The secretary general of the Lebanese Hizbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, urged the Palestinians Friday to continue their Intifada and vowed that the resistance was preparing “direct military interference” from Lebanon if necessary.
In a keynote speech marking the first anniversary of the Intifada, Nasrallah told an audience of 10,000 supporters that the Islamic world should not mistake US President George W. Bush’s war against terror for a Christian “crusade” against Muslims, according to the Beirut-based Daily Star.
“We should not deal with this war as if it is a Christian war against Islam or that it’s a war that the Christians are to wage against Muslims,” Nasrallah said.
“The Zionist desire is to see war and conflicts between Muslims and Christians. Do you want to achieve this desire of theirs?” he asked.
In reference to the September 11 suicide attacks in the United States, Nasrallah reaffirmed Hizbollah’s condemnation of “the killings of innocent people all over the world” but questioned the “hysteria” the attacks have created.
“It’s unfortunate that it is required from all the world to enter a state of hysteria in condemning and deploring what happened just because the event took place in the US and just because most of the dead were Americans,” he said.
“But this attitude changes when it takes place in Qana or Sabra and Shatila or the Harem Ibrahimi,” he said, referring to the 1994 killing of Palestinians by a Jewish gunman in Hebron.
Nasrallah, meanwhile, said that the United States intended to secure hegemony over the world via its anti-terror campaign.
“Who is the terrorist?” he asked. “Bush says that you are either with America or with the terrorists. The world is entering a coalition without knowing where it is going and who the enemy is. The US has established this goal just as an excuse in order to have hegemony over the world to put its fleets and armies near the Caspian Sea and in the [Perisan] Gulf and this will only be for the interest of Israel. Therefore, it should be clear that it is not permissible for anyone to offer any kind of assistance to America against the Afghan people.”
But, he said, there was no reason to fear the future, since many potential partners in the anti-terror coalition were already questioning its aims.
“We call upon everybody to put...fears and worry aside, because many states in the world will not accept what is happening. Some of them say we need a definition of terrorism and it should be differentiated from resistance, others are saying that goals should be defined and the UN Security Council should lead this fight against terrorism and not America. Others are saying you should produce evidence … I respect those who suggest these conditions.”
Seven Palestinians were killed and at least 80 others were wounded Friday as hundreds of Palestinians clashed with the Israeli troops in the Occupied Territories, on the first anniversary of the Intifada – Albawaba.com
