31 May 2011
30 May 2011
Advice needed
I really can't believe that the British troops are on the ground in Libya. My world is falling apart. I don't know what to do with myself. Does anyone know of a good counsellor/agony aunt around here? I'm going to cry.
The IMF versus the Arab spring
The biggest joke going round at the moment, that "the West" (which really just means the US, UK, France and maybe Germany nowadays) is funding any pro-democracy movement in the Arab world. We're expected to believe that they just decided that democracy is a good thing in Egypt and Tunisia now after strongly supporting the dictatorships there since WWI. But why are they only funding 'democracy' in those countries? Why not Saudi Arabia? Or do they only call for democracy in Arab countries where the Western-backed dictator has just been overthrown. Anyhow, you'd think if they were interested in democracy they'd wait for free elections to happen so they can deal with an elected government before pushing forward these agreements. But no. They're desperately trying to get them done as quickly as possible before elections. Giving billions of dollars to an unelected, unaccountable military junta is 'funding democracy' according to the BBC.
Al-Jazeera footage captures 'western troops on the ground' in Libya
I am absolutely stunned. I really had absolutely no suspicions that the US/Britain/France was interfering in Libya and then I come across this. I don't know what to believe now. I'm having a personal crisis. Please help me.
27 May 2011
Abbas: Palestinians have no wish to isolate Israel
Says the man who calls himself the 'President of Palestine' despite having no legal position at all, his term expired more than two years ago. Speak for yourself Abu Mazen.
Israeli-Iranian dealings
Iran sanctions on Israeli firm are an embarrassment Yeah. An embarrassment to Iran.
Heroic Israeli army carried out night-time raid against 80 year old woman
Aisha Yussef Salah, almost 80, said police had taken her for questioning about the activities of her son, who is considered to be a leader of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.
The Israeli army had no comment on the arrest or the release of the mother of Salah Aruri.
She was arrested in a night-time raid by the Israeli army on her West Bank home near the village of Arura, her daughter, Jamila Mohammed Yussef, told AFP.
Rafah crossing to be re-opened (with conditions)
The Egyptian Military Council is nervous because there have been calls for big demonstrations this today against the counter-revolution, imprisonment of people who protested outside the Israeli embassy and the leniency being shown to Mubarak. This is probably an attempt at preemptive appeasement and they'll start retracting it if they think it's no longer necessary to keep revolutionaries off their backs. They've also just charged Mubarak with ordering the killings of demonstrators. But no men from the age of 18-40 being allowed to leave (i.e. that's probably the majority of who would do so) is still pretty bad. And construction material is not going to be allowed when that's what they especially need considering the place is still wrecked after Israel's hooligan raids.
Why Zionism always was and always will be a terrorist movement
On the eve of the partition resolution in 1947 Jews owned 6-7% of the land in Palestine the vast majority of them being immigrants from Europe yet they were given 55% of the land most of it being owned by Arabs. The partition resolution was completely mad especially it decided to create a 'Jewish' state on 55% of Palestine despite the fact that only 50.4% of the population in this territory was Jewish after decades of Zionist invasion and that was after trying very hard to create bizarre borders to get as many Jews and as few Arabs as possible into a sizable area in Palestine. It was just impossible to create a Jewish state there because Arabs were the clear majority in almost every region and even where they weren't they were a large minority.
The Zionist movement understood that the only way they were going to create a Jewish state (by which they meant a non-Jewish minority of at most 20% could be tolerated) in an area which was predominantly Arab they would have to exterminate or expell the indigenous population. The Zionist project is based on ethnic cleansing and is maintained through ethnic cleansing without it Israel could not exist (see this interview with Benny Morris on that topic for instance) and obviously since the indigenous population was not going to just accept their country being stolen from them by force the Zionists had to resort to massacres and pioneering almost all forms of modern terrorism (bombs in Cafes: first used by Zionists in Palestine on March 17th, 1937 in Jaffa. Bombs on Buses: first used by Zionists in Palestine Aug. 20th-Sep. 26, 1937. Bombs in Market Places: first used by Zionists on July 6th, 1938 in Haifa. Bombing of Hotels: first used by Zionists on July 22nd, 1946 in Jerusalem. Bombing of Foreign Embassies: first used by Zionists on October 1st, 1946 in Rome (against the British). Mining of Ambulances: First used by Zionists on October 31st, 1946 in Petah Tikvah. Letter Bombs: first used by Zionists in June 1947 against British targets in UK. Hijacking civilian aircraft: first used by Zionists on December 12th 1954 against a Syrian airliner that'd just taken off from Damascus and taking the passengers hostage) to keep the Arabs in a constant state of terror so that they would not think to defy Israel (Zionists call this Israel's 'deterrence capacity') in fact the occupation that began in 1967 also came from this because the Zionists felt that the Arabs were collectively becoming too self-confident and thinking they could control their own destinies (Ariel Sharon complained at the time that "We're losing our greatest weapon, the fear of us") and so they launched a massive attack on Egypt to destroy Arab nationalism and give victory in the Arab Cold War to the reactionary/collaborationi
General Shlomo Gazit a former head of Israeli military intelligence once said around the time of the Oslo Accords "Israel’s main task has not changed at all, and it remains of crucial importance. Its location at the center of the Arab Muslim Middle East predestines Israel to be a devoted guardian of stability in all the countries surrounding it. Its [role] is to protect the existing regimes: to prevent or halt the processes of radicalization and to block the expansion of fundamentalist religious zealotry." which I think explains it pretty well if you read past the propaganda phrases like 'radicalization' which just means any ideas Israel doesn't like and it's a bit of joke to say that Israel's role is to protect the existing regimes in the Arab world from 'fundamentalist religious zealotry' when the leader of these regimes is SAUDI ARABIA unless that also is a euphemism. Israel knows it cannot exist with Arab freedom because Arabs will never accept it in their midst so they insist on making sure the Arabs stay enslaved and terrorised forever by consistently supporting the most reactionary forces in every internal Arab conflict (read up on Israeli involvement in the Yemen Civil War or the rebellion against the Omani regime in the 1960s-70s for example).
So you can't talk of "Israeli soldiers" committing war crimes as some kind of bad apple when the state itself has been based on ethnic cleansing and terrorism from the beginning without which it cannot exist. Another case is the Gaza massacre where there have been dozens of reports on it and the consistant finding of all of them is that the Israeli forces systemically destroyed the civilians infastructure of Gaza and the means of the society to exist independently for example they bombed almost all of the cement factories in Gaza so the people there couldn't rebuild since they also banned cement from entering under the siege. The bombed the only operating flour mill in Gaza, they bombed the sewage works and water acquifiers in Gaza so they can't clean sewage properly they even destroyed the main chicken farm in Gaza with tanks killing 65,000 chickens running them all over. It wasn't just some soldiers going wild that's what they were ordered to do in fact 'going wild' is the phrase the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni used to describe Israel's actions (she later said "Israel demonstrated real hooliganism in Gaza, which is what I demanded") all this destruction and acting lunatic again is just part of Israel's doctrine of 'deterrence capacity' terrorising the Arabs into not defying their will including by acting lunatic. Moshe Dayan once said 'Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother' and you find that basic doctrine too in how Israel constantly acts like a crazy state, because it's an easy lesson to learn in life that you don't mess with unpredictable, violent crazy people unless you want to get hurt.
The Zionist movement understood that the only way they were going to create a Jewish state (by which they meant a non-Jewish minority of at most 20% could be tolerated) in an area which was predominantly Arab they would have to exterminate or expell the indigenous population. The Zionist project is based on ethnic cleansing and is maintained through ethnic cleansing without it Israel could not exist (see this interview with Benny Morris on that topic for instance) and obviously since the indigenous population was not going to just accept their country being stolen from them by force the Zionists had to resort to massacres and pioneering almost all forms of modern terrorism (bombs in Cafes: first used by Zionists in Palestine on March 17th, 1937 in Jaffa. Bombs on Buses: first used by Zionists in Palestine Aug. 20th-Sep. 26, 1937. Bombs in Market Places: first used by Zionists on July 6th, 1938 in Haifa. Bombing of Hotels: first used by Zionists on July 22nd, 1946 in Jerusalem. Bombing of Foreign Embassies: first used by Zionists on October 1st, 1946 in Rome (against the British). Mining of Ambulances: First used by Zionists on October 31st, 1946 in Petah Tikvah. Letter Bombs: first used by Zionists in June 1947 against British targets in UK. Hijacking civilian aircraft: first used by Zionists on December 12th 1954 against a Syrian airliner that'd just taken off from Damascus and taking the passengers hostage) to keep the Arabs in a constant state of terror so that they would not think to defy Israel (Zionists call this Israel's 'deterrence capacity') in fact the occupation that began in 1967 also came from this because the Zionists felt that the Arabs were collectively becoming too self-confident and thinking they could control their own destinies (Ariel Sharon complained at the time that "We're losing our greatest weapon, the fear of us") and so they launched a massive attack on Egypt to destroy Arab nationalism and give victory in the Arab Cold War to the reactionary/collaborationi
General Shlomo Gazit a former head of Israeli military intelligence once said around the time of the Oslo Accords "Israel’s main task has not changed at all, and it remains of crucial importance. Its location at the center of the Arab Muslim Middle East predestines Israel to be a devoted guardian of stability in all the countries surrounding it. Its [role] is to protect the existing regimes: to prevent or halt the processes of radicalization and to block the expansion of fundamentalist religious zealotry." which I think explains it pretty well if you read past the propaganda phrases like 'radicalization' which just means any ideas Israel doesn't like and it's a bit of joke to say that Israel's role is to protect the existing regimes in the Arab world from 'fundamentalist religious zealotry' when the leader of these regimes is SAUDI ARABIA unless that also is a euphemism. Israel knows it cannot exist with Arab freedom because Arabs will never accept it in their midst so they insist on making sure the Arabs stay enslaved and terrorised forever by consistently supporting the most reactionary forces in every internal Arab conflict (read up on Israeli involvement in the Yemen Civil War or the rebellion against the Omani regime in the 1960s-70s for example).
So you can't talk of "Israeli soldiers" committing war crimes as some kind of bad apple when the state itself has been based on ethnic cleansing and terrorism from the beginning without which it cannot exist. Another case is the Gaza massacre where there have been dozens of reports on it and the consistant finding of all of them is that the Israeli forces systemically destroyed the civilians infastructure of Gaza and the means of the society to exist independently for example they bombed almost all of the cement factories in Gaza so the people there couldn't rebuild since they also banned cement from entering under the siege. The bombed the only operating flour mill in Gaza, they bombed the sewage works and water acquifiers in Gaza so they can't clean sewage properly they even destroyed the main chicken farm in Gaza with tanks killing 65,000 chickens running them all over. It wasn't just some soldiers going wild that's what they were ordered to do in fact 'going wild' is the phrase the Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni used to describe Israel's actions (she later said "Israel demonstrated real hooliganism in Gaza, which is what I demanded") all this destruction and acting lunatic again is just part of Israel's doctrine of 'deterrence capacity' terrorising the Arabs into not defying their will including by acting lunatic. Moshe Dayan once said 'Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother' and you find that basic doctrine too in how Israel constantly acts like a crazy state, because it's an easy lesson to learn in life that you don't mess with unpredictable, violent crazy people unless you want to get hurt.
26 May 2011
Nasrallah's Spider Web speech
NasMoqawama have (finally) put up a full English translation of Nasrallah's famous and increasingly relevant May 26th 2000 speech:
Full Speech of Secretary General of Hizbullah, His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, during the Festival of Victory in Bint Jbeil City on May 26, 2000
On the Resistance and Liberation Day, the day of the great, grand historic victory, we meet here at the heart of the region that has retained our nation and has been retained by the nation. In the forty-day commemoration of Abi Abdullah - the Martyrs' Master, Imam Hussein Bin Ali (Peace be upon him), we meet to iterate, anew, his saying and his path and to prove, again, that here blood conquers the sword, that here blood has conquered and defeated the sword, that here blood has smashed every cuff, and that here blood has humiliated every tyrannical and arrogant person.
We meet here to celebrate the victory that martyrdom has attained and that blood has attained. Once we speak about this victory, the land liberation, man's freedom, the homeland's dignity, and the nation's esteem, we must remember all of the persons who have participated in attaining this victory.
Firstly and lastly, we, the slaves of God, announce to the whole world that God - to Him be ascribed all Perfection and Majesty - has granted us this victory. He has guided us to the resistance path, and He has shown us the right way. He has kept our hearts firm since long years, and He has filled our hearts with assurance and ourselves with adoration of martyrdom. He has shot, and He has hit. He has destroyed the sites, and He has demolished the forts. He has killed the mighty persons, and He has attained this victory. We thank Him, praise Him, extol Him, and repent to Him. We ask Him for forgiveness, submit to Him, and pray to Him that he perfects our victory by liberating all of the land, all brothers, and this entire oppressed and tortured nation.
And once we speak about the people God created, we must firstly remember the martyrs - all of the martyrs: the martyrs of the resistance, whether they belong to Hizbullah, Amal Movement, or the national Lebanese forces. We must remember, too, the martyrs of the Lebanese Army, of the Syrian Army, and of the Palestinian resistance. We must acknowledge the first and grandest grace of these martyrs after God's grace - to Him be ascribed all Perfection and Majesty. We acknowledge the grace of the Master of the Resistance Martyrs - Sayyed Abbass Moussawi, the Sheikh of the Resistance Martyrs - Sheikh Ragheb Harb, and a dear brother who adored martyrdom and was a resistance man - fighter and Sheikh Ahmad Yehya, who has recently been martyred. He was a sanctified fighter and worshipper, and he would insist on being the first Sheikh to perform a self-sacrifice operation in the history of struggle with the Israeli enemy. We must acknowledge the grace of these self-sacrifice martyrs: Ahmad Qaseer, Billal Fahs, and Ammar Hammoud.
Their pure blood has attained victory. We must acknowledge the grace of the fighting, resisting, and sacrificing persons who left their homes, families, universities, and work to spend their fresh youth and age sustaining jihad and fighting. We must mention the martyrs' families. We must remember the captives who are still in prisons. We must remember the wounded persons, and we must mention the families of all of these people. We must remember everyone who raised the generations, prepared them, and laid the foundation of this resistive jihad path in Lebanon. Still, we must remember the Imam of the Fighters and Martyrs - Imam and Sayyed Rouhollah Al Moussawi Al Khomeini (Sacred is his secret). We must remember the first founder of the path of the resistance on the Lebanese territories, His Eminence, the abducted Imam - Sayyed Moussa Sadr (God bring him back safely).
We must remember all the sacrificing savants and all of who worked to make the people here, in Lebanon, believers, fighters, and resistive people ready to offer sacrifices. We must remember the residents of the previously occupied borderline, who have suffered and tolerated afflictions, and we must remember the residents of the villages by the confrontation frontiers, who would be shelled every day. Besides, we must remember the general public stance that fosters the resistance, and so for the political forces, committees, characters, parties, and clubs. We must commend the general, formal stance - particularly in this era of His Excellency, President Emile Lahoud, and in the time of this government of MP Salim Al Hoss. Besides, there are two men who stood by Lebanon and must, thus, be mentioned, and there are two states whose grace we must acknowledge and to whom we must attribute this victory, too. By that I mean: the Islamic Republic in Iran Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and the grand Arab leader - President Hafez Al Assad.
Actually, whoever wants to be just and fair when it comes to appreciating facts must admit that this truth involves the Leader, Grandest Ayatollah Sayyed Khamenei, who has - day and night- supported, assisted, stood by, and prayed for the fighters so that God grants them victory. This truth also involves the Islamic Republic that has stood by Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, supporting them, and tolerating a lot of horrifying and threatening on one hand, in addition to different kinds of temptation and enticement on another hand so that it renounces its support.
However, the Republic has refused this since such stance is of a creed, ethics, and humanity.
This truth further involves Al Assad's Syria that has protected, fostered, and guarded the resistance ever since it's very beginning through all of the difficult stages. Who can forget Syria fighting on the Lebanese territory in 1982? Who can forget what President Al Assad did in the July War in 1993? Who can forget what he did in the April War in 1996? Who can forget his firmness and steadfastness in Damascus at a time the whole world met in "Sharam Sheikh" to convict the resistance and describe it as a terrorist militia and to defend Israel? Here I am, on the day of victory, the Resistance and Liberation Day, thanking - on behalf of all of you - every Lebanese, Arab, Muslim, and free person in the world who has stood by the resistance, assisted it, and backed it with words, stances, writings, money, prayers, support, or even a smile.
The first victory has been represented by the liberation of a big part of our land and a big part of the detainees in the Occupation prisons and by defeating the enemy upon jihad, resistance, steadfastness, and sacrifices. We're here today feeling free and safe, for the enemy's aircraft do not dare fly above you, and I tell you that because the Israelis are scared of and horrified by a wooden miniature, a toy, or a statue of a Katyusha launcher in Kafarkila. So they are too coward to attack you on a day like this. Today we're here on our land because of our martyrs' blood and because of our people; thus, we're obliged to the grace of none. The United Nations, which has been too helpless to execute its Resolution 425 for 22 years, is not graceful. Not the International Security Council, not the unjust judge (the United States of America), and not the negotiations are graceful. Neither is the government of (Ehud) Barak that has gone out of this land because he has had only one choice: getting out of this land. For the first time ever, these sacrifices have perfectly retained an Arab land upon the resistance and force...
The second victory has been represented by the way the enemy has been forced to withdraw. You have imposed the timing, tactic, and way on the enemy. And you have proved to be a nation that deserves victory after the withdrawal. The Israelis were planning to withdraw after several weeks, to hand over their sites gradually to the Lahd militia, and to keep some sites as Shkief fort and Dabsheh Site, in addition to some other bordering ones so that when the Security Council would decide what to do and the UNIFIL would arrive to be in charge of the borders, the enemy would ensure a quiet and peaceful withdrawal, claiming favor by releasing our captives in Al Khiyam Detention Center. However, you've refused this, and so was the first breaking into Al Qantarah, Deir Seryan, Al Qaseer, and Taybe Towns. Then the towns commenced getting liberated as the sites were falling and the Lahd militias were collapsing (one after another). In a night, the borderline shifted into two halves, the total collapse began, and the enemy's miniature government held a meeting, finding it had two choices: either reoccupying the sites to confront the resistance and suffer more casualties, or quickening its withdrawal. Hereupon, it chose the second choice and left hurriedly, leaving you all of those tanks, halftracks, sites, and cannons and, thus, confirming that what happened in the South of Lebanon is a perfect Israeli defeat.
You have imposed the way and time of withdrawal on the enemy, and you have frustrated the enemy's mine represented by the Lahd militia, for the enemy was betting that this militia would get to its sites and fire before the United Nations' envoy would come to negotiate with the government, whereby the criminal and traitorous agents would receive pardon in return for evacuating the sites. This matter has come to an end, too. It has ended with the most extreme humiliation of those agents, and you have seen their photographs exposing their humiliation at the gates of occupied Palestine. You've seen how this enemy abandoned them. Afterwards, the whole world and the Israeli enemy itself were betting that this region wouldn't exult upon a victory nor celebrate liberation. The enemy was betting that great darkness would mask this region that unlimited civil unrests would happen, that the families of a village would revenge from other families in the same village or in another, and that a confession would assail another. The enemy thought that the region would witness the demolition of towns (as what happened to Haneen Town) and the perpetration of bloody massacres and carnages.
Nevertheless, in harmony with the Lebanese government, you and the resistance have proved that Lebanon's people, state, resistance, and total confessions are worthy of victory and are celebrating victory. After Israel's withdrawal, light has shattered the darkness and brightened this region after 22 years of affliction and detention of civilians by the Lahd militiamen, whose parents and families are still here, in spite of the coercion and houses demolition that the militiamen practiced, has any man been killed? I said this a few days ago: When the Nazi Army in France collapsed, the civilized French resistance executed ten thousand French agents without setting them on trial. Therefore, Lebanon, where the resistance is more civilized than France and this whole world, has anyone been killed? Has anyone even been beaten? Has a single blood drop fallen onto any part of this land? This is the perfect scene that has astonished the world! And it is the scene of the political and military victory that's been achieved. Well, some mistakes may be committed in such case; the world has been surprised because people know that when such circumstances occur in the other places of the world, killing, demolition, massacres, thefts, and robberies are committed.
Yet, what has happened here? Some thieves and sneaks might have committed some errors, but this is a simple part of this image. So why do some people insist on placing us in front of two scenes: Such civilized and great scene versus a scene given the same size and level and containing errors committed in this region? Hence, I say to them: Expel your fears, get rid of your malice, and be true Lebanese people and true patriots at this historic moment. So, this is the second victory achieved.
His Eminence has listed the points he wanted to show upon the talk about both victories:
First, this accomplishment and this victory must be preserved, strengthened, and fortified, and this actually needs greater effort, sacrifice, and modesty from everyone.
Second, we must prove to this region that we are worthy of victory, and so we have done in the recent days. But don't let anyone meddle with this during the coming days and weeks. I'm not expressing fears; however, we are close to an enemy that cannot bear to see such joy on your faces rather than the pain and sadness that used to mask your faces. The enemy cannot bear to see happiness in your eyes rather than the tears it used to see. Hereupon, none must have fears - neither Christians nor Muslims. I'm not going to list the villages and towns, but I say: This is everybody's responsibility, and everybody must bear responsibility. When a simple matter happens, we'll solve it, but if we enlarge upon it, then we miss the chance of common living. Therefore, let's give things their real sizes. After this whole dark history, this region needs fortification. It is the responsibility of Muslim and Christian scholars, the political forces present in the region, the effective and noble people, the educated, and our families to work all together in order to bring the people and families of every town closer.
Third, the agents represent a moral to all of the Lebanese people, and this is a new experience. You've seen how these agents have been humiliated and how they accuse their leader of betraying them. The agent Antoine Lahd says, "For 25 years, we've been loyal to Israel, but it betrayed and left us in one night. This must be a moral for every Lebanese Muslim and Christian: Israel doesn't care at all for anyone in Lebanon. It lies to both, the Christians and the Muslims, when it claims to be caring for them. What matters to Israel in Lebanon and in the region is represented by its interests, benefits, and greed. In the eyes of those Zionists, we - Muslims and Christians - are mere servants and slaves to the chosen people of God". So, isn't it time for some Lebanese people to understand this truth and learn from all of these morals?
The Lebanese people must recognize that their choice has to be a national one, and they must not make the wrong sectarian calculations which lead them to Israel. It is the interest of all confessions in Lebanon to have a national choice and an Arab one. In order to fortify the nationalistic security in Lebanon and to fortify this region, the judiciary must set the agents on trial and punish them very severely so that they make a moral for the future and so that no rebellious and provoked person or a lurking and malicious one exploits a mine or wick.
Fourth: On the Day of Victory, I announce that we, Hizbullah, do not wish to be an alternative of the government as regards the authority over this region. We're not a security authority, and we're not going to be so. We're not a security reference, and we won't be so. The government is in charge of this region, which has been retained to the State's sovereignty. The government decides who to send: security forces or other security systems. And it decides if it is going to reinforce security departments. We absolutely bear no security responsibility in this region.
Fifth: There exists the developmental and reconstructive responsibility. The immense demolition in this region requires the acting of the government. Certainly, Hizbullah has offered blood and sacrifices, and we shall not forsake assisting such regions with the best of our modest giving. However, it is the government's responsibility to handle the developmental situation in this area - urgently and exceptionally. Hereupon, I reiterate that the size of work required at the levels of development, reconstruction, and services cannot be merely performed by an institution or a ministry. All of the government's ministries must be alarmed so that they come here and handle their responsibility, which involves the liberated regions of the South and of West Bekaa that represent the confrontation villages tolerating the burden of the resistance more than other places did, for they were continuously shelled, assailed, and attacked. Still, when we talk about developing and reconstructing these regions, we must remember a region that has done a grand favor to this resistance. This region is Baalbek-Al Hermel, which witnessed the foundation of the Islamic Resistance and fostered fighters from Beirut and the South. Baalbek would constantly be attacked by airstrikes. It has suffered economic and developmental losses. Also, it has offered hundreds of its citizens for martyrdom. In fact, in Bekaa - particularly in Baalbek-Al Hermel Region, it is rare to find a village that hasn't offered martyrs for the sake of liberating the South and West Bekaa.
This region has been patient for all those years because liberation has been its priority, and its people have been convinced - just like we have been- that the liberation priority deserved patience and tolerance. These people, who have offered their children as martyrs for the sake of liberating the South, have tolerated hunger and deprivation. Thus, developing this region must be consistent with the development of that region, and this means there must be an emergencies committee for both regions in case we wish to be loyal to the oppressed, deprived, tortured, and poor people who have fought and attained victory.
Sixth, to all of the Lebanese people, I say: You need to realize that this victory belongs to all of the Lebanese people, for it is not merely the victory of a party, movement, or discipline. It's not about the victory of a confession and the defeat of another. Faulty and ignorant is who believes or says so. This is Lebanon's victory; this resistance has been a force of the nation, and so it will be. Whenever this resistance was victorious, it would be humble. Whenever it was honored by offering martyrs, it would be humble, too. I tell you: You're going to find Hizbullah and the Islamic Resistance, in particular, more modest than any time ever, for this victory makes us feel the greatness, power, mightiness, and ability of our God. How weak we, humans, are! If we depend on ourselves, then we remain defeated, so we must depend on God - the Almighty and most Esteemed. I promise you that none will use this victory on behalf of this nation or any part of the people of this dear nation.
Seventh: Today, (Ehud) Barak asks Lebanon to consider that Israel's withdrawal is a message of peace. This is deception because he had no choice but to leave. Besides, he asks us to consider that this withdrawal represents peace after Israel's killing of tens of thousands of civilians and at least 1276 martyrs of Hizbullah. If we add to them thousands of martyrs of the brothers relative to the Lebanese national and Islamic forces, what will the result be? Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Lebanon. Our country, in addition to our economy, has been destroyed. Our people are still captives in the Israeli prisons, and our dear land, Shebaa Farms, is still occupied.
On the contrary, Barak is now welcoming the millionth Russian Jewish immigrant and announcing his readiness to receive a million immigrants to Palestine through the coming years. Barak refuses to let the Palestinians, who have resorted to Lebanon or to other countries, return to their homeland and houses. What kind of peace message does Barak talk about before he commences threatening and horrifying Lebanon? Confronting his horrifying, threat, and promise, I tell you: Sheikh Abdul Kareem Obeid, Abu Ali Ad-Deerani, Sameer Al Kintar, and every captive in the Israeli persons shall soon return to you - God willing. Barak and his government have no choice, so I advise him to leave Shebaa Farms and solve this problem. Anyway, days are going to prove he has no other choice, and we're not interested in international resolutions; we merely understand that there exists an occupied Lebanese land that Lebanon has to retain. The captives are going to be back, and the rest of the land is going to be freed. Therefore, this enemy, which has been defeated in Lebanon, is going to have no choices. As for the Israeli threats, they do not scare us. The Israelis along these borders and this borderline are scared. They've been scared of some women and children standing by the Iron barrier. They're scared of a stone that anyone might throw at them, too.
Right now, you're here in Bint Jbeil, safe and happy, whereas along the settlements of northern Palestine, they are scared and terrified by the unknown future. The era when we would fear the Israeli threats is over, and Barak knows that the era when his aircraft would violate our sky is over. He recognizes that the time when his tanks would profane our land is gone, and that the time when his boats would violate our regional waters is history. He knows that any aggression against Lebanon isn't going to be confronted with a complaint to the Security Council nor with tears; it shall be encountered by the resistance. If Israel assails Lebanon, then it shall pay expensive prices.
Eighth, the Lebanese people, there are grand dues ahead of you: The due of sustaining the liberation, bringing the captives back, and sustaining the establishment of the governmental institutions. When such harmony between the resistance and the government exists and when the nation is united, we can face all dues and build a country named Lebanon for ourselves and our coming generations. The power of the new Lebanon lies in its strength, blood, steadfastness, mightiness, and resistance against all political storms and hurricanes. The new Lebanon is a nation of true common living, for from now on, no Muslim or Christian shall allow the Zionists to manipulate our generations, our youth, or us. The new Lebanon is a country of severity in confrontation with the invaders, and a country of mercy as respects the treatment of its people, categories, and confessions with each other.
Ninth, we offer this victory to our oppressed people in Palestine and to the peoples of our Arab and Islamic Nation. From liberated Bint Jbeil, I address the oppressed, tortured, and afflicted Palestinian people: Our people in Palestine, your destiny lies within your reach, and you can retain your land with your will, with Ezzeddine Alqassam's choice, and with the blood of Fatehi Shiqaqi and Yehya Ayyash. You can retain your land without receiving the favor of an alley here or a village there that the Zionists can give you. You can bring your families back home with pride and esteem, begging none. Even in case the whole world renounces you, you can retain your land and legitimate rights.
Put these proofs and reasons aside. The people of Palestine, your way to Palestine and to liberty is the path of resistance and insurrection, which means a serious resistance and a real insurrection rather than the insurrection in the shadow of Oslo or in the service of the concessive negotiation in Stockholm. You should take the path of the insurrection and the resistance that only accept the perfect right - as Lebanon has done, whereby the whole Lebanese people refuse to keep a small part of their land occupied. Hence, we offer this noble Lebanese model to our people in Palestine. To free your land, you don't need tanks, a strategic balance, rockets, and cannons; you need to follow the way of the past self-sacrifice martyrs who disrupted and horrified the coercive Zionist entity. You, the oppressed, unarmed, and restricted Palestinians, can force the Zionist invaders to return to the places they came from. Let the Falasha go to Ethiopia, and let the Russian Jews return to Russia. The choice is yours, and the model lies right in front of your eyes. An honest and serious resistance can make the freedom dawn arise. Our brothers and beloved Palestinians, I tell you: Israel, which owns nuclear weapons and the strongest war aircraft in the region, is feebler than a spider's web - I swear to God.
However, if you wish to depend on the Soviet Union as the case used to be, then you'll get no result. If you are waiting for the international community, then there won't be an outcome. And in case you are betting on equations, then you won't be getting a result.
The people of Palestine, if you obey God, then He will alter you victorious and steady. The people of Palestine, if God alters you victorious, then none shall defeat you.
And I tell our Islamic and Arab peoples: The Arab Nation, the Islamic and Arab World, shame, defeat, humiliation, and disgrace have become history. This victory lays the foundation for a new era of history and shuts the door to a past historic era. Overcome your despair and make hope your weapon. Get rid of feebleness and be determined and resolute. Representing all martyrs and oppressed people in Lebanon, I request that the Arab governments terminate the normalization with Israel and end their relation with it. I request that they impose their stance and decision on Israeli, and I request that the Arab peoples support Palestine and its people and refuse any form of normalization with the enemy. The resistance has defeated the grand Israel. The resistance is conquering the great Israel, and resisting normalization is an important part of the resistance.
I greet all fighters who defend Lebanon, the country of victory, of nationalistic, Arab, and Islamic esteem, of honor and sacrifice, and of resistance and martyrdom. Also, I tell them, the Islamic Resistance, the Lebanese Brigades for resisting the Occupation, the Lebanese-Resistance Battalions of Amal, the National Resistance Frontier, and this people: The Lebanese people, we live close to a conspiring enemy, whereby the attitude of the Israelis is represented by terror and aggression, for this discriminative attitude makes them seek continuous conspiracies. That's why we must all stay in perfect readiness, preserving our resistance, army, state, and national and inner unity so that we fortify this victory and prove that Lebanon is the fort that withstands political storms, hurricanes, and even the strongest political earthquakes.
Congratulations for all of the Lebanese people, the Arabs, the Muslims, the Christians, and all of the oppressed people of the World. Congratulations for the soul of Imam Khomeini, Moussa Sadr, Leader Khamenei, President Al Assad, and every Lebanese person, martyr, and honorable Arab person. Congratulations for this victory that has brought the whole Nation to the gate of the stage of the coming victories and that has placed Israel at the gate of the stage of the coming defeats.
On the Resistance and Liberation Day, the day of the great, grand historic victory, we meet here at the heart of the region that has retained our nation and has been retained by the nation. In the forty-day commemoration of Abi Abdullah - the Martyrs' Master, Imam Hussein Bin Ali (Peace be upon him), we meet to iterate, anew, his saying and his path and to prove, again, that here blood conquers the sword, that here blood has conquered and defeated the sword, that here blood has smashed every cuff, and that here blood has humiliated every tyrannical and arrogant person.
We meet here to celebrate the victory that martyrdom has attained and that blood has attained. Once we speak about this victory, the land liberation, man's freedom, the homeland's dignity, and the nation's esteem, we must remember all of the persons who have participated in attaining this victory.
Firstly and lastly, we, the slaves of God, announce to the whole world that God - to Him be ascribed all Perfection and Majesty - has granted us this victory. He has guided us to the resistance path, and He has shown us the right way. He has kept our hearts firm since long years, and He has filled our hearts with assurance and ourselves with adoration of martyrdom. He has shot, and He has hit. He has destroyed the sites, and He has demolished the forts. He has killed the mighty persons, and He has attained this victory. We thank Him, praise Him, extol Him, and repent to Him. We ask Him for forgiveness, submit to Him, and pray to Him that he perfects our victory by liberating all of the land, all brothers, and this entire oppressed and tortured nation.
And once we speak about the people God created, we must firstly remember the martyrs - all of the martyrs: the martyrs of the resistance, whether they belong to Hizbullah, Amal Movement, or the national Lebanese forces. We must remember, too, the martyrs of the Lebanese Army, of the Syrian Army, and of the Palestinian resistance. We must acknowledge the first and grandest grace of these martyrs after God's grace - to Him be ascribed all Perfection and Majesty. We acknowledge the grace of the Master of the Resistance Martyrs - Sayyed Abbass Moussawi, the Sheikh of the Resistance Martyrs - Sheikh Ragheb Harb, and a dear brother who adored martyrdom and was a resistance man - fighter and Sheikh Ahmad Yehya, who has recently been martyred. He was a sanctified fighter and worshipper, and he would insist on being the first Sheikh to perform a self-sacrifice operation in the history of struggle with the Israeli enemy. We must acknowledge the grace of these self-sacrifice martyrs: Ahmad Qaseer, Billal Fahs, and Ammar Hammoud.
Their pure blood has attained victory. We must acknowledge the grace of the fighting, resisting, and sacrificing persons who left their homes, families, universities, and work to spend their fresh youth and age sustaining jihad and fighting. We must mention the martyrs' families. We must remember the captives who are still in prisons. We must remember the wounded persons, and we must mention the families of all of these people. We must remember everyone who raised the generations, prepared them, and laid the foundation of this resistive jihad path in Lebanon. Still, we must remember the Imam of the Fighters and Martyrs - Imam and Sayyed Rouhollah Al Moussawi Al Khomeini (Sacred is his secret). We must remember the first founder of the path of the resistance on the Lebanese territories, His Eminence, the abducted Imam - Sayyed Moussa Sadr (God bring him back safely).
We must remember all the sacrificing savants and all of who worked to make the people here, in Lebanon, believers, fighters, and resistive people ready to offer sacrifices. We must remember the residents of the previously occupied borderline, who have suffered and tolerated afflictions, and we must remember the residents of the villages by the confrontation frontiers, who would be shelled every day. Besides, we must remember the general public stance that fosters the resistance, and so for the political forces, committees, characters, parties, and clubs. We must commend the general, formal stance - particularly in this era of His Excellency, President Emile Lahoud, and in the time of this government of MP Salim Al Hoss. Besides, there are two men who stood by Lebanon and must, thus, be mentioned, and there are two states whose grace we must acknowledge and to whom we must attribute this victory, too. By that I mean: the Islamic Republic in Iran Leader Sayyed Ali Khamenei, and the grand Arab leader - President Hafez Al Assad.
Actually, whoever wants to be just and fair when it comes to appreciating facts must admit that this truth involves the Leader, Grandest Ayatollah Sayyed Khamenei, who has - day and night- supported, assisted, stood by, and prayed for the fighters so that God grants them victory. This truth also involves the Islamic Republic that has stood by Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine, supporting them, and tolerating a lot of horrifying and threatening on one hand, in addition to different kinds of temptation and enticement on another hand so that it renounces its support.
However, the Republic has refused this since such stance is of a creed, ethics, and humanity.
This truth further involves Al Assad's Syria that has protected, fostered, and guarded the resistance ever since it's very beginning through all of the difficult stages. Who can forget Syria fighting on the Lebanese territory in 1982? Who can forget what President Al Assad did in the July War in 1993? Who can forget what he did in the April War in 1996? Who can forget his firmness and steadfastness in Damascus at a time the whole world met in "Sharam Sheikh" to convict the resistance and describe it as a terrorist militia and to defend Israel? Here I am, on the day of victory, the Resistance and Liberation Day, thanking - on behalf of all of you - every Lebanese, Arab, Muslim, and free person in the world who has stood by the resistance, assisted it, and backed it with words, stances, writings, money, prayers, support, or even a smile.
The first victory has been represented by the liberation of a big part of our land and a big part of the detainees in the Occupation prisons and by defeating the enemy upon jihad, resistance, steadfastness, and sacrifices. We're here today feeling free and safe, for the enemy's aircraft do not dare fly above you, and I tell you that because the Israelis are scared of and horrified by a wooden miniature, a toy, or a statue of a Katyusha launcher in Kafarkila. So they are too coward to attack you on a day like this. Today we're here on our land because of our martyrs' blood and because of our people; thus, we're obliged to the grace of none. The United Nations, which has been too helpless to execute its Resolution 425 for 22 years, is not graceful. Not the International Security Council, not the unjust judge (the United States of America), and not the negotiations are graceful. Neither is the government of (Ehud) Barak that has gone out of this land because he has had only one choice: getting out of this land. For the first time ever, these sacrifices have perfectly retained an Arab land upon the resistance and force...
The second victory has been represented by the way the enemy has been forced to withdraw. You have imposed the timing, tactic, and way on the enemy. And you have proved to be a nation that deserves victory after the withdrawal. The Israelis were planning to withdraw after several weeks, to hand over their sites gradually to the Lahd militia, and to keep some sites as Shkief fort and Dabsheh Site, in addition to some other bordering ones so that when the Security Council would decide what to do and the UNIFIL would arrive to be in charge of the borders, the enemy would ensure a quiet and peaceful withdrawal, claiming favor by releasing our captives in Al Khiyam Detention Center. However, you've refused this, and so was the first breaking into Al Qantarah, Deir Seryan, Al Qaseer, and Taybe Towns. Then the towns commenced getting liberated as the sites were falling and the Lahd militias were collapsing (one after another). In a night, the borderline shifted into two halves, the total collapse began, and the enemy's miniature government held a meeting, finding it had two choices: either reoccupying the sites to confront the resistance and suffer more casualties, or quickening its withdrawal. Hereupon, it chose the second choice and left hurriedly, leaving you all of those tanks, halftracks, sites, and cannons and, thus, confirming that what happened in the South of Lebanon is a perfect Israeli defeat.
You have imposed the way and time of withdrawal on the enemy, and you have frustrated the enemy's mine represented by the Lahd militia, for the enemy was betting that this militia would get to its sites and fire before the United Nations' envoy would come to negotiate with the government, whereby the criminal and traitorous agents would receive pardon in return for evacuating the sites. This matter has come to an end, too. It has ended with the most extreme humiliation of those agents, and you have seen their photographs exposing their humiliation at the gates of occupied Palestine. You've seen how this enemy abandoned them. Afterwards, the whole world and the Israeli enemy itself were betting that this region wouldn't exult upon a victory nor celebrate liberation. The enemy was betting that great darkness would mask this region that unlimited civil unrests would happen, that the families of a village would revenge from other families in the same village or in another, and that a confession would assail another. The enemy thought that the region would witness the demolition of towns (as what happened to Haneen Town) and the perpetration of bloody massacres and carnages.
Nevertheless, in harmony with the Lebanese government, you and the resistance have proved that Lebanon's people, state, resistance, and total confessions are worthy of victory and are celebrating victory. After Israel's withdrawal, light has shattered the darkness and brightened this region after 22 years of affliction and detention of civilians by the Lahd militiamen, whose parents and families are still here, in spite of the coercion and houses demolition that the militiamen practiced, has any man been killed? I said this a few days ago: When the Nazi Army in France collapsed, the civilized French resistance executed ten thousand French agents without setting them on trial. Therefore, Lebanon, where the resistance is more civilized than France and this whole world, has anyone been killed? Has anyone even been beaten? Has a single blood drop fallen onto any part of this land? This is the perfect scene that has astonished the world! And it is the scene of the political and military victory that's been achieved. Well, some mistakes may be committed in such case; the world has been surprised because people know that when such circumstances occur in the other places of the world, killing, demolition, massacres, thefts, and robberies are committed.
Yet, what has happened here? Some thieves and sneaks might have committed some errors, but this is a simple part of this image. So why do some people insist on placing us in front of two scenes: Such civilized and great scene versus a scene given the same size and level and containing errors committed in this region? Hence, I say to them: Expel your fears, get rid of your malice, and be true Lebanese people and true patriots at this historic moment. So, this is the second victory achieved.
His Eminence has listed the points he wanted to show upon the talk about both victories:
First, this accomplishment and this victory must be preserved, strengthened, and fortified, and this actually needs greater effort, sacrifice, and modesty from everyone.
Second, we must prove to this region that we are worthy of victory, and so we have done in the recent days. But don't let anyone meddle with this during the coming days and weeks. I'm not expressing fears; however, we are close to an enemy that cannot bear to see such joy on your faces rather than the pain and sadness that used to mask your faces. The enemy cannot bear to see happiness in your eyes rather than the tears it used to see. Hereupon, none must have fears - neither Christians nor Muslims. I'm not going to list the villages and towns, but I say: This is everybody's responsibility, and everybody must bear responsibility. When a simple matter happens, we'll solve it, but if we enlarge upon it, then we miss the chance of common living. Therefore, let's give things their real sizes. After this whole dark history, this region needs fortification. It is the responsibility of Muslim and Christian scholars, the political forces present in the region, the effective and noble people, the educated, and our families to work all together in order to bring the people and families of every town closer.
Third, the agents represent a moral to all of the Lebanese people, and this is a new experience. You've seen how these agents have been humiliated and how they accuse their leader of betraying them. The agent Antoine Lahd says, "For 25 years, we've been loyal to Israel, but it betrayed and left us in one night. This must be a moral for every Lebanese Muslim and Christian: Israel doesn't care at all for anyone in Lebanon. It lies to both, the Christians and the Muslims, when it claims to be caring for them. What matters to Israel in Lebanon and in the region is represented by its interests, benefits, and greed. In the eyes of those Zionists, we - Muslims and Christians - are mere servants and slaves to the chosen people of God". So, isn't it time for some Lebanese people to understand this truth and learn from all of these morals?
The Lebanese people must recognize that their choice has to be a national one, and they must not make the wrong sectarian calculations which lead them to Israel. It is the interest of all confessions in Lebanon to have a national choice and an Arab one. In order to fortify the nationalistic security in Lebanon and to fortify this region, the judiciary must set the agents on trial and punish them very severely so that they make a moral for the future and so that no rebellious and provoked person or a lurking and malicious one exploits a mine or wick.
Fourth: On the Day of Victory, I announce that we, Hizbullah, do not wish to be an alternative of the government as regards the authority over this region. We're not a security authority, and we're not going to be so. We're not a security reference, and we won't be so. The government is in charge of this region, which has been retained to the State's sovereignty. The government decides who to send: security forces or other security systems. And it decides if it is going to reinforce security departments. We absolutely bear no security responsibility in this region.
Fifth: There exists the developmental and reconstructive responsibility. The immense demolition in this region requires the acting of the government. Certainly, Hizbullah has offered blood and sacrifices, and we shall not forsake assisting such regions with the best of our modest giving. However, it is the government's responsibility to handle the developmental situation in this area - urgently and exceptionally. Hereupon, I reiterate that the size of work required at the levels of development, reconstruction, and services cannot be merely performed by an institution or a ministry. All of the government's ministries must be alarmed so that they come here and handle their responsibility, which involves the liberated regions of the South and of West Bekaa that represent the confrontation villages tolerating the burden of the resistance more than other places did, for they were continuously shelled, assailed, and attacked. Still, when we talk about developing and reconstructing these regions, we must remember a region that has done a grand favor to this resistance. This region is Baalbek-Al Hermel, which witnessed the foundation of the Islamic Resistance and fostered fighters from Beirut and the South. Baalbek would constantly be attacked by airstrikes. It has suffered economic and developmental losses. Also, it has offered hundreds of its citizens for martyrdom. In fact, in Bekaa - particularly in Baalbek-Al Hermel Region, it is rare to find a village that hasn't offered martyrs for the sake of liberating the South and West Bekaa.
This region has been patient for all those years because liberation has been its priority, and its people have been convinced - just like we have been- that the liberation priority deserved patience and tolerance. These people, who have offered their children as martyrs for the sake of liberating the South, have tolerated hunger and deprivation. Thus, developing this region must be consistent with the development of that region, and this means there must be an emergencies committee for both regions in case we wish to be loyal to the oppressed, deprived, tortured, and poor people who have fought and attained victory.
Sixth, to all of the Lebanese people, I say: You need to realize that this victory belongs to all of the Lebanese people, for it is not merely the victory of a party, movement, or discipline. It's not about the victory of a confession and the defeat of another. Faulty and ignorant is who believes or says so. This is Lebanon's victory; this resistance has been a force of the nation, and so it will be. Whenever this resistance was victorious, it would be humble. Whenever it was honored by offering martyrs, it would be humble, too. I tell you: You're going to find Hizbullah and the Islamic Resistance, in particular, more modest than any time ever, for this victory makes us feel the greatness, power, mightiness, and ability of our God. How weak we, humans, are! If we depend on ourselves, then we remain defeated, so we must depend on God - the Almighty and most Esteemed. I promise you that none will use this victory on behalf of this nation or any part of the people of this dear nation.
Seventh: Today, (Ehud) Barak asks Lebanon to consider that Israel's withdrawal is a message of peace. This is deception because he had no choice but to leave. Besides, he asks us to consider that this withdrawal represents peace after Israel's killing of tens of thousands of civilians and at least 1276 martyrs of Hizbullah. If we add to them thousands of martyrs of the brothers relative to the Lebanese national and Islamic forces, what will the result be? Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed in Lebanon. Our country, in addition to our economy, has been destroyed. Our people are still captives in the Israeli prisons, and our dear land, Shebaa Farms, is still occupied.
On the contrary, Barak is now welcoming the millionth Russian Jewish immigrant and announcing his readiness to receive a million immigrants to Palestine through the coming years. Barak refuses to let the Palestinians, who have resorted to Lebanon or to other countries, return to their homeland and houses. What kind of peace message does Barak talk about before he commences threatening and horrifying Lebanon? Confronting his horrifying, threat, and promise, I tell you: Sheikh Abdul Kareem Obeid, Abu Ali Ad-Deerani, Sameer Al Kintar, and every captive in the Israeli persons shall soon return to you - God willing. Barak and his government have no choice, so I advise him to leave Shebaa Farms and solve this problem. Anyway, days are going to prove he has no other choice, and we're not interested in international resolutions; we merely understand that there exists an occupied Lebanese land that Lebanon has to retain. The captives are going to be back, and the rest of the land is going to be freed. Therefore, this enemy, which has been defeated in Lebanon, is going to have no choices. As for the Israeli threats, they do not scare us. The Israelis along these borders and this borderline are scared. They've been scared of some women and children standing by the Iron barrier. They're scared of a stone that anyone might throw at them, too.
Right now, you're here in Bint Jbeil, safe and happy, whereas along the settlements of northern Palestine, they are scared and terrified by the unknown future. The era when we would fear the Israeli threats is over, and Barak knows that the era when his aircraft would violate our sky is over. He recognizes that the time when his tanks would profane our land is gone, and that the time when his boats would violate our regional waters is history. He knows that any aggression against Lebanon isn't going to be confronted with a complaint to the Security Council nor with tears; it shall be encountered by the resistance. If Israel assails Lebanon, then it shall pay expensive prices.
Eighth, the Lebanese people, there are grand dues ahead of you: The due of sustaining the liberation, bringing the captives back, and sustaining the establishment of the governmental institutions. When such harmony between the resistance and the government exists and when the nation is united, we can face all dues and build a country named Lebanon for ourselves and our coming generations. The power of the new Lebanon lies in its strength, blood, steadfastness, mightiness, and resistance against all political storms and hurricanes. The new Lebanon is a nation of true common living, for from now on, no Muslim or Christian shall allow the Zionists to manipulate our generations, our youth, or us. The new Lebanon is a country of severity in confrontation with the invaders, and a country of mercy as respects the treatment of its people, categories, and confessions with each other.
Ninth, we offer this victory to our oppressed people in Palestine and to the peoples of our Arab and Islamic Nation. From liberated Bint Jbeil, I address the oppressed, tortured, and afflicted Palestinian people: Our people in Palestine, your destiny lies within your reach, and you can retain your land with your will, with Ezzeddine Alqassam's choice, and with the blood of Fatehi Shiqaqi and Yehya Ayyash. You can retain your land without receiving the favor of an alley here or a village there that the Zionists can give you. You can bring your families back home with pride and esteem, begging none. Even in case the whole world renounces you, you can retain your land and legitimate rights.
Put these proofs and reasons aside. The people of Palestine, your way to Palestine and to liberty is the path of resistance and insurrection, which means a serious resistance and a real insurrection rather than the insurrection in the shadow of Oslo or in the service of the concessive negotiation in Stockholm. You should take the path of the insurrection and the resistance that only accept the perfect right - as Lebanon has done, whereby the whole Lebanese people refuse to keep a small part of their land occupied. Hence, we offer this noble Lebanese model to our people in Palestine. To free your land, you don't need tanks, a strategic balance, rockets, and cannons; you need to follow the way of the past self-sacrifice martyrs who disrupted and horrified the coercive Zionist entity. You, the oppressed, unarmed, and restricted Palestinians, can force the Zionist invaders to return to the places they came from. Let the Falasha go to Ethiopia, and let the Russian Jews return to Russia. The choice is yours, and the model lies right in front of your eyes. An honest and serious resistance can make the freedom dawn arise. Our brothers and beloved Palestinians, I tell you: Israel, which owns nuclear weapons and the strongest war aircraft in the region, is feebler than a spider's web - I swear to God.
However, if you wish to depend on the Soviet Union as the case used to be, then you'll get no result. If you are waiting for the international community, then there won't be an outcome. And in case you are betting on equations, then you won't be getting a result.
The people of Palestine, if you obey God, then He will alter you victorious and steady. The people of Palestine, if God alters you victorious, then none shall defeat you.
And I tell our Islamic and Arab peoples: The Arab Nation, the Islamic and Arab World, shame, defeat, humiliation, and disgrace have become history. This victory lays the foundation for a new era of history and shuts the door to a past historic era. Overcome your despair and make hope your weapon. Get rid of feebleness and be determined and resolute. Representing all martyrs and oppressed people in Lebanon, I request that the Arab governments terminate the normalization with Israel and end their relation with it. I request that they impose their stance and decision on Israeli, and I request that the Arab peoples support Palestine and its people and refuse any form of normalization with the enemy. The resistance has defeated the grand Israel. The resistance is conquering the great Israel, and resisting normalization is an important part of the resistance.
I greet all fighters who defend Lebanon, the country of victory, of nationalistic, Arab, and Islamic esteem, of honor and sacrifice, and of resistance and martyrdom. Also, I tell them, the Islamic Resistance, the Lebanese Brigades for resisting the Occupation, the Lebanese-Resistance Battalions of Amal, the National Resistance Frontier, and this people: The Lebanese people, we live close to a conspiring enemy, whereby the attitude of the Israelis is represented by terror and aggression, for this discriminative attitude makes them seek continuous conspiracies. That's why we must all stay in perfect readiness, preserving our resistance, army, state, and national and inner unity so that we fortify this victory and prove that Lebanon is the fort that withstands political storms, hurricanes, and even the strongest political earthquakes.
Congratulations for all of the Lebanese people, the Arabs, the Muslims, the Christians, and all of the oppressed people of the World. Congratulations for the soul of Imam Khomeini, Moussa Sadr, Leader Khamenei, President Al Assad, and every Lebanese person, martyr, and honorable Arab person. Congratulations for this victory that has brought the whole Nation to the gate of the stage of the coming victories and that has placed Israel at the gate of the stage of the coming defeats.
Obama the revolutionary theoretician
The closest Barack Obama comes to Karl Marx is their amounts of facial hair.
25 May 2011
Day of Dignity
Here are some articles from May 2000:
ISRAELIS GONE FROM LEBANON TROOPS BLAST WAY OUT AFTER BARAK SETS 24-HOUR DEADLINE
Wednesday, May 24th 2000, 2:12AM
Israel pulled all of its troops out of South Lebanon overnight the same way they came in 22 years ago - with guns blazing.The last Israeli troops crossed into the Jewish state shortly before midnight New York time in a head-spinning retreat.
They came under heavy fire from Shiite Muslim guerrillas, who quickly moved in to take over the buffer zone that Israel had occupied to protect its northern border.
As the last tanks and trucks poured across the border, Israeli Air Force jets blasted guerrilla positions and destroyed roads to prevent pursuit. The sky was dyed red by Israeli flares illuminating the retreat.
Israeli demolition experts blew up former army strongholds so there would be nothing left for the guerrillas to use.
Maj. Kobi Dostakam, the last Israeli soldier out of Lebanon, closed the Fatma border crossing gate and told reporters: "It feels good. I hope it lasts." Soldiers cheered and applauded.
The Muslim guerrillas poured into town after town as the Israelis pulled back during the day.
They were greeted like liberators - even though Prime Minister Ehud Barak had promised to pull out of South Lebanon by July to end what has been called Israel's Vietnam.
"This is the happiest day of my life," 34-year-old Zeinab Samhat cried. "I never thought this day would come."
Outside Marjayoun, which served as the enclave's capital, villagers chanting "Allahu akbar" (God is great) stormed the hated Khiam prison and freed the inmates.
"Freedom! Freedom!" a white-haired prisoner cried after he was busted out of his jail cell. "We're actually free at last!"
It was a different story at the Lebanese-Israeli border, where thousands of Lebanese militiamen and their families clamored to be let into Israel.
They held whatever they could pack in their battered suitcases. The mostly Christian refugees have been branded traitors by Beirut for supporting Israel's creation of the security zone in Lebanon and for fighting against the Amal and Hezbollah Muslim guerrillas.
"They're afraid they could be massacred by Hezbollah," said David Gamliel, an Israeli searching the crowd for friends. "This is what happens to those who are friends of Israel."
In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy insisted, "We have not abandoned the SLA." But the militiamen cursed their former backers. "Look at what they did to us," one said. "They left us so fast."
When the Israelis began pulling out Monday, militia members began surrendering en masse or running for the border instead of fighting. This prompted Barak to speed up his troop pullout.
Barak yesterday was battered by critics who likened the panicked pullout to the fall of Saigon.
"It's a very sad day," lawmaker Amnon Rubenstein said. "It sets a very bad example, as if Israel can be driven out."
Barak conceded that the situation had spiraled out of control and accused Syria of doing "everything in its power to prevent and sabotage" Israel's exit by inciting and arming the guerrillas.
But David Phillips, a senior fellow at Columbia University's international conflict resolution program, said Israel's "sudden decision to cut and run left a power vacuum."
Inside Lebanon's 'torture' prison
Prisoners now free to tell of al-Khiam prison
By Hilary Andersson in al-Khiam Soon after the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon, the guards of the notorious Khiam prison fled, leaving the prisoners free.
More than 100 men women and children had been held in appalling conditions.
The jail is now empty and a flag of the Lebanese Hezbollah is posted at the gates, but the prisoners' testimonies and the cells bear witness to what went on inside.
Prisoners, some jailed for over ten years without trial, were crammed into tiny, filthy spaces where they ate and slept.
They were allowed out, usually once a week for 15 to 30 minutes, to visit a walled area with no roof called "the sun room."
Punishment cells
They said they were routinely tortured for the first three months of their stay for three hours a day, three times a day.
The torture, which took place in a row of interrogation rooms, would involve beatings, being prodded with live electrical cable in sensitive parts of the body, and being hung from painful positions.
Near a post in a courtyard from where the prisoners said they would be hung by their arms for hours at a time, hoods were lying on the ground.
These were put on the prisoners' heads during the torture, a stretcher laid nearby presumably in case of collapse.
The prison was also equipped with a row of punishment cells so small that it was only possible to sit in them but not lie down.
Visits by soldiers
Prisoners would be left in these for up to ten days at a time.
Throughout the jail was the stench of filth.
Al-Khiam was run by the SLA and Israel has always denied any involvement.
But the prisoners said Israeli soldiers would regularly visit the jail.
Some said they heard Hebrew being spoken in the interrogation cells whilst their heads were covered with the hoods.
More than 100 men women and children had been held in appalling conditions.
 Torture involved beatings, electric shocks and being hung by the arms for hours  |
Prisoners, some jailed for over ten years without trial, were crammed into tiny, filthy spaces where they ate and slept.
They were allowed out, usually once a week for 15 to 30 minutes, to visit a walled area with no roof called "the sun room."
Punishment cells
They said they were routinely tortured for the first three months of their stay for three hours a day, three times a day.
 A prisoner from Al Khiam is reunited with his family |
The torture, which took place in a row of interrogation rooms, would involve beatings, being prodded with live electrical cable in sensitive parts of the body, and being hung from painful positions.
Near a post in a courtyard from where the prisoners said they would be hung by their arms for hours at a time, hoods were lying on the ground.
These were put on the prisoners' heads during the torture, a stretcher laid nearby presumably in case of collapse.
The prison was also equipped with a row of punishment cells so small that it was only possible to sit in them but not lie down.
Visits by soldiers
Prisoners would be left in these for up to ten days at a time.
Throughout the jail was the stench of filth.
 Prisoners crammed into cells where they lived, ate and slept |
Al-Khiam was run by the SLA and Israel has always denied any involvement.
But the prisoners said Israeli soldiers would regularly visit the jail.
Some said they heard Hebrew being spoken in the interrogation cells whilst their heads were covered with the hoods.
Israel's allies condemn pull-out `betrayal'
Sunday May 28 2000
``It's a wonderful place to look at,'' says Israeli soldier Morris Pilosof (20), who was one of the last out when last Wednesday morning Israel ended its 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon. ``But the war was not very exciting. To leave Lebanon is the dream of every Israeli soldier.''
Set up as a nine-mile deep buffer to protect Israel's northern frontier from PLO infiltration, the ``security zone'' occupation continued over the years when the Shiite Muslim guerrilla army Hezbollah took the PLO's place as Israel's thorn in its side on the northern front.
The humiliation and shame for most Israelis is not their army's withdrawal, but the flight in panic of their erstwhile faithful ally, the South Lebanon Army, and the lack of preparation for their future.
As Israel's accomplice in the occupation of South Lebanon, the SLA knew the day would come that they would be forced to leave if there were no prior agreement for their safety with the Lebanese government and Hezbollah.
But never did they did expect the end to come like this. ``The Israeli people told us, `Don't worry, we will leave together. From five or six years ago, [they] said so,'' says Hussein Abdullah, an officer in the SLA. The end came with literally minutes' warning. Higher ranking SLA officers got calls from their Israeli handlers to leave immediately if they wanted to live. Their friends and neighbours saw them, and panicked.
``Early in the morning we woke up and we heard, and we saw, people running in their cars with nothing. No clothes, no milk for their kids, nothing,'' says Daher Daher, comforting his five-month-old son on his lap with his wife beside him.
Within 24 hours, approximately 6,500 Lebanese refugees had crossed the border. But the conditions, they say, were horrible. For 10 hours they were without food and drink.
Now they are bitter. ``We are so angry and feeling forsaken by the Israelis. They didn't tell us they would forsake us like this without any hint,'' says Daher.
The refugees are grateful for help from ordinary Israelis, but also uncomfortable with this attention: ``People think we are poor, dumb, from villages,'' says Daher's young wife. They had good homes and jobs, she says. ``We were living the best life.''
Lebanon's army said yesterday it was holding 1,488 members of the SLA. The army said in a statement that it had already referred 200 ``collaborators'' to military courts and the rest would be handed over in the next few days. Although collaboration could theoretically bring the death penalty, informed sources say no one expects any executions and that most of those convicted are likely to be jailed for a few months.
But Israeli Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz has rejected criticisms and said Israel had a ``moral debt'' to the SLA. ``We do not forget them now, in these hard hours of theirs,'' he said.
24 May 2011
Netanyahu the killer
Netanyahu just joked that he killed an Egyptian in the Suez Canal when he was in the IDF and that they're still trying to find the body. Congress laughs and cheers. I won't forget that.
Netanyahu continues
Top Zio: "Iran's leaders call for the destruction of the Jewish state. Leaders who spew such venom should be banned from every respectable forum on the planet" But leaders who don't just call for but carry out the destruction of Palestine get to address the US Congress.
Angry Arab on the Lebanese cleric arrested yesterday
A spy for Israel who is funded by Saudi Arabia: and you still doubt my theory of the Saudi-Israeli alliance?
Lebanon ruled by Hezbollah now?
Now he's talking about 'the medieval rule of Hezbollah', I think he's confusing them with his Saudi allies.
Netanyahu address to US Congress
Can someone please explain to me why this is being carried live by the BBC? It's not that I'm against them covering it, just that they would never give any other foreign leader's speech to a foreign country's legislative chamber like this.
22 May 2011
Libya: Britain's £1bn war
And on the article itself see this propaganda insertion: "Two months after western powers began bombing Libyan targets TO PROTECT CIVILIANS in Operation Unified Protector". Why are those three words there? The sentence makes perfect sense without it. The only evidence that they're bombing Libya to protect civilians is that the people bombing Libya said so. Does this make it fact? Basic journalistic standards abandoned as usual.
The Obama/Netanyahu spat show is on again
Like in 2009 I think this whole 'cracks are showing' is just theatre to make it look like the US is pulling concessions out of Israel when it isn't. Obama has said nothing that wasn't said by George Bush. The whole thing was about 'mutually agreed' resolutions and that peace cannot be imposed; which is all just another way of saying everything must be done according to Israel's terms as only Israel is in a position to enforce the veto power implicit in insisting any settlement be 'mutually agreed'. Look at this quote from the New York Times for example (ignore the article title) "An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, quoted Mr. Netanyahu as telling his aides: “I went in with certain concerns. I came out encouraged.” "
Muslims in France should issue a collective statement condemning French society for its tolerance of sexism and violence towards women
The groups said that 75,000 women were raped in France every year and that sexist language in public tended to minimise the gravity of crime, turning it into a vague and more or less acceptable act.
The groups referred to specific statements..., including one by former culture minister and Strauss-Kahn ally Jack Lang, who said Strauss-Kahn should have been released on bail earlier, considering that "nobody has died."
Journalist Jean-Franois Kahn, no relation, denied rape had taken place and dismissed the affair as "troussage de domestique," a phrase that evokes a master having non-consensual sex with a servant.
The groups referred to specific statements..., including one by former culture minister and Strauss-Kahn ally Jack Lang, who said Strauss-Kahn should have been released on bail earlier, considering that "nobody has died."
Journalist Jean-Franois Kahn, no relation, denied rape had taken place and dismissed the affair as "troussage de domestique," a phrase that evokes a master having non-consensual sex with a servant.
300 people killed in Tunisian uprising
And the crimes of the remnants of the regime continue: Leading Tunisian rights activist Radhia Nasraoui said about 100 people had been tortured to death by the Ben Ali regime in its final weeks. The abuses continued under the interim administration, she added.
"We have had accounts from prisoners who have been tortured after the revolution and some of them have even been raped," she told AFP.
Youths as young as 14 and 15 who had taken part in peaceful demonstrations were among those subjected to torture, Nasraoui said.
"I think there is no political will to stop these savage practices -- at least in a firm way," she added.
21 May 2011
Now overthrow the workplace Mubaraks
Comrade Hossam on pushing the Egyptian revolution-in-making to its logical conclusions.
Hamas stronghold ftw
"The motion also calls for the National Union of Students to participate in flotillas to Gaza and to partner with Gaza universities, particularly the Islamic University, a Hamas stronghold." Isn't it funny how the Jerusalem Post, BBC, New York Times, Union of Jewish Students and others all use identical language? They're obviously not all coming up with the term 'Hamas stronghold' independently. And seeing how the Islamic University of Gaza denies having links with Hamas you know what the source is, and it's not reflective of good journalistic standards.
ULU votes to boycott Israel
Get in there. Oh and is UJS is throwing another tantrum and will now issue a statement condemning ULU as a Hamas stronghold and for Israel to drop white phosphorus on it. Yes indeed No to Dialogue and No to Peace (of the Peace Process variety), thanks for the platform.
Obama's speech
I only watched half of it I couldn't stand any more it's so vile. In fact I almost smashed my laptop when this snake dared bring up Muhammad Bouazizi, as if he thinks anyone will believe he really sympathises with the plight of poor Tunisia...n street vendors. Did you hear when he said that for decades the US 'has pursued a set of core interests in the region... securing the flee flow of commerce' oh so oil is pronounced 'com-merce' now. And he says he believes it's not in anyone's interests to see a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and condemns Iran, as if we don't know that Israel is the only state in the region with nuclear arms. Oh but he means by 'no nuclear arms race' that only Israel should have nuclear arms. The speech was pretty boring anyway, he said nothing new. I don't see what the point of it was really. We've all heard the 'I want reform' statements before, he even dared to praise the Bahraini government and supported them in their claims that the protests are all an Iranian plot. Then he spent the next part of his speech attacking Iranian hypocrisy for supporting some protests and not others. That must be some kind of super-hypocrisy. Accusing someone of a form of hypocrisy that you yourself just engaged in. Go back to sleep Barack. You're irrelevant.
UJS urges motion be passed to support Israel's crackdown on Hamas strongholds like this school
Jewish settlers, escorted by Israeli occupation forces, stormed a school for orphans in occupied Jerusalem on Tuesday and assaulted a number of students.
The Palestinian ministry of education said that the occupation forces arrested the headmaster and his deputy, adding that three of the students were injured in the settlers' attack.
Israel takes down another Hamas stronghold
Israeli forces raided late on Wednesday the Ibn Qudamah Mosque in Wadi Al Joz area of Occupied East Jerusalem, and destroyed parts of the mosque before they sealed it off under a direct order of the Israeli Minister of Internal Security.
The Israeli forces smashed the mosque's speakers and ordered the Palestinian public to avoid the mosque, which will remain sealed off.
Palestinian residents of Wadi Al Joz attempted to protect the mosque, but the presence of the Israeli troops made that impossible. Several Palestinians were arrested accused of attacking the Israeli forces and disturbing their work.
UJS says the sheep were in a Hamas stronghold
Seven masked settlers damaged property and killed two sheep in a Palestinian village near Hebron on Sunday night, Christian Peacemaker Teams reported. The settlers stole seven sheep, killed two and injured others, including one which lost an eye, the Hebron-based peace group said in a statement.
One small victory at a time
Deutsche Bahn, the German railway operator, has pulled out of an Israeli project that cuts through the occupied Palestinian West Bank, after pressure from activists and Berlin.
Zionist takes pleasure out of murder
Few events - not even the execution of Osama bin Laden - have caused me greater pleasure in recent weeks than news of the death of the Italian so-called "peace activist" Vittorio Arrigoni." Imagine if the main British Muslim newspaper (if one existed) was to publish such an article. This creep's been around for a while I remember him taking part in a debate in the Guardian over whether killing Palestinian civilians is justified (he argued voluntarily living under Hamas rule means you can legitimately be killed).
Israeli freedom of speech
"Israeli authorities have transferred Waleed Khalid, director of the West Bank newspaper "Falastin", to administrative detention for six months, claiming that he poses a threat to the Israeli state." According to the UJS the newspaper is a Hamas stronghold.
"NUS slammed..." by Zionist clowns
Don't you just love how UJS are complaining that only a small group of representatives made the decision on behalf of students. As if they're principally opposed to such things. "NUS has now committed to sending a delegation on future convoys to the Gaza strip, and to build links with the Islamic University of Gaza, widely recognised as a Hamas stronghold." Yeah because it was bombed by Israel, therefore it's a Hamas stronghold. I'm sure their language comes from the same source as this propaganda article "Israel bombed a government ministry compound and the Islamic University in Gaza, a stronghold of Hamas". This would only be an alternative to the visits to Auschwitz/Zionist brainwashing trips that the NUS has been doing for years.
20 May 2011
19 May 2011
Quick Obama! Praise Bahrain for this great reform!
A prominent Bahraini human rights activist said he had been threatened with rape while in custody after he refused to apologise to the king over his role in anti-government protests.
Obama's sinister reform agenda
"Wherever this sorcerer Feltman appears, strife and ruin follow him."
Protests to free Israeli embassy detainees
In the middle of Tahrir Square, 500 Egyptians gathered on the afternoon of 18 May calling for the release of Tarek Shalaby and another 135 civilians detained by the military. We're really supposed to believe the Egyptian military council is incapable of protecting Christians from supposed sectarian attacks (although I suspect the involvement of Saudi intelligence/counter revolution). Yet they're still able to fiercely protect the local Zionist occupation headquarters from protests.
Comoros
Hey. Why hasn't there been an uprising in Comoros yet? It's about time that country was expelled from the Arab League.
18 May 2011
What a comical article
"but there were also signs of official support in Lebanon and Syria, where analysts said leaders were using the Palestinian cause to deflect attention from internal problems."
What are these signs? Which analysts said this? Which leaders?
"The Lebanese military said 10 protesters were killed and more than 100 were wounded. Israel said it was investigating the casualties."
Yeah the Lebanese military is probably lying, as if there's any dispute that 10 people were killed by Israel in Lebanon.
"In the Golan Heights, about 100 Palestinians living in Syria breached a border fence"
See how they write this to imply Palestinians from Syria breached Israel's borders when all they did was go into Israeli-occupied Syrian territory (not that I would have problem if they went into Israel, just saying).
"In the West Bank, about 1,000 protesters carrying Palestinian flags and throwing stones and occasional firecrackers and gasoline bombs fought with Israeli riot troops near the military checkpoint between Ramallah and Israel."
I guess the Israeli riot troops had no weapons to speak of...
"The chief Israeli military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said on Israel Radio that he saw Iran’s fingerprints in the coordinated confrontations, although he offered no evidence."
But you quote his baseless conspiracy theories anyway because he's an Israeli, then you go on to provide circumstantial evidence for him: "Syria has a close alliance with Iran, as does Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, and Hamas, which rules in Gaza."
"Yoni Ben-Menachem, Israel Radio’s chief Arab affairs analyst..."
Ah, so this is who your 'analyst' is, an Israeli orientalist/conspiracy theorist.
"Hezbollah was believed to have helped coordinate the march."
Believed by whom? Where's the evidence for this statement?
"A Syrian dissident, citing accounts from Damascus residents, said pro-government Palestinian groups began busing people to the border on Saturday night."
Unnamed 'Syrian dissident' citing unnamed 'Damascus residents', yeah that's real solid evidence for this conspiracy theory. I'm loving the high journalistic standards. Any guy calling himself a Syrian dissident can ring up the New York Times and tell them they heard someone say that the Palestinians have been very very naughty today and they'll get their claims published.
What are these signs? Which analysts said this? Which leaders?
"The Lebanese military said 10 protesters were killed and more than 100 were wounded. Israel said it was investigating the casualties."
Yeah the Lebanese military is probably lying, as if there's any dispute that 10 people were killed by Israel in Lebanon.
"In the Golan Heights, about 100 Palestinians living in Syria breached a border fence"
See how they write this to imply Palestinians from Syria breached Israel's borders when all they did was go into Israeli-occupied Syrian territory (not that I would have problem if they went into Israel, just saying).
"In the West Bank, about 1,000 protesters carrying Palestinian flags and throwing stones and occasional firecrackers and gasoline bombs fought with Israeli riot troops near the military checkpoint between Ramallah and Israel."
I guess the Israeli riot troops had no weapons to speak of...
"The chief Israeli military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, said on Israel Radio that he saw Iran’s fingerprints in the coordinated confrontations, although he offered no evidence."
But you quote his baseless conspiracy theories anyway because he's an Israeli, then you go on to provide circumstantial evidence for him: "Syria has a close alliance with Iran, as does Hezbollah, which controls southern Lebanon, and Hamas, which rules in Gaza."
"Yoni Ben-Menachem, Israel Radio’s chief Arab affairs analyst..."
Ah, so this is who your 'analyst' is, an Israeli orientalist/conspiracy theorist.
"Hezbollah was believed to have helped coordinate the march."
Believed by whom? Where's the evidence for this statement?
"A Syrian dissident, citing accounts from Damascus residents, said pro-government Palestinian groups began busing people to the border on Saturday night."
Unnamed 'Syrian dissident' citing unnamed 'Damascus residents', yeah that's real solid evidence for this conspiracy theory. I'm loving the high journalistic standards. Any guy calling himself a Syrian dissident can ring up the New York Times and tell them they heard someone say that the Palestinians have been very very naughty today and they'll get their claims published.
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