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July 12, 2006 Press conference: Words of Gold

July 12, 2006 Press conference: Words of Gold
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Latifa Husseini

The eight years that have passed cannot erase the meanings of a war that was imposed on a people on whom a steadfast Resistance did not give up. The date of July 12, 2006 clinched the start of a new quality era in the history of the confrontation with "Israel," a confrontation that is based on two military and psychological factors. The spark of it all was the successful detention of two Zionist soldiers in the outskirts of Aita Shaab town in the south. Events came along until there was victory on August 14.

July 12, 2006 Press conference: Words of Gold

Going down in the annals of what the war has clinched ever since 2006, the very first words of Hizbullah leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, that he said during his famous press conference on the same day of the Operation The Truthful Pledge, quickly come to mind. His words were concise and conclusive, away from any ambiguity and equivocation. The essence of all solutions resides in one exit: indirect negotiations and swap.

Sayyed's conference back then gave a lowdown on the principles of the battle the Resistance had led: "No military operation can return the two soldiers...hitting a bridge here or there will lead the 'Israelis' to nowhere. Therefore, there is only indirect negotiations and swap to liberate our hostages." The party's Secretary General had repeated it time after time.

Sayyed's words are now deep engraved in the history of the confrontation with the enemy. They are still very much alive until today for a crystal clear reason: Sayyed meant well what he said and he previously realized the features of the warfare and where we are heading to. He devoted to the "Israelis" and their leaders blunt messages. That day, he said: "If the aim of the operation is to make Lebanon pay the price for it, then I must be clear and accurate and I know how critical the situation is in Lebanon, Palestine, and on the regional and international levels, and I simply say, our goal from what happened is to detain the soldiers and then swap them and we do not want to take the region to any war. But, if the enemy wants to make Lebanon pay the price, then we are ready for confrontation and for going to further than it expects."

Furthermore, he advised the "Israeli" Prime Minister and war minister at the time to review "Israel's" past experiences before taking any decision, reminding them that outbidding inside the enemy Cabinet have hindered swap operations previously.

And because Sayyed Nasrallah knows well the details of the sharp political rift in Lebanon, he addressed the internal sides in his press conference saying, "It is not the time of outbidding. I do not ask the support of anybody. But I would like to pay attention so that no one speaks in a way that constitutes a cover for the enemy. It is time for cooperation and solidarity and after this, we are ready for discussions. The country is in front of a due date and we must all act with national responsibility; the government must preserve the country and not expose it before the enemy."

That day, Palestine was present in his mind. In his first speech after the detention of the Zionist soldiers, he called Palestinians for more patience and steadfastness. He underlined that consistency in Lebanon and Palestine would lead to overcoming that crisis.

The systematic methodology of the speech outlined the war: there is no room for weakness, intimidation, or threat; no reneging on rights. On the contrary, there is cleaving to the confrontation with the enemy come what may until it succumb to the terms of the Resistance.

The scenario of the war, just like all the wars staged by "Israel," seemed repeated. Unarmed people is a target Tel Aviv does not just relinquish; and bets on pressures in Lebanon through cooperation with the biggest ally, the US, were later on unearthed by whistle-blowing WikiLeaks.

Every time Sayyed Nasrallah addressed the nation throughout the 33-day war, he relied on his first appearance when he determined the conditions of the battle until there was cease-fire. He devised a plan which studies and research centers in the enemy entity applied themselves to learning, until they concluded that Hizbullah leader enjoys the faculty of leadership more than Olmert, the "Israeli" Prime Minister at the time, does, according to Professor Yuhnan Eishel and Dr. Chaul Qamhi from the Psychology Department at Tal El-Hay Academy in "Israel."
According to them, Sayyed Nasrallah enjoys qualities comparing to Olmert, in terms of vision, planning, the capacity to convince, the ideological acuity, and the readiness for personal sacrifice.

The "Israeli" Channel 10 built upon Sayyed's first speech and his daily addresses throughout the war to conclude that Hizbullah's Secretary General is the "modern giant." "Israel Defense" website said that the rhetorical analysis of his words had contributed in understanding his policy, thus in influencing the decision making and adopting a different "Israeli" policy during the war.
Eight years after the July 2006 epic, the diaries of the war on the confrontation fronts with the enemy or on the internal scene where the political parleys were taking place, attest that the reference to the events and negotiations was July 12 press conference.

The hostility ended and "Israel" surrendered to the sole request: indirect negotiations and swap. Indeed, in 2008 the request was translated into acts and hostages, on top of whom Samir Qontar, were back to Lebanon.

Therefore, Sayyed's first words brought hostages safe and sound back to their homeland and Lebanon regained its soundness, owing nobody anything and without giving in to any will of those who had connived with the enemy.