Nasrallah's address to the people of Lebanon

by Peter Khan Zendran Friday, Jul. 21, 2006 at 7:29 PM

Please send around.

On Sun, 16 Jul 2006 13:00:11 -0400 (GMT-04:00), necdp@onepalestine.org
said:
> **Please forward**
>
> The address of the General Secretary of Hizballah, His
> Excellency Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah, to the Nation, the
> Lebanese people, the resistance fighters, the
> Zionists, and the Arab leaders.
>
> Translated by Muhammad Abu Nasr
>
> Friday, 14 July 2006.
>
> Peace be upon you and the mercy of God and His
> blessings!
>
> To begin with, in this first address that I make to
> you since Operation True Promise [on which Hizballah
> captured two Zionist soldiers] and the events that
> followed it, I would like, to begin with, to offer my
> appreciation and condolences to the families of the
> martyrs, those who gave the dearest of their loved
> ones on during these hard and difficult days, and all
> they have given in the noblest confrontation and
> battle that the modern age has known or rather that
> all history has known. I want to salute the wounded
> and beseech God, be He glorified and exalted, to
> sustain them, heal them and bring them health. I also
> wish to salute our steadfast people in all the cities,
> towns and villages who are standing firm and
> immoveable, rooted in their land as they are rooted in
> their faith. I also salute my brothers the
> Mujahideen, the steadfast resistance fighters,
> enduring hardship at their posts and in all our ranks,
> ever ready for sacrifice in the path of what they
> believe. They always have and always will regard
> their own safety lightly and hold their heads high
> with pride.
>
> In this first address that I give in these days
> following Operation True Promise, I would like to say
> a few words – a word to the Lebanese people, a word to
> the resistance fighters, a word to the Zionists, and a
> word to the Arab rulers. I will not offer words to
> the international community because I have never for
> one day believed that there is any such thing as an
> international community, just as many in our nation
> feel.
>
> First, I say to the Lebanese people: dear people – who
> embraced the resistance, by whom the resistance was
> victorious, and for whom the resistance won its
> victory on 25 May 2000 – this people who were the
> makers of the first victory in the history of the Arab
> struggle with the Israeli enemy, despite the basic
> inequality in forces, and in spite of the fact that
> the majority of our Arab brothers and the majority of
> our Muslim brothers abandoned us and despite the
> silence of the whole world, this Lebanese people made
> the miracle of the victory that stunned the world and
> humiliated the Zionists. Those Zionists look upon
> this people in a special, unique way because they
> accomplished in the history of the struggle with them
> a special and unique accomplishment. The battle today
> is no longer a battle over prisoners or the exchange
> of prisoners. It might be said that the Zionist enemy
> is responding any time there is any operation where
> men are captured anywhere in any part of the world, by
> any army or any state that has borders and
> regulations. What is taking place today is not a
> response to a capture of their soldiers; it is a
> squaring of accounts with the people, resistance,
> state, army, political forces, regions, villages, and
> families that inflicted that historic defeat on that
> aggressive usurper entity that has never accepted its
> defeat.
>
> Today, therefore, this is a total war that Zionism is
> waging to clear its whole account with Lebanon, the
> Lebanese people, the Lebanese state, the Lebanese
> army, and the Lebanese resistance, in revenge and
> reprisal for the victory they won on 25 May 2000.
>
> Dear steadfast, mujahid, and noble people, I know that
> the overwhelming majority of this people, in their
> minds, hearts, wills, culture, thoughts, love,
> passion, and sacrifice are a people of nobility,
> dignity, honor, distinction, and pride, not a people
> of servility, subservience, submissiveness, and
> surrender. I say to you that in this battle we are
> faced with two choices – not "we" as in Hizballah, or
> as in the resistance, the Hizballah resistance – but
> Lebanon as a state, a people, an army, a resistance,
> and a political power – we are faced with two choices:
> either to submit today to the conditions that the
> Zionist enemy wants to dictate to us all, using the
> pressure, support, and backing it has from America,
> from around the world, and, I'm sorry to say, from
> Arabs. Either we submit completely to its conditions,
> which means taking Lebanon into an Israeli age under
> Israeli domination – in total frankness this is the
> extent of the matter – or we stand steadfast. That is
> the other choice: that we persevere, that we persevere
> and confront. I, relying on God the Exalted, and on
> my faith in Him and the mujahideen and in you, knowing
> this people and this enemy, just as I always used to
> promise you victory, now I promise you victory once
> again. During the Grapes of Wrath in 1996, or the
> clearing of accounts in 1993, in the beginning they
> had the upper hand and our situation was much worse.
> But today, the situation is different. Believe me,
> and I mean this, the situation now is different. All
> that we need is to persevere, stand steadfast, and
> confront them united, and I know and I will bet that
> the majority of our people are a people of
> steadfastness, a mujahid people who can sacrifice, who
> have no need for pep talks. What I'm saying now is
> only by way of completing the idea, and affirming the
> choice, and clarifying what this means.
>
> Now, as for my words for the resistance fighters, for
> my dear and beloved brothers: upon them rest the
> hopes of every Lebanese, every Palestinian, every
> Arab, every Muslim, every free and decent person in
> this world, every oppressed, tortured victim of
> injustice, every lover of steadfastness, courage,
> dignity, values, and nobility – the characteristics
> they embody by their presence on the field of battle
> and in their fight with this enemy, the fight of
> valiant heroes. I say to them: today, after God the
> Highest, you are the hope of our Nation. You are the
> symbol of our nobility. Our honor is in your hands.
> This honor is yours and by means of you, our honor is
> preserved. After God the Exalted, it was you who were
> responsible for the victory of 2000. Today it is you,
> before all others, who are responsible for preserving
> the victory, for achieving liberation, standing
> steadfast, and with honor. This places demands on you
> that you, in practice, have proved until now and
> during these days that you are entirely worthy of, as
> you are worthy of our esteem. Those who put their
> trust in you, after God, their charge is great, the
> reward will be grand, and the mighty victory – a clear
> triumph – is near.
>
> To the Zionists, to the people of the Zionist entity
> at this hour I say to them: you will soon discover how
> foolish and stupid are your new rulers, your new
> leaders. They do not know how to assess reality.
> They have no experience in this area. You Zionists
> say in opinion polls that you believe me more than you
> believe your officials. So now I call on you to
> listen well and believe me. Today we have persevered
> despite the attack that took place last night in the
> southern suburbs. However the attacks multiply in
> every village, neighborhood, street, and home in
> Lebanon, there is no difference between the south
> Beirut suburbs, the City of Beirut, or any home in
> south Lebanon, in the Beqaa, or the north, or Mount
> Lebanon, or any corner of Lebanon.
>
> The equation has now changed. I will not say today
> that if you strike Beirut, we will strike Haifa. I
> will not tell you that if you hit the south Beirut
> suburbs, we will hit Haifa. You wanted to get rid of
> that equation, so now we and you have got rid of it in
> actuality. You wanted open warfare, and we are going
> into open warfare. We are ready for it, a war on
> every level. To Haifa, and, believe me, to beyond
> Haifa, and to beyond beyond Haifa. Not only we will
> be paying a price. Not only our houses will be
> destroyed. Not only our children will be killed. Not
> only our people will be displaced. Those days are
> past. That was how it was before 1982, and before the
> year 2000. Those times have come to an end. I
> promise you those times have passed. Therefore you
> must also bear the responsibility for what your
> government has done, for what that government has
> undertaken. From now on, you wanted open warfare, so
> it will be open warfare. You wanted it. Your
> government wanted to change the rules of the game, so
> let the rules then be changed. You don't know today
> whom you're fighting. You are fighting the children
> of Muhammad, of Ali, of al-Hasan, of al-Husayn, of the
> Prophet's family, the Prophet's Companions. You are
> fighting a people who have faith such as no one else
> on the face of the earth possesses. And you have
> chosen open warfare with a people who take pride in
> their history, their civilization, and their culture,
> and who also possess material power, ability,
> expertise, knowledge, calm, imagination,
> determination, steadfastness, and courage. In the
> coming days it will be between us and you, God
> willing.
>
> As to the Arab rulers, I don't want to ask you about
> your history. I just want to say a few words. We are
> adventurers. We in Hizballah are adventurers, yes.
> But we have been adventurers since 1982. And we have
> brought to our country only victory, freedom,
> liberation, dignity, honor, and pride. This is our
> history. This is our experience. This is our
> adventure. In the year 1982 you said and the world
> said that we were crazy. But we proved that we were
> the rational ones, so who then was crazy? This is
> something else and I don't want to get into an
> argument with anyone. So I tell them simply: go bet
> on your reason and we will bet on our adventure, with
> God as our Supporter and Benefactor. We have never
> for one day counted on you. We have trusted in God,
> our people, our hearts, our hands, and our children.
> Today we do the same, and God willing, victory will
> follow. The surprises that I promised you will begin
> starting now. Now, out at sea off the coast of Beirut
> an Israeli military vessel that attacked our
> infrastructure, that struck the homes of our people,
> our civilians; you can see it burning. It will sink
> and with it dozens of Zionist Israeli troops. This is
> the beginning. There will be a lot more said before
> the end.
>
> Peace be upon you and the mercy of God!
>
> Arabic original at:
> http://www.nna-leb.gov.lb/phpfolder/loadpage.php?page=JOU214.html
>
>
http://www.peterkhanzendran.com
http://peterkhanzendran.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/peterkhanzendran