Sheikh Qassem: Lebanon´s strength in its army, people & resistance must be harnessed

The following are excerpts from that speech: 

We, along with the rest of the world, must pay close attention to "Israel" and what it is up to these days. "Israel" commits new crimes every day, without a day going past and newspapers headlines talk about "Israeli" crimes. 

Either it talks about "Israeli" war maneuvers, which "Israel" says are against Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Iran, or about the existence of weapons it wants to arm itself against in order to launch assaults, elsewhere it talks about pressures exerted on the Palestinians not to make a decision "Israel" does not like, threatening to cut their food and water supplies, or "Israel" yet again threatens the people of Gaza, a people still under its siege, claiming it is giving them the opportunity to stay alive, but puts political pressure on them to take what it wants from them.

Today "Israel" warns of Iran threat to world peace, while our view is that Iran works in the interest of world peace, and "Israel" is the one that ravaged our region and the Middle East, bringing all the misfortunes that have afflicted us for more than sixty years now. Let it be clear that this "Israel", arming itself yearly by a known amount of two billion and four-hundred million dollars in American arms aid, not to mention the "Israeli" budget and unrecorded aid. This "Israel" is a real existential threat we have to face, we have tried everything, and have reached a conclusion that says that resistance is the only solution, which carries hope of liberation and protection; we will not rely on the international community, the Security Council or on the major powers, America or Europe.

Today the world expresses fear of the resistance, why? Because the resistance is now able to change the equation. The resistance changed the equation here and the new Middle East project collapsed, the resistance changed the equation with "Israel" and it withdrew from Lebanon unconditionally, the resistance changed the equation with "Israel" and it was not able to impose its conditions on the Palestinians nor demarcate its own borders, and God willing, we will see the borders of Palestine and the Palestinians without an "Israel" or "Israelis."

Clearly, Lebanon without resistance is an open stage for "Israeli" policies. We must take advantage of the strength of Lebanon, its army, people and resistance and reach a defensive strategy. We must take advantage and invest the potential of resistance, army and people in this strategy, in order for us to be able to remain strong. Any talk about the defense strategy outside the dialogue table will come to naught; meanwhile, the government should address two major issues: 

1- To face the repeated "Israeli" threats so that Lebanon remains a strong barrier able to respond.
2- To work on economic and social advancement, and tend to the citizens' issues of concern in order for the government to be a government that serves and produces.