By Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer, Gulf News
Cheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah militia leader, emphasised the necessity for dialogue among rival Lebanese politicians during his latest television appearance to mark the end of the annual Ashura commemorations.
Inciting emotionally-laden crowds who repented their forefathers’ alleged failures to assist Hussain Bin Ali at the battle of Karbala in 680, Nasrallah fell back on irony to criticise Lebanese elites. “They have waited for the Iranian nuclear agreement to be finalised thinking that Iran would abandon us, and it did not,” he hammered. “They have waited for the fall of Syria, but Syria will not fall,” he said. “They shall not benefit from this opportunity,” he drove the point home, declaring: “In Lebanon we are the masters of our decisions.”
Nasrallah further pledged that his party and its allies would emerge victorious from the ongoing civil and regional wars in Syria, and accused the United States of being the “leader” of what he described the “rival front” in the region. “We will not back down in this battle if anyone is betting on this. This is a battle that we believe in and we will win it,” he told frenzied supporters in a rare public appearance in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The irony of the bombastic speech was not lost on most since restating that Hezbollah was “standing in the face of Israel and its threats and wars and in the face of the takfiris”, belied his presence in Aleppo and other points north — at some distance from Israel. In fact, Hezbollah deployed thousands of its militiamen across the border with Syria to bolster President Bashar Al Assad’s regime, not to apparently defeat the Jewish “enemy”. Undeterred by his own imaginative rhetoric, Nasrallah renewed support for the Palestinian people in their fight against Zionism, at a time when Palestinians clashed with Jewish colonists and the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without as much as a peep from the Party of God.
In a moment of hubris, Nasrallah stated that he intended to confront the American projects, and promised to defeat Washington, “just like we defeated Israel”.
Seldom short of explanations, he noted that “the rival front is not led by [Al Nusra Front chief Abu Mohammad] Al Julani, [Al Qaida boss Ayman] Al Zawahiri or [the self-appointed Islamic State Caliph Abu Bakr] Al Baghdadi, but rather by the United States.”
“The ongoing war is not for the sake of reforms, democracy, human rights, poverty or countering ignorance but it is rather aimed at subjugating those who rejected the US scheme and punishing those who defeated the New Middle East scheme in 2006,” added Nasrallah, referring to the 2006 war between his militia and Israel.
It was particularly interesting to note in this latest presentation how Nasrallah added colour when he affirmed that the takfiris, jihadists and other extremists fighting to topple the Syrian regime were in fact doing nothing more that serving American interests “because the biggest dictatorships in the region are sponsored by the US.” Buoyed by his own comments, he predicted that Israel would “lose its ability to survive in our region” if “America weakens”, which explained his anti-American position.
What stood out in the full frontal attack against Washington was the dearth of an explanation regarding the Iranian nuclear agreement with the US. Despite the Iranian Supreme leader’s oft-repeated chastisement, Tehran bowed to American will in the region, at least for the next decade, since the deal denied Tehran the long coveted nuclear parity with India and Pakistan on the one hand, and the application of hegemony over Arab Gulf monarchies on the other.
He said nothing about Iranian military deployments in Syria but attacked Islamists fighting against the regime. Such fighters served US interests, he claimed, though it did not occur to him that his own fighters were doing the same thing — presumably also serving US interests.
In the end, Nasrallah blamed his local and regional opponents for many ills and labelled then Zionists, enemies, takfiris, and assorted other names before he re-emphasized the need for dialogue. Of course, Hezbollah’s foes accused the party of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, among other ills, before agreeing to serve in a national unity government with them, which led one to ask whether Lebanese politicians suffered from schizophrenia.
Still, it behoved Hezbollah leaders to recall that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini chose to drink from the poisoned chalice in 1988 when he decided to sign a ceasefire accord with Saddam Hussain after he concluded that the US sided with Iraq against Iran. Khomeini understood US power and chances were good that his successors did too even if they did not share that knowledge with their Lebanese acolytes.
Reuters
Thousands of its fighters are in Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad, taking part in a new ground offensive also backed by Iranian forces and Russian air strikes against insurgents who have received Gulf Arab backing.
The Saudi-Iranian rivalry is also playing out in Yemen, where Riyadh is leading a military intervention to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government and fend off what it sees as creeping Iranian influence.
Nasrallah condemned what he called the "U.S.-Saudi aggression" against Yemen. Thousands of black-clad supporters responded "Death to the Saud family! Death to the Saud family!". The chant is mostly reserved for Israel and America.
On the war in Syria, Nasrallah forecast victory for Assad and his allies. "Syria will not fall," he said.
Tens of thousands of Hezbollah supporters marched through the Shi’ite southern suburbs of Beirut. Some beat their chests in a show of self-punishment over the failure of Muslims to help in Hussein in battle against the Islamic ruler at the time, Yazid.
Nasrallah, who for security reasons typically speaks via video link, delivered the speech in person, the second day in a row he has appeared to address supporters. Security was tight in the area. Roads were closed to traffic.
Lebanon has also been an arena for Saudi-Iranian rivalry between Hezbollah and its Christian and Shi’ite allies on the one hand, and a rival alliance led by Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, who is backed by Riyadh, on the other.
Nasrallah warned rival Lebanese politicians against waiting for Saudi Arabia and Iran to broker an end to a standoff that has paralyzed government and prevented the election of a new president.
"Don’t wait for Iranian-Saudi dialogue. Matters in the region are getting more complicated," he said. "Don’t await an American or Western initiative. Lebanon is beyond the concerns of foreign states. Lebanon is today left to its leaders."
Daily Star lebanon
BEIRUT: Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah made a rare public appearance Friday to mark the 10th night of the month of Muharram, vowing that his party will not back down in the battle against extremists and the U.S. project in the region.
"Our battle is to defend Islam and we will not back down… we will triumph," Nasrallah told thousands of his supporters gathered at the Sayyed Ashuhadaa Compound in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Nasrallah lashed out at the United States, accusing it of waging a war against the countries that refuse submission. He said that the "U.S.-takfiri project in the region is granting the countries two choices, either to submit to its control or endure a war."
"We choose to confront (the U.S.)," the Hezbollah chief said.
"The U.S. and western countries have a clear target. They have certain strategies that they are developing for certain purposes," Nasrallah added.
He said that the U.S. is trying to convince the countries of the region to accept Israel, declaring countries that refuse to as enemies.
Nasrallah said that "Israel is only a tool for the U.S. to put forth its project in the region… This is why they protect it and grant it different kinds of support when facing any serious threats."
He blamed the woes of the region on the current and successive U.S. administrations, saying they are trying to control gas and oil resources.
"The goal of the U.S. is to impose political, military and economic control."
He said that "the Arab and Islamic world is forbidden from having a strong nation…, even those who are friends with the U.S."
"We are only supposed to be slaves," Nasrallah said.
He warned the countries that have ties with the U.S. that Washington is deceiving them. "It is not a charity seeking to spread democracy across the world."
"Why do the countries under its (U.S.) control have no freedom or political turn over?" he asked. "Yet free countries are always under scrutiny, even though they seek to change their (political) systems, and are threatened with economic sanctions or wars."
Nasrallah said that his party is "confronting the U.S.-takfiri project that is… threatening us with death and the explosive-rigged vehicles."
"Our answer is in our fighters in Syria… They are sacrificing themselves."
Nasrallah also accused the U.S. of spreading false claims about the Iranian nuclear program, saying that "Tehran was only seeking to become a sovereign and independent state."
He also said that the U.S. aims to control Syria through the conflict, but expressed hope that it will end in the favor of Hezbollah and its allies.
"The Arab countries are merely tools in the U.S. war against Syria, Iran and Yemen."
"They (the U.S.) have been seeking to provoke Sunnis in Syria, Iraq and Yemen and involve them in a battle on behalf of their leaders… but they failed."
Nasrallah said that the U.S. and its allies are seeking to make those who rebelled against it “pay the price.”
He is expected to deliver a second speech on Saturday around 10.30 a.m.
At the opening of his speech Nasrallah thanked the Lebanese army and security forces for exerting efforts to secure and safeguard the participants in Ashura mourning councils.
He concluded by announcing he will meet his supporters again on Saturday, saying that “neither rain nor booby-trapped cars will prevent them.”
(Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
