Sayyed Nasrallah: Hizbullah was born victorious ~ Nobody is forbidding anyone from resisting

Local Editor

Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressed last week's shooting of a military helicopter on Thursday evening. In a speech he gave during an Iftar hosted by a Hizbullah support committee, Nasrallah took responsibility for Hizbullah's actions, but described the shooting of the helicopter as entirely unintentional. Nasrallah challenged his critics at home and abroad. He responded to recent ‘Israeli' threats and vowed to defeat any attack against Lebanon. However, he also pronounced the issue of Lebanese detained by ‘Israel' "officially closed."

The Secretary General of Hizbullah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, gave a televised speech at the fast-break dinner ceremony held by the Islamic Resistance Support Association in 'Farah city' in Nabatiyeh, it said the following:

Speech in full:

"At the outset congratulations to you, to all Muslims in general and the Lebanese specifically, for the arrival of this Holy and blessed month of Ramadan, the month of forgiveness, clemency, compassion, repentance and returning to God the Exalted. A month considered by God as the best of months, whose nights and days the best of nights and days.

I thank you all for accepting this invitation extended by our brothers in the Islamic Resistance Support Association in this struggling and blessed city of Nabatiyeh, in your continuing support and backing for this resistance, its objectives, jihad and sacrifices, thus confirming you really are an integral part of this resistance.

With the help of God the Exalted I will be at the service of the Resistance Support Association's activities during this blessed month over several nights at slightly wide intervals.

These will be an opportunity for me to address you, and the Lebanese and the rest of the world that hears us through you, to cover a range of issues and topics of concern to us all.

Perhaps these talks will compensate for the press conference I had promised recently, and I may be able to break down some of the subjects I wanted to cover in the conference, into speeches to be delivered during this holy month of Ramadan, with Ramadan being the angle of approach for the topics, so we can give this solemn occasion some of its dues.

God the Exalted says in his Holy book "In the name of God the Beneficent, the Merciful, Nay, seek (God's) help with patient perseverance and prayer: It is indeed hard, except to those who bring a lowly spirit (45) Who bear in mind the certainty that they are to meet their Lord, and that they are to return to Him.(46)" {Holy Quran 2:45/46}.

In some of the prophetic discourses it was reported that what is meant by 'patience' in the mentioned verse is 'fasting', perhaps within the area of its application, since fasting is the most important testimonies of patience, and because one of the most important factors contributing to the state of patience in man.

God the Exalted in addressing His messenger (pbuh) says:

"Therefore patiently persevere, as did (all) apostles of inflexible purpose; and be in no haste about the (Unbelievers). On the Day that they see the (Punishment) promised them, (it will be) as if they had not tarried more than an hour in a single day" {Holy Quran 46:35}; in other verses (Ayaat) He says:

"But if ye persevere patiently, and guard against evil,-then that will be a determining factor in all affairs" {Holy Quran 3:186}, and

"...and bear with patient constancy whatever betide thee; for this is firmness (of purpose) in (the conduct of) affairs" {Holy Quran 31:17},

"But indeed if any show patience and forgive, that would truly be an exercise of courageous will and resolution in the conduct of affairs" {Holy Quran 42:43}.

Through this month, the Exalted God imposed on the believers, not only the message of Islam, but the missions of all the prophets (peace be upon them all) "O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed to you as it was prescribed to those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint,-" {Holy Quran 2:183}

Of the entire wisdoms that lead to the adherence to this divine duty of fasting in Ramadan, is the premise to build man. Building man in a numerous and a variety of spiritual, moral, psychological, cultural and intellectual dimensions. This month is an occasion for man to reformulate his soul and his cultural, intellectual, psychological and moral components with the help and grace of God the Exalted.

Will and determination are the most important elements of the commitment of worship in this blessed month, and they are the Ramadan angle with which I want to approach the issues I hope to address tonight, that concern us in Lebanon and in the region.

Honorable brothers,

when God the Exalted created man, it was the Almighty God's will that man achieves his objectives and aspirations in this world and in the afterlife through his deeds, conduct, effort and mode of life.

The subject matter is not about compulsory fatalism, that one human is born to go to hell while another to heaven and "end of story", that one is created for glory and another for humiliation "end of story", one for richness and one for poverty "end of story"... No.

What man can carry of legitimate aspirations, dreams and visions on the levels of this world and the hereafter, he has to accomplish through deeds, conduct and his actions. This is the Exalted God's will.

Therefore we find that God Almighty has provided man with what it takes so that he could achieve the goals and ambitions in the world and the hereafter; He subjugated existence and the universe for him, as well as the one thing that distinguished man from other creatures: reason.
Thus begins the road, the beginning of the road is knowledge and cognition, for man to know himself, which in fact is the biggest problem.

Many people commit mistakes because they do not know themselves, nor their potential or their limits. For man to know his God, the entire existence around him, and for man to know others, be they human beings or other, and in the context of knowledge for man to know his right and legitimate objectives, for which he must work and insist on in this world and the Hereafter; and for man to also know the right, proper and straight way, which can lead him to these right and legitimate goals in the world and the hereafter.

These are things man needs to know at all times and places.

Also for man to differentiate between good and evil, to know what has righteousness and what causes corruption, that man also knows his friends and his enemies.

This science, this knowledge is a fundamental prerequisite of human life and his movement, in man's personal or collective conduct, whatever the goals and ambitions, whatever the ways,
means and routes used.

When Almighty God talks about the story of Adam, one of the most important lessons in the story of Adam, is that he provides us with knowledge, and of the things he teaches us about is 'the enemy': "Verily Satan is an enemy to you: so treat him as an enemy." {Holy Quran 35:6}.
Therefore, the first requirement is Knowledge and cognition.

Secondly, the faith in what we know; it is not enough to know and perceive, we must raise this knowledge to the level of faith, because when one rises to the level of faith, the effects of knowledge become visible inside us and in others. What is required is for our knowledge to be raised to the level of faith.

The third condition or requirement is the work, the action itself, investing the effort, the actual doing, actual commitment, the practical conduct.

Hence:

1. knowledge

2. faith

3. action

"Religion begins with its knowledge" and what achieves man's objectives in the world and the afterlife is his faith in his objectives and the work he wishes to achieve these goals through. Here I'm talking in the broader general terms and in the religious context in particular.

Dear honorable brothers.

For man, who possesses knowledge and faith, to act and act seriously towards accomplishing the legitimate objectives in the world and the hereafter, what he needs is the fundamental decisive factor of will and determination.

The knowledgeable faithful believer that lacks will or determination, provides simple and modest efforts, that do not require sacrifices.

Man faced with work especially in this world, a world based on work, effort, tests and toil. Whoever wants to obtain money must strive, those who want to regain occupied land must strive, those who want to build a fair State must strive, have a safe and secure family must sweat, strive and labor in order to achieve this goal.

Those who want to defend their country and its sovereignty must strive.

Therefore, in personal and public issues matters are associated with work, hard and stressful work. To achieve many of these goals we need to strive, we need sacrifices, tears, effort, physical and mental effort, which sometimes hold tragedies and the loss of loved ones.

He who does not have the resolve and will does not advance to the action phase but instead settles for theories.

Philosophers, intellectuals and scholars of theories, were in existence, and left no impact on people's lives, because they lacked sufficient will and determination in their lives to strive, sacrifice and through consistent continuous effort bring their knowledge and beliefs, into materialized manifestations.

Thus we come to the Exalted God's classification of God's Honored and great prophets.
God did not distinguish prophets for their plenteous worship, nor for their physical attributes, who is taller, shorter, more beautiful... (for) lineage or kinship.... but by the determination behind their great accomplishments and the great sacrifices they made to their peoples and nations.

We find billions of people today who know and believe in divine religions and in these prophets only because of the great sacrifices, will and determination invested behind them.

When the Exalted God addressed his prophet Muhammad (pbuh), he spoke to him about the patience of those with resolve, and distinguished his prophets of having determination and resolve.

What is known to Muslims is that the prophets of determined-will are Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad (peace & blessings be upon them all).

And when the Exalted God told us the story of Adam and explained to us some of the events in that story, He said about Adam (pbuh) that "but he forgot: and We found on his part no firm resolve" {Holy Quran 20:115}.

Thus the problem is that the determination and will that should have been available in Prophet Adam (pbuh) was not at that level possessed by the prophets of 'determined will and resolve'.
When the will weakens, defects, or retreats, such course will inevitably leave its impact on human behavior, the nation and on society.

With this point on Ramadan, I will move to cover our contemporary reality to say this: today the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and in this region is an expression and a reflection of the will and resolve of the people, a people who know its way and objective, as well as possess the will and determination for the work involved.

The Resistance in Lebanon is, among others, one of the achievements of the blessed month of Ramadan, and of the Quran verse "seek (God's) help with patient perseverance and prayer" {Holy Quran 2:45}, it is also an achievement of this ideological, spiritual, faith and cultural structure.

What I was saying earlier also applies to the resistance in its general framework.

From the beginning the resistance knew its enemy well, and did not err in its diagnosis of the enemy as do some.

One of God's greatest gifts to man is guidance and knowledge, for a person to have been guided to discern between enemy and friend, where many err and loose their way.

The resistance got to know its enemy, and when talking about the resistance I do not talk about its leadership only, but about its resistance fighters, cadres, leaderships, martyrs, wounded and detainees, along with their families, the honorable public and environment that embraced it, the backers and supporters... These are what I mean by the resistance.

The resistance knew its enemy to be the one that occupied the land, committed massacres, killed, wounded and detained people, who slaughtered children, women and the elderly, the one that razed houses, homes, livelihoods and the infrastructure, one which still occupies, assaults, threatens and violates the sovereignty.

(Concerning) The enemy, dear brothers, we also all know that any time it senses a weakness or regression in us, it will return here to occupy our land because its greedy ambitions for our land and water wealth are endless and borderless.

This resistance knew clearly its defined objectives also, liberating the land and the people, were the first words issued by the founder the concealed Imam Sayyed Moussa al-Sadr, May God return him with his two companions safely. This resistance also defined the way by which to achieve its objectives, and realized and believed that the way to liberating man, is through resistance, real, serious, sincere, persistent and loyal resistance...the resistance in all its forms, dimensions, levels, in particular its spearhead the military resistance, jihad and armed action.

But the most important experience in the resistance and its community is that besides faith and knowledge, they possessed the will and determination.

Hence were the first shots fired with the founder Sayyed Imam Moussa Sadr in the seventies and continued on.

They possessed the resolve, will and determination to begin, the will and determination to go on, the determination and resolve to escalate and make victory...and victory came to be made.
And praise be to the Exalted this resistance continues to possess this knowledge, faith, determination and will, thus remaining in the action arena, in the field of work and the challenge front achieving its objectives and works towards the full realization of these goals.

Dear brothers and sisters, we are still in the heart of the battle and confrontation.

Over the past few weeks we frequently heard the enemy making threats against us of bombing, killing, crushing and spreading destruction in Lebanon, against the people of Lebanon, the Lebanese state, its institutions and infrastructure... they went to excess in their threats, but, (...)

A few days ago, after our long stint of silence listening to enemy threats, particularly that (Ehud) Barak was specific in his threats about what he wanted to do, 'based on experiences of the previous war and on political and military leaderships' assessments' as well as 'the Winograd Commission findings'-which incidentally were partly released for publishing and greater more dangerous and more important parts withheld from publication...

So now Barak is talking about the 'Israeli' options in any future conflict.

They are now aware, given what happened in the last war, of their marine forces' limited capabilities; they also know that their Air Force had exhausted all its resources, tactics, missiles, techniques and capabilities without achieving victory, or making any military accomplishment.

They destroyed houses and bridges, yes that is true, but a military accomplishment no; they did not achieve any significant military breakthrough that could change the equation in the battle.

It is why there is talk in all of 'Israel' now, among the right and left in 'Israel', the center, moderate and the extremist and amidst all these dishonest nominal superficial classifications, politicians and military personnel, all of whom are saying that in any future war they want to have with Lebanon, they can only produce a decisive victory through a wide and large scale ground military operation.

And Barak promised us five infantry divisions that will fight from house to house, and from village to village.

Well, he imagines that in this way he is waging a psychological war against us.

This may be true and certainly this is his intention, he intends to frighten the Lebanese people and particularly the people in the South.

He also tries to give some hope to the people within the Zionist entity, a people beginning to miss having a reliable political leader and military commander; Barak is also attempting to motivate his soldiers, his army and street with the vision that he can produce victory through this strategy in the upcoming battle he talks about, nonetheless, his words have more than one objective.

However, he deluded himself with the illusion that continuing his threats will lead to a weakened and retreating Lebanese side, which will prompt the Lebanese to go door knocking here and there, asking for mediation offers, to say to the 'Israelis' to "please calm down and be patient with us!" ...

When I said what I said a few days ago, and again I recall and reiterate those words now, and by them I mean what I say, that these five divisions, however numerous, will be destroyed. I say this because he (Barak) talked about five divisions, when 'Israel' had forty to fifty thousand soldiers in the last war, among them the four elite brigades, the entire 'Israel' elite formations, all of whom were plunged into the July-2006 war.

Based on available faith, sensory and realistic data, I reiterate that God willing these five divisions will be destroyed, in the mountains, hills, valleys, villages, roads and alleys of the South and Western Bekaa, as well as in any place they might target in Lebanon.

Now here lies the lesson.

Usually, when I give a speech, the 'Israeli' media used to show interest and at a certain phase used to broadcast the speeches live, just as some of our stations do. After a while they discovered that these speeches had strong listening audience among the 'Israelis' as people, and that they were affected by them. Hence they considered broadcasting our speeches as helping us against them in the psychological warfare, and since then started broadcasting and analyzing only excerpts.

But this passage, (obliterating Barak's army divisions if they dare invade) which was not a long speech, everything I said was about seven to ten minutes long, it was broadcasted in the first hour or two after the speech was delivered, and then completely disappeared off their media channels; noting that such content used to be written about, analyzed, seminars were given on it, and would remain for days in the analysis theatre.

Yes, they hid this sentence from their soldiers, officers and the families of soldiers. In any case if they hid it from television, other available medium still exist, such as the Internet, newspapers, and other diverse and different means of communication of this world.

They hid it from view, why?

Because the people of this enemy know the credibility of this resistance!

We are not talking about the credibility of a personality here, and this is where I need to ask those who like and love us, the loyal and good people to join us in helping one another, particularly in this month of Ramadan, in remembering that I am not the one with the Sincere Promise, but the resistance is.

The resistance is the one that delivers on its promises, it is the resistance that is honest about its jihad and sacrifices, it is the resistance who is sincere in its position and in bearing responsibility. I only express and reflect the truth, essence, spirit, sincerity, jihad, will and resolve of this resistance, I'm only an official spokesperson on behalf of those fighters, those who make sacrifices and those steadfast, sincere and good families embracing the resistance.

Because the enemy along with its people and army know well the credibility of this resistance when it speaks, and when it threatens, they barred its threatening words from reaching their soldiers and officers. You and I must strive to make sure these words reach them, not only in the context of psychological warfare, but in the context of defending our country.

Sometimes you win a war when you prevent it from occurring; it is one form of winning the war.
To the 'Israelis' we say this, we are working night and day, do not imagine for a second that we will be distracted by the political and media noise in Lebanon, the unrestrained trumpets, the few opportunistic grudges exploiting every nook and cranny to express themselves in Lebanon, regionally and in some parts of the Arab world; that they we will be distracted from our work, readiness, preparedness, equipping and training ourselves, to be stronger and better able to defend our people and our country, to co-produce its dignity and honor...never!... You would be delusional to think that.

Sure we have people whose concern and job it is to know what is being said in the media, who listen to talks and see what is rumored in the media, but I say to you the purpose of the resistance, the leaderships and cadres of the resistance is connected to the practical field itself, and may not know what is being said, they may not have even heard these blowing trumpets of the ongoing rhetoric.

Anyone gambling on some psychological warfare, pressures, alarmist tones against resistance fighters, to affect the determination, will, work and spirit of the resistance, would be delusional.

We tell the 'Israelis' "we are determined, and Ramadan is the month of re-sharpening the resolve, strengthening the wills, the blessed month of Ramadan is for close contact with the Almighty God, the source of strength, source of power and immunity, the source wisdom and knowledge, haughtiness itself, the source of compassion, goodness and generosity.

In this month we connect with our Lord and creator to draw resolve, will and the strength to defend our country and our people, to fortify our victory and prevent any violator from harming our country, sovereignty, honour or dignity.

It is why brother and sisters, you noticed that after that speech or reply, and I did not make threats but only "replied to the threats", some tried to equal between both threats made. Some of the Europeans foreign ministers and some Lebanese media tried to say that Lebanon falls in the middle between the threats made by 'Israel' and Hizbullah, I say no.

This is an unjust equality, as injustice is normally upon us.

They are the ones threatening us and being a menace against us, in contrast we are being attacked, our sovereignty perpetrated, we are being killed on the roads, and we are the ones saying to the whole world that we will defend ourselves, defeat and destroy the enemy when it tries to assault us...hence do you equal between the two?

Anyhow, this is, after all, the problem of the world, a world which equals between the executioner and victim.

After that reply, we no longer heard ‘Israeli' talk of threats, at the very least, we no longer heard anything of importance, and to the contrary they went to alternative options, to exert pressure.
They began pressuring the "UNIFIL" forces operating in south of the Litani River, telling them "You (UNIFIL) are not carrying out your responsibilities; you are not doing raids, not spying"!
...This is apart from the true facts on the ground in south of the Litani, "...and you (UNIFIL) are not doing this and that, etc..."

Simply because the UNIFIL forces commander gave a statement before the Security Council that 'Israel' is the one in breach of resolution 1701 and that Hizbullah does not violate this resolution in south of the Litani, all hell broke loose against the UNIFIL commander.

Yet, unfortunately, in Lebanon no one thanked, lauded or showed him appreciation for his position, none even stopped to address it, why? Because a Hizbullah virtue is there enclosed.

About virtues, I will come back to this point later, and address the virtues story.

Today pressure is concentrated on UNIFIL, also again on the political authority in Lebanon, that it ought to limit the resistance, limits its activity, readiness and the like, pressure is also in the international community, the expression is always that 'Israel' is preparing and equipping itself; but at least for now the threats in their political discourse seems to have calmed down.

After all, as far as the enemy is concerned, this political rhetoric makes no difference, but I liked to point out that this enemy, you and I know very well, neither tolerates nor notices the weak, the powerless, the meek, the failure, the psychologically conquered, nor does it tolerate those who look for excuses and justifications to abandon their duty to liberate the land, the people, their sanctities and countries.

Yet when you steadfastly confront this enemy, whatever your real capabilities, he respects and takes you into account when he addresses or talks about you...and this is the truth.

Dear brothers and sisters,

In this same context I would also like to quickly address some points:

Among other issues that must be resolved in this blessed month, are points that were addressed by State Speaker Nabih Berri during his recent speech in the city of Nabatiya, in the remembrance of the absented Imam Moussa al-Sadr, points I too wish to cover, on the issue of the (so-called) monopolizing the resistance.

This tune may have dwindled somewhat recently, but in recent times, and between now and then people revert to it. The problem here is that "even if you possess a virtue or done a good deed, some refuse to see anything good in you."

This is unfortunate!

There is deep and penetrating animosity, intense hostility, an eye of hatred that refuses to see beauty, good, benefaction or virtue in you. Even when they find a virtue they quickly decide it has to be accused.

For example if the people's virtue is that they stand up and resist, they are quickly accused of monopolizing the resistance!

Like now for instance, we are fasting and there are those who are not fasting, does this mean we are preventing people from fasting?

Can we be accused of having monopoly on fasting? Monopolizing prayer?!

Brothers, we are not monopolizing anything.

Whoever wants to pray, can pray, whoever wants to fast, can do so.

On the question of resistance, until year 2000 through to 2006, we did not monopolize the resistance at all, nor did we block any one's way to it at all, never.

To the contrary, there are Lebanese and Palestinian political forces, after 1985, and even in the nineties, who participated with us in acts of resistance either through joint operations or we facilitated the arrival of their groups to the occupied border zone. We did that without making announcements to the fact.

But, we did not prevent anyone from participating in the resistance.

On the topic of internal outbidding, I am surprised that personalities and parties say "they (the resistance) claim to be teachers in resistance, when we are the first ones to launch the resistance."

Our reply is where? How? Show us!

We are all still alive in existence in the present-day, at the minimum our fathers are still round, not our grandfathers or ancestors, most of the generation contemporaneous to founding the usurping State of 'Israel' are still alive now, in existence, please point yourselves (the first to launch resistance) out, where are you?

Please show us how you were the first to shoot in resistance, and how you were the first to fight?

There are parties that say the same thing and speak the same language. There are people who say "true we did not fire, we did not resist, but Hizbullah has monopolized the resistance"!

"Have I ever stopped you resisting my brother?!"

Some people who participated in the resistance and then stopped, also say that Hizbullah has monopolized the resistance, or Hizbullah and Amal Movement did, or some other party or parties are monopolizing the resistance- to preserve the right of any third or fourth resistance parties- this is completely and utterly untrue; these are flimsy and feeble arguments unable to convince anyone.

Nevertheless, let us put the past aside; and let us say if matters are known by how they end, hence if someone had once fired or was the first to have resisted, which is all great and much appreciated, where is this someone now today?

I mean in the end, in this world and in the afterlife, does man forget where he is? Which position, with whom and in which frontline or trench he is?

Let us leave the past and close the monopolisation file and say: there is consensus in Lebanon today that the Shibaa Farms and Kafr Shuba hills are Lebanese; and there is also disagreement over border demarcation with Syria. But clearly no disagreement over that a part of the Shibaa Farms is Lebanese, meaning that regardless how we demarcate the border, this part is unquestionably Lebanese.

Also a portion of Ghajar town is also Lebanese- here of course I'm not saying go there and start shooting, no-but within the framework of your argument, I also present my argument.

Over the last two years, my brothers, Hizbullah has not had presence in the Shibaa farms area or in the Ghajar town vicinity. The Hizbullah you claim to monopolise the resistance has no presence there.

Who is preventing you from resisting?

You are Lebanese from different political directions, why do you not go to resist, for there is occupied Lebanese land.

Thank God no detainees are left to be freed, and I will talk about this point later on, but there remains occupied land.

Do you not have weapons? Certainly you do.

Among the results of the May 7 incidents, was the proof to the whole world and to the Lebanese that all the Lebanese have weapons; and those who have always been pointing to our weapons of resistance proved that they themselves have weapons, yet they choose to discuss our weapons.

They who always shouted slogans claiming "No to weapons other than the legitimate weapons, and no to weapons other than the army's", yet, and suddenly they prove to have probably as much arms as the army, at least in the light and medium size weapons.

The May 7 incidents proved that all people have light weapons.

And to those who lightly comment that all Lebanese have light weapons in their homes, I ask 'what about those medium range weapons that showed up in May 7 incidents, do people also keep medium range weapons in their homes?

It became evident that some even have heavy weapons, artillery that is.

Hence, events proved you are not lacking on weapons.

And to those who come and say "give us weapons to fight!", we do not want to give you arms, because you have arms and are capable of procuring weapons; the occupied Lebanese land lies right there, now please show yourselves, step up to the plate and fight there.

I do not block anyone from resistance, and if anyone stops you from fighting, tell the people that someone is stopping you, but do not say Hizbullah is monopolizing the resistance.

Let us put an end to this subject of monopolising the resistance.

Also in this month of Ramadan I want to say that neither in the past, nor the present nor in the future has or does Hizbullah monopolise or intend to monopolise the resistance, nor is its project one of monopolizing the resistance, when to the contrary, its project is for all people to become resistance, for all people to resist and fight.

Yes, as to the subject of dominating the resistance, those issuing these accusations do not make them because they actually want to fight or send their children, youth and parties to fight, to martyrdom and sacrifice, no. What they mean is to be decision makers. They want to be partners in the decision making process, they want to be the officers and want us to follow them-i.e. they plan and our youth sacrifice.

They want to sit, plan, make decisions and theorise, it is what they meant when talked about a group monopolizing the resistance, because they connected monopolizing with the war and peace decision making process.

Some time ago, our dear brother Hajj Mohammed Raad, MP for the Nabatiyeh seat and head of the Loyalty to the Resistance Parliamentary Bloc, he said a true sentence, but there are people here, who will criticize you no matter what you say.

He said the Lebanese Government does not possess the decision of war and peace.

Which context was he saying that in?

What he was saying, is that no one in Lebanon possesses the decision of war and peace, not only in Lebanon but in the region as a whole, none, not the Lebanese government, nor the resistance, the state, the army nor the Lebanese people. The one side that possesses the decision of war and peace in the region is, unfortunately, 'Israel'.

'Israel' makes the wars, not the Lebanese Army, nor the Lebanese resistance.

Are the Palestinian people waging war in Palestine?

'Israel' is the one in possession of the war and peace a decision, America too is the one that possess such decision, not the Lebanese Government or the Lebanese Resistance.

Of course the other camp took his words elsewhere and altered its meaning.

In any event, we invite everyone to take responsibility, which is what I said on May 26, which was deemed by some as "being fractious".

But in all honesty I was not being so, this has been our project from the beginning, from 1982 till today the resistance has been a path to inspire and revive the Lebanese people and the nation, so that we can have a resistance people and a resistance nation.

Accordingly, does anyone think we would be upset if others joined us in the sacrifice and struggle or took our place there? Definitely not.

Imagine we are accused for having this virtue of standing up and resisting.

That is one point.

Now regarding the defense strategy; His Excellency the President suggested speeding up the
process the other day. We too were also saying, let us discuss this subject, and let us find out if the people really want to defend Lebanon?

Now because some people are disoriented, I like to add here, that no, we are not using the Shibaa Farms as an excuse to keep the arms, no not at all, because the arms will stay even if the Shibaa Farms are liberated this very instant.

As of now I tell you the arms will stay, because we are talking about the resistance as a defense need for Lebanon.

When I talked about a liberation strategy and a defense strategy, I was clear, nothing was ambiguous. There are some who are above all dubious; they do not want to understand anything.

We are a threatened country; a country menaced by 'Israel', a country that falls within 'Israel's' map of ambitions... hence how to defend our country? Let us debate this at the dialogue table.
If anyone goes to the dialogue table with a background of wanting to weaken Lebanon, he will not reach results. On the other hand anyone going there to convince us on how Lebanon can be stronger and capable of defending itself against any potential 'Israeli' assaults; such thinking will yield results.

What is important is the background we go to the dialogue table with.

Another point I wish to address here in the remaining time, is the helicopter incident.

Again, background and context are unfortunately also relevant here as well.

First to be fair, as you know we are keen on being fair, I wish to acknowledge all those who acted responsibly towards this subject, including the Lebanese Army leadership, the Intelligence Division, the Minister of Defense, His Excellency the President, and again to be fair the PM, all of whom dealt responsibly with this subject.

You see here I am not siding or showing favouratism here, not differentiating between camps '8 March' or '14 March', if the parties concerned act responsibly, then it is our duty to say so, and they acted thus.

They said that an incident occurred, let us wait for the investigation, and a detailed statement issued by the LA (Lebanese Army) said that a helicopter was exposed to gun fire, which lead to the martyrdom of the captain pilot Samer Hanna.

That is the statement in its entirety.

They did not talk about downing a helicopter, they did not pre-empt the investigation, nor did they incriminate or accuse anyone, to the contrary they dealt with the situation with increased responsibility when the statement went as far as saying the helicopter was fired upon by unknown gunmen.

Naturally, in the first few minutes, the picture may not have been completely clear even to the LA leadership, and still they acted responsibly.

From our side also, we found out what happened in the first minutes and co-operated with the LA leadership. The helicopter was not downed (as claimed in some media); I will come back to this point shortly when covering the media subject.

The helicopter had been hovering over those hills, then landed or was shot at briefly before it landed, the investigation will clarify the sequence of events, the brothers were surprised with the presence of a helicopter, whose markings they had not determined, then the rest of the incident ensued.

Consequently, the LA came to remove the helicopter and take the martyr; they also took the other person that was in the helicopter.

This matter was dealt with in the field, and from our side we carried out the required investigations with the brothers present onsite and with those in charge in the area, whether anyone issued an order to shoot and who was that person. If no order to shoot was given, then this brother's reasons for firing?

Of course he is a resistance fighter, a noble person. I will come back to cover that later on.

All in all, the incident occurred, and tomorrow the media will edit out these words 'resistance fighter' and 'noble person' to be handled through the media.

Anyway, communication took place regarding the incident as an incident, obviously an error occurred, a painful and sorrowful error, which happens everyday. In Iraq this happens between allies, regardless of how we classify them, such errors happen everywhere in the world, they happen within the resistance too.

The other day I saw in one of the media channels that talks about 'secrets', saying that Hizbullah has martyrs who are not known how they were martyred. Naturally, when you are running a training camp with large numbers in training, it just happens that someone martyrs during training at times.

It is not our concern to tell the media where and why a brother is martyr every time one is martyred, of course we tell the family of the martyr, but it is not our concern to tell the media.

Even during our training mistakes occur.

In any case, we communicated and issued a statement the following day, after we were put in light of the field details of the incident.

The brother who fired came forward on his own volition and said that "evidently this incident has created confusion and awkwardness for the resistance", he is a youth of about 19 years old, he also added "I have come to join the resistance to defend the resistance and my country, I have come to give my blood not to embarrass the resistance," then asked to "please tell the leadership that I ask to be turned in to the LA Military Judiciary to let the truth of this matter out, and to hem in those conspiring against the Army and the resistance."

We want people to know, in truth, that we do not have undisciplined recruits, but we also do not just collect young people off the streets.

We have youth with a high degree of knowledge, faith, culture, awareness, will and determination.

A young man turns himself in to the military judiciary, not knowing where matters lead to there. Still in his blooming years, he says "I will consider myself as if I have fallen martyr, since from the onset, I did not come to the resistance to make a living, and not just as a craze, I came here to sacrifice, to die a martyr, and if turning myself in solves this issue, and puts it on the right track to be resolved then so be it, I am prepared, turn me in."

We do not turn in anyone by force against their will. Never.

So we handed the brother over. There is a judiciary and an investigation, who asked to hear what the others at the resistance post, had to say, we saw no problem with that. We are cooperative with the investigation to the farthest limit.

This is the truth of what happened, it is the size of the incident.

Regarding the conduct...Naturally the fighters are present in a military post in a steep mountainous area, with looming 'Israeli' threats. Then in a sudden moment, they find this helicopter between them.

In a moment, the entire events took place within seconds, and one of the brothers in a natural instinctive manner fired which lead to the martyrdom of the captain pilot.

This is what happened.

Hence, I wanted to explain the details of the incident first.

Again the situation in general was dealt with responsibly in the Cabinet meeting, now some of the ministers, unfortunately, tried to build on the incident to make more mileage out of the subject, but the President, the acting Army leader, the new leader of the Army, the Army institution and the Defense Ministry, and ourselves are dealing responsibly with the matter.

We will continue with these matters until things become clear.

...Let no one use this helicopter incident to instigate conflict between the army and the Resistance.

We are most cautious in our relations with the army.

I want to remind those who are trying to place a wedge between the Army and the Resistance, this being the month of September, I want to remind them of the martyrs we lost who were killed on September 13, 1993, by the Lebanese Army itself.

On that day we lost men and women as martyrs, 8 men, 2 sisters, and more than 50 injured by the bullets of the Lebanese Army and Lebanese Internal Security Forces, yet we were cautious to avoid instigating any conflict with the army. I was accused of cowardice on that day. Hizbullah leadership was also accused of cowardice and slackness; those were very dark nights. Spears came at us from every direction.

Yet we remained calm, because we are of the most aware of the subject of sedition between the Army and the Resistance.

That is at the Airport Road traffic circle. A similar incident also took place at Saint Michael Church (a reference to the Mar Mikael riots in January) not that far away from there too.

In this incident all the personalities, figures and leaders from the Shiaa community acted responsibly, in the face of the horrific killing of 7 youths in the bloom of their lives, killed in an obscure manner.

In any case that too was left for the investigation.

In the end, we are not comparing between incidents here, saying this is like that or that incident etc... but in the end, this too now is an incident, for which an investigation is taking place to determine what really happened, and no one can exploit this incident to instigate strife between the Army and the resistance.

On the other hand how are we to assess the conduct of some political leaders and some media regarding this incident?

Irresponsible talk was said by some.

You know me. I always call for calm, endurance and patience, and here I am not inciting. Instead I am here to practice the essence of the verse {But indeed if any show patience and forgive (Holy Quran 42:43)}, but, nevertheless, some light ought to be shed on the subject.

All the commentary that was released after the incident about the incident came out to say that "it was an intentional act", that "Hizbullah puts relines for the Lebanese government", "the consolidation of the two governments Hizbullah and the Lebanese government", "the deliberate targeting of the army", and the last article I read said: "Why martyr Samir Hanna, in particular?"
I mean the picture being presented now is about a group of young people on the ground, nearly accused with their leadership, of having had prior knowledge of that helicopter, and of the pilot officer Samir Hanna from Batroun inside it, and that therefore he was targeted in person... this was followed by the analysis asking "why?"

This is pure hatred and malice, I do not know how this could be ... how you could describe someone who claims to be concerned for the army yet speaks this kind of language.

To those speaking this language, I ask, what are you doing? Are you inciting the army against the resistance, are you inciting the leadership of the army with its officers and personnel against the resistance by this talk?

Is that the sense of patriotism and national responsibility?

If you do not like the resistance, that's up to you, but what about the Army, what do you say to the Army?

What do you say to the martyr's family in Batroun?

Additionally, for someone to reach a point of going as far as writing a story in the media that the martyr's family or the Batroun locality refuse Hizbullah's condolences!

I now address the father, mother, family, brothers and sisters of the martyr captain Samer Hanna.

To send you my deepest condolences, and tell you that I, with our brothers and families truly understand you, more than others and more than those who came to incite you.

We understand what it means for someone's brother, father, son, dear one to be martyred.

This incident occurred just the way we loose our young men in training, just as officers and soldiers of the Lebanese Army fall martyrs during training.

This incident happened and this is the size of the subject.

I send you my condolences, and share with you the pain, tragedy and the loss of dear loved ones, and I understand what it feels like.

More than that, it is our duty to come and be at the martyr's family service, to pay our respects, God willing when the circumstances are appropriate, we will do our duty, and we do not tarry in attending to our duty at all.

With this incident being dealt with as such, when we are supposed to be going to the dialogue table, what kind of dialogue will take place at that table, in the presence of such spirit, such hatred, grudges, abuse, collusion and accusation in the background?

Someone also suddenly came out to say that we do not only want to see who fired, but who gave the order. Nobody gave orders to shoot the helicopter, but ultimately if anyone gave an order, I assume responsibility.

I'm not only a spokesman for the resistance to make speeches during its ceremonies; I also assume responsibility in war and peace for all that this resistance does.

I want to settle for this amount on this subject, but I liked to say that the way this incident was treated through some aspects of the media and by some figures, does not help at all, when the subject is only an accident, with no political indications, connotations, political indicators, and without it being a "message to the 'Israelis'." Because the 'Israelis' know us very well, they do not need messages, additionally we do not send messages with bodies and blood of our dear and loved ones, not in the Army, not in the Resistance, not from the people, nor was it a message to the interior... this is the size of the subject.

It is my duty to laud the words published today in the newspapers and yesterday by His Excellency President Suleiman in commenting on the incident. That is what is right, such talk is responsible.

This is the size of the subject; however, there is an investigation and a justice system. When I speak about the media, when the media goes into an uproar, I do not mean just some Lebanese media, but some Arab media as well, some of which are worse than the some Lebanese media.

They fabricate lies, sometimes even attribute acts to us that have been carried out by others, and then they present images of others and say that those are us.

Would you believe such media exists in the Arab world?

Everyone claimed: Hizbullah brought down a helicopter. Did you ascertain this? Because no helicopter fell, Hizbullah did not bring down any helicopter, the whole story is completely different and not like that, yet they acted like something happened to be exploited to "scalp Hizbullah's skin."

Hizbullah's skin does not get scalped, will not be scalped and no one can scalp it on any day. These are illusions and imagination.

Hizbullah was born victorious and that is what the facts and the future say-the days will prove it.
I wanted to end this subject in this way...

...and I also want to say, that I heard someone whom I knew to be balanced, but now with the ongoing election fever, he described the resistance fighter who fired as a criminal! Who told you he is a criminal?

Elections not only makes people loose their balance, it also must make them lose their minds.

I do not accept anyone classifying him as criminal. This is a resistance fighter doing his duty.
Confusion happened and an investigation is in place to reveal what happened.

The investigation and judiciary can classify him, not you, no one is entitled to describe or classify him.

Hence thus we would be dealing with the incident within the limits of liability, and thus everyone regains their mind and sees where they stand and so, act responsibly.

So long as there are political, Army and resistance leaders in this country acting responsibly and with a nationalistic spirit, no one can exploit this incident to push this country to wrong places; anyone gambling on such exploitation is delusional.

Until now we have not presented our version of the story, and yet we left the matter for the military judiciary to have their say. Neither the Army nor do we like to issue stories, to become topics of debate... wait for the judiciary to tell what happened.

In this last section I like to conclude by covering a topic, I had the intention of addressing in the press conference, the part pertaining to the detainees file.

Among the achievements of the resistance this year was the prisoners file, Praise is to God.

Today I can announce, from what we know of all living Lebanese detainees in 'Israeli' prisons, that this file is officially closed.

Of course, we still have the file of Brother Yehya Skaff.

We received the remains of four people, and not bodies.

Considering they were martyred a long time ago, and buried in tough conditions, among them martyr Dalal Mughraby.

We were also given files confirming that these four martyrs had Dalal and Yehya among them, but considering the condition of that remains, we could not reach the desired outcome through "DNA" tests carried out here in Lebanon.

The issue will take additional time to process because we sent for "DNA" testing abroad to take advantage of the latest technology in the world, in order to settle this issue, because in the end, this is a story of life and death.

I do not want to anticipate the results of the examination, but the test results will not provide anything new regarding martyr Dalal's martyrdom, because her martyrdom is confirmed and settled, but what needs to be worked out, is whether the remains are hers or not? This is what the test will reveal.

As far as brother Yahya's case is concerned, test results will reveal whether his remains are among them, if so he would be declared martyr, a negative result increases the chance that Skaff is still alive and missing.

Getting a closure on these tests, will be important for his family, for religious and legal considerations, to work out if the submitted report suffices to go by to declare him martyr or not, still alive and missing, hence possibly still alive in 'Israeli' jails.

Regarding the file on the martyrs' bodies...

There was some talk during the exchange operation, but no deception there and you know my enmity towards the 'Israelis' is absolute hostility, but we did not deceive them, neither did they do so to us. They said they will return to us 199 bodies that were in their possession, and they claim that these are the bodies of Lebanese and Palestinian martyrs they have in their possession.

As for the Lebanese, the 'Israelis' claim that these are the bodies they have in their possession, they may be honest and may be lying, either way, we do not consider the martyrs file closed, this file is still open.

There are martyrs from Hizbullah whose bodies have not yet been returned, and this of course needs to be checked. Because there are martyrs who may not have fallen in 'Israeli' hands, we must know where to search for them.

However there are others who did fall in 'Israeli' hands, and were later transported to the 'Numbers Cemetery'. Unfortunately, this cemetery was neglected for years, some of the remains or bones sometimes got washed away by rain floods or other things ... it is a thorny file.

There are martyrs from other resistance movements and parties, who provided us with lists, and this is not the first time we take lists. We have insisted on the return of all martyrs and their remains, any resistance martyrs, regardless which resistance side they came from, and those returned are all the ones 'Israel' claimed to exist. We have no evidence as to whether the rest are ‘existing' there or not. In all cases that file remains open.

Now, if the resistance parties like to hold a meeting during of after the month of Ramadan, delegates from resistance movements that still have missing martyrs' bodies, can form a committee and discuss ways to follow up this matter, after all the Lebanese government, which is a government of national unity, must assume this responsibility.

In any case, we do not leave our detainees in abandoned prisons nor do we leave the bodies of our martyrs behind, even if they were in the sacred and blessed land of Palestine, because there are other emotional and humanitarian considerations to be taken into account, which might necessitate their return to their families and loved ones.

We consider the file for those missing in 'Israel' still open, and the information provided by the 'Israelis' is insufficient. What they provided on brother (Mohamed) Farran, the fisherman from Tyre, is insufficient, one cannot build on it to find results.

In the end it will be up to his family, to the forensic and legal process governing the case to decide on brother Mohammed Faran's case.

Those missing prior to and up until 1982...Families contacted us regarding missing persons from that period, when 'Israel's' proxy militia in south Lebanon arrested youths and others, and were last seen in their prisons before going missing.

In the end, they may have fallen martyrs yet they may still be alive, but we choose to call them 'missing' until proven otherwise, and not martyrs or anything else.

The file on those missing before and after 1982 has not been closed either, those in 'Israeli' enemy hands or its collaborators' hands. The information they provided was inconclusive and inadequate.

Of course we have a problem that some of those missing may have been taken by 'Israeli' collaborators at that time, who may have liquidated them. The may or may not have handed them to the 'Israelis'.

In truth, it is not enough to look for those missing in the war with 'Israel' with the 'Israelis' only; we must also look for them with 'Israel's' former collaborators and friends, and God willing they can still be classified as 'former'.

The file of the missing in 'Israeli' hands will be pursued, and here lies the responsibility of the Lebanese government.

I always say this, and by saying this I am not throwing responsibility on the Lebanese government, because we do not avoid responsibility and we will continue to bear that responsibility for Yehya Skaff and Mohammed Farran, responsibility towards the remaining martyrs' bodies, and towards the rest of the missing who are connected to the 'Israeli' conflict, and this is whether the Lebanese government carries the burden of this responsibility from us, as we hope, or not.

Should the Lebanese government take on this responsibility, we will be at its service and provide assistance, in no way do we intend to introduce a government in the way of the government, or a State in the State's pathway, nor do we wish to remove responsibilities from others, but when this responsibility is discarded, we are humanely, morally, religiously, legally, socially and patriotically, and in all considerations and criteria forced to take on this responsibility.

I will address the rest of the file on the missing Lebanese in another talk, I will also talk about the issue of the four officers in the coming speech God willing, but I will conclude tonight with the topic of those held awaiting trial (the group accused of attempting to assassinate Hizbullah Secretary General).

Now, while we are at the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan, there is a group held under arrest, with accusations filed against them - I am not saying an assassination attempt - but may be plotting for the assassination attempt against the Secretary General of Hizbullah.

I said on more than one occasion in the past, and soon after their arrest in a speech at Sayyed al-Shuhada assembly hall that I forgave them.

Now again, if I have any rights or personal claim in the matter, I ask for them to be waived, if that has any weight in the matter, because in the end it is the judiciary that decides.

I also tasked the brothers with completing, on my behalf, any necessary legal paperwork and that if I am required to sign anything I will, and I announce the same thing again now.

This story has been going on for a while now, and soon they will appear in a military court, so for this purpose I reiterate my readiness to send in writing my wish to drop any personal claims or rights, if I have any, and state that I forgive and pardon them whatever their intentions were, regardless of their background or who sent them, I have no problem with this topic.

I also wish to send a message to the military court, though we do not interfere with court proceedings, but since in one way or another I am the concerned party in the issue, I hope that the court considers the period those accused spent in detention as their sentence or as part thereof, thus spares us the political stigma involved with a pardon.

If they are to be sentenced, let their sentence be the period they already spent in detention waiting for trial, so they can come out in the month of Ramadan to be with their families, to fast and celebrate the Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan festivity) with them. May God forgive us along with them, and God willing, this stand benefits us here in the world and in the afterlife, which is what we seek after all (...).

As far as the rest of the detainees, I renew the appeal to the court for speedier case processing. No logic in the world permits the arrest of a person for one, two, three, four and five years
without a ruling issued against them!

How can that happen?

This is injustice.

Whether those detained are Islamic or secular, whether Christian or Muslim, whatever sect or creed of the Muslim faith they are or sect of the Christian, no matter who (they may be)... the maltreatment of any person may not be tolerated.

Some people sometimes talk about Islamic law; I have heard a senior reference jurist on TV say that if a person is given a death sentence as a punishment, even a simple slap on the face outside the given sentence is not permissible; this is the extent of the accuracy.

Hence how can a State, judicial system or anyone leave people, men or women in prison for long months or years, under the argument of insufficient evidence to be released...

If there is insufficient evidence to try them, then release them, let them go to their homes, ask for a security bond if necessary, and then summon them upon completion of the facts (evidence). After all, the law has allowed for exits of this kind. Or is the problem related to judicial routine or administrative issues, when sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on silly things in this country.

If there is a shortage in the judiciary then address the problem, this situation contains clear injustice that cannot be allowed to continue. Here we are not saying that these people are suspects or innocent, I do install myself judge here, I am talking from a humane and moral position, a religious and patriotic position.

From a religious point of view, if a person is accused and you do not convict him, you may not detain them for all this time, under administrative excuses or excuses of incomplete this or that.
Justice is the duty and responsibility of the Lebanese judiciary and justice requires fairness to these people, to try them as soon as possible, and to release the innocent.

This of course is not just my stand, and has nothing to do with a memorandum of understanding, nor is it related to politics but related to moral, religious, humanitarian and nationalistic commitment towards each other.

I am not only talking about the Lebanese in prisons, I am also talking about the families of the army's martyrs. I ask does anyone think the families of the army's martyrs tolerate injustice against anyone, certainly not, they want justice for their sons, the same applies to the families of the resistance martyrs, and other martyrs.

The family of martyr Samir Hanna, do they want anyone to be unjustly treated? They want justice.

We all have to be seekers of fairness and justice, and what we seek through the system, the state, the law and the judiciary is to achieve this justice.

I hope that this holy month of Ramadan is a chance to achieve justice and to return to the self.
May God's peace, mercy and blessings by upon you all, may God accept your fast and deeds of worship...best wishes for the season."