Sayyed Nasrallah Adressing Iftar Held by the Women’s Activities of Islamic Resistance Support Association

Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah appeared via video-link to deliver a speech on the Resistance cause.

During the annual Iftar banquet of the Hizbullah Women's Activities of the Islamic Resistance Support Association, Sayyed Nasrallah continued the previous speech he had started a few days ago on the Resistance cause versus the "Israeli" enemy, stating "It is normal that on such an occasion, I address you today and speak about the Resistance and supporting the Resistance." He first tackled in brief a few regional developments.

"Israel" First to Benefit from Sinai Attack

"But before that, I would like to address the painful incident that took place today in Egypt's Sinai, as media outlets had mentioned that 15 or 16 Egyptian soldiers were slaughtered," His Eminence stated, consoling the families of the soldier martyrs.

Describing it as a ‘suspicious' attack, Sayyed Nasrallah noted "It is sad that this attack was justified as an Islamic attack," adding that the main winner of this sad and sorrowful violence is "Israel", which will benefit from it on the Egyptian and Palestinian levels.

"I assure that such an incident has no relation whatsoever to Islam, religion, or the Holy Quran," Sayyed Nasrallah explained, reiterating "There are two real threats to stability and security in the region, the first is "Israel", the second is the mind of blasphemy [Takfir] and murdering which is being disseminated in the Arab and Islamic world supported and financed by Arab governments and oil."

"These are painful days we live, due to the grief-stricken incidents taking place in the region, the killing and destruction in Syria, the kidnapping of Lebanese and Iranian pilgrims, the different bomb-attacks in Iraq, the painful incidents in Bahrain and also what is happening in [Saudi Arabia's] Qatif," Sayyed Nasrallah said, further adding "This not only takes place in total absence of regimes and governments, but also as some of these regimes are involved in the calamities."

Resistance Number One Threat, Deterrence Force to "Israel"

Tackling the major topic, the Resistance cause, Hizbullah Secretary General noted that it is a continuous cause on the domestic, regional and international levels, particularly post the year 2000 with attacks intensifying against the Resistance.

"To "Israel", it has become a fact that the Resistance in Lebanon has become the first threat to its interests and schemes, and this has become very clear. This leads us to a conclusion that "Israel" fears [the Resistance] when it thinks about attacking Lebanon," His Eminence explained.

Hizbullah leader guaranteed that "Israel" has multiple motives to attack Lebanon, yet the presence of the strong Resistance in Lebanon embraced by a majority of the population is what prevents "Israel" from launching an attack, as it fears defeat.

Sayyed Nasrallah also stressed that "Israel" is not attacking Lebanon because it fears the Resistance and this is called a "strategic transformation", iterating that "The first worry for "Israel" is the Resistance, owing to the humiliating defeats of "Israel" in the years 2000 and 2006.

His Eminence recapped that "Israel" does not worry when the Arab countries purchase advanced weapons and warplanes that are worth billions of dollars, but it threatens war when there are remarks about trafficking of arms from Syria to Lebanon.

This, according to Sayyed Nasrallah, implies that Lebanon owns a deterrence power called the Resistance, which makes "Israel" think a thousand times before launching any aggression.

"Have we reached a point where we can really give up the resistance? Let us put political rivalry aside, can we really do without the resistance?" His Eminence wondered.

"What are the guarantees that Lebanon will [be able to exploit its] gas and oil? We have a tested vision, whereas others only want to disarm the Resistance," His Eminence stated, noting "They have to give guarantees on how we protect Lebanon, its gas, oil and waters. They are calling for equipping the army, but would the army constitute a deterrence force?"

Resistance Arms Did Not PRevent Elections!

Sayyed Nasrallah underscored that there are fears that the weapons are in the possession of the Shiites, reassuring "But let us talk rationally: all the Lebanese are threatened and this resistance represents a force of deterrence amid the fears, so what can we do? Rationally speaking, we must dispel the fears and preserve the resistance in order to ward off the "Israeli" threats.

The March 14 camp says the presence of arms will prevent holding elections in Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah believed, adding "Nonetheless the 2005 elections were held in the presence of arms and the March 14 won the majority and the 2009 elections and the recent Koura by-election were also held amid the presence of arms."

He echoed that the Resistance's arms were not used to impose electoral lists, while some political forces in other areas terrorized people with their weapons.

"Accusations that we are behind the chaos of weapons are unacceptable, as all the Lebanese have weapons, except for the weapons of deterrence such as Zilzal missiles," Hizbullah leader noted, further adding that "the March 14 camp is saying that the presence of arms prevents the rise of the state, but the state did not exist even before the creation of Hizbullah. Who prevented the rise of the state?" His Eminence wondered.

"In Lebanon, parties, militias, wars, and arms chaos all existed before I was even born! And before the Resistance existed," he stressed.

"Sectarianism is the first real reason preventing the rise of the state, if we want to rise with a national state, we should let go sectarian differences and quotas," His Eminence went on to say.

Corruption Hinders Rise of Lebanese State

The second problem according to Sayyed Nasrallah, is corruption in Lebanon, the political, financial, and administrative corruption. Hence, according to the Hizbullah leader, it is corruption that hinders the rise of the state.

Sayyed Nasrallah underlined that Lebanon cannot be ruled by one sect. "Whoever thinks that a certain sect must rule the country would be dragging the country into destruction, and I hereby declare that the Shiite sect in Lebanon does not want to be a ruling sect or a leading sect."

"The other camp does not want a defense strategy. It rather wants two things: the Resistance's weapons and the resignation of the government," Sayyed Nasrallah declared.

"If my aim is to liberate the entire occupied land on the borderline, then I am concerned about my country. I am patriotic when I care about every iota of land and drop of water, patriotism should not be only in preach but in practice," Sayyed Nasrallah concluded.

In a last regional comment, Sayyed Nasrallah finished off his speech saying"We reiterate our call for dialogue in Syria and we have mediated with opposition parties to convince them to engage in dialogue, and so did Iran and Russia [but we did not succeed] because there is a decision to prevent dialogue in Syria."