Dahiyeh Al Quds rally. Beirut 11th December 2017. (Photo: Vanessa Beeley)
Vanessa Beeley
21st Century Wire
The estimated six thousand strong crowd hummed with expectation as they gathered in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh to hear Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah speak, following President Trump’s unilateral announcement that Jerusalem should be recognised as the capital of Israel. This statement has unleashed a volcanic reaction worldwide against yet another provocative geopolitical maneuver by the maverick US president.
Watch this exclusive video footage from Beirut:
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There was a new power and urgency to Nasrallah’s words, the flags of Palestine, Hezbollah and Lebanon flew side by side over the surging crowd that chanted in unison as their leader spoke. This was not a speech of defence, this was a speech of defiance against the US moves to protect their military outpost in the Middle East. This was a speech that spoke of the end of the illegal state of Israel and a refusal to accept US policy on Middle Eastern soil. Palestine is centre stage once more and Israel is facing a no-option future, war and extinction if they press ahead with their policy of isolationism and extremism in the land they have occupied through brutality, racism and violence.
The following account of Nasrallah’s speech has been taken from a report in Al Manar, with all photographs (except one) by Vanessa Beeley.
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah assured on Monday that the decision of US President Donald Trump was the beginning of the demise of “Israel” and called on the Palestinians to announce the emergence of an intifada (uprising) backed by the Arab and Islamic nations.
Speaking to crowds that demonstrated in the Southern Suburb of Beirut in denunciation of the US decision to announce Al-Quds the capital of the occupying Israeli entity, Sayyed Nasrallah asked the Palestinian people to hold on to their right and refuse this decision in all possible ways, confirming that Al-Quds is the Palestinians’ everlasting capital.
“The stance of the Palestinian people is the key to all the coming period,” he said, adding: “we renew our vow to stay with Palestine, Al-Quds, and all the Islamic and Christian sanctities, as we are witnessing today a true intifada (uprising) in which Muslims and Christians are all united to defend the sanctities.”
His eminence indicated that the major response today should be boycotting the Israeli enemy, halting talks, and paralyzing all types of normalization with it, and called upon the Palestinians in specific to “kick out any delegation that comes with an intention of normalizing relations with ‘Israel’ and tell them that there won’t be any negotiation or settlement before Trump pulls back his decision”.
Sayyed Nasrallah stressed that the Arab League and the Islamic Cooperation Committee must put an end to the peace process, pointing out that “in Lebanon, we are proud of our national unity around Al-Quds and Palestine and against Trump’s decision, and we are proud of the stances of President Michel Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and members, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and different political factions, in addition to the special statement of Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil in the AL meeting in Cairo.”
Hezbollah secretary general noted that there will be some violations like that of the Bahraini delegation that visited Al-Quds… however, he assured: “This delegation does not represent the People or the will of Bahrain, it only represents the oppressive authority of Bahrain which carried a letter of “peace and co-existing” from the king to those who or Judaizing Al-Quds, and which also oppressed and shot at the Bahraini people who demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinians.”
“Two peoples have stood under the threat of fire to express their support to Al-Quds, they are the Palestinian and the Yemeni people who were bombarded by the Saudi-American air weapons… The advantage of this American decision is that it reveals the vicious from the good in our Arab and Islamic worlds,” Sayyed Nasrallah asserted, noting that this decision was not separate as it is part of the continuous US/Israeli plan to “back terrorist groups on top of which was ISIL in order to destroy our societies and put an end to the Palestinian cause so that a day will come when we all forget Palestine.”
His eminence reassured that “the US was not a sponsor of peace in Palestine and the region, but rather the establisher of Israel and the sponsor of terror, occupation, Judaization, and destruction. It is the establisher of ISIL and Takfiri groups and the nation’s common stance must be “Death to America”.”
Sayyed Nasrallah expressed his appreciation to all the states, presidents, and governments who refused Trump’s decision, noting that “Trump thought that if he announced Al-Quds the capital of Israel the entire world would submit to him, but instead he only had Israel on his side, which was highly appreciated.”
In this context, his eminence stated: “I speak today in the name of all the resistance axis – people, states, and factions – the resistance axis has overcome the previous phase and today, it stands strong and victorious as it is finishing its battles and defeating the US and Israeli elements, and now Palestine, its people, and Al-Quds will return to be its top priority.”
Political analyst and contributor to 21st Century Wire, Marwa Osman.
He further addressed the Palestinians: “You should have faith in the promise of Allah, that He will grant victory for whoever defends the right… by holding our responsibility standing firm, Allah will grant us victory. Have faith in Allah and in the resistance that have triumphed in every battle it engaged in.”
“They wanted this decision to be the beginning of the end of the Palestinian cause, and I call for this decision to be the beginning of the end of Israel,” Sayyed Nasrallah said, chanting as the crowds repeat: “We will be millions of martyrs to sacrifice for Al-Quds”.
“We have been with Palestine since the 1940s and we will stay with Palestine until the Muslims can pray in Al-Aqsa and the Christians can pray in the Resurrection church,” he concluded.
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