Sayyed Nasrallah’s Full Speech during the ’Alphabet of Victory’ Festival
Translated By Al-Ahed News
Speech of Hezbollah’s Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the “Alphabet of Victory” Festival marking the 40th anniversary of Hezbollah’s Founding on 22-8-2022
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon our Master and Prophet, the Seal of Prophets, Abi al-Qassem Muhammad Bin Abdullah and his good and pure household and his good and chosen companions and all the prophets and messengers.
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you all.
God Almighty says in His Glorious Book:
{[He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims. Those are the ones from whom We will accept the best of what they did and overlook their misdeeds, [their being] among the companions of Paradise. [That is] the promise of truth which they had been promised.} God Almighty has spoken the truth.
I welcome you all to this great and honorable celebration. Of course, on behalf of my brothers who are overseeing this festival, I apologize to you for the delay that occurred due to technical reasons. In any case, the brothers deal with complex work.
We were all holding our breath and hoping things go well. In the end, they managed to prepare and complete their work in a relatively short period of time.
Still, we made you wait for about an hour, and we thank you for your patience and endurance. As a result, it is necessary for me, too, to cut short the speech and introductions or cross out some points and clarifications not to take more of your time, even though the importance of this occasion and others require that we allocate a certain amount of time for them.
I also want to thank the brothers and sisters who are responsible for this artistic work. It is a new initiative and a new step that we encourage them to take despite the risk of failure. But praise be to God Almighty, despite the delay with the brothers and sisters, they were lucky. We thank them, and may God accept their efforts.
Tonight, we conclude the festivities of the Forty Springs that have been taking place over a period of two months. The brothers and sisters in all the institutions and units of Hezbollah explained, by presenting reports and documentaries and making TV and media appearances, the various aspects of this march. For 40 years, it has contributed to various fields, including cultural, educational, health, agricultural, industrial, construction, media, and unions.
It has also been part of municipal work, parliamentary work, government work in all dimensions, women’s work, the scouts, and sports because this march has all these dimensions and has a presence in all fields, and on all levels.
However, the most prominent title, as is clear through this artwork, is “The Alphabet of Victory” because it expresses its true essence which is resistance and jihad.
I also thank all the brothers and sisters who have worked hard over the course of two months to present a good, realistic, bright, and not an exaggerated picture of giving, jihad, the struggles, and sacrifices of all the men and women workers, the mujahideen and the mujahidat, and other men and women who made sacrifices in this blessed march.
Also, coinciding with this forty-year mark, we would like to label these festivities a celebration of the victory of the resistance, Lebanon, the people of Lebanon, the Lebanese army, the state of Lebanon, and all the Lebanese who stood in the face of Zionist barbarism and brutality during the July War.
It is also an occasion to celebrate the second liberation, the liberation of our outskirts and our eastern mountain range in the Bekaa from the Takfiri groups. These groups were brought from all parts of the world as part of the global war against Syria and the resistance in the region.
I will cross out a number of topics and start from this point.
I must first clarify an important thing. We are not severing the connection that existed before 1982. Rather, there is a deep-rooted, original, and fundamental connection to all the efforts, struggles, actions, attitudes, activities, and frameworks that existed before 1982.
When we talk about what this movement, march, party, group, and resistance did in the last 40 years, we are talking about things that happened before 1982, even though many of its members, its founding generation, as well as its leaders and scholars were partners and had a strong presence in all events prior to 1982.
We highly appreciate what happened in our arena – that is what we are aware of, i.e., me and the generation close to me, before me, and after me; the events that took place in the sixties, seventies, and early eighties.
[We appreciate] all the movements in our arena, the parties, frameworks, scholarly figures, thinkers, men of knowledge, including jihadi leaders and field personnel, seminaries, and institutions. All these worked for decades and completed what Imam Sayyed Abdul Hussein Sharaf al-Din, Imam Sayyed Muhsin al-Amin, and many of our righteous and great scholars and figures were responsible for and started decades ago.
Also, we highly appreciate the efforts of our great scholars and all our scholars from our faith and the Islamic arena who spread awareness, enjoined what is right, forbade what is wrong, and raised generations.
We, too, were brought up under their pulpits, and we listened to their guidance and instructions.
There was a large number of scholars in Lebanon. Before I talk about Imam al-Sadr, I’ll single out His Eminence Ayatollah Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah and His Eminence Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din. Both were our scholars who had a great presence in these educational, religious, and guidance arenas. There were also many scholars in various cities and towns.
Here, we must specifically mention the great inspiration martyr Imam Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, may God Almighty be pleased with him. Inspired by him, his students had a great impact. Among these students who carried the spirit of martyr Imam Sayyed Muhammad Baqir were martyr Sayyed Abbas Al-Musawi, martyr Sheikh Ragheb Harb, and others.
We often talk about martyrs, including His Eminence Sheikh Hussein Kourani, may God have mercy on him and be pleased with him, His Eminence Sheikh Hussein Obaid, may God Almighty be pleased with him, and others who carried this school of thought and belonged to it.
Of course, here we must mention, His Eminence and leader, Sayyed Musa al-Sadr, may God bring him back safely because he was the greatest interceptor among the group of scholars. This is not debatable.
He was the greatest and first opponent of public affairs for all the situations that existed in Lebanon and in the region. The situation was very sensitive and dangerous. He mobilized the weak and the deprived. He had an active presence among the masses, in guidance, drawing the lines, declaring positions, establishing the resistance, and leading the resistance.
We are just days away from the anniversary of the crime of the ages committed by the Gaddafi regime when it kidnapped and disappeared the Imam and his two dear brothers.
In the beginning, we assure everyone in Lebanon, the region, and the world that our jihadist march is one of the blessed results of the jihad of this great leader and that both Hezbollah and the Amal Movement are his sons and students who are continuing his path and are guided by his approach.
This connection is continuous as well. His Eminence, Imam Sayyed Ruhollah Mousawi Khomeini remains a major and fundamental factor in inspiring our journey before 1982, after 1982, and today.
With both our founding and our path from the beginning and until God wills it, he remains our greatest inspirer, our greatest guide, the initiator of the renaissance, and the spirit of revolution in this nation and in this era.
We cannot talk about the achievement of our journey before we salute his great and pure soul for what he revived, guided, and inspired.
Brothers, I had written something, but I will not follow that order. I was supposed to talk both extensively and quickly about the past 40 years. Then, I’d talk about what we should do in the next stage. This can take a while and require some repetition.
Instead, I will mention the main developments of the past 40 years. Of course, I will not be able to review all the main headings. With each point, I will say how we plan to carry on in the next stage in order to present a clear vision of the past and of what we are going to face. This means all our fates.
1- Resistance and the struggle with the “Israeli” enemy (extensively):
Since the founding – we will not talk now about how Hezbollah was established because we talked about it a lot. I will not enumerate as well. I will discuss them one by one. For example, in the past 40 years, what are the achievements, work, and basic tasks that the people of this march have undertaken?
Here, I am talking specifically about Hezbollah. I am not summarizing all the resistance, all the resistance factions, and all the sacrifices made by the rest of our dear friends and allies.
- Participation in confronting the “Israeli” invasion through the first groups that were formed in more than one place and region, along with all the resistance groups in 1982 who resisted, including the brothers in the Lebanese resistance regiments, Amal, the national and Islamic forces, the Palestinian resistance factions, and the Syrian Arab Army.
There was still a state of confrontation at that stage. I spoke on a previous occasion that Hezbollah was not formed in a conference as much as it was formed in the field, on the ground.
Commencing resistance operations through the new formation and the new name – the Islamic Resistance – and contributing alongside all the resistance forces to achieving liberation in 2000, with the exception of the Shebaa Farms, the Kfarushba Hills, and the northern part of the town of Ghajar that are still occupied.
We always say “contribution”. We do not delve into percentages. There is no doubt that Hezbollah’s contribution was essential to the liberation, but we do not say that we alone created liberation. All the forces that resisted and that participated created this liberation. That is why I use the phrase “contribution”.
- We must remember the importance of the 2000 victory and its strategic results on the conflict with the enemy and the Palestinian cause. This victory ended the Greater “Israel” project and revived Palestinian hopes for resistance. Hence, Al-Aqsa’s Intifada. It also put an end to the myth of the invincible army.
- Providing a clean human and moral experience of the resistance. Hezbollah was not the only one to provide this. It was also provided by all the resistance factions in the May 2000 liberation.
Why do I say a human and moral experience when talking about the 2000 liberation? Because no hand was laid on anybody. No one was assaulted, nothing was burned, and nothing was destroyed, given the abuses, incidents, field executions, and reprisals many experiences in the world witnessed.
- Contributing to the liberation of the Lebanese prisoners, the last of whom was martyr Commander Samir Kuntar and his brothers. Yes, there remain some pending files – missing persons. The “Israelis” are not admitting that they are alive. This needs to be followed up on.
- Founding a military and security structure for the resistance capable of deterring the enemy and stabilizing equations
- Contributing to the consolidation, confirmation, and deepening of the thought and culture of resistance among people and generations
- Contributing to securing a popular and political incubator for resistance and the choice of resistance because we did not secure the popular and political incubator alone. The group of forces that believe in the resistance and support it helped in that, too.
- The legendary steadfastness in the July war, which we are also celebrating today. This victory is one of the achievements that took place during these decades.
- Military victory, military, popular, and political steadfastness, joint management of the battle, politically and on the ground. We must remember the role of His Excellency President Emile Lahoud as he headed the government's sessions and his great steadfastness during those sessions, along with the concerned ministers who support the resistance.
We must also mention Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, his response, and his political leadership in this battle alongside the field leadership that was in place and the solidarity and embrace of our allies, friends, and all the Lebanese.
1- One of the results of this legendary steadfastness in the July war was the thwarting of the new American-Zionist Middle East project that Condoleezza Rice talked about and whose picture you saw in this show. This is one.
2- Ending the Greater “Israel” project. In 2000, the Greater “Israel” project ended because “Israel” which is unable to stay in Lebanon and in the border strip, cannot establish a state from the Nile to the Euphrates. “Israel”, which was defeated in the July 2006 war, cannot present itself as a superpower in the region or establish a Great “Israel” in the region.
- Stabilizing deterrence equations was one of the things that came out of the July War to protect Lebanon from aggression, bombing, and “Israeli” threats. That is why our country, especially the south, has been enjoying security and safety for 16 years.
One of the results of steadfastness during the July war is that it thwarted the declared and clear goal, which was to crush the resistance. They failed to crush the resistance. Instead, the resistance emerged stronger, sturdier, and tougher.
- Among the achievements during the 40 years is contributing to confronting “Israeli” [spy] networks and exposing agents along with the state’s security services, which play the primary role. We only help out.
- Contributing to the awakening of the people in Lebanon, the nation, and the people in the region through achievements and victories; reviving hope for victory and the ability to defeat the enemy. Giving new hope.
It has always been known as the invincible army. However, the experience in Lebanon showed the Palestinian people, the Lebanese people, and the people in the region that this army is not invincible and can be defeated and humiliated.
This is a subject that has been destroyed. For dozens of years, there have been efforts to instill this conviction in the people of the region.
- And recently, when we talk about the achievements, the resistance's entry into Lebanon's restoration of its rights to oil and gas at sea. This is if we spoke extensively about the headlines related to the conflict with the “Israeli” enemy for 40 years, which were an essential contributing factor to these achievements.
We are not attributing all these achievements to us alone. These achievements would not have been possible had it not been for the cooperation, mutual support, solidarity, popular and political embrace, popular and political steadfastness, as well as official steadfastness in many stages.
This is coupled with the sacrifices, efforts, and blood of the martyrs and the torments of the prisoners, the families of the martyrs, the people who made sacrifices, and the people in the border villages, along the frontline, and all the areas that were subjected to aggression.
This is what happened. Moving forward, how will we continue? How are these people going to move forward?
The next stage starts now. No one should imagine that the propaganda campaigns, the media, the hype, the satellite channels, the television, the articles, the electronic armies, the attenuation, the insults, the accusations, the lies, and the rumors can break the resolve of this resistance, its presence, and readiness. In the end, this resistance will say, ‘this is enough, brother. We’ve had enough.’
In the end, it is a humanitarian, religious, legal, moral, patriotic, and national responsibility that cannot be abandoned as a result of all that you are seeing, hearing, and spending billions of dollars on – by their own admission. Hence, preserving the resistance, its presence, and readiness.
- Developing its [the resistance’s] structure and capabilities.
We are not satisfied with the level at which it currently is. On the contrary, we are going towards developing the infrastructure – the human infrastructure, the efficiency, the capacity, the level, as well as the military capabilities and capabilities because there are very important developments at the level of weapons, technology, and techniques. We must keep pace with all of this because the “Israelis” also do not stand at a limit and ceiling, and the United States of America provides it with the latest technologies and weapons.
With regard to the last issue, i.e., the drones that were launched a few weeks ago, they used the newly acquired F-35 planes from the United States to bring the drone down.
- Emphasis on the equation of the army, the people, and the resistance. This equation has become fixed because it has proven its feasibility in liberation, after liberation, in the July War, and in the second liberation, which I will talk about shortly. All the other theories that are being circulated don’t produce results.
When we talk about the people, the resistance, and the army equation, we ask what this equation has offered Lebanon in the past 40 years. You are coming up with a new, theoretically untested equation. Even on a theoretical level, it is not clear what it will offer to Lebanon.
- Working to liberate the rest of this occupied Lebanese land is a national responsibility, the responsibility of all Lebanese. These include the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills, and the Lebanese part of the town of Ghajar.
I repeat. In the past, they’d tell us who commissioned you and asked the resistance to do this. No one asked you to do so. 22 years after the liberation and dozens of years before it, no one has done anything regarding this Lebanese land.
We carried out some operations and called them reminder operations. We must reconsider this performance and this situation. On more than one occasion, I invited the state, the people, and the political forces to look into a national strategy for the liberation of the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills, and the Lebanese part of Ghajar.
But no one lifted a finger, and no one was thinking about this topic. Most of the time, no one was thinking about it.
This is a model that we present to our new generation, those who were born in 2000 and onwards. This is how it was along the border strip had it not been for the presence of the resistance forces that took it upon themselves to liberate the border strip.
Here we say that God mandated us. Yes, we are mandated by God, not just me in good faith. Those who have bad intentions took it somewhere else.
We are all mandated by God. God mandated us to worship Him; God mandated us to do good to others; God mandated us to be honest; and God mandated us not to lie, not backbite, not to steal, not to spoil, not to loot, not to slacken, not to sell our land and give up our sanctities. This is a divine mandate for each one of you, one of us, and one of the people.
In any case, we fulfilled our mandate, but there are people who have different points of view.
The subject of the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills, and the Lebanese part of the town of Ghajar must be discussed again. In the end, this is occupied Lebanese territory.
Also, in the next stage, it is our responsibility to establish deterrence equations to protect Lebanon's people, land, sovereignty, dignity, resources, and wealth.
In the next stage, as in the previous stage, we always announce our permanent readiness to discuss and agree on any national defense strategy. We have never escaped from this challenge. We are ready.
- The last point on this subject is the imminent challenge that awaits us in the coming few days, which is the issue of oil and gas and the demarcation of the maritime borders.
Now, I will not say anything new. All that needs to be said is what we have said. We are all waiting. The “Israelis” are talking a lot these days about positives and negatives. We have to wait. Those who waited more than ten years can wait a few more days. There is no problem. Let us wait and be calm. We always hear threats, and the last one to issue threats was Gantz. For us, all these threats are of no value.
Our decision is clear, our rhetoric is clear, and our direction is clear. We are waiting for the next few days to build on. This is when it comes to the conflict with the “Israeli” enemy and the resistance. From Lebanon and in Lebanon, the Lebanese resistance with its various factions, including the Islamic Resistance, is our resistance.
In the same context, I move to the second title, although it is closer to Syria. It is in the same military, jihadi, and resistance context, but on another front.
Around this time of year, the second liberation victory took place in the Bekaa region. The resistance was supported by the people of the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel. In the final stage, it liberated these mountains, barrens, and the eastern chain with the direct participation of the Lebanese Army in the battlefield attack. This led to victory where great sacrifices were made, including martyrs and wounded, etc.
That’s all I’m going to say about this occasion. The second liberation and the resistance is the first title.
2- Palestine and the Palestinian cause to us:
In the past 40 years, we have believed in this cause. We are committed to it. We declare our permanent commitment to it through all media, political, and cultural means. We have always expressed our support for the Palestinian people and the Islamic and Christian holy sites, and we will continue in the next stage with this unequivocal, decisive, and firm commitment without any hesitation.
We consider that the Palestinian cause is a part of this nation; it is part of its religion, its culture, its civilization, its commitment, and its honor. Therefore, there is no place for abandonment, neutrality, distance, or retreat when it comes to the Palestinian cause.
In the past 40 years, we’ve established strong and broad relations with the various Palestinian resistance factions. There is cooperation and coordination, and we provided what we could in terms of assistance, passing on our experience, training, capabilities, logistics, and information, for them to be able to work. We will continue with this in the next stage more than ever before.
Our strategy was and still is centered on a revolution and the resistance of the Palestinian people, and everyone must provide them with help, assistance, and support. Everyone must without exception.
Also, in the past 40 years, we have adopted the issues of Palestinian refugees in the camps, following up with their rights, and providing direct assistance through our institutions.
We will continue to always stand by the side of our brothers, the Palestinian refugees, in the camps of Lebanon in their decisive stance in rejecting resettlement and insisting on a dignified return to the homeland in dear Palestine.
Also related to the Palestinian cause, we have confronted and monitored all forms of normalization at the Lebanese, Arab, and Islamic levels.
We called on the Arab and Islamic people and all the honorable and free people in the world not to normalize with this brutal, racist, and criminal entity that occupies the land of others and commits daily crimes against humanity. This is the nature of the enemy that we refuse to recognize and normalize with.
And today, praise be to God, in this battle, in the battle against normalization, there is a real battle. They are betting on the younger generation. As for us, we’ve grown old and grey. We are useless.
They are betting that young people belong to a different generation, come from another world, and come from the world of the Internet, social networks, and the communications revolution. Thus, future generations can go to normalization quickly.
Also today, a young Lebanese girl joined her colleague, Charbel Abu Daher – the brothers told me that he is among you, and of course, I welcome him, his father, and his entire family.
They also told me today that the media is reporting that a Lebanese girl, Nadia Qassem Fawaz, who hails from the town of Chehime and is the Lebanese chess champion as well as an international chess champion at the Abu Dhabi International Festival, also withdrew from the fourth round when the draw set her up against an “Israeli” player.
We are proud of these 12 and 15-year-olds, and we bet on them a lot. As we have always said, resistance is not only armed resistance. This position is an essential part of the resistance.
What was the Sheikh of the Martyrs Sheikh Ragheb’s great title? Sheikh Ragheb did not engage in military action. He did not take up arms or attack a post. Sheikh Ragheb said making a stance is a weapon, and a handshake is a confession.
Charbel and Nadia refused to play with the “Israelis” – even though any young person at this age, who has made a great effort to reach a world championship, has great ambition to win a gold medal or an international award – and abandoned everything due to their belief and principle.
This is what we are betting on, and we must carry on with this together. In fact, all the Lebanese people who unanimously agree, even if some only appear to say that “Israel” is an enemy, that “Israel” is an enemy should be proud of Charbel and Nadia, just as we are proud of all our great titles and names in the resistance, our martyrs, and our leaders.
This is on the issue of Palestine and the Palestinian cause.
3- Regional issues:
We have always stood by Syria. In the past 40 years, we’ve been on the side of Syria. We have always emphasized the unity of the path and destiny.
We will continue to emphasize the unity of the path and destiny because Syria is a pillar in the axis of resistance, the resistance front, the steadfastness front, and the refusal to surrender to the “Israeli” conditions.
We participated in facing the global war on Syria from a position of awareness of the objectives of this war. We were not taken by many slogans and addresses that were given sectarian, civil, or democratic dimensions. From a position of awareness to the objectives of this war, we participated in this major historical confrontation.
We consider this part of our achievements in the past 40 years. We have contributed together with the Syrian leadership, the Syrian army, the Syrian people, and the rest of our friends and allies.
We contributed as much as we could to make the great victory which was achieved by offering martyrs and wounded.
We are talking about the future with regard to Syria. Day after day, we are more convinced of the correctness of our choice and our decision because there are always people who ask us, after what happened, are you reconsidering?
We tell them, day after day when facts, documents, and confessions become clear and former prime ministers, former foreign ministers, former ambassadors, and former military generals talk about the real goals of the war on Syria, we become more and more convinced of the correctness of our choice and decision to go there.
I tell you again, today, tomorrow, and at any time, if Syria is subject to any similar new wave, the resistance will never hesitate to be present in the fields of confrontation and challenge.
The following is also related to Syria. We’ve insisted on restoring normal relations with Syria during the last period for the benefit of both countries.
In fact, the return of normal relations will benefit Lebanon more than Syria, especially when it comes to the file of the displaced. We must cooperate with the Syrian government and leadership regarding this issue.
This issue must be addressed and a dignified and safe return for the displaced Syrians in Lebanon must be secured because the greater part of Syria is safe and secure, and people can return and live a very normal life there.
The return of the displaced, security, border control, economic benefits, the issue of transit, the issue of customs, and many issues are in fact in the interest of Lebanon.
But because of American political pressures in the first place and taking into account regional countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, so far this matter is not progressing. However, we must work and we will continue to work during the next stage to address this matter.
We have always stood by the oppressed peoples in our region, primarily Yemen, Iraq, Bahrain, and Afghanistan, who have come under attack.
Of course, we made media and political positions and issued these positions. We will continue to express our position and solidarity in the next stage as well, despite the pressures and burdens since declaring such positions have consequences.
However, we are ready to bear these burdens because this is a true statement that must be said and a position of solidarity that must be expressed.
We contributed, based on our size and capabilities, to fighting Daesh in Iraq as required. And if Iraq is exposed once again to dangers of this kind and we were asked to be on the side of our Iraqi brothers, the Iraqi army, the Iraqi crowd, and the resistance factions in Iraq, as in previous years, we will not hesitate to have our cadres and brothers fight there side by side with the honorable Iraqi people in the face of this black project that the US is running from behind the curtain.
We established a strong and solid relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the past 40 years. It supported Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, and all the resistance and did not abandon them despite the eight-year war on it, siege, sanctions, etc.
It stands with us and we stand with it and will always see it as the major regional power that all those who resist and the oppressed in our region depend on.
We also contributed to the formation of the axis of resistance. Our resistance, Hezbollah, was a contributor to creating this axis, of course, within its size.
We have contributed to the formation of the axis of resistance in the past years, and we are part of this axis. We will remain part of this axis, and we bet on it as an axis of the force capable of confronting the projects of hegemony, occupation, and authoritarianism and defending the oppressed, the occupied lands, and the violated holy sites every day.
We sought to build broad popular and partisan relations with segments of the Arab and Islamic worlds, and we participated in existing national frameworks and contributed to the creation of other frameworks which we were part of, including the Arab National Conference, the Islamic National Conference, the Arab Parties Conference, the Al-Quds International Foundation.
We will remain committed to communicating with the widest possible segments and forces in the Arab and Islamic worlds, with whom we share common goals and causes, the most important of which is Palestine.
We will continue with this. There is no doubt that this has been affected in the past ten years amid the events in Syria and the region due to the confusion, and strife. But all things, thank God, have returned to normal and are taking their normal course.
We did not have a problem with Lebanon's Arab relations, especially with the Gulf, developing them, and strengthening them. I'm talking about official Lebanon.
But some of these countries want relations with Lebanon in a way that confiscates freedoms in Lebanon, silencing people in Lebanon, and turning Lebanon into a follower and a state that glorifies its wars, acts of aggression, and projects.
This is something that we do not accept, cannot tolerate, and consider to be incompatible with the identity of Lebanon, its nature, its existence, and its uniqueness.
Nevertheless, we did not object or obstruct. We also have no problem with any development of Lebanese-Arab relations.
4- Lebanese affairs:
I move on to the last title which is related to Lebanese affairs in the past 40 years in Lebanon. Of course, everything I mentioned earlier came as a result of effort, sleeplessness, blood, sweat, sacrifices, wounds, prisoners, suffering, oppression, and vigilance. What we will be mentioning in the Lebanese interior is the same. This did not come easily.
On the Lebanese level, we avoided slipping into any civil war or sectarian strife. This is what was being prepared for Lebanon in 2005 after the assassination of martyr Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and those who were martyred with him.
However, we cooperated with the political forces, foremost of which are the Future Movement, the Amal Movement, and even the Progressive Socialist Party and other political forces in order to prevent Lebanon from going into a civil war and sectarian strife.
This gave rise to the quadripartite alliance. Some people sometimes criticize the quadripartite alliance. This is the moral and patriotic reason for it being formed.
In any case, we also insist on this point. We insist and tell the Future [Movement] that we will not be dragged into any civil war or any sectarian strife, although this requires patience, wisdom, insight, and endurance from people.
The last scene was very painful and very dangerous. It was the scene of the martyrs in Tayouneh, which put Lebanon on the brink of a civil war. Had it not been for the wisdom, insight, and awareness of the families of the martyrs and the parties they belonged to – meaning Hezbollah and the Amal movement – and everyone who stands behind these martyrs, including their families and tribes, Lebanon would have descended into civil war because someone wanted to drag it into a civil war.
During the past 40 years, we were keen on civil peace, security, and stability in Lebanon, stressing that bringing about security and internal stability is the responsibility of the state, with the cooperation of components and political forces. We are always ready to cooperate.
We avoided all attempts to drag us into a clash with the Lebanese army and security forces.
It is possible for someone to say, Sayyed, this is an assumption. There is no such thing. No, in the past, and there is evidence that somewhere in a black room there was someone working to drag the resistance into a clash with the Lebanese army and the security forces.
I tell you frankly. This is a permanent and publicized American project, and there is no need for me to provide you with secret documents.
If you read about the sessions of some congressional committees and some statements of some US senators, you will realize that they speak openly about this subject because these are their wishes and projects.
Of course, the army and the army leadership rejected that, and the resistance and the leadership of the resistance rejected that.
We faced serious challenges in this regard during what the “Israelis” called Operation Accountability. We call it the July 1993 Battle. There are those who wanted to send the Lebanese army to the border strip and not to the international borders to be positioned next to the “Israeli” army that occupies Lebanese territory. The decision was to strike the resistance if it did not comply. Who was required to strike the resistance?
The [Lebanese] army was required to do so. On that day, the army leadership rejected this approach. His Excellency President Emile Lahoud must be credited for this.
When we talk about history, we must be fair. After that, the situation in Syria and Lebanon was addressed, and our allies and friends intervened. However, somewhere there were people in 1993 pushing for a clash between the army and the resistance.
They wanted what did not happen in July 1993 to happen in September 1993. When a march denouncing the Oslo Accords took to the streets at the airport bridge came – despite all the agreements that had taken place that the march would follow a certain path – it was shot at by officers and soldiers in the Lebanese army and the internal security forces. We can never forget this incident.
We cannot at all accuse the army leadership because the army commander at the time was also General Emile Lahoud, who refused to face the resistance in the south. So, he could not have [ordered] the shooting at the airport bridge.
We believe, regardless of how the investigations went, that there was a major breach within the forces present in the field. They proceeded, contrary to the decision of the military command, to open fire, killing ten martyrs and wounding 40 others. They shot people in the chest, head, and shoulder. The objective was to drag Dahiyeh [the southern suburbs of Beirut] into a fight with the Lebanese army.
But Dahiyeh with its awareness, patience, foresight, parties, families, and tribes (among the martyrs were children of families belonging to tribes) from all areas held back.
After that, there was a shooting in the Hay Al-Sellom neighborhood, where martyrs also fell. Then, in front of Mar Mikhael Church.
After that, in public, the ominous decisions taken by the government on May 5, 2008, which would have led to a definite clash between the army and the security forces and the resistance. However, we overcame all of this. But how?
We paid with precious blood. There are wounded who are still suffering from their injuries. There is pain, orphans, widows, patience, and endurance.
Today, this security, safety, and stability that Lebanon enjoys did not only come as a result of the fact that there are institutions that provide security and safety, but also because there are people who carry their wounds, pain, and martyrs and do not fall for the conspiracy that the enemies of Lebanon are plotting to destroy this country and push it into fighting, ruin, and civil war.
I want to confirm that we have a firm commitment that we will not be dragged into anything. But, of course, things need decisive treatment such as the Tayouneh incident since it is related to civil peace, civil war, and the stability of the country.
We will continue to treat and follow up on this issue in the next stage. The Khaldeh incident is with the judiciary, and we are waiting for the judiciary.
Let's continue. The permanent commitment to coexistence and national partnership on the basis of equity and justice, as we spoke on the days of Ashura.
The relationship is established between Muslims and Christians and all the components of the Lebanese people who want to live together and live in peace on the basis of equity, justice, righteousness, and charity. This is what God and the Qur’an command us.
Therefore, we must all make an effort for this matter, especially since there are many sectarian and regional sensitivities in the country.
In Lebanon, in the past 40 years, we’ve established relations, friendships, and alliances with many national and Islamic forces, parties, currents, figures, and religious and political references.
We were committed to our relations and friendships, and we will remain loyal to these relationships as long as the other party is keen on them. We do not leave any relationship, any alliance, or any friendship. We were and will remain committed.
Following the elections, some of our friends admonished us for doing something during the elections. We must benefit from this election and from all previous experiences.
We have been very clear about our commitments. We did not promise anything to anyone and not fulfill what we promised. We were very clear in our promises and commitments. Our experience also testifies to our loyalty to our allies and friends.
One of the things we would like to achieve in the next stage – which bore fruit, especially in the past thirty years, and which we will carry forward – is transitioning the relationship between Hezbollah and the Amal movement from a negative position to a positive one.
We are talking about 40 years. Some things happened; we and our brothers in the Amal Movement agreed not to talk about them.
We want to take the relationship between Hezbollah and the Amal movement from a negative position to a very positive position, to a position of cooperation and coordination, up to the stage of integration. We will continue to advance this relationship.
Some in Lebanon have a different opinion and a certain point of view. Some people want this relationship to end and fall.
I also tell you frankly and honestly and based on all cultural, intellectual, faith, and moral backgrounds. It is in the interest of the resistance, Lebanon, and the Lebanese people and not only the Shiites in Lebanon that the relationship between Hezbollah and the Amal Movement always be integrated as well as based on cooperation and unity, especially concerning huge and main files.
Another achievement of the past stage is the understanding with the Free Patriotic Movement on February 6, 2006 in Mar Mikhael Church. At that time, His Excellency President General Michel Aoun was the head of the movement.
This alliance has survived to this day. Many were betting and many worked day and night for this understanding to collapse and fall. But it survived. It is still standing until the elections and will continue after the elections.
It is still holding and also bore fruit and blessings on Islamic-Christian life and inner peace. We will undoubtedly remain determined on strengthening and developing this understanding in the next stage.
Since 1992, we’ve been participating in the parliamentary elections. We formed a parliamentary bloc that had contributions in the parliament and outside the parliament.
We will continue to participate in the next stage in the parliamentary elections and activate our contribution and presence in the parliament and in parliamentary work. In the past few days and weeks, the brothers explained in detail during interviews and meetings, as well as in electoral speeches the achievements of the Loyalty to Resistance bloc. Hence, I will not repeat them.
We’ve participated in municipal elections since the first municipal elections were held in the nineties. Over the past years, we have been participating in the management of a large number of municipalities in cooperation with our brothers in Amal and other national forces and currents since we share all the municipalities with them.
There have been significant achievements, which are presented in reports. Whoever visits the towns can clearly see the great transformation that has taken place in many towns, cities, and villages. We will also continue. Municipal elections are nearing. We must participate, and we will carry out this responsibility with you, God willing.
Up until 2005, we were not part of any government. We had well-known positions against economic and financial policies. We often did not back these policies, but we were always ready to cooperate with governments that we were not part of for the interest of Lebanon and the people.
The circumstances and developments that occurred in 2005, which you are aware of, have since forced us to take part in governments.
I also explained this topic during the parliamentary elections and celebrations, so I will not repeat it. We will continue to take part in governments in the future based on the same circumstances and reasons, to help serve the people and defend their interests.
One new reason is our political vision of the internal situation in the past years that crystallized in our past years, which I will conclude with shortly.
We launched the anti-corruption project, and we said from the start that this will be a long battle. We must carry on with it. The main reason for the project, after the modest experience, is to reach an honest, courageous, independent, and fair judiciary. It does not matter what you do; if there is no judiciary with these specifications, it is not possible to fight corruption in this country. We will also continue this path.
Dear brothers and sisters, for many years, we have decided our vision on the options regarding Lebanese affairs, especially in the political document that we issued in 2009.
Lebanon is the final homeland for all its children. In this, we are following in the footsteps of Imam Sayyed Musa al-Sadr, may God bring him back safely – building a just and capable state.
We used to coexist with the existing state, making sure not to clash with it. Our priority was the resistance, to serve the people as much as we can, and defend their interests in Parliament, the government, on the street, in unions, in professions, and in institutions.
However, our belief evolved to the urgent need to build a just and capable state. We explained this in the parliamentary elections, especially in the celebration in Dahiyeh, the mountain, and Beirut.
We are not talking about removing a state and bringing in a new one. No, we are talking about the existing state, the existing constitution, and the existing laws from within the framework.
We must all work as Lebanese to transform this state into a capable and just state. I also explained what we mean by a just and capable state during those occasions. We strongly believe in this.
Therefore, in the next stage, we will explain what our program is inside Lebanon. Our main program in the next stage is to contribute and cooperate with the various Lebanese political forces to build a just and capable state.
This needs to be discussed. None of our friends or anyone can say that this is my opinion when it comes to building a state; this is how you should build the state. No, there must be a plan, a national dialogue, and an agreement on the basics of how we build a just and capable state. Therefore, where should these basics be?
They must be translated in Parliament, in laws, and in constitutional amendments – if there is an agreement and consensus on them. Therefore, no one alone can say that this is a just and capable state, and you are all required to implement the copy that I have. No, we must agree on a copy and the basics and have good intentions to build a just and capable state altogether.
We strongly believe in the principle of a true national partnership between the various Lebanese components, away from exclusion and abolition, because this is a country that can only stand through partnerships.
We look forward to a truly independent, sovereign state, with real independence and sovereignty in its decisions, that is not subject to the American embassy or any other embassy or any external hegemony.
There is no time now. We will talk about the subject later because the level of interference by the US embassy in the details of the Lebanese ministries has intensified more recently than ever before.
They are bound, silenced, and sometimes even subject to the will of the American embassy in many files. We want a true, sovereign state that makes decisions based on the national interest, taking into account its friendships and relations, but is not subject to any hegemony or subordination.
Our priority in the next stage, then, is to contribute to building this just and capable state.
The other challenge that has occupied us during the past years and now is the economic and living situation in Lebanon.
In the next stage, we must all cooperate and contribute to saving this situation by presenting solutions in objective discussions far from populism and proposing alternatives.
The most recent of which was the position we made to support the Lebanese state in salvaging the Lebanese treasure hidden in the sea, including gas and oil, which is the last and only hope for salvaging the economic situation in Lebanon.
We were even ready to undergo risks. We are now at the heart of the risk in this situation. This reflects the extent of our commitment to this contribution, which aims to save the economic and living situation of the Lebanese.
When it comes to us and the people in the past 40 years, we have been in their service within popular frameworks that have developed into institutions in all fields and arenas, including cultural, educational, media, health, service, social, scouts, and unions.
The most important achievement was helping to absorb the repercussions of the July war and in reconstruction. This was one of the largest service and social projects that we have helped and contributed to.
We will continue to serve people in all frameworks, in all institutions, at all levels, and in all regions, despite the siege. This is for the next stage. Despite the siege, sanctions, pressures, and threats, to everyone who donates money to us or lends us a helping hand, we will strengthen our institutions and present more services.
For us, serving people is a basis and a foundation in itself, regardless of anything else. We consider it one of the greatest acts of worship by which we draw closer to God Almighty.
Here, I come to the conclusion. This is a summary of what has passed and what is to come.
The direction we are going is clear, be it in the resistance, the conflict with the “Israeli” enemy, the wealth of Lebanon, the situation in the region, and the internal situation in Lebanon.
As for the next stage, in order to conclude with a little more precision, we are optimistic about our reading of the international situation, international and regional developments, and the balance of strengths and weaknesses.
We believe that matters are in the interest of our people and the axis of resistance, honor, dignity, sovereignty, freedom, and true independence. With this optimistic spirit, we look forward to the near future.
It is our duty, here, at the end of the speech, to thank first, of course, God Almighty. We thank Him first and foremost. We thank the brothers in Syria who stood by our side for 40 years. Now, we stand by their side.
In the past 40 years, they stood by our side, helped us, facilitated things for us, opened doors for us, and provided us with political, diplomatic, regional, and security protection. Syria and the Syrian leadership should be thanked for this, whether during the term of President Hafez al-Assad or President Bashar al-Assad.
We must extend our thanks to the Islamic Republic of Iran, to His Eminence the Leader, to all officials in the Islamic Republic, to all successive governments over the past 40 years, and to all institutions of the Islamic Republic, especially the dear brothers in the Islamic Revolutionary Guards, who were from the very beginning with us in the camps. They were with us in the training camps and passed along their experiences, expertise, the spirit of fighting, and love of martyrdom.
They offered martyrs with us and accompanied us. They remained with us to this day, and the great martyr leader Hajj Qassem Soleimani, may God Almighty be pleased with him, witness their jihad, sacrifices, and struggle with us.
In the Arab world, we must thank all the forces, parties, figures, frameworks, currents, movements, media outlets, elites, and the general public who supported us, helped us, raised our flags, and chanted in the name of our resistance and our martyrs in the past 40 years. Of course, we are still betting on their position because this is the nation's battle.
We must also thank our religious authorities, our great references in all 40 years, who have always been behind us and behind this resistance in all its directions, with their fatwas, their orders, their instructions, under their protection, and in their prayers.
You know, all this is a matter of blood and martyrs. It is one soul, and we are a people who look to the afterlife in the first place. Therefore, these references have always surrounded, sponsored, supported, and prayed for this resistance, and they still continue to do so.
In Lebanon also, we thank everyone who protected and supported [the resistance] with a word, a position, and an embrace, including the various Lebanese sects, Lebanese parties, currents, figures, religious references and scholars, the Lebanese people, and all those residing in Lebanon. We thank them very much.
We thank our martyrs, our martyred leaders, Sayyed Abbas, Sheikh Ragheb, Hajj Imad, Sayyed Mustafa, Hajj Hassan, and all the brothers – our list is long – our martyred leaders, martyrs, the families of our martyrs, our wounded, our prisoners, who have suffered for many years in the prisons of the occupation and the prisons of the agents, for the resistance fighters, the generations of the Mujahideen and resistance fighters, who did not abandon the squares or the battlefronts. Many thanks, greetings, and pride to all of them.
To the new generation, I tell them:
We are betting on you. Our generation has entered the stage of old age. You are the new generation. You are the young men and women. You will carry the banner. You will continue the path. You will achieve the goals, hopes, and dreams of the martyrs. We are betting on you, and that is why we invite you to be serious in life.
They want you to drown in licentiousness, games, and desires and waste time in this irresponsible world. We call on you to practice morality, commitment, and piety, fear God, honor your parents, keep good relations with your relatives, be honest, and be trustworthy and good company.
We also call on you to indulge in knowledge, competence, and specialty because preserving the liberation, all these achievements, and what the martyrs entrusted us with as well as building the homeland and providing people with a decent, dear, honorable, and contented life fall on your shoulders.
This is our message on the forty spring to this young generation, which, of course, has shown many signs and evidence that call for optimism, hope, and pride.
In conclusion, on your behalf, I turn to our leader, reference, Imam, supporter, and sponsor of our path since the beginning. During the life of Imam Khomeini, His Eminence Imam Khamenei was the one who undertook this care and support. He continued this support after Imam’s [Khomeini] departure and for the past 40 years from the position of leadership and guardianship.
He was always the kind father and the great, wise, brave, and inspiring leader who never left us at any moment. He has graces on the resistance in Lebanon and the region and to the axis of resistance. People may not have the opportunity to know about his graces in this world.
But on the day secrets and truths are revealed, the Lebanese people, the people in the region, and our Arab and Islamic world will discover the greatness and value of what this leader and imam has presented to our people and our sacred cause.
We ask God Almighty to grant him long life and survival, honor, and more strength, magnanimity, and courage.
I thank you very much for your patience and for this kind participation. God willing, as we have been together for 40 years, we will, God willing, continue in the coming days, weeks, months, and years towards this goal – preserving what the martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners entrusted us with, alleviating the suffering of the people, preserving the sacrifices of the people, their steadfastness, hopes, and dreams.
We say to those threatening us, frightening us with death, and threatening to kill us. It seems that the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Zayn al-Abidin (PBUH) falls on this night or the next, i.e., these two days.
Despite everything that befell him in Karbala and after it, he [Imam Zayn al-Abidin] said his eternal speech in the assembly of Ubaidullah bin Ziyad in Kufa.
It became a method, a path, and a slogan. I will conclude with it, and we have been repeating this sentence constantly for the past 40 years.
Our strength lies in our soul, culture, and faith. We repeat the well-known sentence that Imam Zayn al-Abidin said when he was threatened to be killed. Today, we say it to the Zionists as we wait to see how it is going to be between us and them in the next few days and weeks.
We say to those who threaten us with death, killing, war, and destruction. We tell them the statement of Imam al-Sajjad (PBUH):
"O son of Ziyad! Do you threaten to kill me? Don't you know that being killed is our legacy and martyrdom is an honor for us."
Martyrdom is an honor for us from God, who has bestowed victory upon us over the past 40 years. He transported us from the era of defeats to the era of victories.
Many happy returns. May God protect you, guard you, help you, and give you victory.
May God’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you.
