Sayyed Nasrallah’s Full Speech During the Inauguration of Ardi Exhibition
Translated by Al-Ahed News
Speech of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during the inauguration of Ardi Exhibition organized by the Jihad Al-Bina Foundation in Beirut’s southern suburb | 27-10-2022
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.
First, I welcome the brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen, present in this gathering and blessed inauguration.
When we set the date for holding this exhibition and when the brothers coordinated with me weeks ago on setting the date, it was not yet clear whether the indirect negotiations on the maritime borders would be finalized.
It just so happens that the inauguration of the Ardi Exhibition coincides with the conclusion of the deal.
It is also normal for important events to take place during these weeks and days, which require us to take a certain position or comment.
However, the nature of our occasion today is the inauguration of an exhibition. We do not want to take up your time. Also, the nature of our occasion today does not bear detailed speech regarding these general, important, and sensitive matters.
That is why I will briefly point out to several issues and then talk a little about the occasion and the inauguration of the exhibition.
The first issue is condemning the horrific massacre committed by Daesh in the city of Shiraz in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
An individual or individuals attacked [people at] the shrine of Sayyed Ahmad, the son of Imam Musa al-Kadhim (peace be upon him). In the end, it will become clear that they belong to this brutal Wahhabi terrorist organization.
They open fired in cold blood, which led to the martyrdom and wounding of dozens of visitors, including men, women, and children.
We offer our deepest condolences to His Eminence, the Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Khamenei, the honorable brothers, the officials in the Islamic Republic, the dear and patient Iranian people, and the families of the martyrs. May God bestow upon them patience and solace.
This painful incident and heinous crime should be a reason for the people in the region to have more awareness and insight, especially during these days as the revolting Iranian people are fighting, resisting, and facing a dangerous conspiracy.
This incident must be an additional reason for more awareness and insight, first, regarding the truth about this terrorist group that names or attributes itself and its brutal and criminal ideology to Islam.
Secondly, regarding the truth about who is standing behind these groups and using them for their ominous goals. Here, I specifically mean the successive American administrations.
We all know who secured the safe transfer of many Daesh leaders, cadres, and members from Syria and Iraq, specifically from Mosul, after their defeat there to Afghanistan.
Afghanistan became a new base for Daesh to launch suicide operations in Kabul and Mazar-i-Sharif targeting Shiites and Sunnis, mosques, Friday prayers, educational institutes, and high schools.
The latest massacre it committed led to the martyrdom of dozens of young girls who were taking official exams or entrance exams.
In any case, and in fact, those behind it are targeting Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and all the neighboring countries. This group has a new task after it accomplished its task in Syria and the disasters it caused there, as well as its task in Iraq.
Today, it has an American job to perform through its new position in Afghanistan.
The first target is the Afghan people, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in addition to the neighboring countries. We must raise our awareness and insight of the importance of the great jihad that many people have carried out in our region over the past years.
We must remember the martyrs, the mujahideen, the wounded, those who fought and made sacrifices in the region, including armies, resistance movements, resistance factions, popular mobilization forces, volunteers, and governments in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon. The Islamic Republic was their true and strongest supporter.
We must also remember this and raise our awareness of the importance of what happened. Had it not been for the great jihad of top leaders, including martyred commander Hajj Qassem Soleimani, martyred commander Hajj Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and martyred leader Sayyed Mustafa Badr al-Din, in many arenas, what happened yesterday in Shiraz would be happening every day in all Iranian cities and towns.
Such incidents would continue to happen in Iraq, in Syria, in Lebanon, and in the southern suburb [Dahiyeh], as it is taking place now in Afghanistan, Nigeria, and elsewhere in the world.
What is required today is this awareness to be able to confront. It is my duty here to address the dear Iranian people and tell them: You can be sure that whoever is leading the riots in the streets of Iran today is the same person who sent these murderers to Shiraz to commit these massacres.
They are the same ones who are sending killers to Zahedan to attack the guards and state centers.
There is one director and one black room run by the United States of America and all the hypocritical groups that call themselves the opposition.
They are nothing but tools, dirty tools in this battle run by the Great Satan that is targeting the independent, steadfast, free Islamic regime in Iran, who constitutes the great hope for all the people of the region and the world's oppressed. This is the first point.
We must talk about this point in a few words. God willing, we will elaborate on it more soon.
Greetings to the heroic resistance fighters in the West Bank and Al-Quds, especially in Nablus, Jenin, the Shu’fat refugee camp, and the rest of the cities and camps.
Greetings to the souls of the heroic martyrs, including the great, brave, and insightful martyr Uday Al-Tamimi, who became a symbol of gallantry, courage, steadfastness, determination, the youth’s awareness, and a title for this generation that will create the final and decisive victory in Palestine, God willing.
Greetings to the Lions' Den, the Jenin Brigade, and all their brothers in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the 1948 territories, as well as inside and outside Palestine.
For weeks, these heroes have shaken the enemy’s entity. What does it mean when some “Israeli” officials, including the war minister, say that half the “Israeli” army is in the West Bank.
In fact, the army is there to confront the northern West Bank because, so far, the main confrontations are still there.
‘To confront’ – has a great significance in the struggle, brothers and sisters. The army is there to confront these groups of heroic resistance fighters with their relatively limited numbers and modest human capabilities, but great and enormous morale.
If the enemy needs half of its army to confront these groups, what would become of them if the confrontation was larger and more comprehensive.
In any case, what is going on is charting a new path that calls for great hope to change the equations for the benefit of the Palestinian people, leading to a complete liberation and final victory, God willing.
The third and final topic – before we talk a little about Ardi – is the maritime demarcation agreement.
There is a need to talk more about this agreement and this experience because it is not only about the agreement, but also about the result of this agreement.
Lebanon witnessed an experience during the past few months, starting when it was said that the ship was approaching Karish in order to extract oil and gas. Negotiations on the demarcation of the border were open, and this gave the negotiations a great push.
It was a very important and rich experience at the level of the state’s position, the people’s position, and the resistance’s position. It should be commended as an experience, and its results and its implications must be discussed. This requires a detailed discussion, but there is not time for that now.
Therefore, with your permission, we will postpone it to Saturday. I wanted, God willing, for us to take our time and talk because it needs about an hour.
Whoever wants to hear Hezbollah's point of view on what happened, its evaluation, the implications, results, expectations, and responsibilities in the next stage can tune in on Saturday at 8:30 PM.
If God keeps us alive, God willing, I will be at your service on Saturday at half past eight in the evening, of course, not in the morning.
However, I will mention a few brief remarks regarding the topic.
With the signing of the letters and documents today and the completion of the formal steps – they are now supposed to be nearing completion in Naqoura – Lebanon and all of us would be done with this stage.
With regard to the resistance’s task that it has undertaken during this whole process, it is over. Accordingly, I announce that all the exceptional and special measures and mobilization carried out by the resistance several months ago have come to an end.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to the dear brothers who stayed up all night and worked day and night over the past few months, as well as to the mujahideen of the resistance for what they have done. I tell them the mission has been accomplished and thank you.
We consider what happened – of course, we will talking at length on Saturday, God willing, but now for the sake of brevity – we, in Hezbollah, consider that what happened from beginning to the end, including the results, is a great and very big victory for Lebanon, for the state, for the people, and for the resistance.
What happened has very important implications and very important results. This is what we will talk about, God willing.
In the face of some of the observations and problems that have been raised since the beginning of the negotiation, what was proposed, and what was reached, there are multiple points of view in the country and a number of problems that were raised. I will tackle the most important of them on Saturday, God willing.
There are problems that are not understood. I was hesitant to joke about this, but this matter needs to be joked about. There are people in the country that appear to be shocked and surprised [about the deal].
As you know, there are people who used to say that this will not happen, “Israel” does not back down and concede, the resistance cannot do nothing, and Lebanon will stand and watch.
They talked a lot, and in the end, they were shocked. So, they began throwing incomprehensible words. Basically, what they are saying does not make sense.
In Lebanese terms, we describe them as those who have lost it. I do not have business with these people on Saturday.
Yes, those who have said that there is a problem and a note worthy of discussion, God willing, we will comment on this topic because they are still thinking reasonably and are ready to give and take and engage in discussions.
But if someone was blinded by their hatred and do not want to hear – i.e., they’re deaf, mute, and blind – what do you do? Even if we talked on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday and explained and presented the data, numbers, and documents, it would be futile. They will not listen.
However, considering what is happening today, some people are talking about normalization [with the “Israelis”]. What happened today proves that all the talk about normalization is baseless.
This is an unfounded accusation, and for some people, it is denial and not just an accusation. Some people today are deliberately accusing the Lebanese state and Lebanese officials of normalization, while the resistance supports them. This is not true.
Even today, when the mediator comes to His Excellency the President and the President signs, first of all, this is not an international treaty. There is none of this.
There is a letter expressing the existence of an agreement on borders directed to Lebanon. Lebanon signed it, stating that we agree on this content.
The Lebanese delegation went to Naqoura. In Naqoura, there are no [direct] negotiations. From the first day until the last moment, these were indirect negotiations, knowing that sometimes direct negotiations can take place in the presence of the United Nations over technical issues.
However, regarding this file, all negotiations were indirect. The two delegations did not meet under one roof during these negotiations since they are not direct negotiations.
The “Israelis” and the Lebanese will each sign a separate document and hand them to the United States of America and the United Nations. The document that will be kept in Lebanon does not have an “Israeli” signature on it.
When it comes to the form, there is something everyone is agreeing on. But I will not reveal things because it is supposed to appear in the news.
The state and the officials in the Lebanese state were very careful not to undertake any work or partial detail, even in form, that could give out even a hint of normalization.
Therefore, what His Excellency the President signed, which will be formally declared in Naqoura, is not an international treaty. It is not recognition of “Israel” or normalization of ties with it.
By the way, let the Lebanese people listen to the “Israelis” admit that they did not obtain any security guarantees. Usually when border demarcations occur, there are security guarantees if there is recognition or normalization.
The enemy itself admitted that there are no security guarantees and security arrangements. In any case, we’ll talk about the details later, God willing.
Today, Lebanon has accomplished an important stage in its history that will put it before a new stage. The discussion is relevant.
Cholera outbreak:
Considering the structure of the Lebanese government, you know that the ministers are affiliated with, backed, or supported by certain political forces, in one way or another.
At the time when the coronavirus hit the country, the Ministry of Health was managed by ministers belonging to or backed by Hezbollah.
During the coronavirus [pandemic], Hezbollah put all its human and material resources, including doctors, nurses, and all the brothers and sisters, [under disposal]. You witnessed the great effort, and we were more than ready.
Today in the face of the cholera outbreak, it is no different. The political affiliation of the current Minister of Health with another current or party is irrelevant.
This is a national, moral, and humanitarian issue. Of course, the brothers took the initiative and called. They did not wait for me to ask from them.
They started for a while ago. But this threat which has begun to grow in Lebanon and is targeting all the Lebanese people and all those residing in Lebanon, including refugees, displaced people, and residents – Palestinians, Syrians, Arabs, and other nationals.
It is my duty to announce today that Hezbollah, including all its health and non-health institutions, human cadre, and human and material resources, are at the disposal of the Lebanese Ministry of Health. We are ready to provide support and confront these ordeals.
The Ardi Exhibition:
We started the Ardi Exhibition in 2007. A while ago, we saw the pictures. We were still young.
In any case, it [the Ardi Exhibition] is a blessed effort from the Jihad Al-Bina Foundation. It is included in the framework of the goals and programs that are relied upon, especially in the agricultural, service, and development fields.
The exhibition that will open now is, in fact, if we want to describe it, is a means for Jihad Al-Bina and the curators of the exhibition to provide help for the families that produce agricultural or industrial products and enable them to market their produce in this exhibition.
The exhibition provides a market, even if modest, for these families, so that they can sell what they have produced and made, including foodstuffs and handmade crafts.
This is the identity and function of the exhibition. The effort is focused on bypassing and not resorting to agents – i.e., from the producer to the consumer.
The first goal of Ardi market and exhibition is to provide products from the producer to the consumer. The exhibition provides services in multiple directions:
Enabling the agricultural families to sell their products
Providing services for citizens
I know from local exhibitions and those held in various areas and not only through the central exhibition, that there are many families that wait for such expos, especially those who live in the cities.
When it comes to the food industry, certain foods, especially homemade products, are not accessible to people living in the city, unlike people who live in villages and the countryside.
It is here that we provide them with a market where they can buy products at reasonable prices that suit the existing living conditions.
Hence, it is a service to producing families and to all citizens as well as helping to market produce. In fact, it encourages production.
This is because when a family knows that there is a market – be it expos, exhibitions, or co-ops (I will talk about co-ops in a bit) – where it can sell what it made, planted, and produced, it will be encouraged to continue production, even increase it.
This what we want. We want to encourage families to produce and work. naturally, when they continue to produce and production increases, God Almighty opens doors of livelihood, helps people to persevere, especially during these difficult living conditions.
I tell you that from a cultural, intellectual, and natural point of view as well as from the heart of religious thought God Almighty loves work and workers.
He loves peasants and farmers and those who work and toil for their families and for the sake of lawful sustenance in agriculture, industry, trade, education, and all areas of halal livelihood.
The prophets were farmers, peasants, etc. Some traded. Prophet David (peace be upon him) was a blacksmith. Even though he was a king and a prophet, his craft was making armors.
Some of the prophets were carpenters, merchants, farmers, and herders. On the contrary, this makes them proud.
Religious culture requires people to be productive, to work, and be active. Unemployment, indolence, laziness, and idleness contradict religious affiliation and not only human instinct.
Basically, human instinct is consistent and compatible with religion.
That is why we say the following in supplications: {Or, perhaps, You have found me fond of the sessions of the wrongdoers and thus You have referred me to them!}
We believe that a person working for the sake of his family and striving for the sake of his family, is like a mujahid in the cause of God Almighty. The most important thing is working and producing, not even providing financial and food aid.
This is an exception. Financial and food aid should be provided to those who are unable to work – sick people cannot work, children cannot work, young orphans cannot work, elderly people cannot work. Then, yes, it makes sense.
Charity, financial assistance, in-kind donations, or for example, those who want to work and cannot find a job opportunity, they must certainly be helped. But the basis is work and production.
That is why it is also mentioned in our religious culture that a loan is better than charity. Some people are surprised.
If someone comes to you and says he needs, for example, $1,000 and you are able to give him that, you can either give him the money as a charity and gift or as a loan.
If you loan him, then it is considered a debt that he must repay.
People are surprised when they learn that in religious culture the reward of a loan is better than that of charity, knowing that when you give money to charity, you don’t get it back, while the amount you loan will be returned to you.
The scholars interpret this as follows: giving a person a loan means that he must go to work and give the money back to you. Charity means that he took the money and does not have to return it to you. The loan is a form of stimulating work and production.
So, what Jihad Al-Bina is doing through Ardi is, in fact, helping market production. We are encouraging production, and this is what we need to reach. We are looking forward to a productive country, to a country that plants and manufactures.
Years ago, we talked about agricultural and industrial jihad. Of course, there has been a disagreement over these policies for many years in Lebanon, and we talked about them a lot. We do not want to waste your time by talking about them.
We look forward – I repeat and say – and want an agricultural and industrial country. In the past, the country was dependent on tourism and services – airports, bank, and ports.
It is true that we have become an oil-rich country – God willing, we will be an oil-rich country and a country where there is oil and gas that will deliver great prosperity to the state, the country, and the Lebanese people.
However, from now we warn that we must continue to insist on transforming [our country] into an agricultural and industrial country.
Even countries that have huge oil and gas reserves, their wise leaders work not to link their economy to oil and gas. Linking the economy to oil and gas has risks.
Our country must become a productive country. Here, of course, comes the responsibility of the state. Unfortunately, the state has so far not taken the responsibility.
The state’s responsibility is to assist farmers and industrialists in reducing the cost of production. It must assist them in marketing production, whether in local markets or in foreign markets.
But all the previous policies led to an increase in the cost of production and hitting marketing opportunities not only abroad, but also at home. This has to do with customs, taxes, etc. The performance of the state is far from what is required.
The Ministry of Agriculture must receive care from the state and large budgets in order to be able to keep pace with this large and important sector. Same goes to the Ministry of Industry.
But nothing has changed despite all the demands during the past years, nearly 20 years. The minds of the country’s economic policy supervisors are still somewhere else.
In any case, the state must be convinced, and the Lebanese people must convince it of that. The Lebanese usually do not wait long to initiate, as in the case of liberating the land. The resistance initiated and did not wait for the state.
If the resistance had waited for the state in 1982, we would still be under “Israeli” occupation. We would not have taken line 23. The Lebanese territorial waters and the exclusive economic zone from Block 10 to Block 1 all would have been with the “Israelis”. However, the Lebanese took the initiative and did not wait.
Based on this rule, we took the initiative many, many years ago regarding this file. The brothers and sisters in the Jihad Al-Bina Foundation are at the forefront.
Everything has a front just like in the military. There is a front in the media, in culture, in politics. On this front, the Jihad Al-Bina Foundation stands in the front line on behalf of Hezbollah.
Of course, the maximum possible efforts are made in proportion to the human cadre and the material resources available to it, in cooperation with the organizational regions, municipalities, and similar institutions of our allies and friends or with the civil society, as well as in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and the rest of the ministries and state institutions.
We must not forget here – some Lebanese may be surprised – that despite all the difficult circumstances that Syria witnessed and the global war on Syria, cooperation between the Jihad Al-Bina Foundation and the Ministry of Agriculture in Syria did not stopped.
The assistance provided by Syria’s Ministry of Agriculture for Jihad Al-Bina is distributed in all the Lebanese areas, be it at the level of fruitful and non-fruitful trees, seeds, and the like.
In any case, Jihad Al-Bina is doing all these efforts. I was going to speak about what Jihad Al-Bina is doing, but what dear brother, the Director General of the Foundation, brother Dr. Muhammad Al-Khansa, mentioned in his speech is enough.
I believe that this brief introduction is sufficient, but I call for you to look into the details because in the different addresses he mentioned different numbers of beneficiaries – thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands. Of course, these are large numbers and great and important efforts.
In this exhibition, which is one of the achievements of this institution and the gifts of this institution, I would like once again to thank, first of all, the curators of this exhibition, the brothers and sisters, and all those who contributed to the success of this experience.
I also greet the honorable families who honored us in this exhibition and brought their agricultural, food, industrial, and artisanal products to display here.
We, the brothers and sisters, will all be at the service of these honorable families, which seek halal sustenance through sweat and hard work. This is what God Almighty loves.
I hope that this year’s exhibition, God willing, despite the difficult financial circumstances, will have a bountiful outcome on the honorable families who have worked hard during the past months to secure this production.
I hope that the brothers and sisters in Jihad Al-Bina will be able to organize this central annual exhibition again, with my affirmation on the importance of regional exhibitions. I also emphasize on activating agricultural cooperatives in villages and towns.
God willing, through the Al-Sajjad supermarket chains, which we intend to expand even more in new areas, cities, and towns, there will be open markets for this production, which is our priority.
I spoke with the brothers who supervise Al-Sajjad chains and told them that our priority should be to go to the families – even if we had to help them or give them loans so they can produce.
Of course, this is the job of Jihad Al-Bina, cooperatives, regions, Al-Qard Al-Hasan, and Al-Sajjad chains.
Part of Al-Sajjad Halls’ responsibility is to market the production of these families so these families in our villages, towns, and neighborhoods become productive, God willing.
This is part of the possible contribution in confronting the difficult circumstances.
At the end of the speech, I invite His Excellency the Minister of Labor, brother Mr. Mustafa Bayram, to act on my behalf – because there appears to be a ribbon, isn’t there? You want to cut it, right? Let the Minister of Labor work a little. Of course, he has his work cut out for him. Let him cut it.
May you be blessed and successful. May God give you all wellness.
May the peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you. Until we meet on Saturday at half past eight, may He give you wellness.
