Our gathering today is to voice our support for our Arab people and their revolutions and sacrifices, especially in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.
The value of this solidarity is moral, political, and ethical, and its effects are also moral. The origin of what is going on – which could decide the fate of an uprising here, a confrontation there, or a resistance there – the origin is the steadfastness of peoples, linked to their faith and high spirituality.
You remember that during the July [2006] war, every word and statement in any state and anywhere in the world had its impact on the resistance, the people and the displaced.
The same is the case with the Arab revolts. We tell them that we support them, that we stand by your side and we are ready to help you toward your interest and ours, with your and our capabilities.
We have to stress that these revolutions are the will of the people themselves. Any accusation that the US manufactured and launched these revolutions is unjust speech toward these peoples, especially that we are talking about regimes which are allied with the USA, serve the American project and pose no threat to Israel.
Is it reasonable that America would come to obedient and submissive regimes and launch popular uprisings in their face? This would make no sense.
These popular revolutions are real. They came from the people and the political parties followed. They express awareness, enthusiasm and willingness to sacrifice. This should not be forgotten by the regimes that are facing these peoples.
We saw people baring their chests and saying “open fire”. This means that killing, threats and massacres could not take the people out of the squares and the arenas of confrontation.
It is a divine law that when a people comes with this level of will, sacrifice and patience, it cannot be met with defeat – not by America, Israel, or any tyrannical regime anywhere in the world.
Our call, from the Resistance in Lebanon that liberated in 2000 and was victorious in 2006, is that the only choice is to stand firm, be patient and trust in God’s victory and help to you, if you stay in the squares of confrontation and jihad.
What was the reaction of these regimes to rightful popular demands? Instead of starting an honest dialogue and making true reforms, and instead of entering honest dialogue with the representatives of the revolutions, they resorted to repression, murder, and humiliation.
They [the revolutionaries] were insulted and described as rats and sectarian, [accused of] taking hallucinating pills and being American agents. This complicated the issue and disabled any possibility of dialogue. It raised the level of the demands and expectations of these peoples.
A great victory was achieved in Egypt and Tunisia. Libya entered civil war, and in Bahrain and Yemen the regimes put their own peoples on the brink of civil war.
We should contemplate the US and Western performance. We can understand the US policy toward the revolutions via multiple scenarios. [At first maybe] it is possible to preserve the puppet regime by making some superficial reforms or giving the regime a chance to abolish the revolution. When it starts to cost the US, its administration asks the puppet rulers to go into exile and send the people to their homes without realizing their demands.
In all this, the US administration is trying to look like it supports the Arab revolts, but this will not be believed by our peoples who are aware enough of the US policies. They know that their regimes are made in the US and have enjoyed US protection for decades. The US administration is complicit in the crimes of these regimes and everything they did against their own peoples.
As long as US policy towards Palestine and its people remains as it is, then any US comments about defending the peoples of Egypt, Tunisia, Bahrain or Yemen will have bad intentions. The background is not that [US President Barack] Obama’s administration is a different administration and wants to support the rights of the peoples. The Arab peoples should keep their eyes on Palestine. We can review our stance on the US administration if the administration itself changes its policy toward the Palestinian cause.
In Tunisia and Egypt a great victory was achieved thanks to many circumstances, of which the most important are: First, the steadfastness of the Tunisian and Egyptian people and their great sacrifices. Second, the neutrality of the army, despite the circumstances of this neutrality. Third, popular hostility to the regime, since no regime in Tunisia or Tunisia found anyone to defend it.
The US and the West gave the Libyan regime time to smash the revolt, but the people stood firm. If this people collapsed, then the world would have sat down with Qaddafi and negotiated with him. Qaddafi’s money would have gone into the pockets of figures in the EU and elsewhere. The rebels in Libya had no choice but to fight.
In my experience, I have found that in all the faces of the Libyan rebels I saw, there was determination and will. The Libyan situation became complicated because of the international intervention that has begun, which could take this country into the game of nations. From the resisting Lebanon, I salute the rebels in all the cities of Libya.
The greatest crime against Lebanon, Jerusalem and Palestine is the Qaddafi’s kidnapping of Imam Moussa Sadr. This remains subject to condemnation. Qaddafi’s last speech, in which he praised Sadr and said that Sadr visited Libya and was martyred by the verdicts of the Libyan judiciary, is all lies. We are looking forward to the day when Sadr can be liberated from this dictatorial tyrant.
In Yemen there are many complications, but no doubt that we absolutely cannot be silent about the murder and crimes that are occurring. We salute the resistance of the Yemeni people and their commitment the peacefulness of their movement. The Yemeni people is armed, yet they show awareness by staying calm, keeping the movements peaceful, and not going to civil war.
Concerning Bahrain, we all saw what happened in Bahrain. There is a special unjustice. As you know Bahrain is a small island and its people are fewer than one million. The people came out asking for rights in a peaceful way.
It was possible to absorb this without reacting against the youth. The regime could have taken steps to rebuild lost trust with the opposition, but unfortunately it responded against the humble youth movement by inviting to dialogue under [cover of] murder. The people affirmed national unity and replied with flowers, and affirmed that there is no sectarian division. The [regime] sought help from armies against them and killed, wounded, and detained.
Here there is strange irony: the Arab League and the Arab peoples, faced with the situation in Libya, did not say a word and did not send any army to defend the people. Yet in Bahrain they sent armies to defend a regime that was not threatened with collapse.
The regime in Bahrain was not threatened and the resistance was peaceful, yet the army was used against it. This is a first. We heard that some arrested opposition leaders had their houses demolished. This is Israeli style, by the way. They demolished Pearl Square the same way. All this we could remain quiet about, since violence is the nature of tyrants and sacrifice is the nature of the holy warrior.
The biggest injustice was to blockade these people and wound them under the banner of sectarianism. Here I salute all the Sunni movements, and I should salute the expressive stance of [Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan]. I ask some in the Arab and Islamic world who are remaining silent about the injustice that our brothers in Bahrain are facing: Why stay silent about these peaceful protests or condemn their movements? Is it because they are Shia? If someone in a country belonged to a certain sect, should he be relieved of his human rights? Is it because the majority of the Bahraini opposition belong to the Shia sect that they are relieved of their rights and fatwas are issued against them? Where is the justice in this?
We stood as Shia and Sunnis with the Palestinian people. No one asked about the religion or sect of the Palestinian, Egyptian, Tunisian or Libyan people.
We all stood with them, and this is our duty. The [Iranian Supreme Guide] Imam [Ali] Khamenei stood with the Tunisian, Egyptian and Libyan peoples, not to mention his historic stand with the Palestinian people. Does this stance have a sectarian background, or a humanitarian one?
With all courage I want to ask – and it was not meant that someday I would stand and speak about an Arab regime here and an Arab regime there – what is the difference between the Khalifah family in Bahrain, the Mubarak family in Egypt, and Qaddafi’s regime in Libya?
What is happening in Bahrain is not a sectarian movement, and these useless arms will not stop the free rebels. Our brothers and sisters should not be affected by the sectarian rhetoric because many people in the Arab world are standing with you.
I tell these brothers to resist in defending your rights, and I tell them that they have a wise and courage leadership that you have to listen to. Your blood and wounds will defeat the tyrants. What you are doing today is worth the sacrifice. To the leaders of Libya, Bahrain and Yemen: how can you remain on your thrones after all these crimes?
As a result of the abandonment of the Arab leaders, or the majority of them, the door has been opened to foreign intervention in Libya and in every Arab country. This brings us back to the era of direct colonialism. In this fateful phase, every able side should intervene to find a solution. Where is Arab mediation and where is the mediation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference? There are trusted frameworks in the Arab world that could seriously mediate. There is still a chance for this. Instead of sending armies, the Arab countries should send their foreign ministers.
Over the last two months, after the collapse of the cabinet and the appointment of a new figure, we witnessed an organized campaign under the slogan of “the removal of non-state arms.” Everything that could be said was said, and all media means were used, even cartoons like ‘Mufasa and Simba’.
The fact that they were able to say all these things without any clashes occurring proves that they are lying. It is proof that no one has a gun to their head. Moreover, the Amal Movement and Hezbollah were partners with the LAF day and night to protect whoever attacks the Resistance. We found nothing to debate or discuss in the content.
The issue of the Resistance cannot be addressed through incitement. We always used to say that we are not afraid of dialogue and we do not mind having dialogue, since our approach to national defense is being studied in the most important military academies in the world. All this noise will not affect the Resistance’s performance. It is continuing to train and arm to improve its level and to cooperate in the “People, Army, and Resistance” formula. The most recent result was the dismantling of an espionage device. This will not decrease the faith of the Resistance’s supporters – rather, it will increase it.
We should deal with everything being said in a calm way, and there is no need for worry. The arms of the Resistance are fine and are pointed at the enemy. Our eyes are looking toward to the enemy, and there is no need for worry.
WikiLeaks show the hopes hung on the [Israeli] attack [of July 2006] and show the size of March 14’s disappointment in the [Resistance’s] victory. We will wait until the documents finish. The first section of WikiLeaks is where [former US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey] Feltman transmits the wishes and hopes of some figures and we have no problem with this. Let them analyze as they please. In this section, if any figure is denying that [the leaks] are true, we will accept it.
However, the second section is not analysis, but requests. Someone asked the US ambassador to ask Israel to invade Bint Jbeil and to not stop the war unless these conditions were fulfilled: the deployment of UNIFIL. This is a call for the enemy to kill and destroy Lebanon and a part of its people, Resistance and army. These are not emotions.
In this section, there are people who reviewed their stances, changed their political path, and stood with the resistance; and there are others who are still saying the same things and doing what they did during the July 2006 war: calling for the destruction of Lebanon for political purposes.
In fact we are preparing a judicial file in a civilized way, especially when one of them comes and says “bomb them [the Resistance]” after July 15. The blood of all those who were martyred after that date is on his neck.
I stood in the victory ceremony and said let us rebuild Lebanon together with those who plotted against us and participated in killing our women and children. We all knew then what had happened and who plotted against us, but today everything is in the newspapers and the Internet. We will deal with this in a modern way: we will prepare a judicial file and prosecute the people who participated in killing us.
The majority should be counted after the Bristol conference and March 14’s refusal to participate in the cabinet. Of course there are many questions. There are pressures on the cabinet formation and its ministerial statement. The issue is not internal – [although] there are legitimate internal requests – but rather the issue is that March 14 is asking for a cabinet of technocrats. Did you accept a centrist premier in order to form a cabinet of technocrats? The PM-designate is under much pressure, and if someday we have to tell details, we will say them. Hopefully the new majority will work to form a cabinet headed by PM-designate Najib Mikati and this is a political challenge which we will withstand.
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