Sayyed Nasrallah’s Full Speech on the Anniversary of Late Leader Mustafa Shahadeh
In His Name
Full speech delivered by Hizbullah Secretary General, His Eminence Sayyed Nasrallah, during the honoring memorial commemorating the anniversary of late Leader Mustafa Shahadeh, on November 4, 2016.
I seek refuge in Allah from the cursed devil. In the Name of Allah, The Most Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Peace be upon the Seal of prophets, our Master and Prophet, Abi Al Qassem Mohammad, and upon his chaste and pure Household, and upon his chosen companions, and upon all messengers and prophets.
Scholars, deputies, brothers, and sisters! Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.
First I would like to welcome you all to this commemoration, held in honor of a dear great leader, brother Mustafa Shahadeh [Abu Ahmad]. On behalf of the family of the late leader, on behalf of Hizbullah, and on behalf of the brethren of Hajj Abu Ahmad in the Islamic Resistance, I welcome you all and thank you for your attendance.
In the available time, I intend to say a word on the occasion and this leader whom we are honoring in this meeting. I have a word on the presidential elections and the new era. Praise be to Allah the elections took place. This file is two and a half years old, but now we have a president. I will say a couple of words to wrap up this file and move towards a new stage. I have a word on the current governmental status and a word on the situation in the region - if I have enough time God willing.
First, I will recall and remind you of the Holy Ayah in which Allah Almighty says: {Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah; of them some have completed their vow [to the end], and some still await; but they have never changed [their determination] in the least}.
Again I must console the family of our dear brother, Leader Hajj Mustafa Shahadeh, his parents, his struggling and sacrificing wife, his daughter, his sons, his brothers, sisters, and all his dear ones and comrades. He is the son of a resisting and struggling family since the very beginning. It is a family that offered some of its members as martyrs on this path. This family bore many difficulties and hardships and showed tolerance ever since the launch of this procession. I console them for losing this dear leader. He was a master for the fighters, a father for the martyrs, and a senior brother for the brethren. I ask Allah Almighty to gather them with him God willing [in the afterlife].
When I talk about Hajj Mustafa - Hajj Abu Ahmad - in the first part of my speech, I will be talking from the position of an eye-witness. That means direct and personal contact and experience with him. It's not so and so told me, quoting such and such. I am not talking about distant history or about a person I do not know. He is rather a person whom I knew closely. We worked together and walked on the very path together and faced hardships together.
From the very first day of the formation Hizbullah, Hajj Mustafa was one of the contributors in this organization.
Abu Ahmad was one of the pioneering men who were the contributors to this procession from the very beginning and from the first days - not the first year or the first months - of the formation of Hizbullah and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon, and the gathering of a large group of faithful, religiously committed, resisting and struggling men. He was a young man of 22 or 23 years old; this was the age of many of the founding generation of this procession and this resistance. He lived his prime years and all his life in this procession, and he ended it in this procession. Despite his illness, he used to shoulder responsibility. He was among the founding figures who held responsibilities in the field and in the front. He remained in the field and never ever quit up until his final resting place.
This faithful, brave, and aware brother had a firm will. He was of the kind of people whom fear does not find a way into their hearts. In my mind, there is a group of brethren whom fear does not find a way into their hearts. In hardships, wars, fighting, and front lines, they do not shake, their hearts do not quiver, and their nerves do not tremble. One of these men of this kind was brother Mustafa Shahadeh. He was also very close to the resistance men and to people. He was loving, kind, fraternal, friendly, and humble. When we go back to the early beginning in 1982, our number was small in Hizbullah. Our organization was humble, and our capacities were limited. Then we were few and we were afraid that people would snatch us from around us. That was the age of forlornness. Then Hizbullah had a den in western Beirut in Fathallah. The lion of this den was Mustafa Shahadeh [Abu Ahmad]. The guard of this den was Mustafa Shahadeh [Abu Ahmad].
Hizbullah - {this goodly tree whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches reach to the Heavens} - had strong firm deep roots -seated in the land from its early foundation. This is one of the reasons that make this tree unshakable by storms and strong winds. It remained steadfast for more than thirty years, though it was afflicted and tested every year once or twice. Hajj Mustafa [Abu Ahmad] was one of its strong firm roots which made it deeply entrenched in the land while still embracing the heavens.
His faith, religious commitment, and adherence to the resistance and the path of Hizbullah, prompted him to tolerate dangers on the personal level. He used to fight with his own hands, attend the front lines, bare his chest before fire, and confront challenges. He was wounded and was about to be killed and become martyred more than once and in more than one square.
Hajj Mustafa was one of the pioneer builders who excelled and mastered building and founding this jihadi structure. He is one of those who enhanced it and developed it until it became with time a power capable of expelling the occupation and confronting threats and aggressions, and defending the nation and the homeland on more than one level instantaneously.
Should I have the choice to talk about a central turning point in the life and biography of this jihadi leader, I would choose the following for people to know his virtue and give him credit for that. Usually in the life of every cadre, leader, or any person who lives 40 or 50 years in jihad and struggle like Hajj Mustafa , there is in his life - like in the life of every person - a major turning point, or two or three - which are well known and through which this personality is accredited and his virtues are known.
Should I have the choice to talk about a turning point, I would choose the following, not to open wounds or evoke anything from the past, but rather to draw the moral for the present and the future.
Hajj Mustafa was Hizbullah's military leader in western Beirut. In 1987 and on the wake of the internal conflict which was ongoing then between a group of political forces in Beirut, the Syrian troops entered Beirut and deployed on the military level. A catastrophic, tough, painful incident took place then in the second month in 1987 in the Fathallah area. This was later known as the Fathallah massacre that claimed the lives of 18 martyrs. They were 18 of our best men. They were present in the first floor of a building, and Hajj Mustafa was present perhaps in the sixth or eighth floor - I do not remember - of the same building.
Indeed, I will talk about this incident but first I want to say that we were always suffering from and in challenge with the previous Syrian administration. In the previous era, some in the Syrian administration in Lebanon sought for one reason or another to fabricate sedition between the Syrian Army and Hizbullah. Many incidents took place in the eighties and even in the nineties, but this event was the most dangerous and critical.
Indeed, some wanted to impose a certain field status quo on the Syrian leadership at that time represented by late President Hafez al-Assad, whose view of the resistance in Lebanon and Hizbullah in Lebanon was strategic and detached from the internal contests, struggles, and battles in Lebanon. Still, there were those who sought certain considerations and reasons to push things towards a total and broad fight between Hizbullah and the Syrian Army. Indeed that is now in the past, but I must remind of it though I do not want to discuss the reasons. However, this was one of our sufferings which continued later on.
Furthermore, with time some also betted on a rift between the resistance and the Lebanese Army. This was what was orchestrated for during the massacre in 1993 at the airport roundabout when another 10 martyrs from our brothers and sisters fell for us. Fifty others were wounded, and their injuries were in the head and the chest. Again we had to show patience to frustrate the conspiracy. Some also were thinking of, considering, and scheming for a clash between the Lebanese Army and the Resistance in 2005 when the Syrian Army withdrew from Lebanon. However, their research and studies led them to be quite sure that the bet is losing because the doctrine of the army, the structure of the army, the leadership of the army, the officers of the army, and the culture of the Lebanese Army which was formulated over decades haughtily rejects to move in this direction.
Anyway, this is one of the challenges, the pains, and the bitterness that we suffered from for decades at that time.
Let's return to our dear brother Hajj Mustafa at that time and the consequences of what took place - I mean the killing of our young brethren in the Fathallah massacre by Syrian soldiers who were given orders to do that, and the consequent provoking details - the aim was to provoke us - so that we move towards an unconsidered major reaction that would lead to the great confrontation.
It goes without saying that at that time, all our brethren and men in western Beirut were mobilized. They gathered into groups at various points and positions. As a result of the grave incident, they were backed by young men from the Dahieh. The field leader was Hajj Mustafa. One word from him, one order, or one shot was enough to lead to a catastrophe in the second month of the year 1987. A total and comprehensive confrontation could have taken place not only in Beirut and the Dahieh, but rather everywhere, between Hizbullah and the Syrian Arab Army.
Despite the fact that the martyrs were his dear friends, brethren, and men [that was really tough], still this leader showed much self-control, obedience, wisdom, responsibility, composure, patience, self-possession, and great awareness to the extent that he did not take any action. He took control of the street and all the groups while waiting for the decision to be taken by the leadership of Hizbullah at that time. Leader Shahadeh still assumed his responsibility on the level of Beirut as a whole and not only western Beirut.
As such, the brethren in the leadership of Hizbullah at that time - indeed we did not have a secretary general at that time, it was a collective leadership as is the case now but without a secretary general - met and considered the background of the incident and its repercussions and results, and unanimously agreed that we must tolerate, show patience, and press on our wounds because some want us to move towards clashes. The first to benefit from these clashes are "Israel", all those who support "Israel", and the American scheme in Lebanon and the region. You know at that time, the Americans were present and directly influential in the entire region. So the decision was that despite the pain of the grave calamity, we must assume responsibility and overcome this catastrophe and move towards addressing it in a different way.
I remember on that night at around 12:30 after midnight, a group of brethren from the central leadership of Hizbullah rode in the car and headed towards Beirut in the darkness of the night. Despite all the risks, they thought that they must talk with brother Mustafa and with the men because the situation was very difficult.
I was with the brethrens at that time in the car. We went to the place where Hajj Mustafa Shahadeh was. I dismounted the car and talked with him. It did not take me but half a minute. I told him: O Hajj! May Allah reward you abundantly. May Allah bless you and your brethren. Our decision is that we do not want to go towards clashes. Some want to drag us to an ordeal and to fighting at the expense of the resistance and our martyrs. That serves America and "Israel". We must show self-control and gather our young men and arms and withdraw, and think of a way to address this issue in the future. His answer was: At your command. That was it!
On that night, as I said, this leader manifested and revealed his essence: obedience, loyalty, self-possession, sincerity, faithfulness, awareness, wisdom, determination, patience, the sense of leadership, and assuming responsibility.
Let's suppose that on that night none listened to none, people were out of control, or the decision was something else. But here because the decision was not something else, the credit is to a leader called Mustafa Shahadeh on that night. Should our brethren, men, and fighters have headed towards a total confrontation in Beirut, it would have been a real catastrophe for everyone and above all, on the project of the resistance.
This is a turning point which I always recall. In fact, I do not forget it at all because it was critical and decisive. It was not a normal incident. That was critical and decisive. It could have dragged us in this direction, at a time that we wanted to move in a totally different direction - towards the South and al-Quds where the true essential battle is.
Indeed, afterwards there were contacts with President Hafiz Assad and the truth of what took place was comprehended. Since then, special care, attention, and concern was shown by the person of President Assad, and various channels were opened to prevent the occurrence - or dragging of things towards an ordeal - of this sort or a project of this kind. They were really very difficult days.
Anyway, that was the conduct of this leader with regards to this incident. Afterwards, he continued to assume his responsibilities on the level of Beirut as a whole and not only western Beirut, as well as in the South, in the operations of the resistance and the efforts of the resistance. He also contributed to the establishment of the Lebanese Brigades for Resisting the Occupation. At that time - in the nineties - he played an essential role.
Anyway, as he started in western Beirut, he returned to it in the last years of his life as a responsible leader, fighter, father, and a senior brother to the brethren, until he died after showing much patience in confronting a fatal illness.
I liked to give credit to this leader who was a role model for loyalty, faith, honesty, and giving without limits, as well as for courage, chivalry, and willingness to offer sacrifices on all frontlines.
Following a day or two after the battle in which he was wounded and was about to fall as a martyr, I met him. He had a bandage on one arm and was holding his rifle in the other hand. He did not take his sickness or wounds or weakness or any problem as a pretext to fail to show up once in the field of fighting or in the square of confrontation.
Late Leader Haj Mustafa Shahadeh [Abu Ahmad] was indeed a lion of the brave lions of Allah, and a sword of the swords of Allah, in this blessed divine procession. May Allah have mercy on him and may Allah gather him with the prophets, the pious men, the virtuous, and the martyrs.
After your permission, I want to move on to talk about the ongoing events.
First: The presidential elections. Praise be to Allah! The elections took place on October 31, and Lebanon now has a president for the republic, His Excellency President General Michel Aoun.
Under this main topic, I have several subtitles as I said before, to wrap up this file of the past. That's because much was said by others over two years and a half, but we said little. Then I will move to the governmental issue.
The first point: After about two years and a half, today is a chance to say again after the elections took place, that we in Hizbullah were very much unjustly treated. Over two years and a half, they made many accusations against us. Many false charges were leveled against us. Those who treated us unjustly, accused us, and charged us falsely are invited to reconsider their deeds, what they wrote, and what they said over two years and a half. The essential story was that Hizbullah did not want presidential elections to take place; Hizbullah did not want General Michel Aoun as president; Hizbullah was lying to General Aoun and deceiving him. We never were one day liars or deceivers. Then they advanced a little bit. They started saying that Hizbullah did not want a president for Lebanon; Hizbullah's project was a presidential vacuum; Hizbullah was blocking the election of any president, whether Michel Aoun or Suleiman Franjieh or any other president. They fabricated many illusions, claims, accusations, and analyses regarding this. They did not spare anything on the local, regional, or international level without merging them altogether and holding us responsible.
First, they claimed that Hizbullah was imprisoning the presidential elections for the sake of the nuclear negotiations between Iran and the 5+1. The presidential election file was on the table of negotiations in Vienna. We got tired, and our throat got dry telling them repetitively: Stop nurturing illusions. Stop doting. Stop talking nonsense. On the table of negotiations in Vienna there was nothing but the nuclear file. There were no issues pertaining to Lebanon or any other country. Indeed, no one was there to hear.
The nuclear accord was concluded, and the Lebanese presidential crisis was not settled. It was revealed that what we were saying was true, and what they were saying was mere fabrications and lies. It was revealed that on the nuclear negotiations table there was nothing that had the name of the presidential elections, the resistance, Syria, or anything else. There was nothing but the nuclear issue because the Islamic Republic, His Eminence Sayyed Khamenei, and the leadership of the Islamic Republic, refused decisively to discuss any file other than the nuclear file on the nuclear negotiations table. This is the end. Later on, the Americans talked to this effect too.
As such, it was revealed that we were right, and the others were unjust to us. Then they moved forward saying that Hizbullah was imprisoning and suspending the presidential elections while waiting for what would happen in Syria. For a thousand times, we showed up and said: O' brothers! Do not wait for what would happen in Syria or the region. Come on! Sit, talk, and reach an agreement. General Michel Aoun is a compulsory path. Go and talk with him. Carry out negotiations with him. Make an agreement with him. No one answered.
Well, on October 31 the election took place, and it turned out not to be linked to the nuclear negotiations or the events in Syria. Iran did not negotiate over them with anyone in fact. When President Hollande talked with President Rouhani, the latter told him this is a Lebanese affair. See what the Lebanese agree on. The Vatican had talks with Iran, Italy had talks with Iran, and Russia had talks with Iran. All had talks with the Iranians who told them that the solution of this issue is in the hands of the Lebanese. We have friends and allies there but this is their own business in which we will not interfere. They talked with utmost frankness and transparency. Iran and Syria wanted this issue to be purely Lebanese, and those who did not want it to be Lebanese are people other than us and not us. This is the first point which I will end here.
Later, some people linked this issue to the Saudi-Iranian issue. They said that they will wait for Saudi Arabia and Iran to reach an agreement on Iraq, Yemen, Syria, and Bahrain, and the presidential issue is one of these files. All of this talk was baseless. They are mere illusions. From the first moment we were honest in our stance and honest in our support of the natural nominee General Michel Aoun. We were honest in saying that we want presidential elections and in saying that we want this man as president of the republic. We never abandoned this stance for one moment, and we did everything we can do and that would lead to making this achievement and the election of this president. This is one point.
The second point is that following the elections, unfortunately, there are still those who insist and say that they are to be credited for achieving the presidential elections - though we ourselves did not talk about this credit. We do not want to begrudge anyone or the country anything, and we do not want to approach this issue by any means. However, there is a side that still insists that Hizbullah did not want General Aoun as a president, and that they pushed us into the corner to go to the elections on October 31. I frankly and openly tell you in simple words: If this is the case, you would have done this and pushed us into the corner two and a half years ago. The identity of the deceiver and the honest is revealed by now. There is no need to discuss our intentions and their intentions.
We want to wrap up this issue; we do not want to make arguments. I will say this point and wrap up the presidential elections.
It is good for people to come to know that victory is frustrating the goals of the enemy or the antagonist. You differ from us. In the July War, we used to say that we won because we toppled the goals of the "Israeli" aggression, while you say "No, this is not a victory." Now it seems that there is a victor in the country. They discovered or knew that the goal of Hizbullah is presidential vacuum. They nominated General Michel Aoun for the presidency so as to topple the goal of Hizbullah, defeat Hizbullah, and achieve victory. Great! Excellent! You are accusing us that our goal was presidential vacuum for two years and a half. Why didn't you defeat us two years and a half ago by nominating General Aoun and electing a president for the republic and sparing the country from vacuum for two years and a half, along with all the repercussions you are talking about - paralyzing institutions, the fiscal situation, the economic status quo...?
What are these stories? We are pushed into the corner and their goal was vacuum? Still I will accept. I have no problem in that. Not only me, but also my brethren have no problem in that. Let whoever wants to talk to say whatever he wishes to say. Let them say they made victories and achievements. We have no problem at all. What really matters is that after October 31, a new era began in Lebanon.
This is what really matters to us. Thus you see that all over the past weeks and despite the fierce campaign and the multitude of groundless, valueless rhetoric, we did not make a comment. We passed along all of that just as I said on Sunday during the memorial held to honor Hajj Alaa [May Allah have mercy on him], our goal was truly to make this achievement so as to move forward.
Another political force came to realize that it wants to nominate General Aoun because Hizbullah's commitment to General Aoun is merely moral and does not have a political basis.
It is really strange when a major political party, or political leadership and a political bureau in Lebanon meet and say this. For over two years and a half, we have been saying that we support the nomination of General Aoun, and that is not only a moral show of loyalty. It is based also on his such and such attributes. We were about to make banners and posters regarding what he represents and whom he represents. But over two years and a half they did not listen to us; they did not read newspapers; they did not get acquainted with the findings that a political force in Lebanon - namely Hizbullah - supports the so and so candidate. Still they came to say that they did not support him. Didn't you read? Didn't you hear? Didn't you make discussions? You came to conclude that the issue is merely moral. This is not enough to approach the candidacy from a political perspective.
I will stop with these previous three points: who pushed us into the corner, who toppled our goal, and who considered that our stance was merely moral and had nothing to do with the strategic viewpoint and with what General Aoun represents and whom General Aoun represents.
Third: With the onset of the new era, I have another point to say because much was said about presidential agreements, deals, agreements...
Between His Excellency General Aoun and us, there is the agreement which was made in February 2006 in St Michel Church. It is an overt written agreement which was published in the media. It has nothing to do with the presidency or any details of this kind. This was the one and only agreement that took place between us. There is no presidential agreement or deal between General Aoun and us, to be frank and clear. I do not believe that there is anyone who is accusing us of this but I wanted to be clear.
On the contrary, based on the last ten tears - since February 2006 to our day - we supported the candidacy of this man based on our trust in this man. Even after we agreed on supporting his candidacy and months before we announced it, we discussed this topic. He asked me: After all, we can make negotiations and discussions, and I will meet with political leaderships. You - Hizbullah - support my candidacy. What do you want in particular? We told him: O General! We trust you. To us, you are an honest, clear, transparent, independent man. I was not courting him. Now I am saying this in the media but I am not courting anyone. This is what I always used to say on various occasions: General Aoun is not under the control of any other person, state, embassy, or axis. What he is convinced with and what eases his soul is what he does and takes as a position. I told him: We trust you and your characteristics, your independene, your honesty, and your national affiliation based on years of experience.
Now some people come to unearth old issues. What have we now to do with old issues? We care for what people are now and where people are now, what their reaction was in hardships and ordeals and in the July War and even after the July War. Brothers and sisters! Dear audience! We are now before a new era. All what is there between His Excellency President General Aoun is this trust and confidence. There is nothing else. We did not agree on anything; we did not make any deal. This trust is enough for us. Today we are very much assured because he who resides in the Baabda Palace is a real man, a leader, an honest, brave, national, independent personality. He is a mountain. He is not bought or sold. He does not shift with every breeze. He has his own firm principles which he follows and acts according to. This is to us what was required, and this is what we achieved. We did not need to make any presidential agreement or deal with General Aoun. This is the third point.
We reached the fourth point in the presidential elections. We must consider fully the great positive role which His Excellency Speaker Nabih Berri played on the day of the elections that reflects his firm and persistent determination to make this achievement.
Frankly speaking, Speaker Berri announced his stance from nominating General Aoun and said that he does not want to vote for him, but rather that he wanted to vote for MP Suleiman Franjieh, and when MP Franjieh called on his voters to cast a white ballot, our brethren in the Amal Movement and the Development and Liberation Bloc committed themselves to the white ballot. Still through a simple political game, Speaker Berri along with others were able to strip the session of its quorum on October 31. He was able to do so, but he did not. He rather observed the agreement.
During the election session when that commotion took place and was followed by all the Lebanese, and which between parenthesis some MPs harmed through it the image of the parliament and the image of the country as a whole, some people sought to postpone the session. This person wanted to go out, and that one wanted to run away. Even in this commotion, the Speaker was firm and decisive and strong in controlling the session and preventing any leakage from it. No soon did the first round end, that he made haste to start a new round, and conducted the voting process in the way we watched until the election was finally over. Furthermore, he had prepared the congratulation speech beforehand, and he prepared for the oath session. So he too was in a hurry. He wanted to end this event though his stance was clear and overt, and he did not show courtesy to anyone to this effect. Anyway, the procedures of the October 31 session was a great testimony for His Excellency Speaker Nabih Berri. He proved again - so this is not the first time - that he is a true statesman with distinction. He is a major national guarantee in this hard time. Everyone who disagrees with him or disagreed with him on the presidential election must give him credit for this.
Fifth: As per the presidential elections, in the past few weeks or months, I always used to mention and speak about the noble ally MP Suleiman Franjieh. It's now the appropriate time to mention one of the major points that prompt me to give him this attribute: "The noble ally". I do not want to mention this incident to laud MP Franjieh but rather to reach a conclusion. After the Head of the Future Movement nominated him for the presidency, he had a golden opportunity to be elected as president. However, from the first day he was committed to us. This is what a commitment means. Today - Praise be to Allah - much is said about morals. This is in fact what we want people to talk about. We want them to talk about commitments and loyalty. This is what I want to base my conclusion on in a while. He was committed to us. He said: I really appreciate how embarrassing the situation is. That's why I will not go to the election session even if they were to elect me, if you do not attend the session. This is a commitment to Hizbullah. This is a commitment to us.
Well, simply, with a simple numerical operation he would have been elected as president. Speaker Berri used to attend the session. He did not refrain from attending as the head of the council. He used to attend along with his bloc. However, some allies used to abstain from attending with us. Besides the Reform and Change Bloc, we mention for example MP Suleiman Franjieh and his bloc and our Syrian national allies such as MP Talal Irslan. I don't know if MP Qassem Hachem used to attend but MP Assem Qanso for sure used to abstain from attending. So a group of MPs used to abstain from attending with us. Otherwise the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc and the Reform and Change bloc alone could not cause a lack in quorum. Is that true or not? Well, these brethren stayed with us. MP Franjieh boycotted the sessions in which he was to be elected as president of the republic.
Well, with little contemplation, MP Franjieh was able to tell Hizbullah: Your virtues and ours is killing us. I have a historic chance to become the president of the republic. Still he did not say that. In media outlets he said that he made a commitment and he was faithful to his commitment. He is a noble ally indeed. He is a true man whom you can entrust your nation, your national causes, your fate, your people, and your resistance to. This is what we need for this country. We want to lay the bases on this. You say that the law is the guarantee. In fact, people manipulate the law, and everyone interprets the law as it appeals to him. You say that the constitution is the guarantee. There are numerous interpretations of the constitution. The covenant has become stretchable in an ambiguous way. What is the true guarantee for building a state, for the rise of the nation, for developing the structure of the state, and for a better living standard in this country? It is the honest commitment among the political forces and the political leaderships in this country. Something must change in this country. Who is the clever political?
It is he who incessantly lies, stabs in the back, betrays, and deserts in the middle of the way. This is politics in the Lebanese politics. That's what it means when one says a clever politician. For example, they say about us in politics that we are naïve. Well no, we are not naïve at all! We flood with wit as much as you like. Not me indeed. I mean Hizbullah; I am the least among them. However, the point is that we need to change the concept. In this country, people can't stay afraid of each other. How is it that two sides conclude an agreement but no side trusts the other? Before the first party, personal, familial, sectarian, or factional interest, the friend would desert his friend and ally. He would forget the agreement, the strategic accord, and the strategic choice and follow his small interests. That's not how the country would be built. This is how time passes only. May Allah help the Lebanese people should we continue as such. It is required to take this lesson from the presidential elections. The lesson is that in Lebanon there are morals, commitments, statesmen, symbolic figures, and minds. Should the Lebanese unite together, agree with each other, and cooperate with each other, we can build a state and help our country in its confrontation with all these challenges.
The last point in the presidential election issue is that we call on everyone to deal positively with the new era, whether those who voted for General Aoun or not. Let's consider that we as Lebanese are before a major national chance to start off again and work together to guard our country and address its crises and face the ongoing challenges in this atmosphere marred with restless waves. The atmosphere is tough. There are earthquakes and tornadoes all around us. Our great bet - we in Hizbullah - is on the ability of His Excellency President Michel Aoun and the new era to conduct all these upcoming national events with high competence, paternal feelings, and large-heartedness.
Now we move to the governmental issue with a couple of words.
First, I frankly extend my thanks and regards to His Excellency PM Tammam Salam who showed during all this period very much patience, tolerance, wisdom, and tranquility. In fact, the country needed such a man during such a stage. He could control the crisis. Now, this government was not able to solve the crisis, but he could control the crisis with the least possible losses. It is clear that His Excellency PM Salam exerted as much efforts as he could despite the difficulties in the country. We thank him for this tolerance and this patience. God willing during the caretaking period, he would continue with such patience and tolerance, and we hope that this period would not last for long.
Second: As per the new prime minister, we in the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc did not name Saad Hariri. In fact, we did not name anyone. We did not suggest any name, but we offered all the possible facilitations for this entrustment to take place so that we would start a new stage, and we hope that it would be for the good of Lebanon and everyone.
Third: As for the primary topics which we look forward to be addressed by the upcoming government agenda, I will not talk about them now. I will leave this to the head of the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc who along with the delegation of the bloc will meet with the premier-designate and tackle with him these topics. Later on, our brethren the head of the bloc - Abu Hassan - will make a statement in the media tackling the main topics. So I will leave that to him, and I will not deal with the issue in advance. Still, there are two points pertaining to the governmental issue which I want to talk about:
First: Though Hajj Abu Hassan will talk about it in the media, and it is clear and understood, I do not want to bypass it for its importance. We will call for the formation of a national unity government and a national accord government. That's because some people say loyalty and opposition. There are some people in the country who believe we do not know where we live. This country needs a national unity government. It needs all forces to unite and show solidarity. Some wish to have an opposition so that he would make some gains. These are misled. The interest of the country especially during this stage and these conditions is to have a national unity government and a national accord government. Anyway, the premier-designate said that he would seek to move in this direction. This is good. This is a good start.
Second: This point I want to tackle with some details. It is what was circulated in the past few days or weeks in the media. Indeed, all of this was analyses, leaks, and sources. Indeed, we have nothing official called sources or friends who used to quote officials in Hizbullah. However, there is something which I want to officially assert now on the upcoming government and on the negotiations on forming a new government.
We will move along to a new political life which is full of loyalty and led by people who resort to facts and not courtesies.
However, allow me first to give a brief introduction. In the previous governments in which we partook along with the Free Patriotic Movement - I believe they were at least three governments or more. They were three or four - negotiations would be held on forming the government, distributing the portfolios, the number of ministers, the nature of ministers, and the FPM used to feel wronged and treated unfairly. They used to say: They do not give us our rights; they treat us unjustly, they dwindle us; they undermine us, and as such we will not partake. We - Hizbullah and the Amal Movement and Speaker Nabih Berri - used to tell the FPM and the Reform and Change Bloc: No, if you are not content, and you will not partake, we too will not partake. We too used to negotiate so that the Reform and Change Bloc get what makes it satisfied and content. At times the formation of the government would be delayed for a month, three months, six months, 7 months, and 9 months.
This is taking into consideration that according to the sectarian distribution in Lebanon, the Shiite quota as per the number and the portfolios would be settled from the first month. However, we - Hizbullah and Speaker Berri - used to refuse to partake in a government that does not satisfy the Reform and Change Bloc and the FPM. We are talking about something that is 5 years old. We are not talking about something that is 50 or 100 years old.
As for the upcoming government, first I will talk about our stance. I do not want to reiterate what I said a week ago on the nature of the relationship between Hizbullah and the Amal Movement, the strategic relation, the resistance....We know all of this by heart, and we have reiterated it a thousand times. It is enough to tackle the relation from a mere political, tactical perspective. Keep the strategic issue aside, if Speaker Berri and the Amal Movement in the previous governments used to say that they would not partake in a government in which the FPM and Hizbullah do not partake, it is quite natural that Hizbullah says if Speaker Nabih Berri and the Amal Movement do not partake in the upcoming government, we can't partake in it.
This has nothing to do with targeting the new era. Let no one overbid us on the new era. For over two years and a half, we used to be whipped because of the new era. Let no one overbid us as per this issue. This issue is as such from the political perspective. It is as such morally. It is as such as per loyalty and fraternity. I will even say more than this. It is the right of Speaker Nabih Berri on the FPM and the Reform and Change not to partake in a government in which Speaker Nabih Berri does not partake. It is not required that they announce that; what is required is that they act accordingly.
Didn't we say that we are heading towards a new political life full of loyalty, honesty, and people who resort to facts and not courtesies? These facts must be taken into consideration.
The second point in this perspective is that yes, all what has been said in the media is true. Tomorrow or the day after, the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc would meet the premier-designate and talk about the topics. It will tell him also that the person concerned in negotiating the portfolios and the formation of the government on behalf of the Amal Movement and Hizbullah together is His Excellency Speaker Nabih Berri. He is charged with negotiating over the portfolios and the numbers. We are not a negotiating side. Indeed we will follow up with Speaker Berri in his contacts and the results he reaches. We are fully in the scene, but he is the person concerned with the negotiations.
Finally as per the governmental issue, I would like to assert that there is no one who wants to cripple, postpone, or torture anyone at all. There is a discussion that is naturally supposed to take place. In case the people were realistic, honest, and positive and met positivity with positivity, things would move quickly.
I will be transparent and frank. Perhaps someone would conclude from this discussion that perhaps Hizbullah, perhaps the Amal Movement or perhaps Syria does not want Premier Hariri to form a government and would accuse them of this and accuse them of seeking to keep Premier Hariri as a premier-designate without managing to form a government. Thus he would remain suspended between the earth and heavens until the parliamentary elections are due. You will hear much talk as such. Here I am telling you that this is not true, frankly speaking, if someone wanted to act as such, he can do that. Everything is possible in this country.
However, the people who facilitated the entrustment are concerned with facilitating the formation of the government as soon as possible. However, what is required is positivity, cooperation, and being convinced of not excluding anyone and in the participation of everyone. In fact, I have heard courageous speeches in the past couple of days to the effect that we want to bypass our disparities. We differ on the regional issue, we differ on Syria, we differ on Iran, we differ on Syria, we differ on Bahrain, we differ on Yemen, we differ on Palestine.... Here I am telling you that we differ on many files but this is the country. So let's put our disagreements aside, and cooperate if we have the intention to cooperate. Here I am asserting that our bloc and we have the intention to cooperate. We want this era to be successful. Perhaps we are concerned more than others in making this era successful. We too want this government to be formed and successful. So let no one resort to intentions similar to those which prevailed in the past two years and a half. Deal with intentions as being good, positive, and honest, and meet them with the same goodness, positivity, and honesty.
Anyway, we are waiting for the results of the governmental discussions and talks to see where things would reach. If we are able to help somewhere, if we are able to play a positive role to facilitate things, we will not spare any effort. But what is important now is that they deal with he who negotiates in the name of us all with the required honesty and positivity.
The last point in the governmental issue and the internal political issue is that I would like to say the following: The Lebanese are before a new opportunity. Today, our country is secure to a great extent. Praise be to Allah. This is thanks to the sacrifices of the army, the security apparatuses, the resistance men, the awareness of the people, and the open-mindedness of the political forces. There is a group of factors that lead to security in Lebanon. There is not only one sole factor that leads to this achievement. This is an important achievement.
Today, we have a possible political convergence. People are saying that they want to talk with each other. They want to extend their hands to each other. We have a new era, and we are before a chance for a new government. The situation in the region is tumultuous. There is no horizon. It is not clear where a horizon may be found. I insist on what I talked about months ago. It's not clear where a horizon may be found. On the contrary, there are more agitated wars and bloody fights.
As Lebanese, we are before a historic opportunity to protect our country and cooperate among ourselves to address our problems - or at least the crises which we are able to settle. We can postpone the pending issues. We can work on the issues we can agree on. We can revive the institutions, but all of this has to do with the positive spirit, and honest and good intentions.
As for the regional issue, I have only a couple of words to say though I must give this issue some time. However, next week on Martyr's Day, we will tackle these issues. Now we have to talk about Balfour Declaration when he who does not possess land gave he who does not own land, as they say. Through this declaration, the establishment of the Zionist entity was founded. The Jewish Zionists were used in this British project. Otherwise, the Jews and the Zionist project were searching for a state anywhere. Argentina was an option. Uganda was an option. They were also searching somewhere in Europe. However the British, the English mind, the old colonialism, and those with it thought of our region and in the means of dividing it, splitting it, and exploiting it, and Palestine was one of the choices of the Zionist project. The English brought them along to Palestine. They thus created the story of the "The Promised Land and the land of fathers and ancestors, and the land of milk and honey...." Otherwise, Palestine was not their final choice. They had a group of options including Palestine. That's why we approach "Israel" as the colonial military base, the advanced military barracks of the old colonialism and the modern hegemony represented now in the United States of America.
We have to think fully of this promise and this occasion. We must enlighten the nation and remind it of what took place at that time and the stance of the Arab rulers and the Arab regimes. Who bought? Who sold? Who stood steadfast? Who betrayed? This past is important. We can't ignore this past. Anyway, the Balfour Declaration led to the creation of a state, but this state cannot continue to be in this region because it is alien to nature, to the natural laws, and to the historical laws. It is alien to the norms and will of the nation. The issue is that of time only.
Now I move to another point. In fact, I cannot keep calm on this though some brethren said that we must keep calm. Though we are always calm, but the accusation leveled at the Yemeni Army and the popular committees in Yemen to the effect of launching a ballistic missile towards Mecca cannot be imagined. It cannot be believed. One cannot remain calm towards it. There is a big lie which Saudi Arabia fabricated and which it wants to believe, and it wants the entire world to agree with. Indeed, the world did not believe it. On the contrary, some international sides denied that. They did not offer any proof. However, unfortunately some media outlets and some states agreed with them on this as a show of abidance, fear, or greed.
Who believes that this good, religiously committed, patient Yemeni people who pray and fast and perform Hajj and Omrah, and who had been all throughout history fervent to protect the two Holy Shrines, you come accuse such people of shelling Mecca? They said that they shelled so and so airport in Jeddah. Now provide a proof that they hit Mecca to convince the world. If you have evidence we too who support our Yemeni brethren would tell them that this is a condemned act. But why do you fabricate to this level? Why do you act unjustly to this extent which furthers the oppression of this people who are being killed, slaughtered, and bombed daily? They are treated unjustly and oppressively on Islamic platforms in the Islamic world with the accusation of shelling Holy Mecca. This is shameful and flagrant, and it will not lead to any result at all.
We will talk about Mosul, Aleppo, and the region soon God willing.
May Allah have mercy on our dear leader and brother, the late Hajj Mustafa Shahada [Abu Ahmad], and may Allah gather him with the prophets, the good pious, and the martyrs. We ask Allah Almighty to bestow patience and a feeling of pride and honor on his family and on all of you peace, tranquility, a peaceful mind, pride, dignity, and victory. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessing.
Source: Hezbollah Media Relation, Translated and Edited by website team
