Sheikh Qassem: Hizbullah concerned itself with its homeland Lebanon & has no branches in any Arab or Islamic countries
Local Editor, 24-11-2009
In an interview with the Central Committee of the Arab Youth Federation, and in the presence of the head of Educational Mobilization Hajj Youssef Merhi, His Eminence the Deputy Secretary-General of Hizbullah, Sheikh Naim Qassem said:
From the first moment, our resistance has been according to our description, convictions and reality on the ground a defensive resistance. We defended territories that had been occupied. We defended the people, and we were in the position of defense against "Israeli" threats to our region which directly affect us.
From the vision of faith we confront an imminent "Israeli" danger which infiltrated our region as a cancerous gland wanting to tip the regional equation in favour of the vision of arrogance, in order to turn "Israel" into America's hand.
Hizbullah concerned itself with its homeland Lebanon, and affirmed to all not to have any branches in any Arab or Islamic countries, even if the name used elsewhere was Hizbullah. If you hear of Hizbullah in this or that country, it would be a different version of the existing one in Lebanon, why?
Because we do not have exclusivity of rights over the culture we carry, it is not ours alone and anyone in the world can carry it.
We have not needed or found a reasonable logical justification for the idea of an international Hizbullah.
In Lebanon, we work on the basis that the dispute is politically oriented not motivated by sectarian or confessional motives, even if religious and sectarian affairs play a role in many of the issues.
Evidence of that can be seen in the current formation in both pro-government and opposition camps. The opposition is made up of all sectarian parties and forces in the country, and so are the loyalists. Even our practical performance as Hizbullah was clear for having relinquished a great deal of party gains for the benefit of the political position.
Here I wish to address the representatives of Arab countries and the Arab peoples to remind them of their responsibility:
First: to uphold some of the needed bases, for Palestine and its liberation from the usurper enemy to be our priority.
Second: to prevent any sectarian sedition regardless of its wrapping or title.
Third: The search for the people's role in revival, in the assumption of their real and practical responsibilities, and not to slacken in pursuing and upholding our basic causes.
Fourth: to seek our common denominators and reduce our differences.
Unfortunately, there are sides among in the Arab region still looking for and attempting to present us with enemies other than "Israel". Some seek an Arab-Persian conflict, inter-Arabs conflicts; others attempt to escalate internal problems in some countries between certain movements and regimes.
We must seek to resolve all these issues and seek to end any issues between movements and regimes, among Arab countries and between Arab countries and Iran, and instead focus our attention on the single enemy called "Israel".
Once this problem is resolved, we then seek out appropriate solutions for the remaining issues.
