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| 22/05/2009 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah congratulated Friday the Lebanese for the ninth anniversary of the Resistance and Liberation Day.
Sayyed Nasrallah was speaking during a live address through a giant screen in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, where tens of thousands of people gathered to commemorate this historic event.
Amid formidable cheers, his eminence began his speech by praising the martyrs who dedicated their lives for the sake of establishing liberation and victory.
"It is with great pleasure that we gather here to mark Resistance and Liberation Day in the city of Nabatiyeh, the city of Imam Hussein (pbuh), the city of the first popular uprising in Ashoura in the name of Imam Hussein. Greetings to all of you who came from all villages and towns to celebrate the victory that you achieved and to celebrate the resistance that you constitute its martyrs, wounded, fighters, supporters, faithful and steadfast people. Liberation was a gift from Allah for your sincerity and faithfulness. You deserved His victory and you deserved His promise of the victory which you offered to Lebanon and the whole nation. Peace be upon you, the people who rejected humiliation, who protected the country, who preserved trust. Peace be upon you, the people who's throats shouted your Imam's slogan: Disgrace, how remote.."
"We are in front of a great occasion: Resistance and Liberation Day. We are also in front of a great event to come: Elections in June 7. I have so much to say, however, given that we will mark this occasion today in Nabatiyeh, on Monday in Dahiyeh and next Friday in the city of Baalbek, I will distribute my main topics on the three events. Today, I have a group of topics, I will try to be brief as much as possible: The resistance and the state, spy networks, mines, development and water, elections, tickets and constituencies. "
"On resistance and state: Since the establishment of the usurping entity in 1948, Lebanon in general and south Lebanon in particular where border towns and villages were subject to threats and to plundering of land and water as well as to displacement, everything was documented and lived by our fathers and grandfathers in the 1950's. Since the beginning, the choice of south Lebanon residents was the state. If we recall the stances of our scholars, politicians, elites, poets and people in (Jabal Amel) we find that their choice was the state. I will quote Sayyed Abdul Hussein Sharafeddine, who sent a letter in 1949 to then president Bshara Khouriin the wake of the gruesome massacre in the town of Houla that resembled to the massacres of Deir Yassine and Kafar Qassem. He said: Lebanon thought that time had given it what it wanted, however, with regards to south Lebanon it was disappointing. As the status of the ministries and related political triviality have caused patience to be lost, adorned the preposterous and concealed aberration, we ought to regard the calamity of Jabal Amel with all its villages that have been plundered and where children have got used to terror amid killings and destroying crops. This is a document directed to all the political leaders who want to take us to the 'state', who on the table of dialogue have said that between 1948 and 1970, Lebanon was not subject to any Israeli aggression.
They say that Israel has been conducting drills and exercises for 50 years. How shameful it is not to b aware that Israel has been waging wars for 50 years, killing Lebanese fellow citizens and destroying Lebanese land."
"Our great Imam (Sharafeddine) rest assured, Jabal Amel has emerged from your cloak and from the cloak of Imam Moussa Sadr shouting: Disgrace, how remote. This mountain (Jabal Amel) pays its taxes and does its duties yet it is not given its rights, as if it has always been the lost partner. Imam Sharafeddine continues: Didn't you hear O Lebanese President how the poet describes this calamity saying: I wish I were on your soul O Houla, and die in regret. Then the Imam says: I you, your Excellency the President, have no ability to provide protection, is there also no ability to provide care? If you want to salute Jabal Amel, say peace on you and on Lebanon. These words date back to 1949 in the wake of the terrible Houla massacre in which dozens were killed. Consequently, the choice of south Lebanon and south Lebanese has always been the state. After Imam Sharafeddine came Imam Moussa Sadr who shouldered heavy responsibilities from the 1960's until his abduction. His rhetoric was clear and directed to presidents and senior state officials. He used to say to no avail, that south Lebanon is a part of this country, send in your army to provide protection and to defend it, it is your responsibility. There is either negligence as if south Lebanon is not a part of Lebanon or weakness. In either cases, the south shed precious blood. Ultimately, Imam Sadr called the southerners to carry arms to defend their people but he had never abandoned his calls to the government to take the responsibility of defending the south. Then came the Israeli invasion of 1982 and the 'state' remained absent. The sons of Imam Sadr in the Amal Movement and Hezbollah by their side along with other national and Palestinian factions confronted the occupation and defeated it. All of this happened while the 'state' was on another planet, except for the few years before liberation, precisely under President Emile Lahoud and the successive government of Salim Hoss, martyr Rafik Hariri and Omar Karameh. Today, we must underline and praise President Michel Sleiman who was also army commander. "
"Do you know what your crime is? What your fault is? Your crime is that you rejected occupation at a time you were required to accept it. Your crime is that you resisted at a time you were required to yield. Your big crime is that you triumphed, defeated Israel, gained back your land and set your prisoners free.
This great achievement has embarrassed all those who call for surrender and concessions. When you faced the 2006 war and stood up to it along with all the decent people of Lebanon, you triumphed and this was your grave mistake. I recall what my big brother Speaker Nabih Berri told me when the war ended. He said: We have to be very careful because they will not let us rejoice at this victory and they will work on making us pay a heavy price for it. Hence, when we fight, we have to pay a heavy price and if we win or lose, there is a price to pay."
"Today we echo what our grandfathers called for. We want a state, but what kind of state? The state of taxes and fees? No. The state of real estate companies? No. We want a strong, capable, just, brave and responsible state. We want the state, with its army, security forces and political authority to defend south Lebanon and protect it. Frankly speaking, we are not projecting the resistance as an alternative for the state, however a state that abandons the south is not a state and to say that the resistance is projecting itself as an alternative for the state is irrelevant. As an opposition bloc, we want to build the strong and capable state that is serious in defending its land, water resources, people and dignity. On the seventh of June, God willing, we will build this state that should acquire the confidence of the people not through slogans, but through its serious practice, strong presence and prompt follow up in the face of everything that threatens the people. If we make a thousand speeches to say that the state possesses the decision of peace and war while it is absent; if we make a thousand slogans about spreading the state's authority over Lebanon, while it does not have a presence on our land, this will never solve the problem. The problem is solved when a state convinces its people that it is strong and has the necessary presence."
"My second topic is spy networks. We congratulate the security forces for uncovering the spy networks and stress that his is the right path that we should all continue. We do not want any moral achievement, we are interested in dismantling the networks and arresting the agents so as to blind the zionists and protect the country. To accomplish this, first there must be significant popular cooperation with security apparatuses, on the part of families, people and political powers. Everyone who has a piece of information must extend it. Second, spies and agents must be uncovered regardless of their religion or sect, family or town. They must not be protected and their collaboration with the enemy must not be justified. Such crime is utterly unjustifiable. Third, I ask on your behalf and on behalf of the families of the martyrs and the wounded, on behalf of those whose homes were demolished and those who paid taxes to rebuild their infrastructure, I demand that the collaborators who provided the enemy with the data that had cased all of this, be sentenced to capital punishment. Sentencing them to one or two years in prison is a joke that does not protect the country. Anyone who adopts leniency policy is an accomplice in spilling the blood of the Lebanese people. I have to be frank, strict and open on this matter: Do not play with security or judiciary on the basis of religious or sectarian balance. I tell you, begin executing Shiite collaborators first. Fourth, I address the rest of the spies and collaborators who are still operating on Lebanese soil. I tell them that you have been exposed and you'll fall in the hands of justice before you know it. This is why I suggest that you turn yourselves in quickly; perhaps this would commute your sentence. You must know that you are of no value to your Israeli masters. You are not worth a handful of dust to them, so do what is right and return back to your country before it is too late. Fifth, Hezbollah has always been in close cooperation with security apparatuses, but I declare that we will unreservedly spare no effort to cooperate with all official security apparatuses to achieve this noble goal of purging Lebanon from these networks. Sixth, we have to close ranks to sooth the political arena so as to prevent political and sectarian divisions to the extent that collaborating with Israel becomes justifiable. Here, I would like to call the attention to the fact that we must act responsibly, ethically and based on religious standards towards the families of the collaborators. Their families have not wronged. We should console and be merciful to them because their calamity is graver and more painful than any other calamity. My last point on this topic is that not only those spies and collaborators gather information; some of them have field missions to execute. One of them had 20 kilograms of TNT explosives at his home, for what purpose? This is an important question that needs an answer. There are agents, like Mahmoud Rafea, who confessed to have delivered bags with explosives. Other collaborators have confessed to have carried out field reconnaissance missions. Others have facilitated the entrance and exit of Israelis after accomplishing their missions. This is what is meant by executive agents. The door must be opened wide, and those who make pre-judgments and make ready-made positions must learn that this Israeli path should be scrutinized so as to reach someplace where we would find information about lots of crimes, particularly in 2005 onwards. Some of those collaborators had played significant roles in stirring sectarian sedition while others have confessed to their roles in stirring sedition between Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. However, it is clear today that the skirmishes in some areas which developed into battles were Israeli made."
"My third topic is about mine fields. Many fields have been demined thanks to firms and supporting states as well as the efforts, supervision and coordination between the Lebanese army and the Islamic Resistance.. There exists a funding problem today and it is the government's responsibility to seek funds. Today, I pledge that in case of deficiencies, as is the case now, the resistance will assume responsibility and will work thoroughly with the Lebanese army across south Lebanon to swiftly bring the file of cluster bombs to an end."
"On development and water resources, I would like to say that we stood in Bint Jbeil and openly said that we are the alternative for the state. This region has been neglected for decades. The 'state' was absent during the occupation. Now that the occupation has ended, what is keeping the state from spreading its authority in the south? The state did not shoulder responsibility. The state knows that Bint Jbeil, Hasbayya, Shebaa, Jizzine and other regions only when it comes to taxes. The government that will established by the opposition will build a strong and just state that will give heed to balanced development. Our waters are lost in the sea. The American will come tomorrow to ask us to give the water to Israel. This is unfortunate. We must join our forces and work on executing the Litani Project which Speaker Nabih Berri had raised. I tell you that south deputies and opposition deputies will work together to fulfill this dream."
"My final topic is about elections. Some may say that there might not be an election battle in the south as the drive and the incentive for voters to go to polling station is missing. But I tell you that every region is concerned with elections on the seventh of June. We tried to have a single ticket for the opposition in Jizzine, however two tickets were formed by the dear allies. We respect and consider the circumstances. The completion in Jizzine between two tickets for the opposition must not be a reason for the our supporters to back off. We must have a strong presence in this constituency to secure another three candidates to parliament."
"As for other districts, the backbone of the alliance is the Amal-Hezbollah alliance with our brothers in other parties and the respectful political figures. I would like to stress the deep rooted alliance between Amal and Hezbollah. It is not a compulsory alliance as some may think; it is a deep, historic, strategic, strong and fixed alliance. No one can bargain on any weakness in this alliance. This alliance was pivotal in the 2006 victory. We integrated politically, militarily, socially, popularly and in the battlefield. We embraced the rest of our allies, but it happened that the most targeted sides were Hezbollah and Amal. This alliance has saved Lebanon from the most dangerous plots in the history of Lebanon. This same alliance is the cornerstone of the opposition that, God willing, will win in June elections. This alliance is a national interest in the first place and a southern interest in the second place. I assure you that lots of politicians have been bargaining on sedition between Hezbollah and Amal, by saying 'Hezbollah's led opposition' as if Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement are inferior to Hezbollah. They also say that if the opposition won, Sayyed Nasrallah alone would rule, apart from other allies. Whoever seeks to break the Hezbollah-Amal alliance will definitely fail. We are counting on mutual and deep trust between us. We are pleased with the tickets…our goal is for the opposition to win the majority of seats in parliament to save Lebanon from ill intentions. This is not a religious obligation as some may want to propagate. This is a political and an ethical issue. When we commit to the tickets of the opposition, we consider every candidate as a Hezbollah candidate. Some seek to project elections as a referendum on the resistance and its arms. The most concerned people in the resistance and its arms are the citizens of the south who come under daily threats to plunder their resourced, destroy their homes and displace them. Yes, the resistance protects you and you have embraced and protected it. On the seventh of June, we will show up in voting stations in south Lebanon to tell the world that you will not abandon the resistance. June 7 must be a day to thwart every conspirator and every schemer who thinks about colluding against the resistance. On the seventh of June, you will prove again that you are sons of Moussa Sadr and that you are the most honorable, most generous and most pure people. I would like to repeat the decisive sentence that we all believe in: The time of defeats has gone, and the time of victories has come."
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