistance’s experiences.
The party has succeeded in completely assimilating into this environment, including its fighters, cadres, leadership, voters, and supporters.
This contact gave rise to a historical Shiite awareness of the Palestinian issue resulting from the historical personal and commercial ties between the Shiite and Palestinian communities and then Shiite engagement with Palestinian organizations and the residents of Palestinian camps after the 1948 Nakba.
On the other hand, this contact with “Israeli” aggression had a significant impact on Shiite urbanization and migration, as the occupied areas witnessed extensive Shiite migration to Africa and North America, and internally to coastal cities, specifically Tyre and Beirut.
This migration was a decisive element in the social and political rise of the Shiites, as well as giving Hezbollah popular incubators in vital areas and providing it with necessary human and material resources.
11- The participatory nature of the relationship with Iran:
The two sides dealt from the beginning on the basis that Iran’s role is to support the party’s decisions that it takes in accordance with the data of the Lebanese reality, especially since the Iranian state was preoccupied with major internal and external challenges.
Therefore, the Wali al-Faqih used to grant legitimacy to the act, provided that the party takes the necessary decisions. Later, Hezbollah was able, due to its successes and the role of its Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to become a partner in the Iranian regional decision-making process, especially in the files related to the resistance project.
This partnership is reinforced by the influence of the Revolutionary Guards within the Iranian national security establishment, and the broad respect for the party’s experience among the Iranian people is a lever for this partnership. The Iranians were keen from the beginning to play the role of an assistant to Hezbollah, which is why the decision was to send trainers instead of fighters to Lebanon after the “Israeli” invasion.
This independence is reinforced by the theory of Wilayat al-Faqih itself, which recognizes local and national specificities.
With the Wali al-Faqih having the authority to command in all administrative affairs, but according to wisdom, justice, and the ability to understand interests and conditions of time, which are among the obligatory attributes of the Wali al-Faqih, he realizes that every local and national society has deep peculiarities that its people tell about.
Therefore, the Wali often leaves the party to determine the interests after he adjusts their terms.
This partnership had a direct reflection on Hezbollah’s regional influence, as the Iranians realize that the party’s Arab identity, along with what it has accumulated in the Arab conscience, makes it, among other arenas and files, a major player in managing the resistance project.
12- Mastering the administration in connection with the experience of Iranian institutionalization.
Hezbollah has benefited from its deep ties with Iranian institutions, whether the Revolutionary Guards, the civil services, or even the hawza in Qom, to draw inspiration from the experience of building institutions and organizing administration, which is one of the historical characteristics of the Iranian experience.
A number of the institutions of the Islamic Revolution either initially opened branches in Lebanon and then were run by the party, or transferred their experience to the party, which copied it with a local flavor and peculiarities.
Iranian experts in management and human resources have transferred knowledge, skills, and administrative systems to party cadres that worked to build and develop active and efficient civil institutions in the fields of education, development, party organization, health, services, and local administration.
The party’s institutions usually benefit from Arab and Lebanese experts and academics from outside its environment to gain access to qualitative experiences and new knowledge.
The above-mentioned party institutions in the capital and the outskirts attracted thousands of young men and women graduates of universities who chose these majors or who were encouraged by the party to study in them to benefit from modern sciences in management and human resources.
This institutional momentum contributes to the efficiency of the party’s activities and its ability to meet its needs, to preserve and transfer experience, to development, to attract energies, and to adapt to transformations, especially since the “Israeli” enemy has repeatedly targeted these institutions.
13- Building strategic interests with Syria after years of mutual anxiety.
The relationship between the party and Syria was characterized by mistrust and suspicion at the beginning, with several field frictions between the two parties taking place, which reinforced the mutual distrust.
Damascus aspired to gain the regulating position of the Lebanese reality with international and regional recognition and to employ this in Syria’s internal stability, regional influence, and balance with the “Israeli” enemy.
Some Syrian government officials were apprehensive that the party’s agenda, identity, and relationship with Iran could disrupt their Lebanese project.
But with the war on Iraq, after Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, the failure of the Arab-“Israeli” settlement project, the end of the Iraqi-Iranian war, and Hezbollah’s steadfastness in the face of the “Israeli” enemy in the 1993 aggression, a new path was launched, the beginning of which was to prevent President Hafez al-Assad, at the initiative of the then commander of the Lebanese army, Emile Lahoud, using the army to clash with the resistance in 1993.
Since then, it can be said that a door for direct communication opened on the issue of resistance between the party and President al-Assad, regardless of the complexities of the so-called Syrian-Lebanese security system.
This relationship was strengthened during the “Israeli” aggression in 1996 when Syria played a key role in the birth of the April Understanding.
The relations between the two parties were strengthened after the American invasion of Iraq and Resolution 1559, as Syria realized its need for the party and its necessity regionally and in Lebanon.
Syria also became a vital strategic depth for the party with the expansion of the confrontation arena after 2011, which was proven by the party’s entry into the war in Syria in 2013.
The party succeeded in understanding Syria’s concerns in Lebanon and kept pace with its vital interests by not clashing with the post-Taif regime and revealed to it its weight in the conflict with the “Israeli” enemy. The strategic partnership that developed over time between Syria and Iran helped in this.
14- The awakening of the marginalized Arab Shiites.
With its rise, the party became the center of the Shiites’ eyes, hearts, and minds in the Arab world. They have experienced decades of exclusion and abuse, similar to the Zaydis in Yemen.
Thus, they found in the successes of the Shiite Hezbollah a possible entry point for Islamic and national recognition. This oppression of the Arab Shiites served as an amplifier for Hezbollah’s achievements and a motivator for being identified with it and drawing inspiration from it.
Thus, Hezbollah’s regional influence is primarily a product of its soft power, a power characterized by long-term results and acceptable costs. It is a fully legitimate influence.
The party supports the choice of these Shiites in peaceful struggle, encourages climates of dialogue with their partners and the governments of their countries, emphasizes Islamic unity, respects their national privacy, helps them in the media to raise their voice to demand rights, and urges them to political, media, and popular participation in support of the resistance project within the region.
15- Healing the Arab psychological defeat through victory over the “Israeli” enemy and support for the rising resistance project in Palestine.
A large part of Arab societies took pride in Hezbollah’s resistance, interacting with it and getting closer to it, as they found it a response to decades of disappointment and defeats.
Hezbollah has been keen to highlight its Arab identity in its political, cultural, and media discourse and in its artistic products (anasheed) and has strengthened its institutions concerned with communicating and engaging in dialogue with Arab elites, parties, and groups.
This Arab fascination with the party’s experience in fighting the “Israeli” enemy and in its leadership constituted a provocative factor for the Arab official regimes that emerged from the conflict with the enemy, as the party’s successes practically undermined the discourses of complacency and the legitimacy of its advocates.
This explains the insistence of a number of regional regimes on creating sectarian tensions that have had negative repercussions on the party’s relationship with part of its Arab incubators.
But the decline of the sectarian wave as the party continues to lead Arab resistance efforts against the “Israeli” entity can create conciliatory atmospheres with Arab incubators on the basis of understanding and dialogue, organizing differences, and neutralizing them from the resistance project.
16- Inspiration, representation, and transfer of experience
Hezbollah has limited material, human, and financial resources. Therefore, its building of partnerships and alliances at the regional level within the resistance project had to be based on its most prominent assets, namely its ability to inspire and transfer its experience and lessons learned to its peers within movements and forces that practice the act of resistance.
What made this possible was that the party’s victories revived the spirit of resistance in the Arab and Islamic spheres (for example, the comparison between Sayyed Nasrallah and President Abdel Nasser abounded) and thus stimulated the desire of many groups and elites to understand and benefit from the party’s experience.
The most prominent results of this appeared in occupied Palestine, especially in the second intifada.
Therefore, Hezbollah was interested in transferring its experience in resistance, administration, media, and organization to a large network of Arab and Islamic non-governmental political actors involved, militarily or politically, in confronting the American hegemony system.
The transfer of experience naturally includes the transfer of values, ideas, patterns of behavior and practical culture, as well as establishing networks of links and relations with the cadres of these movements and parties.
Thus, over time, additional groups joined the equations of force and deterrence for the resistance project. The Zionists started talking about multiple circles of the resistance axis that extend to Iraq and Yemen.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah addressed on Friday the Party’s ceremony held to mark the sixth anniversary of the martyrdom of the Resistance military commander, Sayyed Mustafa Badreddine, indicating that the martyr was one of the symbols of the resistance generation which rebelled against the official regime in Lebanon and the region.
Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated that martyr Badreddine was brave, determined, smart, innovative, and eloquent, adding that he gained all the medals of honor as a martyr, injured, fighter, leader and prisoner.
Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted a number of political and military occasions which occurred in May.
Palestine’s Catastrophe (Al-Nakba: May 15, 1948)
Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that the Palestinian Catastrophe is still affecting the Palestinians and all the Arabs, citing the ongoing Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
His eminence added that, in light of Al-Naksa which stormed the Palestinians, Egyptians, Syrians and Lebanese in 1967, the Palestinian people decided to resort to the resistance choice, adding that the Palestinian Resistance is now stronger than ever.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah pointed out that the Israeli enemy wanted to repeat the Nakba in Lebanon in 1982, adding that the Israeli invasion reached the second Arab capital, Beirut, after Al-Quds.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the Lebanese people were divided in 1982 into three categories: those who helped the invaders, the neutral, and the resistance groups.
Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that the Lebanese resistance did not resort to the Arab official support as most of the regional regime had surrendered and normalized ties with ‘Israel’ publicly or secretly.
Sayyed Nasrallah maintained that martyr Badreddine was one of the resistance members that started immediately after the invasion fighting the Zionist enemy, adding that martyr Badreddine was injured in Khaldeh battle against the Israeli enemy.
Sayyed Nasrallah pointed out that the cooperation with the Arab countries may help Lebanon economically, not militarily, adding that the Arabs can never enable Lebanon to face the Israeli enemy.
May 17 Pact
Hezbollah Secretary General said that, after the Israeli invasion in 1982, the Lebanese state engaged in a humiliating negotiation with the enemy and concluded a surrender agreement with it on May 17, 1983.
Ironically, those who approved May 17 Pact are now chanting slogans of sovereignty and establishment of ties with Arab states, Sayyed NAsrallah said.
Sayyed Nasrallah added that various Lebanese parties opposed the pact and rebelled against it, including Amal Movement, adding that clerics, including Sayyed Mohammad Hssein Fadlollah, rejected the agreement.
Sayyed Nasrallah affirmed that the resistance overthrew May 17 pact, questioning the state’s ability, willingness, and bravery to face the Israeli enemy, the US administration and all the enemies.
In this regard, Sayyed Nasrallah underscored the role of martyr Badreddine and his companions in liberating Lebanon from the Israeli occupation in 2000 after a large number of military operations, including Ansariyeh, which is still influencing the Zionist collective conscience.
Sayyed nAsrallah also spot light on the role of martyr Badreddine in dismantling the gangs collaborating with the Zionist enemy in cooperation with the security service, hailing the performance of the public institutions in this field and calling on the military judiciary to issue firm sentences against the collaborators.
Qusseir Battle
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that martyr Badreddine’s last stage was in Syria battle where the plot aimed at striking the resistance axis in Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, adding that the martyr attended the field in person.
Sayyed Nasrallah indicated that, in 2013, Hezbollah surprised all the enemies by interfering militarily in Syria, adding that liberating Al-Qusseir changed the course of the battle.
Sayyed Nasrallah addd that Al-Qusseir liberation enhanced the resistance operation to liberate all the border areas, winch protect all the Lebanese areas from the car bombs booby-trapped in Qalamoun, noting that martyr Badreddine was the commander of those battles.
Moreover, Sayyed NAsrallah recalled that some Lebanese political parties supported the terrorist gangs secretly, adding that they could not announce that publicly.
Hezbollah
Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah has been sacrificing for the sake of the nation for 40 years, adding that it is the most party committed to protecting Lebanon and preserving its identity.
Sayyed Nasrallah added that Hezbollah members do not have more than one ID or visa and do not have any choice but to live and dies in Lebanon.
Local Issues
Hezbollah Secretary General called on all the parties to cooperate in order to cope with the socioeconomic crisis, underlining the prices hike and scarcity of commodities locally and internationally due to the Ukrainian war.
Sayyed Nasrallah cited David Schenker, former United States Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, who described the pro_US groups and figures in Lebanon as egoistic and narcissistic.
Sayyed Nasrallah also quoted economic experts as saying that 64 countries in the world will collapse in 2022, adding some of those countries are Arab and have normalized ties with ‘Israel’.
Sayyed Nasrallah noted that Lebanon is on the collapse list, urging the various parliamentary blocs to prioritize coping with the socioeconomic crisis, away from any other issues, including the resistance weaponry.
Hezbollah leader also called for rebridging ties with Syria, away from any narcissistic attitude, adding that Lebanon needs this step more than Syria.
This paves way to address a basic crisis in Lebanon represented by hosting more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees, according to Sayyed Nasrallah.
Sayyed Nasrallah further urged the Lebanese authorities to start extracting the maritime gas resources, adding that the only hope to overcome the economic crisis is selling the Lebanese gas amid the prices hike.
Finally, Sayyed Nasrallah called on all the Lebanese parties to assume their responsibilities to face the exceptional conditions dominating Lebanon and the world.
Televised speech by Hezbollah’s Secretary General, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, on the latest local and regional developments (7/7/2020)
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon our Master and Prophet, the Seal of Prophets, Abi al-Qassem Muhammad Bin Abdullah and his good and pure household and his good and chosen companions and all the prophets and messengers.
Peace and Allah’s mercy and blessings be upon you all.
I apologize for the delay. We took up a few minutes for prayer time. God willing, we will address this matter in the future.
In the name of Allah the Most Gracious the Merciful. Before I begin talking about tonight’s main topics, I would like to briefly shed light on some occasions.
First, we are nearing the anniversary of the July 2006 war, which the “Israeli” enemy calls the second Lebanon war. It was a war in the full sense of the word.
We remember the enormous sacrifices, the great victories, and the great failure of the American-“Israeli” project in our region that was called the New Middle East.
I just wanted to say as the anniversary is nearing – from July 12 to August 14 – that we have ample time to talk about this war and this occasion as well as speak with the families of the martyrs, the wounded, the mujahideen, those who made sacrifices, were patient, gave their support, the victors, and about those defeated in this war.
The anniversary of the defeat of the takfiri terrorists that were controlling the Jaroud in the Bekaa area is coming in a few days. The Jaroud, as the Lebanese people remember, was liberated in two stages. The first stage was following the confrontation with the Nusra Front. The second stage was following the confrontations with Daesh. The former stage was achieved in the month of July around this time.
The third occasion that I would like to point to is the tenth anniversary of the passing of His Eminence Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, who was a compassionate father, a wise guide, and a strong pillar in all stages. He was all this to us and to this faithful, jihadi, and resisting generation.
After ten years, we still feel that his pure spirit is with us. I am repeating the same text that was in the obituary ten years ago. We feel that his pure spirit, his kind words, his kind smile, and his solid positions have remained in us, will continue to guide us, and be a strong renewed motivation for us to persist and continue jihad.
This is the last point in the introduction. In the past few days, we lost a great scholar and investigator, who came from a long line of scholars and martyrs. His Eminence, the late Allamah Sheikh Mohammad Jaafar Shamseddine, may he rest in peace. He provided Islam, the Islamic culture and thought as well as the youth and the Hawzas with great scientific and educational services. He was also a supporter and a backer of the resistance in Lebanon through all the stages. He made great efforts, even risking his well-being, to unite all the ranks, and face sedition during the most difficult days of the resistance.
On behalf of Hezbollah and myself, I extend our deepest condolences and heart-felt sympathies to his honorable family. And I ask God Almighty to grant them patience and solace and receive him in His mercy. May He accommodate him in his spacious paradise and join him with his loved ones and with Muhammad and his pure household (peace be upon them all).
I intend to discuss three topics.
First part: The economic and the living situation in Lebanon as well as the attempts to address and confront it – this is the Lebanese people’s daily concern
Second part: Lebanese politics
Third part: Regional developments
Before we start talking about the first topic, things must be corrected and stirred in the right direction. The current situation people are living – at the financial, economic, and political levels – requires unity among all Lebanese and cooperation. Therefore, I do not want to enter into quarrels with anyone regarding everything I will present or say, but rather I will try to be as positive as I can.
Economic collapse or starvation doesn’t affect one area of Lebanon or one group. Unfortunately, some speak this language. So, anyone trying to confront this must do so with the awareness of how to solve the problem for all Lebanese in every area. I should not only care about my people, area, or a couple of villages. It should be a national approach.
This cannot be simply be disassembled or simplified as some people think. We need a continuous integrated national effort. Each one of us must think of all the Lebanese people and residents on Lebanese territory. This includes the Palestinian refugees, the displaced Syrians, non-Lebanese residents residing in Lebanon.
At the end of the day when certain things collapse or certain dangers occur, the repercussions will be on everyone. This is a main issue that should be present in any approach. The approach should stem from what our humanity, morals, our religion, and our patriotism tell us.
Based on the aforementioned, I said that we need to correct some things to be on the right track. In the context of correction, when we raised the issue of turning eastward, I was clear in my last speech that this didn’t mean turning our back on the West. I was clear when I said that we must be open to the whole world except “Israel”.
And I had the courage to say that even though America is an enemy in our political and cultural thought, we will not be an obstacle if it is going to help Lebanon, like any country in the world, and take it out of its crisis.
Turning eastward does not mean being cut off from the rest of the world. On the contrary, it’s turning east, west, north, and south. Turning to any country except for the usurper entity. Any country that is ready can come to Lebanon, invest in Lebanon, work in Lebanon, put deposits in the central bank, provide aid and loans, open lines of credit. We’re completely open to this.
Unfortunately, some tried to improperly classify the matter and say we’re pitting one axis in Lebanon against the other. We never said this. Some have said that the U.S. and the West are Lebanon’s indispensable oxygen. We are not asking you to cut it off. Breathe it. But my question is what will you do if the U.S. cuts it off? Will you die or look for another source of oxygen to stay alive?
We do not want to cut off oxygen from anyone in Lebanon at all. We are also putting all our ideological, jihadist, and political considerations aside, with the exception of the “Israeli” issue. I say, let Lebanon be open to everyone so that it can overcome this difficult stage.
Others said that the goal of turning eastward was to change the face of Lebanon’s civilization and the identity of its economic system – honestly when one looks at the comments and responses, he can only laugh at them – as if Lebanon isn’t in the Middle East but in South or North America. Lebanon is part of the East. Nobody raised this matter.
For example, if we said that China is going to invest in Lebanon and will commit to projects without taking a penny from the Lebanese state, that is according to the B.O.T. format, does that mean we want to transform Lebanon’s economic structure into a communist or socialist one? This talk is just to disrupt. It is not based on any reason.
Regarding Iran, some said we are trying to turn Lebanon into an Iranian model. We never said this. All we said was that we have a friend called Iran who can sell us fuel/petroleum byproducts in Lebanese pounds. We are asking it for help. Otherwise, they need hard currency, they need dollars and the euros.
When the Iranians accept to sell Lebanon fuel/petroleum byproducts in Lebanese liras, they are making a big sacrifice. What does this have to do with applying the Iranian model or the Iranian economic model. It is like “Lebanon is on the Mediterranean Sea; thus, Brazil exists.” What does this have to do with that? It is just intended to scare and intimidate people and instill doubt.
Even though we do not have a problem regarding this matter. We only have a few countries in the world that we are friends with or have relations with. We have no problem with you bringing fuel/petroleum byproducts to Lebanon using Lebanese pounds. We will not be intimidated. We will not accuse you of imposing their model onto Lebanon.
Also, you can rest assured. Lebanon doesn’t currently have the components to be transformed into the Iranian model, not that the Iranian model is a bad thing. The Iranian model enabled Iran to withstand 40 years of wars, sanctions, and blockade. Iran eats what it grows. It has a semi self-sufficient agriculture. It has advanced industries and very sophisticated military industry.
A few months ago, Iran sent a satellite into space. The Iranian model has self-sufficiency in gasoline, diesel, fuel and electricity. It sells electricity and fuel to neighboring countries. It produces over 90% of its medicinal needs. It also sells medicine to neighboring countries.
Hence, this model produces results. Why are you scared of it? Nonetheless, Lebanon doesn’t have the components for the Iranian model. So, rest assured.
If the brothers in Iran extended a helping hand to their brothers in Lebanon in some way, this should be respected and appreciated, and not a point of intimidation or skepticism.
Iran has withstood 40 years of sanctions and still is. Of course, it has a problem with the hard currency because the world is connected to the dollar, to New York, to America, and to this process. This is problem of the world today. The dollar is what is left of the America’s strength, apart from the military power. The U.S. holds on to the dollar and imposes financial and economic sanctions. However, despite all the threats and the sanctions, Iran was steadfast for 40 years. No country in the world, regardless of its economic model, would have been able to resist for 40 years the way Iran did amid all the wars, sanctions, and blockade.
Look at Lebanon. It was subject to some sanctions and intimidation, and some people and political forces are ready to cave in and abandon everything.
In any case, we said we did not want to create debates. But I would like to reassure everyone that no one is trying to impose the Iranian model on Lebanon’s economy or change the face of Lebanon’s civilization. We do not want to transform the economic system into a communist or a socialist system.
All we mean by turning eastward is that since France won’t disburse CEDRE funds, the U.S. is imposing sanctions, and the Arab countries won’t help for different reasons, we should accept help from whomever offers.
So, if China, Iran, Iraq, Russia, or any country in the world – be it in the east or the west – is ready to provide assistance, Lebanon should be open to it. It must communicate with this country. It must look for opportunities.
This is just to clarify matters.
We come to where we are today. When approaching the economic, living, financial, and monetary crisis, we must talk about them while people keep pace. We all must have the knowledge and the awareness so that we can together face this challenge and threat.
A lot of the Lebanese have political awareness and culture. Many of them have awareness and culture of the economic and financial issue. But we must generalize this culture so that we can all keep pace and shoulder the responsibilities.
The first part:
There are two levels in the economic crisis.
The first level: There is a big and huge topic when talking about getting Lebanon out of its economic crisis and reaching a stage of economic recovery and stability. This is because there is a debt of about 80 billion to one hundred billion dollars. We have deep economic crises. There is a discussion regarding the old and current economic policies. This is a big topic, of course, that needs the state with all its institutions, the society, and perhaps external help. We are not talking about this topic.
The second level: There are risks of economic and financial collapse. There are risks of hunger. How do we prevent economic collapse and hunger and their repercussions on the Lebanese people and residents in Lebanon?
We are talking about the second level. How do we prevent collapse and starvation? This must be addressed first before we can deal with the first level.
Of course, if we can achieve this, we will enable the country, the state, the government, the state institutions, the army, the Lebanese people, and the security forces to withstand and continue the path in addressing the first level – getting out of the economic crisis.
So today I will be talking about several points related to the second level.
1- The first thing we call for when talking about the second level is that we shouldn’t confine ourselves to one path in trying to prevent collapse like confining ourselves to IMF negotiations and awaiting their results before starting on alternative paths. What if these talks fail in six months or a year? Do we only then start looking?
We must not derail this path – negotiations with the IMF. But we must open up all possible pathways that would prevent Lebanon’s collapse and starvation. On this basis, we spoke about a set of ideas, and the topic of turning eastward came up in the general methodology. There must not be a state of despair or surrender among the Lebanese people. Passive waiting must not take over the general performance – to wait and see what the IMF will decide; will the U.S. forgive Lebanon or not? What are the developments that might take place in the region? by doing so, we are not being active. Rather we are waiting passively. This is wrong.
As a state and a people, we must be active. We should not stay home and wait. Whatever path can be opened, we must open it. Whatever path leads to a solution, even if we are not sure it will to results, we must take it. We must knock on all doors to reach a possible outcome.
Today, the Lebanese state and people are facing a threat – the threat of collapse and starvation. This is the most serious threat that can face a people or a state. Should we give up to the threat? Or should we turn it into an opportunity? I say to all the Lebanese people: we as a state and people – we will not talk about the tripartite equation because we need a different and new equation – are able to turn the threat into an opportunity. This threat can even be an occasion to take very important steps that will not only save Lebanon, but they will also put Lebanon on the track for economic prosperity and not repeating the failed policies of the past.
I will say how. We must have hope, confidence in our ability to rise and transform threats into opportunities, and not despair, surrender, and submit. We must have the mentality that we can do so much when it comes to, for example, moving the wheel of the economy. I will shed light on the agricultural and industrial productions later.
The Lebanese government and we were told that Chinese companies are ready to invest billions of dollars in Lebanon. I will not delve into numbers. It is natural for Lebanon to initiate talks – just as PM Hassan Diab did – and not wait since the Chinese did not talk to us or send us anything.
You can see that the country is in danger. You as an official must initiate talks with China. Ask the Chinese about their conditions and see whether these conditions are in the interest of Lebanon and if Lebanon can accommodate them. So, we opt for this option instead of waiting around ad putting doubt like some Lebanese people are doing. Some said that China is not ready and has no desire to invest in Lebanon. China will not make a problem with the U.S. for Lebanon.
Hold on. Why are we disagreeing on this? Let us ask the Chinese. What is the point of diplomacy, the Foreign Ministry, and the people concerned with the economy? Let the Lebanese state – not Hezbollah, the Amal movement, the Free Patriotic movement, or any political party – talk to the Chinese. There should be no mediation regarding this matter.
If you want an indication of the effectiveness of the Chinese offer, just look at the angry American response, from Pompeo, to Schenker, to US State Department aides, to the US ambassador in Lebanon. All of them started saying that the Chinese aid won’t help. China will spy on Lebanon, as if the CIA isn’t. And if something went wrong regarding the financial obligations, they will confiscate the state’s assets. They started talking in this sense to spread fear. This is evidence that this is a useful and serious option. Otherwise, why else would the Americans do this? Why would they want to launch a clear and open campaign? They are launching this campaign to scare the Lebanese people from doing business with the Chinese. This is only evidence that the Chinese offer will release the American stranglehold on Lebanon, and I’ll talk about that shortly.
Now, the Lebanese government should contact China, send delegations to China, and engage in direct discussions, and through some media outlets. This is one.
2- We also thank our Iraqi brothers. Ministers from the Iraqi government came and met with Lebanese officials, including the prime minister and competent ministers. There was a positive atmosphere that was reflected in the media. We should follow up on this matter.
I repeat and affirm, Iraq is a very great opportunity for Lebanon. It is an open country, a friendly country, and a loving country. The relationship between Iraq and Lebanon as two countries and two peoples are excellent. Iraq is a very large and capable country economically. We can start cooperation at the level of agriculture, industry, medicine, and tourism – there is mutual religious tourism. All these are opportunities. They will allow the flow of money, create job opportunities, and revive the different sectors.
We already have naysayers saying we shouldn’t pursue the Iraqi option because the U.S. might pressure the Iraqi government. So, should we just sit and despair? Or should the Lebanese government send a delegation, like the Iraqis did, and continue negotiations to reach results. This is also another option to be explored.
We spoke about these two propositions. Thank God, there are options to be explored.
3- The third issue that we raised was the central bank. The central bank has to pay billions of dollars. There is a problem in numbers in Lebanon. But there are billions of dollars to cover Lebanon’s need for oil derivatives. If we asked our brothers in Iran to sell us gasoline, oil, gas, oil derivatives, and diesel in Lebanese pounds, this would relieve pressure off the central bank, which is hard-pressed for dollars.
This amount, if it is available to the central bank, would allow it to give to the banks to solve the depositors’ problems.
This proposition has a lot of advantages. I will not talk about them because if I did, it would be understood as putting pressure on the Lebanese.
I don’t want to speak ahead of the brothers in Iran. but eventually, they will declare an official position. But I can tell the Lebanese people this: I guarantee you this.
In any case, we started discussions and presented it to Lebanese officials. There is a calm discussion regarding this matter. let us see how the matter unfolds away from the media and explanations made in the media. Let us where this option will lead. But this option has great advantages on the assets of Lebanon’s central bank, on banks, on depositors, on agriculture, on industry, on electricity plants, on electricity, on the value of the national currency, on the trade balance. We will talk about this detail later.
Of course, there are some who are spreading doubts and intimidation. What’s the end result we will get? I don’t know, but we must still explore all options, so our conscience is clear – we tried everything to rescue Lebanon economically.
In the same context, the Lebanese government should also initiate. It should contact other states. It seems that there is something of this sort. Let them say no. but at the very least, we are trying and looking for options.
We must also not forget the option of opening up to Syria. The situation should not remain that the whole country has surrendered to the Caesar Act. We must challenge this law. There are loopholes and exceptions. We must not surrender to this law.
In any case, what does this methodology mean? It means that there is a movement towards confronting hunger and collapse. This gives hope to the Lebanese, meaning that we are not powerless, and we did not surrender. At the same time, it sends a powerful message to the Americans and others who wants to strangle Lebanon: we have alternatives, and you won’t be able to blockade, strangle, starve, or defeat Lebanon. This will force America to despair and to do so quickly. This is the importance of this methodology.
Based on the above, one of the options we have in Lebanon is right in front of us. I am not imposing this option as we have agreed from the beginning that there are more than one road and more than one choice. Decades of economic policies in the country – I will not criticize whether they were right or wrong – turned Lebanon into a service-oriented economy with the focus on the banking sector, tourism – that is airport expansion and building ports, highways, and hotels. A country reliant on the service industry.
These policies were within a vision – a true or false vision is another discussion. What happened due to these policies? These policies led to collapse of two sectors: the agricultural and industrial sectors. These two sectors remained steadfast despite all the conditions that Lebanon went through before and during the civil war and after the invasion in 1982 to 1990s.
The policies that were adopted led to the collapse of these two sectors. In the agricultural sector, you find that the farmer is not supported. There is no budget. There is no financing of agricultural projects. There are no agricultural investments. This of course increases the cost of production. When the farmers are not being supported with the production costs, the cost of production becomes increases. When the cost of production increases, it would difficult for marketing this agricultural product in the Lebanese or foreign markets since other produce are cheaper. Thus, the farmer will be forced to throw them on the streets like we see every year.
Also, some invested in the agricultural sector when the rates the central bank or the banks were high. This person looked at the profit he would be from investing in agriculture or industry. It is more or less 5 or 10%. So, he put his money in the bank and waited for his profit. Basically, these policies destroyed the agricultural and industrial sectors. Thus, we became a consumer country, a country that buys everything. We even import basic foodstuffs from abroad. We became almost completely a consumer country.
Now, we’re feeling the mistake and the danger. But we can still turn this into an opportunity and address the problem. The Lebanese people are afraid of collapse and hunger. What should we do? We have to turn Lebanon into a productive country, regardless of the international economic situation.
Regardless of the future of the world economy after COVID-19, whatever happens to the U.S. economy or the economy in the region, being productive is essential for any country to live a decent life. Can we survive without oxygen? Can we live without water? Agriculture and industry are like oxygen and water to any people. Former policies asked us to live off imported oxygen and water. I’m just giving an analogy here. our industry and agriculture were put aside. Everything we wear, use, eat, and drink should come from abroad. Today, we can change the equation and start producing.
Here lies the responsibility of the Lebanese state, the Council of Ministers, the Parliament, and officials. Meanwhile, the people’s responsibility is to support the state. We must all cooperate. The Lebanese state should revive the agricultural and industrial sectors. All the political forces as well as the parliamentary blocs, the government, and the officials should all shoulder their responsibilities in reviving these sectors to enable the country to stand on its feet and prevent it from going hungry. The Lebanese people also have a responsibility. They are a big part of this battle and its main driving force.
In other words, we must plant. We have vast swathes of arable land. Lebanon’s climate is suitable as is the environment. It has rivers and springs. The water is only wasted because it flows into the Mediterranean. Land reclamation for agriculture is not a difficult and complicated process if all the possibilities are available. So, what do we need?
We need to make a decision. We need will power and start planting. Let us take the agricultural sector and based on it approach the industrial issue. What do we need?
First, the people should believe in the option to cultivate. Secondly, there should be motivation, will, and determination. Thirdly, we have to cultivate the land. We as Lebanese people, state, political parties, cooperatives, merchants, etc. should help people who are cultivating and reduce the cost of production. We should help those planting and producing sell their produce in the local and external markets. We should cooperate in this whole process. We need guidance; what should be cultivated and how much. The same goes to industry. We might start with craft (handmade) industry or something to do with food that is low cost because we want to stave of hunger. This is the path required now.
What I am saying today is on behalf of Hezbollah and not the Lebanese government. on behalf of Hezbollah, we call on the Lebanese people to fight the battle of reviving the agricultural and industrial sectors. We call for an agricultural and industrial renaissance as a necessary condition for resilience, facing hunger, and living in dignity.
This matter was part of our interests. But our priority was and still is resistance. Then we have the political work. We also have activities related to agriculture and craft industry as well as of social and medical nature. But these activities are limited.
But today we in Hezbollah took the decision to confront collapse and hunger. We say that this is Lebanon’s battle, just as the resistance’s military battles to liberate the land or to fight the takfiri terrorists are Lebanon’s and the Lebanese people’s battles, even though some are not fighting them. This is Lebanon’s battle as well as the Lebanese people’s and people residing on Lebanese territory. Everyone should be fighting it.
That is why the entirety of Hezbollah will be fully committed to this, not just a certain apparatus, unit, or institution.
Today, I want to announce that we have taken the decision that all of Hezbollah, with its human and material capabilities, relationships, friendships, and alliances will be at the heart of this confrontation, challenge, and battle. And we want to cooperate with everyone, just as we did in the fight against COVID-19. We came out in full force. We saw how the situation in the country was when all the Lebanese people cooperated with each other in the fight against the pandemic – even though we need to emphasize on this again.
In the same context, I would like to address the supporters of the resistance and tell them that in the past decades and years, we adopted the slogan: “Where we should be, we will be”. So, we were present wherever we were needed. We achieved victory and accomplished goals during every challenge; this is what happened during the resistance and liberation battle, during the confrontations with the takfiri terrorists, and in the face of projects, such as the new Middle East. We assessed whether the challenges required us to be there, and we achieved victory.
Today, I would like to tell our brothers and sisters, men and women, young and old, in the battle of agriculture and industry, we will be where we are required. We will be in this new field.
In other words, we must all become farmers and manufacturers, within the available capabilities. Being a farmer is not shameful. It is a glory and not shameful when our young and old plough the land and cultivate it. Many of the prophets, messengers, and saints throughout history were farmers and peasants grazing sheep, livestock, etc. We have to be farmers not only to save ourselves but also to save our country. We are thinking about all the Lebanese areas and all the Lebanese people.
Now some may say that Hezbollah is only concerned about its people and its environment. We’re concerned about all Lebanese areas, factions, and people. We are human being with morals and faith. We are nationalists. This is how we think. This is how we think because we are humane. To all my brothers and sisters, this is the new phase we must confront. Wherever we have potential arable land, even a front yard, balconies, and rooftops in Dahiyeh and in cities, we must cultivate it. This is our new battle.
As for how to agricultural guidance and reducing the cost of production, we will talk about them in future addresses. We have a complete vision on this matter, and we have extended our hand to everyone.
The same applies to the industrial sector. As I said, we should opt for light homemade products and food products that do not cost much. We have to follow in the footsteps of other people who attained their independence. When we eat what we plant and wear what we manufacture, then we are a people worthy of independence, freedom, dignity, and sovereignty. Here we go back and open the file of the national industry and import from abroad. All these details will come later.
The date 7-7-2020 (Tuesday) is an easy one to remember. Let us say that on this day we want to declare an agricultural and industrial jihad at the popular level. This is not an official decision. In 1988, the resistance in Lebanon was not established by a government or official decision, but rather a popular decision. Today, we should head towards agricultural and industrial jihad, resistance, or renaissance. Call it what you want, we’ll decide on a name later, but this should be our direction.
We should engage in an organized work or individual initiatives. All the Lebanese must cooperate. Popular efforts must also integrate with the efforts of the state to overcome the stage of hunger, the stage of collapse, and the stage of fear and anxiety. We should establish a strategic exit from the coming economic crisis.
The second part:
Regarding domestic politics, I want to confine myself to one issue that we consider dangerous in Lebanon – the American interference and blatant performance of the State Department in Lebanon, particularly that of the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon.
During the past few months, since Ambassador Shea came to Lebanon – welcome to and to the other ambassadors – we’ve seen the way has been acting in Lebanon – as military governor, a high commissioner, or someone with military authority. She expects everyone in Lebanon to fear her, submit to her, appease to her, listen to her, appease to her, and ask for her approval.
When we talk about U.S. interference, we can say that they are numerous. As I have mentioned, her movements were clear and blatant. For example, what is the U.S. ambassador’s business with financial appointments. What right does she have in accepting this person and refusing that? This happened, and she spoke with many officials and threatened many others. She demanded that a certain person be appointed deputy governor of the central bank. She also demanded that if this certain person was not appointed deputy governor, then he must be appointed as head of the Banking Control Commission. Some might say that this is not a new thing.
What is new is that today this matter is being done in the open. All the Lebanese have sensed it. I don’t know what they used to do in the past. Of course, I know. But I don’t have proof. But go ask the officials she spoke to. They’ll tell you the U.S. ambassador told them to appoint specific people and not others as deputy governor of the central bank and if not head of the Banking Control Commission, otherwise the U.S. would withhold funds. Is this how an ambassador should behave? Is this a friendly country or a colonialist country?
This is how a colonialist country acts. Let me give you another example. This might have given some people last week the impression that there will be a change of government and that it will be toppled. This is because they believe and are accustomed to the U.S. being divine. If America said something, then it must be done.
In the past few days, the U.S. ambassador was quoted by more than one party and person that she said last week that the government is finished, that it must be toppled, and must resign. What is your business? The Lebanese people are the one who determine if the government remains or goes. The Lebanese Parliament determines if the government remains or goes, not the American ambassador or the U.S. State Department. However, she continues to interfere in this issue. She discusses the identity, nature, and composition of the next supposed government. Is this not a blatant interference in Lebanese affairs?
Let me tell you what is more serious and dangerous – the American ambassador appearing on Lebanese, Arab, and non-Arab television channels and attacking a prominent Lebanese party. I do not want to praise Hezbollah and describe its popular, organizational, political and parliamentary size and its impact on the country and the region. Others will talk about this.
But Hezbollah is a Lebanese party with a huge popular support. It is represented in the parliament and is part of Lebanon’s political life.
Every day the ambassador attacks Hezbollah, insults it, calls it a terrorist organization, accuses of it stealing and selling drugs, and all this non-sense. Meanwhile, the Lebanese state is silent. However, some politicians, media personnel, and political parties respond to her. But it seems that this lady is comfortable. She sees no problem in insulting, attacking, and offending it on a daily basis.
But what is more dangerous is pitting the Lebanese against each other. The U.S. ambassador is pitting Lebanon’s parties and officials against Hezbollah and its allies, pushing Lebanon towards internal strife and civil war. Should this be met with silence?
We can add to this the role of the US Embassy in the sanctions, the blockade, the threats, preventing investments in Lebanon, scaring off foreign investors, intimidating the Lebanese officials and government. They are doing this around the clock. This is unacceptable.
I put this in front of the Lebanese people, all the political forces in Lebanon, the government in Lebanon, and the state in Lebanon, as well as the political forces that claim to be sovereign. An ambassador of country in Lebanon is interfering with appointments, the government, the economic situation, while the Lebanese people are watching.
Meanwhile, an honorable, brave, patriotic judge made a decision concerning the ambassador’s movement and her dealings with the media. Whether this decision was legitimate or not, constitutional or not, is beside the point. For a Lebanese judge to make such a decision shows that there are honorable and courageous Lebanese judges. The U.S. embassy and the American ambassador were annoyed and demanded an apology from the Lebanese government.
If Lebanon’s ambassador in America spoke about what is happening now in the U.S. and criticized the performance of the Trump administration in dealing with the coronavirus and racism, what would have they done to him?
We do not want to talk about this issue, but many people stood up to defend freedom of the press in Lebanon. What about Lebanese sovereignty? Defend freedom of the media, but what about Lebanese sovereignty? Are these two things separate? How can freedom and slavery meet? Abandoning sovereignty is slavery. They do not go hand in hand.
In any case, Judge Mohammad Mazeh made the decision based on his patriotism, awareness, sense of responsibility, and realization that there is an ambassador who is inciting, accusing, insulting, pushes towards sedition, and attacking the Lebanese people.
Personally, because this is the first time I speak after this incident, I am proud of him. We [in Hezbollah] are proud of judge Mohammad Mazeh and in every patriotic, honorable, and brave person who dares in this difficult time to stand in the face of American policies and American administrations because the best kind of jihad is saying the truth in the face of an unjust ruler.
Today, the most unjust, criminal, terrorist, and brutal ruler on the face of this earth is the American administration. I hope the Lebanese judiciary and the Lebanese Ministry of Justice will reconsider their approach. They should treat this judge and his resignation with the same level of patriotism, honor, courage and respect that he expressed.
Hence, to limit the movement of the ambassador, legal methods must be followed. Great! God willing, the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc will be submitting a petition to the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the U.S. ambassador and ask her to adhere to diplomatic protocol and Vienna Convention. Our deputies will do this. We will not ask other deputies. We do not want to put anyone under the spotlight. This is the first step, but it is not enough.
The people in Lebanon also have a responsibility. Politicians and political forces, the Lebanese people, elites, media personnel, young and old, must raise their voice not in the defense of Hezbollah – we do not want anyone to defend us – but to defend Lebanon. They must raise the voice against starving Lebanon, besieging it, pitting the Lebanese people against each other, the pretentious intervention, the imposition of options or wills on the Lebanese people. You have to defend yourself, or else you can let her be.
Also, in this part, I wish that – I am keen to remain within the limits of decency while addressing her – I request that the U.S. ambassador not appear on our TV stations and lecture us and the Lebanese people about democracy, human rights, and sovereignty. Please do not talk about these because you represent a country that has waged wars, killed and displaced millions, the money and natural resources that you have plundered. Your country is still waging wars and killing all over the world.
Not to mention what is going on in the US, the inhumane actions taken against your people, racial discrimination, etc. You do not have any right to talk about human rights in Lebanon and lecture us. You, your country, and your administration.
Let’s just talk about America’s behavior in Lebanon, backing “Israel” and its wars on Lebanon before 1982 and the invasion in 1982. Tens of thousands of people were killed and wounded, and homes were destroyed.
You protected and supported all of “Israel’s” wars against Lebanon. We are in July. The July 2006 war was an American decision and an American management. The blood of all the men, women, and children killed in the July war is in the hands of your criminal and murderous country that supports “Israel” and defend it. We do not need to prove this. All the Lebanese people know this.
Even regarding the takfiri terrorist organizations, your President, Trump, admits that it was the previous administration of your country that created Daesh and these terrorist organizations in the region. He accuses Clinton. Is Clinton Lebanese? Is Barak Obama Syrian or Palestinian? They are Americans. They were a president and a Secretary of State. They were the ones who created the takfiri terrorists. You are the one supporting the “Israeli” terrorism and are today empower “Israel” in oppressing the Palestinians and usurping the rest of their land in the West Bank.
So, you have no place saying these words. You should respect yourself, remain respectful, and know your boundaries. America has been exposed to the people of the region. This, of course, I am speaking to her as a representative of her country. Otherwise, this includes the entire State Department and every American administration – all of who are repeating the same thing.
One last advice for the American administration, and it is also good for the ambassador to hear and pass it on to her administration. You are waging a war on Lebanon. You are taking advantage of a circumstance in Lebanon that is a result of 30 to 40 years of accumulations of bad policies that led it to the current economic situation.
All Lebanese know that the economic, financial, monetary, and living conditions in Lebanon are caused by successive policies – corruption, waste, theft, irresponsible management of the situation, local and regional conditions, immigration, wars, etc.
As for pinning the situation in Lebanon on the resistance is something the Lebanese people will not allow.
The Lebanese people have reached a point where they are saying that is an economic crisis. While you have come to take advantage of this crisis and besiege the Lebanese people to impose options on them. Your most important objective is to isolate and weaken Hezbollah and end the resistance in Lebanon by starving the people and turning the Lebanese and its supporters against it. Wars have failed; the assassinations have failed; “Israel” has failed; the takfiris have failed; and all your efforts have failed. This is the last weapon in your hands.
I would love to advise you not to waste your time. First, this option will not bear fruit. Hezbollah will never surrender. The resistance in Lebanon will never surrender. Second, the policy that you are adopting regarding Lebanon – the blockade and the sanctions – will not weaken Hezbollah but rather strengthen it.
This policy will weaken your allies and influence. It will not make the resistance’s environment turn against it. Rather its adherence to the resistance will increase. The policy you are adopting will eventually make the rest of the Lebanese groups turn to the resistance and its local and regional allies because it will have no refuge after you push the country to collapse and starvation. With this policy, you are pushing Lebanon to be completely in this axis and with this team. Go and study it well.
Therefore, I invite you to abandon this policy. Do not torture the Lebanese people and do not punish them. Do not let the Lebanese people endure this ordeal that will not lead to a result.
In the first place, international law does not allow you to punish an entire people, starve them, and besiege them, as you did with many countries in the world from Syria to Iraq to Iran to Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea, as a means to punish or pressure a specific group. This will not lead to a result. Do not play this game and do not waste time.
The third part:
Regarding the regional part, I will talk briefly because I have already taken up a lot of your time. I apologize.
The most dangerous thing occurring now is the “Israeli” annexation of lands from the West Bank and the Jordan Valley. The Palestinian people are the only ones standing alone in this confrontation, with all their movements, factions, and forces. We’re in constant contact with the different leadership of the Palestinian resistance factions.
Yesterday I received a message from the dear brother and head of Hamas’s political bureau, Mr. Ismail Haniyeh. We are in contact with the rest of the leadership.
What I want to say and call for at the end of this address regarding Lebanon and the countries and peoples of the region is that we must not forget the Palestinian cause despite our worries and the economic and living condition we are in. We must stand by our Palestinian brothers as a state, people, and resistance.
Anything we, the Lebanese state, and the other Lebanese factions alongside our Palestinian brothers can do in confronting this dangerous conspiracy, we must do because the its repercussions not only target Palestine and the Palestinian but also threatens Lebanon. it is known how its most dangerous repercussions will be on Lebanon.
Regionally, everyone must raise their voices, take a stand, be in contact with the Palestinian leaders and Palestinian forces, and cooperate in everything that can happen in the face of the annexation scheme.
Of course, we were like this in the past, but I liked to say today that this matter must be escalated because it is a sensitive, fateful, and historic moment.
Beirut- Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered on Tuesday a televised speech on the latest developments, particularly the Lebanese internal situation.
At the beginning of his speech, Sayyed Nasrallah recalled the anniversary of the Divine victory scored July war “the resistance’s victories and the defeat of the American scheme in the region from the Lebanese Gate. He further announced that he is to tackle this victory as well as the triumph over the takfiri terrorism in the coming speeches.
Meanwhile, His Eminence remembered the ‘late dear and noble Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlullah, who stood firm in support of the resistance. We feel him living with us despite a decade on his departure.”
On the internal Lebanese situation, Sayyed Nasrallah viewed that “What the Lebanese are suffering on the economic level requires the cooperation, solidarity and sincerity of all sides. The current situation at the economic, financial and social levels requires everyone’s efforts and intelligence.”
“He who deals with the economic crisis must think about all Lebanon and not a certain village or district because the repercussions of the crisis are affecting everyone,” he said, pointing out that “The starting point of the solution is to deal with this crisis in humanitarian, patriotic, moral and religious manner.”
Calling for following “a national approach” to solve the crisis, the Resistance Leader underscored that “One should think of all those living on Lebanese soil, including refugees.”
In parallel, he clarified that “Moving towards the east does not mean cutting ties with the West and we are open to any country that is willing to help Lebanon by setting deposits and providing loans. We are open to get help from any country in the world except from the “Israeli” entity.”
“Unfortunately, some people have begun to claim that we are seeking to make Lebanon as part of certain axes,” His Eminence added, saying “We are not seeking to cut off the ‘Western oxygen’ from anyone in Lebanon. Let them breathe it.”
In addition, Sayyed Nasrallah declared that “Hezbollah will put all its considerations aside to make Lebanon pass this difficult stage.”
“I heard some people saying, ‘They want to turn Lebanon into the Iranian model.’ We did not say that. We asked the Iranians to help us, otherwise they need dollar,” he added.
Assuring everyone that “No one wants to implement the Iranian model nor change the face of Lebanon” Sayyed Nasrallah underscored that “We must be open to any country in the world willing to help Lebanon, We must knock its door and search for opportunities.”
“Hezbollah won’t be an obstacle if America wants to help Lebanon,” he said, pointing out that “We must set the way to prevent the state’s collapse and hunger as a goal.”
Regarding claims that Hezbollah seeks to turn Lebanon into an Iranian model, His Eminence confirmed that “Iran is making sacrifices when it agrees to sell oil products to Lebanon in Lebanese Pound. Iran’s economic example is a good example because it has dealt with the siege and sanctions and has reached self-sufficiency.”
Praising Iran’s resistance to US sanctions over the decades and compared Iran to Lebanon and said: “Be assured that Lebanon does not have the elements of the Iranian model; a model that has made Iran stand up to US sanctions.”
According to His Eminence, “It is not permissible for the public performance to be covered by negative wait for the results of negotiations with the International Monetary Fund or the regional developments without searching for other options.”
“What Lebanon is experiencing today is a threat of hunger and collapse,” Sayyed Nasrallah cautioned, noting that “Lebanon is able to turn the threat into an opportunity and to emerge from the accumulation of wrong policies.”
He also explained that “If we said that China should come invest in Lebanon, this does not mean turning the country into a communist system,” noting that “The effectiveness of openness to China was demonstrated through the American madness and the campaign against this choice.”
In addition, His Eminence stated that “The Americans have launched an aggressive campaign against the Chinese option to intimidate the Lebanese and prevent them from moving towards China.
Regarding openness to Iraq, he viewed that “it was a good thing. Iraq is an economically capable country, and there is religious and medical tourism between the two countries.” However, Sayyed Nasrallah mentioned that “There are people who started to doubt that Iraq will be open to Lebanon due to the American pressure.”
“It is required to send a delegation to Iraq as Baghdad did, and not to surrender to the talk about American pressure on the Iraqi government,” Hezbollah Secretary General said.
Sayyed Nasrallah added that “The central bank is obliged to pay billions of dollars to cover Lebanon’s need for oil derivatives, so if we ask the Iranian brothers to sell us oil derivatives in Lebanese pounds, how much this will save the central bank?”
“What we are going through today is the most dangerous threat that can face a people and a state, but we are capable as Lebanese state and people to turn the threat into a chance,” His Eminence predicted, pointing out that “We have an opportunity to carry out very important steps towards economic stability.”
On the Iranian readiness to sell Lebanon oil derivatives in the Lebanese pound, he declared “I do not want to precede the brothers in Iran, but I guarantee you this. This is a blessed matter.”
“This methodology gives hope to the Lebanese and sends a strong message to the American that whoever wants to besiege Lebanon and suffocate it, Lebanon has options, paths, and other gates, and you will not be able to starve and topple us,” His Eminence predicted.
According to His Eminence, “During decades of economic policies in the country, Lebanon was being prepared for the perception of peace in the region, and Lebanon was established as a country of services. As a result of this policy, two sectors, the agricultural and industrial sectors, were struck.”
Sayyed Nasrallah added that “We are a consuming country and today there is a chance to become a productive country and the State has a responsibility to revive the agricultural and industrial sectors.”
“Turning Lebanon into a productive country is a responsibility of the state and the people,” he stressed, urging the Lebanese to fight to revive the industrial and agricultural sectors as a prerequisite for survival in dignity.
Calling Lebanese community to wage ‘agricultural and industrial jihad and resistance.” Sayyed Nasrallah announced: “We in Hezbollah took a decision to confront collapse and hunger, and all Hezbollah, with all its capabilities, friendships and alliances, will be at the heart of this confrontation.”
To the people of the resistance, he sent the following message: “Over the past decades, we have raised on the slogan ‘We are to be present where we should be’ and we have achieved all our victories by this slogan. Today we are in the battle of industry and agriculture. This is our new battlefield. Let the date of 7-7-2020 be to declare jihad, resistance and renaissance at the agricultural and industrial levels.”
Warning the US that its state Department is playing an exposed role in Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah addressed the latest blatant US ambassador by saying: “The US ambassador is acting like a military ruler and what business does she have in intervening in the financial appointments?
“The US ambassador has no right to say if the current government should leave. She is also blatantly interfering in the nature of the next government, he added, noting that “The Lebanese people and the Lebanese parliament determine whether the government remains or leaves. The US ambassador is inciting the Lebanese against each other.”
Once again, His Eminence reminded he who’s concerned that “Hezbollah is a Lebanese party that has great popularity and participates in political life, and every day the US ambassador attacks it with the most horrific description while the Lebanese state remains silent.”
Expressing Hezbollah’s pride in Judge Moahmmed Mazeh’s ruling, Sayyed Nasrallah unveield that the “ Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc MPs will present a petition to the Lebanese Foreign Ministry to ask the American Ambassador to abide by diplomatic relations and international law.”
“The US is exploiting the accumulations of 40 years in Lebanon,” he went on to say, hoping that “the American ambassador does not talk to us about sovereignty and human rights.”
To the US Ambassador, Hezbollah SG sent a sounding message: “You are the ones who brought the takfiri terrorism and enabled the “Israeli” terrorism against the Palestinians. You represent a country that waged wars and plundered goods, and with what is happening in the US from racial discrimination, you are never entitled to speak, “Do not act as a teacher, professor, or counselor.”
“The US is trying to weaken and isolate Hezbollah through starving the people and turning them against the resistance,” he added, assuring that “the US schemes to Lebanon will not work and Hezbollah and the Resistance will not surrender.”
Sayyed Nasrallah further addressed the Americans by saying: “Hezbollah will not surrender, the resistance will not surrender, and your policies will lead to no result. Stop this game and end the waste of time. The policy of siege and sanctions you are following against Lebanon won’t weaken Hezbollah but rather your allies and influence.”
On the regional level, he emphasized that “Hezbollah’s preoccupation with our economic situation should not make us forget supporting the Palestinians.”
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah announced a new front on Tuesday by saying that the Resistance party has decided to be in the heart of agricultural and industrial battle.
In a televised speech via Al-Manar, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that reviving the agricultural and industrial sectors in Lebanon is considered as the new battle, since the country must be productive one.
“Save the date: 7/7 is the day when Jihad and uprising on the agriculture and industrial fields was announced,” Sayyed Nasrallah stated.
The Hezbollah S.G., meanwhile, lashed out at the US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea over meddling in Lebanon internal affairs, calling on her to ‘respect herself’ and refrain from “giving lectures on human rights.”
Sayyed Nasrallah also advised Washington to abandon its policy to besiege Lebanon, warning that such behavior won’t weaken Hezbollah, but will strengthen him.
On the other hand, Sayyed Nasrallah dismissed accusations that Hezbollah wants to “turn Lebanon into Iranian model.”
In this context, his eminence stressed that the Islamic Republic is a self-sufficient country, wondering: “Why are you afraid of this model?”
Recalling 2006 July War, Other Occasions
Starting his speech, Sayyed Nasrallah recalled the Divine Victory following the 2006 July war and the Second Liberation in 2017 when the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah fighters liberated Lebanon’s eastern Juroud from Takfiri terrorists.
“We are before several occasions that Lebanon recalls proudly,” Sayyed Nasrallah said via Al-Manar.
His eminence also recalled the firm stances of Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah on the tenth anniversary of his demise.
“He was firm defender of the Resistance. He was our merciful and tenderhearted father,” Sayyed Nasrallah said referring to Sayyed Fadlallah.
The Lebanese Resistance Leader, meanwhile, offered condolences over the departure of Sheikh Mohammad Jaafar Shamseddine.
“Turning Lebanon into Iranian Model?”
Sayyed Nasrallah said that the hard livelihood conditions and the economic crisis Lebanon has been witnessing require national approach and exerting united efforts by all the Lebanese powers.
His eminence referred to his latest speech when he called on the Lebanese government to head east, stressing that such call didn’t mean to relinquish the West.
“In my latest speech I called for heading east, I didn’t mention that Lebanon will abandon the west. We have nothing to do with accusations that Hezbollah wants to ‘turn Lebanon into an Iranian model’.”
As he stressed that “no one wants to turn Lebanon into another Iran,” he noted that the Islamic Republic is a self-sufficient country which confronted all kinds of blockades, wondering: “Why are you afraid of the Iranian model?”
Changing Threats against Lebanon into Chance
Sayyed Nasrallah then said that the current goal which the Lebanese people have to focus on is how to prevent Lebanon’s collapse and starvation.
In this context, his eminence noted that Lebanon must not just rely on the outcome of the talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), stressing the importance of looking for other choices.
“We are able to turn the threat into a chance,” Sayyed Nasrallah affirmed.
He called on the Lebanese government to take the initiative to contact the Chinese government to look into ways of cooperation with the two countries and not to wait for Beijing to do such step.
Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah voiced Iran’s readiness to sell Lebanon oil with the Lebanese pound.
“In this regard I prefer that official talks between Lebanon and Iran take place away from media, and I can guarantee such offer.”
“Heading east is one of choices to confront starvation. This choice sends a message to the US that whoever wants to besiege Lebanon will fail in this policy,” his eminence said further.
New Battle: Agricultural, Industrial Sectors
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that one of Lebanon’s major problems is that it is non-productive country.
“The agriculture and industry is like the oxygen for people. We have large areas of arable lands, the weather in Lebanon is proper and the rains are suitable. We can plant these lands but we need a decision and determination to do so.”
His eminence called for uniting efforts in reviving the agricultural and industrial sectors.
“As Lebanese people, we have to unite efforts in agriculture and in finding markets for our crops. And the same thing applies to the industry.”
“We in Hezbollah, we call on the Lebanese to revive the agricultural and industrial sectors as one of the major factors of steadfastness.
Stressing that Hezbollah has repeatedly raised the slogan of ‘where should we be we’ll be’, Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that this is the party’s new battle.
“We will be at the heart of this battle, our hand is extended to all our people. We will plant even the roofs of the buildings.”
“When we eat what we plant and wear what we fabricate then we are worth of freedom, independence and dignity,” his eminence affirmed.
“US Pressure on Lebanon to Strengthen Hezbollah”
Touching upon the behavior of US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea, Sayyed Nasrallah said that she is acting “like the military governor of our country,” lashing out at Washington’s meddling in Lebanese internal affairs.
“The US ambassador to Lebanon has been openly interfering in our internal affairs. US’ meddling in Lebanon is rejected and the Lebanese state must move in this regard.”
In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah praised courage of Urgent Matters Judge Mohammad Mazeh who banned local and foreign media from featuring statements of US Ambassador Dorothy Shea earlier last month.
Hezbollah S.G. then addressed Shea as saying: “I advise the US ambassador not to give lectures on freedom, sovereignty and human rights, for she doesn’t have the right to do so. Your country has been funding and supporting the Israeli and Takfiri terror. So respect yourself and keep within limits.”
Meanwhile, Sayyed Nasrallah advised Washington to abandon its policy of besieging Lebanon and exerting pressure on it, saying: “Your policy is futile; it won’t weaken Hezbollah but rather will strengthen him and weaken your allies.”
Sayyed Nasrallah then concluded his speech by stressing that Lebanon’s current crisis must not divert from supporting the Palestinian cause “especially now as the Zionist regime is planning to annex areas of the West Bank and Jordan Valley.”
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UPROOTED PALESTINIANS: SALAM ALQUDS ALAYKUM 