Nasrallah: We're Counting on Public Opinion to Overcome STL Conspiracy
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah noted Friday that his party is “counting on the public opinion’s support for the Resistance” to overcome “the conspiracy of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its threat.”
“Day after day we are discovering how much the tribunal is politicized and why it was established … When I or some of my brothers (in Hizbullah) make explanations and clarifications (on the STL), we are not trying to convince the U.S. administration, (STL Prosecutor Danielle) Bellemare, (STL President Antonio) Cassese or some figure in Lebanon … we are rather trying to appeal to the public opinion,” said Nasrallah.
Speaking via video link during a mass rally organized by Hizbullah in the southern border town of Maroun al-Ras on the anniversary of Quds Day, Nasrallah said: “We chose this location because of the sacrifices of the Lebanese people, army and the sons of this land who transformed Maroun al-Ras into a symbol of perseverance and resistance during the July 2006 war.”
“Jerusalem is part of our religion, culture, and prayers,” Nasrallah added.
“We will not allow some Lebanese to sell Lebanon and Palestine to the U.S. and a settlement will not take place at Lebanon’s expense,” he vowed.
Hizbullah number one noted that Lebanon now poses a problem to Israel, “one it is seeking to escape.”
“Efforts have been made for years to break up the equation of the army, people, and Resistance through seeking strife and targeting the Resistance,” Nasrallah added.
Addressing the indictments recently released by the STL, which issued arrest warrants for four Hizbullah members it accused of being involved in the 2005 murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri, Nasrallah said “everything the STL issues is worthless.”
He stressed that the army is the one guarantee for Lebanon’s stability and that “targeting it is aimed at sectarian incitement.”
“Anyone who targets the army is serving Israel. I am not accusing anyone of being a traitor. The equation of the army, people, and Resistance alone can thwart Israel.”
Hitting out at the leaders and officials of the rival March 14 camp, Nasrallah said: “All statements of sovereignty and independence are empty words because the Cedar Revolution was directed by (Assistant U.S. Secretary of State) Jeffrey Feltman and the French ambassador.”
Turning to the Syrian crisis, Hizbullah’s leader warned that “any approach in Syria other than dialogue would pose a threat to Syria, Palestine and the entire region.”
“We are pleased with the Syrian people and leaders’ commitment to national principles and Arab rights in the face of the international pressure that did not manage to destabilize the Syrian leadership.”
“Had it succumbed to the pressure, Palestine would have been lost,” Nasrallah said of the Syrian leadership.
“Syria’s support for the Resistance, Lebanon, and Palestine is very important. Iranian support would have been halted had it not been for Syria. The Resistance would not have been able to liberate the South without Syria’s help,” Nasrallah noted, adding that “we all support reform in Syria given its important position in the region.”
He warned that some sides are stoking sectarian incitement in Syria and seeking a military intervention by NATO forces.
“Some sides are seeking to fragment Syria as part of a new Middle East agenda,” Nasrallah warned.
“The U.S. is not interested in reforms in Syria, but it is concerned with concessions and international pressure is delaying reforms,” he stressed.
On the Palestinian cause, Hizbullah’s leader said “the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference have responsibilities towards Palestine. No one should concede one grain of sand or one drop of oil at Palestine’s expense.”
“The Palestinians have the right to negotiate over the 1967 borders,” Nasrallah added, “but talks should not take place at the expense of the rest of Palestine,” he went on to say.
“The problems in Palestine are the result of the occupation and we should therefore tackle that cause just as Lebanon handled Israel’s occupation of the South,” Nasrallah noted.
He called on the Islamic world to “rise up and support the Palestinian people.”
Nasrallah also lauded the “new phase in Egypt.”
“Had (ousted Egyptian leader) Hosni Mubarak still been in power, the official Egyptian stand would have reprimanded the Palestinians for the (recent) Eilat attacks,” Nasrallah noted.
“The Egyptian position is gradually shifting towards the better,” he said.
Addressing the developments in Libya, Nasrallah said “one of (Libyan strongman Moammar) Gadhafi’s crimes against the Palestinian cause was the kidnapping of Imam Moussa Sadr and his two companions.”
“The abduction was a favor to the Zionists.”
“The Libyan people will face the test of confronting the Americans’ onslaught of the country’s resources,” Nasrallah cautioned.
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