Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah praised the Tunisian and Egyptian protests and attacked the U.S. during a festival aimed at backing the Egyptian , Tunisian revolts and the resistance:
He said we “meet today to announce our solidarity with the Egyptian and Tunisian people and youth.”
He apologized for the delay in addressing the Egyptian and Tunisian revolts and said ”
“ I want to apologize to the youth of Tunisia and Egypt because we were late in announcing this message of support, which was not delayed due to hesitation or confusion. We cannot stand by idle when the dispute takes place between the oppressed and oppressor.”
He then said “I will try to state some facts:”
1- we are before a national Egyptian revolution that Muslims, Christians, and various parties are taking part in, but the youth are its most powerful participants.
2- this revolution is the product of the people’s will and determination. They are the ones protesting and presenting martyrs and they should decide which system should prevail.
3- we are before a complete revolution for the poor, the free, the students, and freedom. It is a political humanitarian revolution against everything, especially the regime’s policies towards the Arab-Israeli conflict.
4- it is a great insult to the youth in Tunisia and Egypt that their movement is directed by the U.S. Who would imagine that the U.S. would topple its loyal ally?
He added “ if we addressed you before, it would have been said that Hezbollah cells were behind your mobilization – or Hamas or Iranian Revolutionary Guard cells, as they are starting to say. Then the Egyptian people’s demands would have been turned into accusations of adversaries.”
He added : “All the accusations that the people are following foreign directives – whatever foreign country – will fail, and have fallen before the greatness of the Egyptian people’s will.”
As an example in accusations he cited his experience when one of Hezbollah members was detained in Egypt.”He was helping the Muslim Brothers in Gaza and was accused of being part of a Hezbollah cell – you all know the weight of the accusations directed against us.”
He was referring to Sami Shihab , the leader of the alleged Hezbollah cell in Egypt who along with 21 other Hezbollah detainees escaped from jail last week during the turmoil.
Shihab was sentenced last April to 15 years in prison.
Shihab was reportedly the leader of the cell of 49 people that were charged in 2009,with plotting attacks against Egyptian tourist sites and vessels using the Suez Canal as well as of smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip, but only 26 were arrested.
Nasrallah went on to praise the Iranian revolution and draw a parallel with what happened in Tunisia and Egypt
Ayatollah Khomeini was loyal to the aspirations of the nation and not an American ally and this is the case of the Tunisian and Egyptian people. The Americans tried to contain the revolution to improve their image in the Arab world.
He said the “U.S. does not care if an Islamist or a secularist assumes power. Its only concern is the substitute’s political approach and whether it will be in its and Israeli interests.”
He added : “The American administration is aware that it should maintain the middle ground in a bloody confrontation in the revolution because it knows that its negative repercussions will affect it and its allies.”
Nasrallah claimed that he based his comment on a recent study which ” revealed that there are major changes in store in the region and that the US has realized that regimes that are allied with the U.S. will not be able to withstand popular pressure.”
Israel
Nasrallah accused Israel of trying to protect the Egyptian regime and said :” There is Israeli consensus to protect this regime and Israel has previously announced that dictatorships, not democracies, protect it.” He added Observe the great Israeli concern and panic “
If only we could be with you
Nasrallah offered help to the Egyptian protesters :
“We place all our capabilities in the hands of the Egyptian people and their youth.” He said and added : If only we could be with you in Cairo’s squares and other great Egyptian cities and I am eager to be with you to present my blood like any youth striving to achieve Egypt’s noble goals.”
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