[Image]Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah marked the Ashura commemoration and gave a speech in Beirut’s southern suburb on Sunday.

“Today in Dahiyeh, the land of sacrifice, steadfastness, and resistance, we stand along with our people to clearly determine and announce our options.

We declare that the American scheme of hegemony threatens our nation, values, and the future of our peoples. We condemn its schemes and wars on our countries and peoples. We condemn its full partnership with Israel in those crimes. We also call upon the nation to be aware of the real nature of this enemy and this plot and not to be mislead by the fake slogans about freedom.”

His eminence stressed Israel’s unlimited greed and terrorism and reminded of its crimes in Palestine and Lebanon and its threat to occupied Quds and Islamic and Christian sanctities there. “There are millions of Palestinian refugees living away from their homes and there are more than 11 thousand prisoners in Israeli jails… We call on the Ummah not confuse between the friend and the foe and not to listen to US and Israeli proxies who want to exchange this enemy with a brother. We call for ending the siege of Gaza. What kind of Ummah is this, an Ummah of 1.4 billion Muslims watching 1.5 million Palestinians living in harsh conditions due to the siege? A year ago, we told Egypt a word of truth and we were railed at. Today, in addition to the siege, there is the iron wall and the flow of water in tunnels to finish off the rest of the narrow veins that give some hope to Gaza. Today, I call on Egypt to stop building this wall and the break the siege. This should be condemned by all honest Arabs. Silence cannot continue at the expense of a whole people, regardless of the pretexts.”

The secretary general also condemned crimes committed by criminal groups, particularly in Iraq. “Those murderers are giving the American occupation significant services; this occupation that wants Iraq to remain shattered and submissive. If they want to resist, let them resist occupation forces in Iraq, not Iraqi men, women, and children, not Shiites or Sunnis. These crimes have now become regular news unworthy of condemnation by the nation.”

Sayyed Nasrallah said that Lebanon has crossed one of the most dangerous stages that has been threatening the country’s fate for five years. “And what had been schemed for Lebanon was frightening in terms of wars, seditions, and divisions as well as a suspicious role for Lebanon in the new Middle East; the sectarian, ethnic, and conflicting Mideast that would yield to Israel. Today we have crossed this stage and we are entering a new one with fixing ties with Syria being one of its most important characteristics. Today we have a national unity government that comprises most of the powers and this gives us a chance to move forward to solve our country’s problems.”

Sayyed Nasrallah said that Hezbollah will not be provoked by some political powers in Lebanon, signaling the Phalanges party that is seeking to delete Article Six of the policy statement regarding the legitimacy of the resistance.

His eminence addressed the Christian community in Lebanon and congratulated them on the occasion of the birth of Christ. “I call them for a quiet dialogue away from ardent rhetoric; a dialogue among themselves over their present and future options. I call them to recall past experiences and conclude whether bargaining on Israel, by some parties, was good for Lebanon or was it the contrary. I call on them to review the bargaining of some on the American administration.

Today, we have 150 thousand American soldiers in Iraq and they did not provide security for the Christians who can’t even gather in their churches to mark the birth of Christ. Can the United States provide security? I tell them that the interest of the Christian community in Lebanon lies in Lebanon, not anywhere else. It’s in their interest to cooperate with the rest of the Lebanese. Today the Lebanese have the chance to acknowledge one another; and this is a chance that must not be wasted.”

The Hezbollah chief extended a hand of cooperation in the framework of the national unity government. However he said that, unfortunately, some will try to bring back the tense atmosphere that prevailed in the past.

His eminence also renewed the demand of releasing Imam Moussa Sadr from his prison. Imam Sadr was kidnapped by Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in Libya in 1978.

On the Israeli threat to Lebanon and Gaza, Sayyed Nasrallah. “We have been hearing those threats from the Israelis and some of the political and media elite in Lebanon that has been selling this notion in a way or another. But time has changed. In the past, Israel used to do more than it speaks, however today Israel speaks more it acts because it is unable to do anything. We have a long experience in resisting Israel. Israel is putting Gazans in front of two choices: War or surrender.”

The Hezbollah Secretary General stressed the country we want is a country of peace and dignity, “but if war were imposed on us we will fight like the companions of Imam Hussein, God willing. We will achieve no less than victory.”
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Sayyed Nasrallah:
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