Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave a rare public address on Friday, delivering a speech in south Beirut to hundreds of supporters in support of Palestinians on Al-Quds Day.
It was the first public appearance since September last year by Nasrallah, who has lived in hiding, for fear of assassination, since Hezbollah fought a month-long war with Israel in 2006.
“Israel poses a danger on all people of this region…including Lebanon, and removing it is a Lebanese national interest,” Nasrallah said.
Al -Quds Day, officially known in Iran as “International Quds Day” , is an annual event that was conceived originally in 1979 by the late leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. It is held on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposing Zionism as well as Israel’s control of Jerusalem; Al-Quds is that city’s Arabic name.
“This call was reiterated by Imam Khamenei and it aims to remind Muslims and the world of the Palestinian cause and to rescue Jerusalem from the hands of the Zionist occupiers and it is an occasion to shed light on what Palestine and its people are suffering from the siege, Judaization, starvation and the demolition of holy sites.” Nasrallah said.
“Today, on August 2, 2013, we critically need to commemorate the occasion, and I thank all of you for heeding the call of Imam Khomeini.” The leader of the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group added.
“The entire Palestine, from the sea to the river, must return to its people. No one in the world, no king, prince, Sayyed, leader, president or state has the right to give up a single grain of sand of Palestine’s land.” Nasrallah stressed.
“Israel poses a grave and permanent threat to all the states and peoples of this region and its capabilities, security, dignity, safety and sovereignty, and anyone who denies that would be practicing obstinacy. Therefore, it is not only an existential threat to Palestine’s people, but also to all the peoples and civilizations of the region.” He added.
“Accordingly, anyone who stands in the face of the Zionist scheme anywhere in our region and through any means, would be defending his country, people and the future of his children and grandchildren, in addition to defending Palestine.” He added.
Nasrallah called for stressing the priority of this conflict with the Zionist scheme in Lebanon, Syria and Jerusalem and added:
“Unfortunately, some in the Arab world who are backed by the West are blocking and preventing this priority and are pushing peoples to endorse other priorities and are inventing new wars. First they spoke of the communist expansion and Palestine was forgotten and they spent billions and came up with books, conference and wars. Then they invented the Iranian and Persian expansion and a war that cost billions was waged against Iran. Had they spent only one tenth on Palestine, it would have been liberated. ”
“What’s worse than this is that they gave some local conflicts a sectarian nature.” He added.
“Isn’t it time for the peoples of the region to realize that some parties are seeking to destroy the region and its countries, armies and peoples. They don’t only want to fragment the nations but also to fragment the peoples into sects. ”
Reuters/ Agencies
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