Shiites Mark Ashura as Nasrallah Plays Down Israeli Threats

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
  • W460
  • W460
  • W460
  • W460
  • W460

Shiites held Ashura processions on Tuesday in Beirut's southern suburbs and several towns in southern and eastern Lebanon as Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah dismissed Israeli threats as a source of concern.

“Israel's threats of another war on Lebanon do not stem from its power because it has lost hope and is concerned,” Nasrallah said in a televised address to hundreds of thousands of Shiites gathered in Beirut's southern suburbs following the Ashura march.

On the contrary, “the resistance is a real threat to Israel,” he said.

Nasrallah reiterated that Hizbullah “is fully ready in southern Lebanon” despite the presence of the party's fighters in Syria.

The Hizbullah secretary-general stressed that the developments in Syria and the region made the party more confident about its “right” choices.

Hizbullah fighters have gone to join Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces in their battle against Sunni rebels, drawing anger at home from Lebanon's Sunnis and stoking Sunni-Shiite tensions.

“We are part of the confrontation against the biggest danger facing the region. We have the honor to be part of the victory that will be achieved,” Nasrallah said.

“Takfiris have no future and their plan has no life,” he added.

This year's Ashura was held amid a rising threat by jihadists from al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group.

The militants' threat first came to Lebanon in August, two months after the IS's summer blitz in which it seized large swaths of territory in Iraq and Syria. In a surprise attack, IS and al-Nusra fighters crossed over from Syria and overran the border town of Arsal.

They took with them hostages from the army and police and later executed three of them.

The tension between Shiites and Sunnis led to the rise of Jihadi recruitment in impoverished Sunni areas of northern Lebanon. Last month, militants clashed with the army in the northern city of Tripoli and nearby areas.

The army contained the gunbattles and arrested scores of gunmen but is still carrying out raids to clamp down on the extremists who have fled.

Nasrallah hailed those who braved the rain and marked Ashura, which commemorates the 7th-century death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad revered by Shiites.

The processions were held amid tight security because of concerns of attacks by the extremists.

In his televised address, Nasrallah accused “the Zionists of taking advantage of the Islamic world's turmoil to reach their objectives.”

He was referring to the building of more Israeli settlements and the closure of al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem last week.

“The Arab League should take a decisive stance from it,” Nasrallah said.

Also Tuesday, the deputy head of the Higher Shiite Islamic Council, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan, urged the Lebanese to “back the army and confront takfiris."

G.K.

H.K.

Comments 12
Thumb marcus 04 November 2014, 10:47

looks like Paris

Thumb marcus 04 November 2014, 11:05

are you the forum police?

Thumb marcus 04 November 2014, 11:22

sorry, i should have said it looks like Paris, Switzerland and Italy.

Thumb freedomarch 04 November 2014, 13:02

You hit a nerve I guess, I like the second one... tied, faithfull and ready to serve..

Default-user-icon Name (Guest) 04 November 2014, 13:14

blabla you forgot the free sunni of baalbek brigade also "their own team" hahaha. i love ft's naivete and admire how he keeps earning his pay the roundabout wat a post is a post after all and he's paid by the post

Thumb kanaandian 04 November 2014, 15:46

on the worst day of the great depression the city looked better. if this is what nasrallah believes in, he belongs in iran or saudi barbaria.

Default-user-icon oussama (Guest) 04 November 2014, 14:01

Why was I banned after one comment and why won't my comments be published as guest ?

Default-user-icon oussama (Guest) 04 November 2014, 14:03

Why was I banned? And now i try to post why won't i be published?

Thumb freedomarch 04 November 2014, 15:55

Assura mubaraka to all our brothers and sisters..

Thumb ex-fpm 04 November 2014, 16:50

and you still remember this hurt 1400 years later?

Missing mohammad_ca 04 November 2014, 19:04

What happens if you stab / chain yourself with blades and get injured do you not put a strain on the already strained health care system? What about those who stab their babies, that's not freedom of religious beliefs that's downright abuse.

Missing zgmdf 05 November 2014, 06:27

That's the inevitable result when some one spending decades under ground, out of fear!!!