Nasrallah defends comments, allies, praises Jumblatt

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah responded to his critics during a speech to mark Liberation Day at the Raya stadium in the Sfeir neighborhood in Dahiyeh, including a defense of his recent comments on the May 7 events, a rebuttal against accusations of sectarianism, and a response to accusations in Der Spiegel, a German magazine, that Hezbollah was implicated in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Nasrallah said that his earlier statements, in which he described May 7 as “a glorious day,” were “taken out of context,” adding, “May 7 was a painful and sad day, because civilians died and there was property destruction.”

“The Resistance that had defended the Pride of Lebanon and Beirut was left alone on May 7 to defend its presence and its being and its dignity,” he said. “Before the Doha agreement, the majority was plotting against the Resistance. Militias were being built under the cover of security firms and they were sent to certain Arab countries to be trained. They even opened offices in Beirut for these armed militias. If you say that the state is your only guarantee, what was the point of the RPGs and the weapons and the training of the hundreds of armed men? They can’t deny that they have established these security firms. Why were thousands of armed men brought from the North and Bekaa? And March 14 didn’t deny this fact.”

“On May 5 2008, some ministers from cabinet warned there would be sectarian unrest if they tried to remove the communication network of Hezbollah, but they didn’t listen,” said Nasrallah. “What happened on May 7 was a limited, short and decisive response, especially when we decided not to open fire unless we were attacked first, and we staged civic disobedience but we didn’t wage war. Whereas the other camp was planning for a long war in Beirut.”

Nasrallah stressed Hezbollah’s inclusion of other sects, saying “When the Resistance fought in the South, we didn’t fight based on sectarian principles. The problem began when attacks were launched against the resistance and its weapons. Since 1982, we never faced difficulties with the Sunni citizens of Beirut. We never reverted to any speech that provoked sectarian or religious problems. We want meetings and dialogue between all parties after the elections. We can’t build a nation based on isolation, enmity and division, and we are ready to be frank and clear, and erase all fears and worries with all parties.”

He praised Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, and called his actions “positive during the Doha talks, and afterwards,” adding, “We never felt a bad relationship between the Druze and the Shia, or between Hezbollah and the Druze, and our relationship with all parties is good, especially with the Progressive Socialist Party.”

He said he agreed with Jumblatt’s comments on the Der Spiegel accusations, in which Jumblatt called the article more dangerous than events that led to the civil war.

“Foreign parties are sowing the seeds of unrest in Lebanon by pointing the finger to Hezbollah and pushing the Sunni to avenge the killing of Hariri against the Shia,” said Nasrallah. “The Der Spiegel report is an Israeli accusation against Hezbollah and we will deal with it accordingly. They want to disrupt the elections and hide the issue of their espionage networks, and that’s why they published the report in Der Spiegel at this time. This danger does not lie only in the timing, but rather in the strategy. Since the assassination of Hariri, they wanted to accuse the Shia of the crime. This is not the first time they made fabrications and allegations against Hezbollah.”

Warning that Israeli espionage cells will be active during upcoming Israeli military maneuvers, Nasrallah stressed, “I have said before that I ruled out any possible Israeli attack, but this doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be on our guard. In preventing this war we can’t count on Israeli or US support for Lebanon, and we’d rather count on our people, army and resistance. We will stand side by side with the national army to face the Israeli war games and we will be on highest alert. The response would be immense, and if anyone thought of attacking our land, I promise that the resistance would destroy and wipe out your units and army in the South of Lebanon.”

“No one can take anything from us through threats or intimidation, but you can take all that you want by just being loyal. We are loyal to those who are loyal to us,” he said. “They have accused us of wanting a three-way sharing of power, and accused us and Michel Aoun of trying to apply it. They are making up lies and then believing them. They can’t accuse us of not possessing a vision or a project, and they can’t accuse Aoun of not believing in independence.”

Continuing his praise of Aoun, Nasrallah said, “This is not a temporary electoral alliance, but a national, responsible and strategic alliance. He has a complete and clear vision. The embassies have no influence on this man, and no one can tell him what to do. He will not do anything which is not from his convictions. This man is loyal to Lebanon as a unified nation with a unified people, and he is one of the staunchest leaders for the Christians. Political differences must be resolved between the March 14 alliance and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun before we reach an understanding with them, or make any kind of contact.”

“Since we established Hezbollah in 1982, we have devoted our time to one cause, which is the Resistance, and we stayed away from politics until the year 2000,” he added. “Even after the year 2000, we weren’t deeply involved in the domestic political arena because we were aware that the Israelis were preparing for a new war. When we felt that the nation, the Resistance, and the people were in danger, after the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, we chose to participate in domestic politics.”