Sayyed Nasrallah’s Full Speech on the Memorial Ceremony for the Late Scholar Sheikh Afif Nabulsi

Translated by Al-Ahed News, Hezbollah Media Relations

Speech of Hezbollah Secretary-General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah at the memorial ceremony for the late scholar Sheikh Afif Nabulsi in the Imam Al-Mujtaba [AS] compound in the southern suburbs of Beirut [Dahyieh].

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.

In the beginning, we turn to the pure and sublime soul of our dear deceased and recite Al-Fatihah and prayers.

Honorable scholars, brothers and sisters, may God’s peace, mercy and blessings be upon you all.

I once again express my condolences and the condolences of all my brothers and sisters in Hezbollah to the honorable family and its members for this loss and this great affliction and to the honorable attendees, all the sons of our march, and all the believers in this line and path of faith and jihad throughout the world.

I renew my expression of sympathy and condolences. We, beloved ones in the honorable family of our great Sheikh, are like you. We are the children of His Eminence, Ayatollah Sheikh Afif Nabulsi, and partners in the affliction and in the loss and in preserving the legacy and the will, God willing.

My speech will be divided into two parts. The first part is related to His Eminence Sheikh Afif Nabulsi. Then, in the second part, we will tackle some points.

What has been presented in the documentary and what His Eminence Dr. Sheikh Sadiq elaborated in his beautiful and eloquent speech help me a lot and allow me to brief with this part.

There are two ways to approach a figure like His Eminence Sheikh Afif Nabulsi:

1-            The purely personal, as it usually happens in the biographies of men. We describe him. Of course, in this dimension, we focus on the personal qualities and recognize him as a scholar, a jurist, a fighter, a thinker, one that made sacrifices, diligent, present, a poet, an educator, a professor in the seminary, an investigator, an author on various issues of Islamic sciences... etc., and one of the great founders of this blessed jihad faith march.

2-            This is the most important, in my opinion. When we look at this figure as part of a path, movement of a human group, all personal qualities are present and their impact and results appear stronger and more effective.

In the first, the words are clear. In the second, I would like to talk about the context and His Eminence the Sheikh in the heart of this context. Of course, this needs a long time, but I will be brief. I call for studying it, reflecting on it, and writing it so that it does not change after decades or centuries.

In the sixties and seventies, especially in the sixties, when we talk about our society in Lebanon – our society in the Islamic circle, particularly the Shiite circle – faced great and very serious challenges in everything, including politics, social status, the living situation, the economic situation. There was a state of misery, deprivation, oppression, exclusion, and confrontation of superiority.

Now, we do not want to open old files, but we are talking in the same context. Among the serious challenges was the religious issue, including belonging to Islam, believing in Islam, and adhering to Islam. Our youth and generation at that stage were fed by many ideas and ideologies alien to Islam and some hostile to Islam.

These ideas and ideologies were able to attract many of these young people and take them away, of course, in the absence of real institutions and real frameworks that bear the responsibility of facing these challenges and dangers, protecting these generations, and defending and calling for this religion.

Before the sixties, we had great scholars in Lebanon who were moving at a personal capacity. In general, we lacked strong and effective institutions, frameworks, and bodies. Some scholarly frameworks were formed, but they quickly weakened, faded, and diverged.

At the beginning of the sixties, God Almighty blessed this country and our society, especially the Shiites of Ahl al-Bayt in Lebanon, with the advent and return of key figures who were able to create a transformation and establish the foundations for the future stages.

The beginning was with His Eminence Imam Sayyid Musa al-Sadr in the early sixties. A few years later, His Eminence Ayatollah Sayed Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, His Eminence Ayatollah Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Shams al-Din, and other scholars returned to Lebanon from Najaf [we usually focus on these three main characters]. Then, we entered a new phase.

In the sixties and seventies, we can call this stage the stage of Islamic action, Islamic activity, because later it was called the Islamic state, and the resistance came later in the eighties and nineties.

Let's talk a little about the sixties and seventies. Then, I will return to His Eminence Sheikh Afif.

Also, God Almighty, especially in the seventies, gave rise to a generation of young scholars, who went from Lebanon to Najaf and were apprenticed at the hands of the great references. Martyr Imam Sayyid Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr had great effects in raising a generation of these scholars, who returned to Lebanon in the seventies.

They either returned naturally in order to carry out missions of preaching or were deported, as happened with His Eminence Sheikh Afif and other fellow scholars who are still alive.

God Almighty also blessed the return of this generation, which was able to integrate with the great scholars who began in the sixties. We witnessed in the sixties and seventies two great and important factors – young scholars and a generation of faithful young schoolteachers, college students, university professors, and free professions: doctors Engineers, elites, etc.

With the blessing of the new leadership mentality at that time, a stage was formed in which leadership institutions, cultural institutions, as well as educational, social, and professional institutions, scholarly frameworks, cultural frameworks, scouting frameworks, student frameworks, all the way to political and jihadist frameworks, especially in the second half of the seventies.

In fact, we must preserve these senior and young scholars at that time. Most of them are still alive, but they have grown old.

We must preserve the real and appropriate infrastructure, the sufficient ground in thought, culture, and spirituality that those senior and young scholars created for the stage that Lebanon would be facing due to the “Israeli” invasion in 1982.

This invasion wanted to engulf Lebanon forever. We all remember the literature of those days. They used to say that Lebanon entered the “Israeli” era and will last for hundreds of years.

At this stage I conclude and return to Sheikh Afif and return to the next stage. His Eminence Sheikh Afif Al-Nabulsi was one of those young scholars at that time.

In the documentary we were watching, there were young men, brave and daring young scholars, who care for Islam, this religion, this thought. What did this generation if young scholars do? They presented a different model.

In the past, i.e. before the sixties, the traditional pattern prevailed among our scholars. There were exceptions, and that was a rarity. But basically, scholars would return from Najaf and sit home. People with questions and problems would head to his home and talk to him. the scholar seldomly took the initiative. In the best cases, for example, he led communal prayers and delivered Friday prayer sermons.

We have come before a new situation – the young scholars that I am talking about go from one house to another, one neighborhood to another, one village to another, one town to another, one mosque to another, one Hussainiya to another, etc. They spent their youth in this way. We are talking about our martyrs, Sayyed Abbas, Sheikh Ragheb, and others.

They presented a different model. They went to the young people and did not wait for the youth to come to them. They went to universities and high schools. They faced challenges. When it comes to content, they were the ones who presented Islam as a religion of life, and this is well known. We do not need to elaborate on this.

His Eminence Sheikh Afif [may God have mercy on him] was one of those active, diligent messengers, who never tire and calm down. We all can testify to this.

From the beginning of his youth, he became attached to Imam Musa al-Sadr and joined him as the documentary showed. He studied in the Hawza of Tyre in the same seminary in which our martyr Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi studied. He went to Imam and martyr Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr.

Allow me to say that whoever starts with Imam Musa al-Sadr will reach martyr Imam Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr. That is natural. In other words, if Imam al-Sadr sent someone from Lebanon, he will send him to Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr. Whoever grows up, is educated, and is established in the school of martyr Imam Sayyed Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr will represent and end up with Imam Khomeini. This is a natural course. Other than this is not natural. This is the path taken by Sheikh Afif and Sayyed Abbas. I am talking about them because as you saw they were always standing next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, in the front row.

The stage of the sixties and seventies ended with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran. There was great interaction in Lebanon with this revolution. One of the reasons for this interaction is what these senior and young scholars as well as generation of young people did.

Therefore, when we go back to those years, to 1979, we will find that the arena that interacted the most with Imam Khomeini and with the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran was the Lebanese arena. Of course, the interaction went beyond the Shiite circle to the general Islamic circle, to the national circle, to the Palestinian circle, which was already present in Lebanon. But here I am talking specifically about the Shiite arena.

The other stage that was founded on the sixties and the seventies is the eighties and nineties stage, the stage of resistance in the face of the “Israeli” invasion in 1982.

The resistance was launched in different shapes and colors, but there is no doubt that a great presence in the resistance was for the generation that was raised by them in the sixties and seventies, whether it was under the Amal Movement [or The Lebanese Resistance Regiments] or the Islamic Resistance, which was founded in 1982 and its formation is Hezbollah.

This did not happen the spur of the moment and was an element of surprise for everyone who planned for the “Israeli” invasion of Lebanon. These people, who planned for the “Israeli” invasion of Lebanon, took into account all the internal conflicts and equations as well as the regional and international situation.

All their calculations were accurate and correct, and the “Israeli” invasion of Lebanon could have achieved its goals drawn by the Americans, the Israelis, and the Arabs of moderation, who were keeping pace with the invasion and covering it. It was even said at the time that part of the fuel for “Israeli” planes was secured by Arab countries.

However, the great element of surprise that changed this equation and surprised the Americans, the Israelis, and the planners of this battle was this resistance.

They thought that the Shiite community in Lebanon, as a result of the internal conditions, difficulties, and challenges it had been suffering from for decades as well as the security and military risks it faced, would be on the side of the occupation and cooperate with it and allow it.

This was one of their miscalculations and wrong calculation, which indicates their ignorance, stupidity, and foolishness.

This resistance in its various frameworks was a surprise factor. We’ve witnessed its development, growth, victories, and achievements which, of course, are as a result of many huge sacrifices.

Since the first day of the new stage, His Eminence Sheikh Afif Nabulsi was strongly present in the preparation, establishment, functions, and activities.

I go back to the documentary. He took part in demonstrations, meetings, mobilization, education, and in the organization of Hezbollah [this might be the first time that is said].

The brothers recall that in 1984, 1985, and 1986 he was part of our internal organizational arrangements. At that time, we had neither an Executive Council nor a Secretary General nor a General Secretariat.

We had a shura council that led the party, and we had committees in the regions, mainly security and military formation, and some central offices.

In the committees of the areas, there was a post of the relations officer with the scholars. In the formation of the South, officer in the area was martyr Sayyed Abbas.

Sheikh Afif was a member of the formation of the south, a member of the organization, and the relations officer with the scholars. However, at a later stage when the organization began to form and its structure was completed, there were revisions.

One of the revisions stated that the scholarly affair should be independent from the organization and the regulatory framework.

We need scholars who move independently but within the general line, and we need scholarly frameworks. There is an arena that must be filled by these scholars by creating seminaries and institutions, which allows a wide margin for movement towards people and also a wide margin for taking positions.

At that time, it was decided that His Eminence Sheikh Afif Nabulsi and other brothers, who are still alive, to go in this direction. It is true that they may no longer be members of the organization, but they are in mind, heart, and soul within Hezbollah. Sometimes people ask the nature of a person’s relation to Hezbollah whether this person is a member or a supporter. These scholars are at the heart of the party, its depth, its existence, its being, and its first nucleus.

Since the beginning of the resistance, His Eminence Sheikh Afif Al-Nabulsi has not been stingy with anything – not his effort, home, or family. he gave all the members of his family to the resistance. he gave his youth on this path. His presence, discourse, position, literature, and poetry was also for the resistance until his final years.

He was even at the frontlines and battlefields. Even though he did not fight, but his prayers were a moral support that had a great value to our march that is based mainly on the religious position and on the moral and spiritual level, before organization and capabilities.

In last few years before his illness, we used to meet. Despite his old age, he’d tell me: ‘I am ready to work in the organization, in any of Hezbollah’s bodies, I have no problem, if you see it as beneficial.’ We were always discussing this matter. This confirms that [Hezbollah] has always been deep in his mind, heart, and soul.

In the July aggression, his position was clear and decisive. Everything related to him was destroyed, including his house and the complex he built in Sidon. He bore the consequences like many people, and that increased his strength, determination, resolve, and faith in this path.

Regarding the events that occurred in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Bahrain, and the region, his position was clear, frank, and transparent. There was no courtesy with anyone, fear of anyone, or hesitation. You know, during that stage, some people were unsure and take accounts into consideration.

However, Sheikh Afif had no calculations. He completely gave his support. He as well as the strength and frankness of the blood of the martyrs faced the great conspiracy and sedition in the region, which America wanted to change the face of the region and consolidate its hegemony and establish the existence and "Israel".

His belief in Islamic unity was translated through his broad, personal, fraternal, loving, and sincere relations with many of our Sunni Muslim brothers in Sidon, Beirut, and Lebanon.

His belief in coexistence between Muslims and Christians was also reflected in his friendships, relationships, meetings, and stances. There is something personal that I will leave for last.

Naturally, this affiliation, awareness, thought, and commitment express this line, which became known as the approach of Imam Khomeini, the thought of Imam Khomeini, the line of Imam Khomeini.

His Eminence Sheikh Afif, as every one of us, was committed to awareness and understanding of the events in Lebanon and the region, knowledge of the main enemy, and knowledge of the reality of the existing project and who stands behind it.

Let us not get lost in the details when it comes to the position regarding the US administration, the American project, and the US policies in the region. We believe that the main problem in our region is the blatant American interference in all aspects.

On the other hand, there is the culture and policy of submission to the American will, which exists in more than one place. You are all our teachers, elders, and brothers.

But I want to talk about what people are going through today. Amid this severe hot weather, people are in dire need of electricity. Isn’t this correct?

Electricity helps a lot in everything. We have an electricity problem in Lebanon. Is it possible to find solutions? Yes, one solution was proposed. Of course, I do not want to blame everything on the Americans when it comes to the issue of electricity. However, the Americans are preventing some of these solutions.

For example, it is the second or third anniversary of the American promise. The US embassy made the promise to the Lebanese during Muharram. The Americans promised to bring electricity from Jordan and gas from Egypt. Until now, they have not gotten anything because they do not want to.

It is in the interest of the Egyptians to sell gas to Lebanon, and it is in the interest of the Jordanians to sell electricity to Lebanon. neither are giving it as a present. The Americans, however, prevented the sale under the pretext of the “Caesar Act” on Syria, which is preventing electricity and gas from reaching Lebanon.

Hence, Hezbollah brought in a very huge donation from Iran. A donation, not selling and buying. America prevented the Lebanese government from receiving this donation. If this donation had been received at that time, now we’d have electricity amid this severe heat. The situation would have been different.

If the Lebanese are unleashing their wrath on a minister, a director, the government, or an official, they are just drowning in detail. They must unleash their wrath on the Great Satan, who is dominating, tyrannizing, and even preventing electricity from this oppressed Lebanese people in the worst circumstances.

Take a look at Syria. All their suffering, including electricity, was caused by the Caesar Act and the American sanctions. Otherwise, Syria was not in need of American, Western, or Arab aid after the war.

Had it not been for the US sanctions imposed on it, Syria would have been able to rise with the vigor thanks to its leadership, its people, its government, its ministry within a few years.

Some want the Syrian people to blame all their suffering today on the regime, the government, the state, etc. These people want the Syrians to ignore the real and essential factor that is keeping them in the cycle of deprivation of electricity, water, etc.

What is worst is than this siege is the theft and looting of oil and gas. What is preventing the Syrian government today from liberating the oil and gas fields? I am not saying to enter all of the eastern Euphrates. No, the most important oil and gas fields are close to the Euphrates River and sometimes far from Syrian-Iraqi border. What is preventing the liberation?

No, the real obstacle is the American occupation in the region. The Americans are preventing the oil and gas from reaching. They are doing worse things than that. They are looting, stealing, and plundering.

Imagine if the Syrian government had access to its gas in the east of the Euphrates, the Syrian people would not be suffering today from the severe electricity crisis which is more severe than that of Lebanon.

We head east to Iraq. The temperature there reaches 50°C. We see some strange and wondrous scenes, including a person frying eggs on a car’s hood because of the severe heat. Iraq is in dire need of electricity.

To have electricity, Iraq has to buy gas from Iran. It is forbidden for Iraq to pay the price of gas to Iran. Who is stopping it? The Americans. Since the American invasion of Iraq, a legal mechanism has been established in the United Nations – I do not want to go into its details because that needs an explanation.

There is a legal mechanism approved by the United Nations that puts American control over Iraqi oil money and other funds. This means Iraq needs the approval of the Americans when it comes to spending money.

This is a catastrophe. The Americans find it convenient to prevent the Iraqis from paying for Iranian gas at the beginning of spring and summer seasons.

Today, the Iraqi government owes the Iranians 10 or 11 billion dollars. Nevertheless, Iran did not stop the export of gas for people to continue having electricity. Despite the pressure in Iran regarding the issue of electricity, they’ve decreased but did not cut it off.

Look at the evil of the Americans. The Americans are preventing the Iraqi government from paying the Iranian government, so the latter will stop pumping gas to Iraq. This is meant to tell the Iraqi people that Iran is allowing the heat to kill you. Is there anything worst than this? Is there anything eviler than this?

In Yemen, the main obstacle to ending the aggression and war in the country is the US, and this is known to everyone.

In conclusion, the Americans are responsible for everything all that our region has been through since the establishment of this entity, and especially in this period in what the Palestinian people are suffering from on a daily basis.

The main issue in this line, way of thinking, and awareness is that this is what our situation will look like in terms of resistance and confronting armed occupation if we submit to the American will and hegemony.

The resistance fighters rebelled against the will of the occupation and achieved victories; they expelled the occupation from Lebanon; they expelled the occupation from Gaza in Palestine; they expelled the occupation from Iraq, which later returned under the pretext of Daesh, the international community, and providing help for the Iraqi government. But the occupation forces were defeated by the Iraqi resistance.

Therefore, in the Iran-Iraq war, in Yemen, and in other places, when the people rebelled against the American will and the American project on the battlefield, they won; they were liberated; they regained their land, oil, gas, and borders.

But in other projects such as the economic dimension, the cultural dimension, or the social dimension, many are still confused. Some are submissive, some are baffled, and some are reluctant to confront the American hegemony and intervention.

Therefore, the lesson that I want to stress on is from our dear and great master, His Eminence Ayatollah Sheikh Afif Nabulsi, which is this line, this way of thought in Lebanon, in the region, in Palestine.

A segment of the Palestinian people remained waiting for the Americans [the Oslo Agreement], their promises, and guarantees. What was the result? Oslo no longer exists.

The ground possibility of a second state and a two-state solution is fading away. To those waiting for the Americans in politics, in economy, in culture, in values [the Americans will export these perverted values to them] to make their own destiny must know that they are creating their hell in this world and in the Hereafter.

The call is to deviate from this American will and to reject American interference. This American intervention in Lebanon is ongoing, brothers and sisters.

Part of the freedom, sovereignty, and independence we enjoy in Lebanon was made by the equations, the martyrs, the mujahideen, the defiant people, and the resistance fighters.

Some people consider the word ‘defiance’ insulting. We don’t. We are proud when we are called resistance. That means we are masters, free, and honorable. That also means that we are not slaves or tools of the US embassy and the US administration. This is what defiance means.

The American embassy interferes in everything, and there is no time now for me to talk about the details and I do not want to offend any minister or ministry. We know as we are in the inside. We hear, talk, and meet. Simply put, it is natural for a minister to answer the way he would when you ask him about a certain project that has great benefit for Lebanon, will help Syria, and will bring money to the treasury.

The ministers are stuck; they want to make a budget, and there is a big disagreement regarding salaries. What will they do?

Brothers and sisters, do you know that there are many sources and many programs that can generate money for the Lebanese treasury. Why don't you do this? They tell you the embassy called and said, ‘this cannot happen’ or ‘there is a veto on this project’.

We can talk about details later. But this is the reality. In light of this reality, the Americans are taking us to a major catastrophe that we are approaching in Lebanon, in terms of the financial situation, the living situation, and the economic situation.

Not only is it forbidden for aid, loans, and investments to come to Lebanon, but also if someone dares to invest in the country, they threaten the Lebanese and the Lebanese government.

If there are projects that the Lebanese government can undertake and open doors and generate money for the Lebanese treasury, the Americans say it is forbidden and the Lebanese submit.

Finally, what is the solution, my brothers and sisters? The solution becomes to increase fees and taxes only. Otherwise, there will be no salaries. There will not only be no hospitals and schools for the next year but will also be no salaries.

Today, if we want to search for a solution, we must get out of submitting to this hegemony and this domination. What is the interest of Lebanon? The Lebanese government, Lebanese officials, and the Lebanese people must do what is in the interest of Lebanon and let go of courtesies, submission, and groveling to the American embassy and the Americans.

Before I conclude, there is a point that I must address, which is the anniversary of the Beirut port blast on August 4. Of course, it is a painful and sad anniversary. We renew our condolences to the families of the martyrs and ask for healing for the wounded who are still recovering.

We express our sympathy to all those who were injured and whose livelihoods were affected. I want to remind all of us that we are still waiting for the truth.

Those who blocked the truth in this painful incident are the ones who politicized this case. No one should be making empty accusations. This is what is happening now in Ain al-Hilweh, but at a smaller scale.

We still remember. On the day of the blast, some people were still collecting their loved ones’ remains. No one understood what was happening. Many areas were still guessing whether an earthquake hit Lebanon. They were not aware that there was an explosion at the port.

From the very first moment after the port explosion, some malicious TV stations said that Hezbollah was behind blowing up the port. After that articles, meetings, statements, and politicians held Hezbollah responsible for the port explosion. Until n ow, they are still accusing Hezbollah.

They are still uploading pictures of our brothers bringing nitrate. Of course, these are all lies. Why am I going back to mention the responses? We responded to these accusations with logic, evidence, wisdom, calmness, etc. However, I want to remind you of the following.

When the Beirut port explosion was used from the first moment to accuse Hezbollah, they were the ones who linked the port blast with the local, regional, and international conflict.

The families of the martyrs must know that the real reason behind the loss of the truth is some parties’ linking of the case to regional events. Of course, later they used it to settle scores with everyone else.

Later, Hezbollah was not being accused anymore. On the contrary, we received messages that the investigation has nothing to Hezbollah and that Hezbollah is innocent. I received messages from multiple and concerned parties.

What was required is to accuse a certain and specific political group, with its people and symbols. In other words, the port blast  that the political exploitation of this calamity has moved from Hezbollah to a specific political group in Lebanon. Its signs were clear.

On this painful anniversary, I tell you that when the Lebanese judiciary, the Lebanese state, and the Lebanese political forces abandon politicization and political targeting, it is then that we will have a real investigation and a judicial process that leads to the truth.

This must happen; this blood must not be lost and responsibilities must to be specified. Those responsible for this negligence, this calamity, or this crime, must be punished. The one blocking justice and the truth is this politicization.

The same thing is happening today in Ain al-Hilweh camp. There are events that took place in the camp. Of course, Hezbollah does not have its own version of what happened in Ain al-Hilweh, and it’s not for us to present a version of the story.

It is the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior, the army command, the leadership of the internal security forces, and the premiership. These are the parties that must present a version of what happened to cause the fighting in Ain al-Hilweh, given that the camp is located on Lebanese territory.

We did not present an account. In fact, even the Palestinians, when you ask them, tell you that we must conduct an investigation; we must understand and see. Hezbollah is not responsible for presenting an account.

There are two parties engaged in the fighting. One of them is the Fatah movement, and the second party are groups. Some are saying they are Islamist groups. Others are saying they are extremists. Some said Jund al-Sham, while others said the remnants of Jabhat al-Nusra.

From the very first moment, the same TV station that accused Hezbollah of the August 4 port blast is saying that Hezbollah is behind what’s happening at the Ain al-Hilweh camp. This is nonsense.

It is accusing Hezbollah of creating the fighting in Ain al-Hilweh, of inciting people against each other, providing arms to the two parties in Ain al-Hilweh, and preventing the fighting from ending.

Is there anything worse than that? Is there anything uglier than that? Is there anything more trivial than that? Mind you, this is not from an article written by a journalist. No, this is a TV channel devoting its screen day and night to this issue. It just reminded me of the port explosion.

Party leaders meet with the US ambassador, then issue statements holding Hezbollah fully responsible for the fighting in Ain al-Hilweh. What does Hezbollah have to do with Ain al-Hilweh? This is what we call the policy of insignificance. The media of insignificance in Lebanon, the media of misinformation and the policy of misleading, forgery and distortion. They exploit the remains of the martyrs, the wounds of the wounded, the tears of orphans, the pain of those affected and the displaced from their homes due to the blast or fighting in the worst way possible.

I just wanted to draw your attention to this point to say that we are not responsible. We are not responsible for the Ain al-Hilweh battle in any way. We are against this fighting; we are trying to resolve it and I urge all the parties concerned to halt the fighting.

This fighting hurts us on an emotional level when we see homeless families, including women and children, on the streets, when we see destroyed homes, and when we see people's lives being destroyed. Doesn't it hurt when we see dead and wounded people?

This harms us; it harms the resistance project in Lebanon and in the region; it harms our line, our aspirations for the future, our hopes. This fighting affects our pain and our hopes. Therefore, we called and appealed for it to stop. God willing, we will work with all the loyal people to stop this fighting.

Our moral duty also requires me to mention the fire incident that occurred yesterday on the airport road and its repercussions are still present. We must truly praise the heroism, courage, and daring of the young men of the civil defense – the Lebanese Civil Defense belonging to the state, the one belonging to the municipalities of the southern suburbs, or the one belonging to the political forces in the areas.

We must single out the brave and intrepid young man who is truly a martyr, Muhammad Jihad Beidi, who was killed in the incident. Everyone bears witness to his courage, his daring, and his sacrifice. I was told by the brothers that the fire was three floors underground, it was a very strong fire, and if it continued, it would have led to a disaster in the building and the area.

Just like the soldiers who are on the frontlines, defending and protecting their land, people, family, and borders, this young man and all the civil defense young men are defending the people.

The soldiers face bullets and tanks, while these young men save people from fire and blazes. They have the same spirit, courage, daring, and heroism. They also make the same sacrifices.

I ask God Almighty to accept him, and I extend my condolences to his honorable family. Yesterday, I listened to his father’s words. He was satisfied and content. May God bless him and all this family, which should also be seen as one of the families of the martyrs.

These young men in the civil defense who make sacrifices and defend the people should be appreciated and respected. They should be given their rights. For example, this brave martyr, who made sacrifices, has been a volunteer for 15 years and was waiting to be hired as a full-time employee. He might have been hired in the past few months.

I would like to say a few words on this dear occasion:

1-            I personally would like to say to the pure soul of His Eminence Sheikh Afif Nabulsi: I am grateful to you. No matter how much I thank you, I will not be able to repay you, not just for your support for the march, the position, and the resistance that you were a part of, but also for your love, affection, being a father figure, respect, appreciation, good faith in me, and the great hope you placed on me. Not only did you express them to me in internal meetings, but you also wrote them in articles, especially the sensitive parts and difficult positions.

I am always and forever thankful to His Eminence Sheikh Afif for his love, kindness, respect, appreciation, and trust. I ask God Almighty that I be worthy of his love, appreciation and respect and that I live up to his favor.

2-            The last sentence I tell him: Your brothers, sons, daughters, and sisters in Hezbollah as well as your family members, God willing, will carry your will as we carried all the wills of our martyrs, our elders, and our loved ones. We will proceed on this path. God willing, O our dear and great Sheikh, your resistance will witness more victories, and your people will witness more glory, dignity, breadth, freedom, and liberation from the will of the devils and the arrogant.

God willing, our great, dear, and beloved sheikh, your children and loved ones will pray in Al-Quds and will dedicate the reward of prayer to your pure soul. Imam Musa al-Sadr said the following about Al-Quds in difficult days, in the absence of supporter, and in the abundance of enemy, collusion, betrayal, defeat and strife: “The honor of Al-Quds refuses to be liberated except at the hands of the believers.”

These believers are your children and loved ones. They will liberate Al-Quds and will pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque on your behalf.

Once again, to his pure soul, we give the reward of Al-Fatihah. May God’s peace, mercy, and blessings be upon you. Thank you for your attendance.