Speech of Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the occasion of the forum entitled: “Declaration of Al Qods as the capital of Palestine, the Arabs and Muslims".

I take refuge in Allah from the stoned devil. In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Peace be on the Seal of prophets, our Master and Prophet, Abi Al Qassem Mohammad and on his chaste and pure Household and on his chosen companions and on all messengers and prophets. Peace be on you all and Allah's mercy and blessing.

I have the honor to deliver the opening speech in this forum which aims at declaring Al Qods as the capital of Palestine, the Arabs and Muslims according to the popular will. To be in harmony with the nature of the program which encompasses several other speeches in the forum, I will be very brief. Thus I wrote what I want to say, and I will commit myself to the text so that I won't take more time.

I will talk about Al Qods, its status quo, the current challenges, the responsibility towards Al Qods, the options, the horizons and the future.

First I will talk about its status quo. From the various perspectives, Al Qods is currently a unique case in the world. That means it is matchless and without equal. It is a holy city in a holy land. It is a blessed city, and all what is around it is blessed. This is unanimously agreed upon by all divine revelations. Thus it is in the doctrine, conscience and culture of billions of human beings who reside in the five continents of the world whether Muslims or Christians. Their eyes long for Al Qods and their hearts are infatuated by it. There is no other city in the world that matches with Al Qods. Besides its holiness, the city really comprises many of the sanctities and holy sites for Muslims and Christians whether Al Aqsa Mosque or Resurrection Church or others.

On the other hand, it is a city occupied by those who have nothing to do with these billions of human beings and do not represent them by any form. It is still under occupation and it has been under occupation for decades. It has also been declared an eternal capital for a terrorist, racial, colonial, fabricated entity – namely Israel - which is antagonistic to this nation and to this entire environment. There are also prompt efforts to declare it an eternal capital to the so called Jewish people in the world. These efforts are still underway. There is a bill to this effect understudy in the enemy's Knesset.

All through history, Al Qods has been a principle axis for struggle in the region. This was also the case in the past century. It is still as such, and that's how it will be in the future. To have control over it, the region was divided by Sykes-Picot; to secure control over it, new projects have always been schemed for it the last of which was the Neo Middle East project which was toppled by the resistance movements and the opposing countries in the region. We will always face one project after the other with the aim of liquidating the Palestinian cause in heart of which is Al Qods. With Al Qods as the axis, the future of this region will be drawn. In one word I say: Tell me where Al Qods is; I will tell you where the region is.

Also today Al Qods is being subject to an organized Judaizing campaign. Even more, the sanctities of Muslims and Christians are being subject to humiliation and profanation on one hand and to the risk of vandalism, demolition and eradication on the other. Its original historic people are also being subject to a displacement, exclusion and expulsion operation so that the city becomes void of its Muslim and Christian residents and their sanctities as well and so that it becomes of one known color and textile.

So the case of Al Qods is really a matchless unequaled case in the world what puts us before a real challenge which is linked to the identity, future and fate of this holy city.

Second: As for the responsibility of this city and its options, I believe that every Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and Christian has a national, popular, religious, convictional and ethical responsibility towards Al Qods and its future, identity and destiny.

Third: I would like to highlight specifically the convictional and religious responsibility – the technical term is legitimate responsibility. Dear brothers! We believe in Resurrection and in The Day of Judgment. We believe in two kinds of reward and punishment in the Other world: holding individuals accountable and holding nations and communities accountable. We believe that then we will be asked as individuals and as nations and communities about what we have done with Al Qods and Palestine, and what we have done in face of this confrontation.

The generations which were contemporary with the establishment of the Zionist entity and especially the occupation of Al Qods – all these generations in our nation – assume the responsibility with variant ratios, and they will be asked on Doom's Day about the loss of Al Qods. It might happen that in this world nobody asks or holds the other accountable. However, as time does not make what is right wrong and what is wrong right, time does not drop responsibilities in this world as well or change the account of reward and punishment in the Resurrection Day. People forget, ignore and are negligent; however before the hands of Allah is the balance of righteousness.

Most of us are among the generations who became religiously responsible following 1967 – meaning after the occupation and loss of Al Qods. Consequently, we do not partake in the responsibility of its loss and occupation. However, we for sure assume the responsibility of having it still under control to this day, and we will be asked. So everyone of us and every group, organization, movement, party, current, society, institution, clan, tribe, people and country must prepare an answer for Doom's Day for what they did or achieved in the way of restoring Al Qods and liberating it.

Brothers and sisters! This obligation and responsibility impose on this nation a central great goal which we must seek to achieve. It is liberating Al Qods from the profanation of the occupation, and working industriously and seriously to achieve that. Until this goal is achieved, there are several other challenges which we must daily face with every possible means. I mean defending the Islamic and Christian sanctities in Al Qods, guarding its people against expulsion and displacement, and confronting Judaizing Al Qods. This may be achieved through fixed and fully considered agendas. That means we do not need to put and plan for programs. Many conferences have been convened. Al Qods International Institution has been established. Many conferences have been held whether in Tehran or in other places. I believe there is no gap on the level of programs. What we need in the confrontation of this intimidation and for defending the sanctities and guarding the identity of Al Qods and its residents is working seriously and giving this cause the appropriate priority.

As for the options, it is clear that the choice of negotiations to restore Al Qods is invalid. That's because while putting apart the stance from the choice of negotiations and from the settlement operation as a whole and if we take for granted that negotiating with the enemy may lead to a solution for a part of Palestine's occupied land or for a group of the Palestinian refugees or for some of the other related causes, it is decisive and final that Al Qods has no place in this solution. That goes to the Israeli consensus on sticking to Al Qods as a united capital for the state of Israel. Thus it is nonnegotiable. The Israelis are unwilling to negotiate Al Qods – whether western Al Qods or Al Aqsa Mosque or even their underground. All of that is behind the scope of any debate or negotiation.

That's besides the absolute western-American adoption of Israel and its security and military supremacy which US President Barak Obama indicated as his ‘holy commitment’. So he raised this commitment from the level of strategic or political or humanistic levels – in their considerations – to the level of holiness. Thus that is indubitable. Here I say between parentheses that we did not hear any comment on this holy commitment from any of the US allies and friends or those who bargain on it from the Arab and Islamic world. This truth which is indubitable does not keep before the Palestinian people along with the whole nation except the choice of resistance and armed jihad.

As for the horizons and the future of Al Qods, we believe that the major changes in the region which the resistance movements have the lion's share in making along with the major changes currently underway in the world on more than one level make us feel that we are closer to achieving the goal of liberating Al Qods more than any time in the past.

Following are some examples:

- The steadfastness of the Palestinian people all through the previous decades despite being subject to wars, risks, annihilation and expulsion and their refusal to give in to Israeli settlements and conditions.

- The international disability and even the official Arab disability to liquidate the Palestinian cause and consequently, the cause remained vitally and forcefully present in the consciences, equations and fields. In this perspective, the declaration made by Imam Khomeini (May Allah sanctify his holy secret) announcing the last Friday in the month of Ramadan as Al Qods International Day is one of the forms of keeping this cause alive.

- The fall of the Shah regime and the establishment of the Islamic Republic in Iran which absolutely backs this Palestinian, Arab and Islamic right. Here we must highly respect the Islamic Republic and its people and leaders who clearly and unequivocally declare that Israel is an illegitimate state and that it is a cancerous gland which must be eliminated from the map of existence. Though Iran is a state which has its interests and relations and though it is a part of the international community, and though it is being subject to pressure, it doesn't resort to tactics in its stance and vision. It rather expresses its strategy and depth in a clear sound way.

- The victories and achievements of the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and lately in Iraq.

- The great change in Egypt which is viewed by the Zionists as an earthquake which threatens the existence of their entity.

- The great change in Iraq. If Iraq was fated to restore its prosperity in a quick pace, it may play a central role in this struggle. We also link great expectations in this perspective on the Iraqi forces, the Iraqi resistance and the Iraqi people.

- The feebleness and the retreat of the United States and the western states in general on more than one level.

- The changes inside the entity of the enemy on the cultural, moral, psychological, military and political levels.

- The steadfastness of the resistance axis that comprises Iran, Syria and the resistance movements in confronting all the challenges.

- The failure or the settlement and the normalization operations.

- The acceptance of the nation of the choice of the resistance and its conviction more than any time in the past in its efficiency and its willingness to move forward in this path as was proven in the past few years.

These are all strategic factors. They are very great factors which put us on this path that leads to the goal and which makes talking about the goal of liberating Al Qods a realistic speech which is based on evidences and strategic, regional, international and local data.

Brothers and sisters! This nation is destined to live what the ancient nations have experienced. The very divine and historic laws and rules which governed the ancient nations are ruling us. When the descendants of Israel refused to respond to the call of the Prophet of Allah Moses (Peace be upon him) to enter the Holy Land and told him "Go with your Lord and fight as here we will remain", humiliation and misery afflicted them. They were doomed to go astray for forty years in a hollow desert. When the nation did not respond to the appeal of Al Qods and the people of Palestine in the past century and when it failed to defend the holy land and lost the holy city, this nation was afflicted with humiliation and misery, and it was doomed to go astray also in the desert of forfeiture, disintegration, bewilderment, and feebleness for forty years.

Brothers and sisters! The forty years have passed, and from the womb of suffering, challenges and great changes new generations were born. They believe that jihad is a gateway to Heaven which Allah have opened for His very close holy men. Al Jihad is Allah's well-fortified armor and intimate Heaven. Thus the path of the resistance is the path to dignity, honor, liberation and victory.

We are no more astray. The very first signs of that were the liberation of the South in 2000 and the liberation of Gaza Strip afterwards. The signs were more confirmed when the resistance gained victory in July War in Lebanon and in Gaza War in Palestine.

All convictional, intellectual, realistic, political, moral and field data assert on the light of the norms and laws that we have ushered into the time of victories and quit the time of defeats.

In the past, Imam Hussein (Peace be upon him) wrote to those who would follow him: He who follows us shall become a martyr, and he who won't will not attain the blessed victory.” Today the resistance heroes say to all the people of this nation in the path of our resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and the region: "He who follows us makes victory; and he who won’t will not attain the blessed victory. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessing.