The Three-Legged Monster

by Gilad Atzmon for Paletine Think Tank

Unlike her cosmopolitan brothers and sisters who spread Zionism and tribal racism using a liberal and progressive disguise, Melanie Philips is open about it all. The other day she defined what Zionism is in a very clear manner:

“Zionism,” writes Philips, “is simply the movement for the self-determination of the Jewish people. And its significance is greater than any other movement of national liberation because Judaism itself rests upon three legs — the people, the religion and the land. If one is lopped off by having its legitimacy denied, the whole thing collapses. That is why anti-Zionism is far more than an unpleasant political position. It is a direct attack on Judaism itself.”

Philips doesn’t leave much room for speculation. For her, not only is Zionism a legitimate national movement, ‘its significance is greater than any other movement’ because it rests upon ‘three legs’. Thinking about it for a second, it is indeed significant for something to rest upon three legs, I myself rest upon just two legs and a bit. Occasionally when I stand naked in front of the mirror I wish I were Zionism.

As Philips maintains, Zionism is indeed an amalgam of three Jewish ingredients: the people, the land and the religion. It is this very composition that makes Zionism into an epic victorious narrative. It is this very mixture that made Zionism into the 20th century collective symbolic identifier of the Jewish people. It is Zionism that has managed to reinvent the Jewish people as a nation with a lucid ideological, spiritual and geographical aspiration. Yet, as much as Zionism makes a lot of sense to very many Jews around the world, it makes less and less sense for those who fail to be chosen i.e., the rest of humanity. The reason is simple, Jews may be welcomed to celebrate their symptoms collectively but they are not exactly entitled to do so at the expense of anyone else.

Zionism has managed to interpret Judaism as a brutal license to plunder and kill. It transformed a spiritual text into a land registry. It primarily invented the Jews as nation. It then set for the newly born nation a task of immoral geographical aspiration with some devastating racist colonial implications.

One may wonder, how did Zionism managed to be so successful, how did it manage to get away with murder, and how has it done so for so long? At the end of the day, the lethal mixture of ‘land’-‘religion’-‘people’ stands in complete opposition to the post-war Western cultural and political narrative (cosmopolitan / multi-cultural / multi-faith / open borders).

I tend to believe that Philips’ equation Zionism = Judaism is the most effective Zionist tactic of them all. It leads towards a severe paralysis of most humanist opposition of Zionism. The reason is obvious, ordinary ethical beings do not know how to comb the knots out of this shattering formula that leads them to criticism of a religious belief system.

In fact one way around it is to dispute Philips’ equation. Zionism doesn’t equal Judaism. Zionism is a mere radical narrow interpretation of Judaism. It takes the biblical plunderous narrative and turns it into a daily practice. It takes the Judaic moral notion of chosenness and turns it into crude supremacist agenda. Rather than Judaism, Zionism is in fact the true genuine face of Jewish ideology. It is racist, it is chauvinist, it is seeking power; but it is different from Judaism, for Judaism is centred around the fear of God and Zionism is totally fearless. Accordingly, It will be right to argue that to oppose Zionism is to oppose Jewish ideology or what I myself define as ‘Jewishness’.

It must be said that Zionism regards itself as an enlightened rational movement. To a certain extent, as an ideology and praxis, it tries to understand itself, it seeks explanations or at least justifications in rational and historical terms (rather than ethical ones). Melanie Philips, it must be said, is offering a coherent argument. She says, ‘this is what we are’, taking this from us is a dismissal of our right to be.

I believe that Philips framework is correct, it is her terminology that is slightly confusing. It is not Zionism = religion but rather Zionism and Jewishness that are intrinsically connected. If we want to oppose Zionism for real, we set ourselves into an inevitable conflict with Jewish ideology. To oppose Zionism is to admit that we have a serious issue with Jewish nationalism, with Jewish tribalism, with Jewish racist ideology, with Jewish supremacy and Jewish collectivism. To oppose Zionism is to admit that we have a problem with the ‘Jewish thing’.

However, it may be noted that if Zionists such as Philips are entitled to suggest the equation between Zionism and Judaism, the opponent of Zionism should not be reluctant to do the same and to extend the critique of Zionism to Jewish ideology and beyond.

I mentioned numerous times in the past. As it happened, it is actually Zionists and Israeli dissidents who seem to push the anti-Zionist discourse ahead. The reason is pretty simple. Israeli dissidents are far from being reluctant to expose or reflect on their collective past. Unlike the tribal Diaspora Jewish left activists that are quick to dismiss any complicity in Israeli crimes by shouting “not in my name,” some Israeli dissident voices tend to take direct responsibility. They understand the notion of guilt and they turn it into responsibility.

A month ago Haaretz published an article by Uri Avnery in its ‘Israeli Independence Day Special Edition. ‘Living With The Contradiction’ was an attempt of an Israeli humanist to face his own original sin within an historical perspective.

Avnery is an astonishing writer. Though I tend to disagree with him on various issues, the man is no doubt a leading voice of reason in that doomed state. Unlike Melanie Philips who supports Zionism from afar, Avnery was a commando soldier in 1948. He was himself personally involves in the creation of Israel. “We knew that if we won the war, there would be a state and that if we were defeated there would be no state - and that we would not be around, either.”

Unlike Melanie Philips who speaks about ‘a land’, Avnery was one pf those who invaded the land and expelled its habitants.

“We left no Arabs behind our front line, and the Arabs did likewise,” and yet, Avnery, unlike Phi;ips, realises that the Zionist amalgam People / Land / Religion leads towards disaster. Israel’s original sin is not is not exactly a recipe for peace.

“How then is it possible,” asks Avnery, “to reconcile the contradiction between our intentions and feelings at the time, when we established the state and paid for it with our blood, pure and simple, and the historic injustice we inflicted on the other side?”

He continues, “It is necessary for our mental health as a nation and as human beings, and it is the first step toward future reconciliation. We must admit and recognize the consequences of our actions and repair what can be repaired, without disavowing our past and youthful innocence.” Avnery goes out of his way to explain rather than justify the 1948 sin, yet he is searching for reconciliation. He understands that the Jewish state will be doomed unless it faces its past.

I wish that those who contribute to the Palestinian solidarity discourse would have the courage exhibited by Philips and Avnery. I wish that like Philips, we would have the courage to equate Zionism with Judaism yet to use it as a critical shift. I wish we could look at the Nakba like Avnery with fear and yet to draw the necessary conclusion, to demand the right of return.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speech of May 20th, 2009

The speech delivered today by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during the Permanent Conference of the Resistance under the title "The Conference of the Resistance in the Battle of Awareness and Memory" in the Lebanese University (Al Hadath).

I take refuge in Allah from the stoned devil. In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, The Lord of the world. Peace be on our Master and Prophet – The Seal of Prophets – Abi Al Qassem Mohamad Bin Abdullah and on his chaste and kind Household, chosen companions and all the prophets and messengers. Your Eminence, scholars, brothers and sisters, peace be upon you and Allah blessing and mercy.

First, I want to thank dear brethren Sheik Maher for his affection, trust and good faith and I also like to congratulate you all on these dear days – the days of victory and liberation which made new glory to our nation and great awareness besides finding a historic event that might never be wiped from the memory of this nation. Brothers and sisters, true is the title of the conference because indeed from the very beginning until goals are achieved and the battle comes to an end, we are engaged in a battle of awareness in our nation and a battle of awareness by our enemy. The memory is part of this battle. It is a part of the battle of awareness in which we are all engaged. In the presence of professors, scholars and dear ones, I don't need to stress the importance of the element of awareness in the resistance and its victory, the nation's awakening and achievement of goals to defend its honor, existence, sovereignty and sanctuaries. But in brief, I like to say that awareness is not one of the elements or pillars or conditions of the rise of the resistance movement or its continuity. In fact, I consider it the first or primary condition. Yes, awareness is the condition for the existence of the resistance. It is the condition for the existence of this rising, revolution and victory. No, it is not the second, third or fourth condition. It is the first and primary and most important condition. Even on the basis of religious education or Gnosticism, the first necessary and obligatory step in man's movement towards Allah, Al Mighty is awareness. Man must be awakened. He must become conscious about who he is, where his foothold is, where his eyesight rests, where he must head and what his goal is. If he wasn't aware of that, he can't move. And if he moved, his movement would be aimless and at random. It won't have a definite track and definite stages. Consequently, he will move in life in a haphazard way. Thus awareness is the condition of existence and continuity because unawareness in any stage of resistance and jihad and in any stage of self-disciplining might lead to deviation from the right path. Thus awareness is a condition for existence, continuity and perfection because in as much as awareness is deep-rooted and strong, it will be greater in quality and quantity. It will also become broader and it will help in speeding up the achievement and reaching of the pursued goal. This is the case with the resistance movements since the beginning of the struggle with the Israeli enemy.

I believe all the resistance leaderships and movements have utilized this point forcefully to attract the group of fighters and strugglers who are the mainstay of the resistance. The basis of the resistance may not be but awareness and knowledge on behalf of this group of what they are doing and where they are heading to. So we need this awareness as a mainstay for the resistance as far as its fighters are concerned as well as on the level of popular embracement of any resistance movement (This is vital because we are talking about the resistance as a popular choice) and on the level of the nation (That's because the nature of the struggle taking place makes it impossible to be decisively settled by the resistance of one and only one country but rather by the whole nation through the integration of its resistance movements, joint efforts and unification of capacities and capabilities to be under the disposal of the battle).

Still there is one point to be recorded as an achievement by the resistance movements. Besides finding great awareness in the nation on the Arab-Israeli struggle since their onset and besides recording a great history in the nation's memory to which we may resort (and which I will talk about later), the resistance movements have made an additional record especially in recent years and stages. In fact, the resistance wasn't content with defensive efforts or activities as far as awareness is concerned. So it was not limited to the formation of the awareness of our peoples, nation and resistance fighters; I can also say that it entered in an offensive phase when it started interfering in the awareness of the enemy. This is called by the enemy as "branding awareness".

Israel had always been on the offensive when talking about waging media and psychological wars. It was Israel which used to impose on us certain thinking trends, evaluations and conclusions for their resulting emotional repercussions, feelings and positions. But now and for the first time, the resistance - with its jihadi, media and political practice as well as psychological war - is branding the Israeli awareness as acknowledged by elite enemy leaders. As you might have noticed, one of the most importance results of the series of confrontations and events (the victory of year 2000, the rising of Al Aqsa Intifada, July War, the steadfastness of Gaza in the latest war) was that it hit the heart of Israeli awareness. No matter how hard some Arab media stations try to belittle these victories, they will never convince enemy military leaders or the enemy population that what struck Israel was not a total sweeping defeat. It's not important what some Arab media stations (whose origin, financial source and aim are well-known) say about us. What is important is what is taking place on the other bank (the memory, intellect, feelings, emotions and evaluation of the enemy to the course of the struggle especially in the recent years). As an evidence to what I am saying, before and during July War, the Israeli media – for instance, the various Israeli TV outlets – used to make a life broadcast and prompt interpretation for any speech made by me or by any of the resistance leaders in Lebanon or Palestine. (In fact, my speeches used to have the lion's share in this live broadcast). That wasn't pursuant to the freedom of expression, presenting the other viewpoint or the transparency of Israeli media. No, that was an attempt from the Israeli media administration to present me or the others who talk in the name of the resistance (perhaps the term "resistance leaders" is somehow an exaggeration. Let's rather say the official spokesmen of the resistance of whom I am one) to strengthen the Israeli society as that mutates the image of the resistance or presents a terrorist image for the resistance. This was how Israelis used to think. But after July War – perhaps even in the last stages of the war – Israelis reached a conclusion saying that this live show which the Israeli media used to provide me and the other leaders with has a positive influence on the Israeli public opinion what serves the resistance! It also touches on the Israeli awareness, administration and determination as it exposes the enemy leaders' decisions and choices and belies whatever information they give, and consequently brands the awareness of the other party. Thus one of the lessons drawn from July War is that from that time onwards, they started avoiding live broadcast. They rather broadcast excerpts which do not serve the war of the resistance on the enemy society and some mutated parts or stances (as they do here in Lebanon these days) that serve the enemy one way or another. In brief, I wanted to mention this point to stress that in the awareness battle, we have moved from the defensive stage to the offensive stage. Thus the media, psychological and political battle is following up closely, intelligently, firmly and with determination the jihadi battlefield in which the mujahedeen in Palestine and Lebanon are making historic epics.

Brothers and sisters! In the awareness battle we combating, we have elements of strength which we must focus on for benefit (as we did in fact) and also to develop our benefit. First we have the force of righteousness. That means that the cause our resistance (not to reiterate the terms Lebanese, Palestinian… resistance movements, I will say resistance meaning the resistance in the region against the Israeli project and occupation) is fighting for is fair, righteous, legitimate and flawless. This rightful cause is opposite to the fabricated artificial cause (such as the Israeli cause). Well there were political conditions that brought them (Israelis) to Palestine. They were searching for a homeland for the Zionist entity. Argentine and also Uganda were put forth along many other places around the world for a homeland. But the interest of the great forces in the world especially the English colonialism determined that this antagonistic entity be implanted in the heart of our Arab nation to form an advanced barracks for the western colonial forces. So interest met there. Come along then, Zionists! We will help you in building your entity. To fit in that entity in Palestine, they fabricated a definite theory. They aroused the story of the 3000 years, the promised land, the historic and divine right to build Israel on that land… Now were the great political interests to meet on taking the Jewish Zionists to Argentine, indeed they would have fabricated a story other than the promised land and Allah Almighty's promise to Abrams, Isaac and Jacob... If they were to have interest in Uganda or any other place, they would have indeed made another theorization.

The Zionist theory, idea and ideology to legitimize occupying Palestine and the establishment of the Israeli entity in Palestine have void bases. It was a mere consequent of interests meeting together. On the other hand, in the cause or the resistance, we don't need to search for the meeting of great political interests which necessitates that we fight or for fabricating a theory and an ideology to take such and such stance. Rather the resistance cause fights for a crystal-clear right. There is a land called Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan… (the Arab land in general). There are Palestinian people living on the land of Palestine for thousands of years. This people own this land and its decision. This people have the first right to decide its fate. Then came who wanted to uproot (and actually uprooted) a great portion of this people, threw them in exodus camps, killed them, perpetrated massacres against them, deprived them of their natural rights and erected on the bodies of children a state called "Israel".

Brothers and sisters! In all religious, divine, legal, legitimate, moral and humanistic laws as well as the international law and all the rightful, fair and just norms in the world, we are before a crystal clear flawless cause. Here I would like to say that one of the most important points of strength of the resistance (whether in its awareness, awareness making and awareness practicing in the struggling battlefield) is that it is clearly, flawlessly and unequivocally rightful. As I used to say before, if we examined all the struggles taking place in all countries in the whole world between one people and another, one state and another, between different groups of peoples or between one axis and another, we won't find a clearer and more obvious cause in its legality, justice, humanistic and moral aspects than the cause of the resistance in its struggle with the Zionist enemy in the region.

There might be a degree of doubt or uncertainty in some causes. Some wills might be shaken with some hesitation. Returning to one's soul, one might ask: Are we rightful? Is our path rightful? Is our goal rightful? But as far as the resistance movement is concerned, there is no place for that. Its clearness is absolute. When man achieves absolute clearness in a rightful cause, he won't care "whether he befalls death or death befalls him? Isn't it?

The whole world questions the secret behind this legendary steadfastness of the resistance mujahedeen in Lebanon, Palestine and the people of the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and their ability to stand massacres and great sacrifices without their determination shaking. That's because the true reason is not political or loyalty to an organization or the course of the battle. The reason is rather the background which is that of rightfulness and justice from which they take off and which forms the foundation of their jihadi and martyrdom will. "Both are good according to them: victory or martyrdom." Thus its youths as their elderly face death fearlessly and with no hesitation. That's because if we are rightful we don't care if "death befalls us or we befall death." This is point one.

The second points of strength on which we rely to develop awareness is credibility; the actual ability to prove the credibility of the path which the resistance calls for. That means when the resistance calls for a rightful cause (the cause of liberating the land, sanctuaries and homelands) it draws one and only one choice. Now others want to benefit from other means. It's up to them. We do not object to that. But seriously the choice is that of jihadi resistance which armed resistance forms its spearhead. We are not talking about a military resistance only. The armed jihadi resistance in the battlefield forms the spearhead of the comprehensive jihadi resistance which touches on the intellect, knowledge, education, politics, mobilization and the media….

When such a choice is aroused, the debate becomes on the efficiency of this choice. Is this choice efficient? Would it lead somewhere? These questions are related to awareness and ideology? I told you from the beginning that the resistance is engaged in a battle of awareness. It might not be difficult for the resistance movements to convince the peoples of our Arab and Islamic nation of the rightfulness of this cause. Even those who promote the culture of succumbing to Israel and those who have signed so called peace treaties with Israel, when you argue with them, they agree with you that the cause is just and rightful. They say: Yes Palestine from the sea to the river is the right of the Palestinian people. Indeed there is no legal or legitimate right that backs the establishment of the Israeli entity on a part of Palestine's land. Even those who signed peace treaties are ready to agree on the rightfulness of the cause.

So I believe that this stage is the easier stage in the battle of awareness. The more complicated stage in the battle of awareness is convincing them with the choice, track or course that serves this cause. This is not easy. Many people have made the right configuration of the target but their choice for the track or course was wrong. They got lost and went astray for decades. Some nations were lost and went astray for hundreds of years. Here we are not talking about individuals or small groups getting astray but rather about nations. When one person deviates from the right track, he is easily put back again on the right track. If someone is going to Tripoli and he went on the wrong track, it is easy for him to go to the right track again. But if a nation deviated from the right track, it'll be difficult to put it on the right track again. That would demand great efforts and long time, and many interests might be lost in the process of restoring the right path.

The main issue in the battle of awareness is adopting the right choice that leads to the target. If we did not select the right choice we will derail and never reach the goal, while our enemy will be mightier, more powerful, superior and able and the pillars of his project will become more steadily deep-rooted. Here lies the difficulty in the issue. When you talk with people, you use all courtesies: the military choice, armed struggle, armed strife and jihad (in its specific meaning i.e. fighting for the sake of Allah and wider general significance). Indeed this costs much for more than one reason. First it is simple to convince someone that your case is just. That might cause no burdens. His conscience might be at ease for backing your fair cause. But when he agrees with you on the armed choice, there will be some burden on he who assumes this choice, supports this choice and the nation or country in which he who adopts this choice is present. I give Lebanon as an example because we lived this experience as did the Palestinians who lived a long similar experience. I remember for example in 1982 we brought along the forces which established the resistance (Hezbollah wasn't alone. Hezbollah was one of these forces). A group of forces established the great resistance after the invasion of 1982. The brothers and sisters remember that when we used to discuss the issue with the people (even in our houses, families and the milieu of believers in Allah, the Hereafter, the Judgment Day and the Qoran), they used to say: "Your cause is rightful, but the path you are tracking is incorrect". You know we accredit something to the sheiks who say "a scholar can always find a way out". That means that whoever wants to fight Israel can indeed find a fatwa to do that. And he who wants to lag behind the fighting field finds a fatwa for that. He who wants to make peace with Israel finds a fatwa for that. So the whole story is that he wants a fatwa even if it is a wrong fatwa. He will be able to find a religious scholar who makes him a fatwa. For instance, on the day on which the peace accord was signed with Israel (in which Israel was recognized and two-thirds of the land was handed to Israel), one of the sheiks might say quoting the Qoran (And if they inclined to peace, incline thou also to it). Then the whole story will be over. Is this a right or wrong evidence? That doesn't matter. In fact, he is foreign to the issue. But anyway that's an example on "a scholar can always find a way out".

Back then, they used to tell us (We were young men then, most of us): You are enthusiastic. (Make not your own hands contribute to your destruction). This is forbidden on believers. They aren't to contribute to their own destruction. We can't fight and confront Israel. In juristic and religious discussions, believers and Islamic movements used to resort to this terminology. On the national level, some political powers, media outlets and elites used to remind us that the eye can't resist the awl. We are weak. We have no capacities and capabilities. This is Israel which in six days defeated several Arab armies on several fronts. We are but a few Lebanese youths. How are we to defeat Israel? This was the logic. Well this is the problem of awareness, ideology, choice-making and decision-taking. Yes indeed we got engaged in many discussions at first which were of an intellectual, juristic, emotional and psychological nature. We wanted some enthusiasm besides benefiting from former experiences. But the point of strength of the resistance is that in few years it could through jihad and fighting in the battlefield, blood shedding and self-martyrdom (There were great self-martyrs from the various parties and forces. We start with the operation of the prince of self-martyrs Ahmad Qasir in Tyr which led to the destruction of the Israeli military commander headquarters and the death of more than 100 officers and soldiers in an unprecedented operation in the history of the Arab-Israeli struggle. You all can still remember the pale face of Arial Sharon as he stood on the remains of that edifice as well as Begen's announcement for a three-day-mourning in Israel) make awareness on the level of the people and the nation of the rightfulness and credibility of the choice of resistance.

Consequently we did not rely on the experiences of others and say in history that happened and in Vietnam that took place …. No we –our youths- did that experience. So let no one say Lebanon has its own distinctions. That's because whatever you want to say the answer is always ready: That's Lebanon which has its own distinctions that vary from other countries in the region and the world. Lebanon can't be compared to any other country and their experiences. Lebanon is another story. Well in Lebanon -the different story as they say- a group of young men in the prime of their ages practiced resistance and led it too. Let's take the leaders of the resistance – at least the leaders of Hezbollah. From the very beginning the resistance leaders – of who on the jihadi level martyr Hajj Imad Moghneyih has become known (because our jihadi leaders become known after they are martyred and after they pass away). How old were they back in 1982? They were 21 or 22 years old. So Lebanon with its special status and formula, its youths and people who embraced the resistance could prove the credibility of the resistance. Thus in the days of victory crowned on May 25, I like to put right that the first humiliating sweeping unconditional defeat for the Israelis on Lebanese territories wasn't on May 25, 2000, but rather in 1984 and 1985 when the Israelis were forced to get out of Beirut, the capital, Dahyieh (Beirut's southern suburbs), Mount Lebanon, a part of Western Bekaa, Sidon, Tyr and Nabatiyeh. Still when Israel's allies then mediated that Israel delay its pull out for one week so that they strengthen one another, the Israelis refused to delay their pull out one day. This was the first defeat which found the basis for the great defeat in 2000.

So at an early time, the resistance could prove in the field the rightfulness and efficiency of this choice. That's what we must forcefully rely on. We are promoting the culture of resistance and the awareness of the resistance. Due to the field action on which the political speech and psychological war were built, the Israeli awareness was branded. A great number of false concepts fabricated by the Israelis and later believed by them were proved void. Among such falsities is the legend of the undefeatable army, God's chosen people and the entity's promised victory by God Almighty (which was defeated after all). Thus is the importance of the battle of branding awareness led by the resistance. Brothers and sisters, the resistance did not rely on speeches. (That's because some tried to compare the speech of the resistance in recent years to the comments of "Saeed" during 1967 war and what preceded and followed. (I don't know if the name is correct). Maybe our generation does not remember that very well. But no, that's not the case. The psychological war waged by the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and avenged against the Zionist awareness was not a war based on assumptions but rather on a war based on great field events and achievements that roiled the faces of Israelis in the mud. Do you still remember the scene of the five Israelis in the square of Marjoun who were wailing like children? How much does that do with the awareness? The Palestinian resistance rockets during the recent war in Gaza have given scenes viewed by our world, Arabs and Zionists. Do you remember the Zionist official and that Zionist minister who –when hearing the boom of rockets – hid his head under a car tire? This scene was not the result of a speech but rather of a rocket, battle, and confrontation. It's the field action.

The third point which must be highlighted is the ability to mobilize. well we are resistance movements (not from Mozambique or Argentine or Brazil) but rather we are the children of this land and the nations in this region. We, as well as our grandfathers and fathers, belong to the civilizations, divine religions, rich cultures, verse, prose, literature, heroism, chivalry, emotions, tenderness, generosity, prophets, messengers, good men, great fighters, and glorious martyrs of this region. We belong to its Testament, Bible and Qoran and thus we possess the heritage, legacy, intellectual, cultural, ideological and psychological wealth and fortune which enable us to get engaged in a true awareness battle based on true intellectual, cultural, moral, emotional, literary and romantic pillars and this is one of the most important points of strength of the resistance.

There is no doubt that the Qoranic speech which was introduced to the resistance battle in recent years has great, deep and significant impact in the momentum of the resistance, embracing the resistance, the tolerance and patience people have to endure sufferings, great losses and sacrifices. Whatever we resorted to whether from the east or the west and borrowed from men of letters, poets and enthusiasts from here or there, nothing can turn the course of the battle as (It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah; when thou threwest it was not thy act, but Allah's). Whatever we tried we can't make people tolerate more and stand better what had befell them and make them more firm in the battle and the continuity of the confrontation as (If ye are suffering hardships, they are suffering similar hardships; but ye have hope from Allah, while they have none). To make people enthusiastic and deep root their ideologies and awareness the Qoranic verse says: (If Allah helps you, none can overcome you: if He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then let believers put their trust). Where from can we get such words? If the whole world met and schemed against your right, cause and people as what took place in Sharm El Sheik in 1996, if man made a two or three-hour speech he won't be able to convey the meaning conveyed by the Holy Qoranic verse (Men said to them: A great army is gathering against you; but it increased their faith; they said: for us Allah sufficeth, and He is the best disposer of affairs). The Qoranic speech tackles jihad, faith, Heavens, dignity, nobility, seeing one's pain and patience in the eye of Allah, what awaits mujahedeen, martyrdom and the surprise hid for martyr, divine victory, divine support and divine backing which we do not only read but also witness with our eyes, minds and hearts in the battlefield among which was July War. Indeed when we possess such a treasure, it is one of the points of strength which helps us in the battle we are combating.

The fourth point is memory: the memory of the onset of this struggle and the historic memory. Here I'd like to ask you: Does the Qoranic and Islamic education starting by Eve and Adam, Satan and the sons of Adam, Noah, Hud, Saleh and all the peoples which preceded us fill our free time? No because history is for drawing lessons and conclusions. It's a school. Whoever benefits from a thousand years of history is like someone who has lived a thousand years. Whoever benefits from the lessons of 5000 years is like someone who has lived 5000 years. This is the prime pick of lessons. Most of the time of peoples in history is but lost (Like floating dust scattered about): eating, drinking, sleeping, picnicking... This is reiterated always. But it's the prime issues which the memory needs to be always activated. This is the main battle. The enemy always bargains on time so that we forget. "But we will not forget as long as the skies are blue." The enemy always bargains on forgetting. Time will make the Palestinian people forget their land. Those who live in camps will get old. Those who are in Palestine will die no matter how old they become. The new generations did not live in Palestine. They did not smell of its olive trees, flowers and blooms. Thus a great part of the Zionist project in which many Arabs are also participating is forgetfulness. On the other hand, you want to get engaged in a battle that activates the memory because it is the basis of the awareness we are talking about. Hereof comes the insistence to stress memory by Arab satellites, all the media outlets, radio stations, centers of studies, reports, books, exhibitions, songs and cultural ceremonies. Even this key - which we started seeing forcefully in recent years in camps, occasions and demonstrations in occupied Palestine where there are refugees - must turn to a symbol. The key of the house in Haifa and Yafa must be a symbol which children must be brought up on respecting and the young grow on adoring. We must confront the enemy through the points of strength of the resistance and its experiences especially during the last years. For it’s a just resistance. Let's talk about Hezbollah for example and the Islamic resistance. We acknowledge and admit that we respect and benefit from all the experiences which came before whether in their performance, execution, course, points of weakness and strength – apart from their intellectual ideological and ideological backgrounds. We rely on such experiences and consider them part of all the achievements made so far. You remember on May 25, 2000, when I stood in Bint Jbeil I did not say this is a victory for this party or that. That was the case from the very first day on which the resistance took off, from the first bullet fired in face of the Israeli occupation and Zionist project in the region. This is the resistance which guards the memory and does not renounce it, respects the memory and shows pride in it and is fair to it. Such resistance consequently carries on from where that previous resistance ended, because it is wrong to start from zero. There were many achievements made and recorded. We have to rely on that and carry on. That's what I call for always. If we acted as such, I believe that the memory – of performance, and sacrifices made by the resistance and fighters from all parties in the past stage – has helped us positively. Likewise, the aggressions and massacres perpetrated by the enemy, the way this entity was founded, the conspiracies, connivance and savageries practiced by the Zionists for 61 years or in the coming years must remain vivid in the making of awareness. Also the operations of the resistance, its performances and achievements must also be preserved to brand the Zionist awareness.

The fifth point is the jurisprudence and culture of priorities for resistance movements. This is a primary part in awareness and the making of awareness. We always used to call for the absolute priorities and not relative priorities for fighting occupation and confronting the Zionist project. This is what governed our performance all these years and does still govern it. This is what we used to call for and still call for in Palestine in the performance of the Palestinian factions whether inside or outside Palestine. Even in some of the comments on some of the performances in Iraq, we used to declare our backing of the resistance against the occupation troops in Iraq though indeed we used to condemn all what harms the people of Iraq, massacres committing and the killing of people…

The jurisprudence or culture of priorities is a primary issue in the making of awareness and the call for the right track. On the basis of these points of strength which we possess, we must carry on working. Today the true challenge in the awareness battle is the following: Today we are engaged in a great and new battle of awareness which is going back to specifying the enemy. During the long past years, the resistance could clearly consecrate that Israel is the enemy and the Israeli project which is totally and absolutely backed and adopted by America is the enemy and the danger on this nation, Arab peoples, Arab governments and even the so called moderate Arab regimes. But since a few years there has been an American-western-Israeli effort that meets with some Arab effort which tries to present to the nation or to fabricate to the nation a false enemy to deviate it from the true enemy and the true confrontation. This enemy is at times called the Islamic Republic in Iran and which is presented under the title of Persian greed in Arab lands and recalls for this goal the Safawi state and its struggle with the Ottoman state. At other times this enemy is presented as Shiites, Shiism, Shiite invasion, Shiite croissant….This issue has been wrought on and is still being wrought on in a very strong way. Now with the arrival of Netanyahu-Liebermann, the Arabs are telling Netanyahu and Liebermann: Come on! Recognize the two states. Well there answer is: "The Iranian nuclear project". Well they tell Netanyahu: Let's address the Arab-Israeli struggle. He answers them: We must solve the Iranian issue first. Iran poses a threat to Israel and the Arabs. So Israel and the Arabs must cooperate together to confront the Iranian threat. Then we will address the Palestinian issue and the Arab-Israeli problems. Isn't this the logic on which Netanyahu government is relying today along with some Arabs?

Indeed recently we heard good statements made by Amr Moussa and Saeb Erekat besides a number of officials saying that the real threat is posed by Israel and its nuclear program and not by Iran and the Iranian nuclear program. Yet the battle for awareness is big. So let's not say we have transcended this stage. The capabilities of this battle are very huge whether they be financial or on the level of media or mercenary elites. In fact, there are many capacities. To back them, they are exploiting history, the past and the present as well as analysis, lies, propagandas, fatwas and yellow papers. Today I see that this is the challenge. I want to remind the Lebanese and the peoples of the countries surrounding Palestine, that Israelis have always exploited this state of anxiety. Even in case of Lebanon, Israelis closely observe the intellectual, cultural and emotional experience. What people say when they (the Israelis) wage a war or a military operation against a country? So their considerations are not limited to weapons, ammunition and fighters. No they take the social environment into consideration. Let's discuss the main reasons behind the great victory of the resistance achieved on May 25. Well back in 1982 when the Israeli enemy used to take a decision of war against Lebanon reaching up to the capital Beirut, they examined the environment closely. They reached conclusions drawn from accumulations (I don't want to make evaluations now). Since before 1975 and what followed up to 1982, Israel reached the following conviction with the help of conditions and atmospheres: O Christians in Lebanon. You are a minority in the vast sea of Muslims, in a vast ocean of Muslims. You are threatened of being uprooted. Your guarantee and supporter is but Israel. Consequently your existence and strategic interest is in cooperating with Israel and making alliance with Israel. Elites in the Christians milieu considered this choice. Now we don't want to evaluate their conditions because some people say that their conditions have led them there. Well these conditions are a different story. Here I'm considering results only.

This is as far as the Christians are concerned. As for Druze, also following the struggle which was taking place before 1982, Israeli elements tried to tell the Druze in Lebanon that your enemy is not Israel. It is rather the Maronites in particular and the Christians in general. They pose threat to your existence. Consequently to face the Christian- Maronite danger you are to resort to Israel as a guarantee for religious and sectarian minorities in the region. Then they (Israelis) came to the Shiites. (Well let's say facts as they are). But it is Imam Moussa Sadre who raised the Shiites on the fact that Israel is absolute evil and collaborating with Israel as well as collaborating with Israeli agents is forbidden. Imam Moussa Sadre also raised them up on refusing the then so called good wall. He made a fatwa that says clearly that even if someone in the border line and border villages is about to die and his staying alive was depended on entering the occupied territories for treatment, it is forbidden on him to enter and be treated by Israelis. Should he die he'd be a martyr. Also pursuant to the conditions we lived in before 1982 - apart from evaluating them – we might assume there are great Israeli infiltrations as it is clear these days. Today it is clear that those spies who were arrested are not only charged of collecting information but among their other charges were causing ordeals and creating armed clashes between the various forces, factions and parties. So after 1982, the Israeli reading of the social environment in southern Lebanon in particular and the Shiites of Lebanon in particular was that if the Israelis burst into Lebanon, the Shiites in Lebanon are annoyed and disturbed with the statue quo and thus they will not fight. But this evaluation fell. That might have been present in the first days to a limited extent but no soon that collapse and fell in the first days. Thus was the onset of the resistance movement. The Israelis announced clearly that they were surprised with the resistance that was launched primarily in southern Lebanon.

Israelis always tried to influence the minorities in Lebanon and the region. The experience of the Christians, Druze and all who collaborated with Israel (including Saad Haddad) shows that the Zionists do not want from the region, its peoples, populations, sects, minorities and majorities but their project and safeguarding their project. They don't have any humanistic or moral relation with any man, sect or party in Lebanon. This is what they have exploited before. Today they are exploiting that at an early stage. Imagine that some elite voices in some states in the Gulf and other places are saying that we must cooperate with Israel and make alliance with it to protect the Arab world and (some even say more) the Sunnites from the Persian Shiite Iran. What does that mean?

Now we are facing this challenge. Let no one undermine this issue. In my opinion – and I have said that many times – the last battle the American-Zionist project is fighting in the region is the battle of creating an Arab-Iranian and a Sunni-Shiite struggle. Now if we foiled this battle, the satanic weapons of devilish American-Israeli mind in the region will come to an end. We will be before a clear battle in confronting this project. As for Iran, Iran is clear. It's the Imam of Iran who announced the holiest day in the history of Muslims in general. He announced the last Friday of the Holy month of Ramadan as the universal Day for Al Qods so that Al Qods remains in memory, religion, praying, fasting, and the night of Al Qadr (Fate). It's the very Iran which has altered the strategic alliances in the region with the toppling of the Shah. It's the very Iran which has opened the first embassy for Palestine in the world on the land of Tehran. It is the very Iran which never and will never tarry behind supporting the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance people. It's the very Iran which at the time when whoever supports the Palestinians is accused of sponsoring terrorism stands in daylight and announces its pride in supporting the Palestinian people and the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon. It's the very Iran that stands unconditionally on the side of resistance movements in the region. We are not allowed to feel ashamed when saying we have relations and contacts with Iran. We feel pride in the Iranian support, and we hope all the Arab and Islamic states as well as all the governments and regimes would support and back the resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine on all levels as Syria and Iran are doing. What is shameful or embarrassing in that?

Here I am telling you, the voice of Iran today is the highest in the world in face of the Zionist project. Who dares to stand in a conference for the UN and say what President Ahmadi Najjad said about Zionism and Israel? Well he is not the head of a liberating movement to say his word and leave without taking consequences into consideration. No! He is the head of a state which has great economic and commercial interests with the world. But we see that leaders in Iran tackle Palestine and the Zionist project disregarding their interests. I as well as the Palestinian brethrens who opened to Iran know this leadership very well. When Iran supported and is still supporting us to liberate our land and fight our enemy it does not impose any conditions on us. It doesn't ask anything from us or command us to do anything. It doesn't specify what is accepted and what is not. Even when we neglect it and do not praise it, it doesn't blame us but say what you are doing is good. We understand your conditions. Indeed this is a unique model in the world. When we say so to people they say that is impossible. No it is rather possible because it is related to the background on which the Iranian leadership relies. Iran considers that it is performing its religious, ideological, historic and moral duty, and if it does not perform it, it will be questioned on the Day of Judgment. Well if Iran now opened its doors wide to bargain over Palestine, the Palestinian people and the rights of the people in the region and even on its sovereignty and dignity, the Americans will have no problem with it. The Americans will rather be ready to adopt whatever serves its project or stop this project from falling. I wrap up saying today especially to the gentlemen and brethren scholars that yes the battle of conscience today is fighting the scheme of ordeal, the scheme of fabricating a false enemy, misleading people about who the real enemy is and pushing the nation towards a battle or confrontation which no one but the Zionist enemy might benefit from. We must get entangled in the battle of awareness and carry on in the path of our resistance, Inshallah. I'm among those who strongly believe that the nation has transcended the stage of the awareness that establishes for victory and entered the stage of awareness that makes real victory as in 2000 and 2006. We as a nation are Inshallah (as they say) climbing up the ascending arch while our enemy is climbing down the descending arch. And victory is not but from Allah the Almighty, the Omnipotent.

Finally I pay my special regards to the family of martyr Leader Yahya Ayash and the great teacher Amin Sayyegh who are honored in this conference

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah speech of May 18th, 2009

The text of the address made by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah tonight on Al Manar TV to commemorate the Nakbeh (Palestinian Catastrophe).

In the Name of Allah, The Compassionate, The Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, The Lord of the world and peace be on our Master and Prophet – The Seal of Prophets – Abi Al Qassem Mohamad Bin Abdullah and on his chaste and kind Household, his chosen companions and all prophets and messengers. Peace be upon you and Allah's mercy and blessings.

First and before tackling any topic of tonight's speech, it's my obligation to pay condolences to all Muslims in the Islamic world, all our revered scholars namely His Eminence Ayatollah Imam Khamenai and the Hawzas (Islamic schools) for the passing away of Ayatollah Sheikh Mohamad Taqi Bahjat (May Allah bless him with His Mercy). I offer my special condolences to his family, pupils, and followers. We in Hezbollah also express our deep sorrow for the loss of this divine and great Gnostic scholar who stood by our resistance morally, culturally and spiritually and offered us much moral support. He used always to make blessed and noble prayers for this resistance and its fighters. In fact, he was among the first who gave us the good tidings of victory during the first days of July War when many hearts deviated and fear was ultimate. On this sorrowful occasion, I want to express our deep sorrow for the death of this great scholar. We ask Allah to endow him with His Mercy and award him with the high degrees which he deserves. We also ask Allah to close with our other revered scholars the great gap left with his passing away from this world.

Brothers and sisters, the first topic which I'd like to handle in fact helps greatly as an introduction to the second topic: the commemoration of Nakbeh - the Nakbeh of Palestine but rather of the entire nation 61 years ago. Indeed, I don't need to recall incidents because we have been living them all through the past years through the media, speeches, and lectures. In fact, the peoples of our region in particular live these incidents in a direct way.

But on the anniversary of the Nakbeh, I believe there are facts which must be quickly highlighted and observed. First when we recall the Nakbeh, we must stress the fact that this aggressive entity (Israel) was founded on usurping the lands of others, committing crimes against people especially women and children, collective exodus and occupation and is still founded on this basis. Consequently such an entity which is founded on usurp, massacres, exodus and occupation is not a legitimate entity, and it can't be a legitimate entity. The characteristic of legitimacy can't be endowed on it by any means.

Secondly, our current generation and the upcoming generations must know that the establishment of this aggressive entity in the heart of our Arab and Islamic region 61 years ago is the main reason for all the wars, catastrophes, ordeals, tensions and crises in the region. Consequently our former, current and upcoming generations must bear the consequences and resulting outcome of the implantation of this cancerous gland in the body of this region. Thus all must know and nobody must overlook the fact that the wars which took place in the region were imposed by this entity and its will, existence, tyranny and aggressiveness. And what the people of this region – whether Arab governments, peoples, armies and resistance movements - did was counteractions to the occupation which was established in 1948, expanded in 1967 and extended to reach Lebanon in 1982.

Thirdly, we must say facts about the region as they are. The source of the struggle is the cause of Palestine. All what took place afterwards was but repercussions and results of this struggle. The bargain was always on liquidating the Palestinian cause so that Palestine become of the past according to its people, the Arab and Islamic people and the peoples of the world. Efforts were exerted and schemes were made with the aim of pushing the Palestinian people to accept the statue quo, succumb, despair and give in their territories, homeland and legitimate rights. Since the very beginning –even in the 1950s – plots on settlement, an alternative homeland and autonomous rule were evoked in addition to plots on settlement in Gaza, the West Bank and outside Palestine in addition to continuous but covert and premeditated efforts to displace Palestinians – whether as individuals or families – in all countries worldwide. They offer them facilities and nationalities to fuse them in the societies they displace them to around the world so that there won't be any Palestinian people and cause anymore.

After sixty-one years of this international conspiracy and connivance against the people of Palestine and before the fact of the Palestinian people steadfastness, on such a day the Palestinian people must be hailed along with the Palestinian armed resistance represented in the popular Intifada, firmness, steadfastness and patience all through these long years. Palestinian martyrs, families of martyrs, wounded, 11 thousand prisoners who are still in jail, displaced and refugees who live in exodus and in camps in hard and despairing living conditions as is the case in Lebanon must also be hailed. Palestine's refusal for settlement – despite all difficulties and hard conditions- must also be hailed. This people neither did give up nor also retreat, decline or feel despair. Even when they expected signs of surrender and despair, the resistance starting-off was reverberating after 2000 in the form of Al Aqsa Intifada – the popular sweeping Intifada and tremendous armed resistance which put the Israeli entity before what was called by Zionist leaders as the Second Independence War.

The sacrifices of the Arab and Islamic peoples all through 61 years must also be hailed as well as the sacrifices of the Arab armies especially the armies of the neighboring countries especially the Egyptian and Syrian Armies which were engaged in hard and fateful wars of attrition against the Zionist enemy and presented heroic epics which will never be forgotten.

Still we must remind in this occasion of the obligation of the Arab and Islamic nation and all the freemen around the world especially the Arab governments and peoples towards Palestine and the Palestinian people especially pursuant to the suffering of Palestinians today whether in the Gaza Strip (as a result of the latest war, siege, miserable conditions and tensions despite the will of the resistance, the steadfastness and the brave refusal to succumb) or in the West Bank (due to arrests, settlement and disjointing attempts) or in Al Qods (due to Judaism, home demolitions, displacement of Palestinian families) or in territories occupied since 1948 (due to threats of uprooting and displacement) or in refugee campaigns inside Palestine or in exodus (due to grinding living conditions) or in prisons (where more than 11 thousand Palestinian captives spend their youth behind bars). Though the greater responsibility lies on the shoulders of the Palestinian people but the nation – the entire nation – must assume the responsibility of standing by the side of this people through supporting them in all possible means. That's because this people proved worthy of being supported and backed by the nation. The greatest evidence for that is its refusal to yield in for scores of years while standing sufferings, resisting, confronting and proceeding in its struggle against the Israeli enemy. The second topic which we will tackle pursuant to the events and all what took place since the Nakbeh till this day is the Israeli Maneuver – the so called (Turning Point III) which the Zionist entity will stage by the end of the current month (May 31 till June 4). This is the main issue I promised to tackle and if we had more time I would tackle the issue of spying networks and thus I will not delay talking about this issue till Friday during Nabatiyeh Festival Inshallah. The topic of the maneuver is very important and crucial. It deserves some detailed interpretation.

I subdivided the topic to first: What is Maneuver (Turning Point III) about? What’re Israelis doing in particular now? Secondly reading and analyzing the maneuver and all the possibilities. Thirdly: What is demanded and how we must behave? Now I want to recall that since the end of July War there was a consensus in the enemy entity - whether the government, army, security bodies, experts, press and the people – that the war against Lebanon was an utter failure (whether that was called defeat or victory). There is a consensually agreed upon fate in Israel that Israel flopped in achieving any of its goals in Lebanon. We all get acquainted with Vingrad report with the terms it used: despair, lack, gaps, and defects detected in the performance of the security cabinet, the premier, minister of defense, army leaders, the army and the security bodies. After July War they formed Vingrad Committee which tried to discover the gaps. Indeed not everything was announced. But the army and the Israeli War Minister formed 40 investigation panels to touch upon the detailed technical, specialization and professional affairs whereas Vingrad touched on the main issues to a big degree. On the light of Vingrad evaluation and the conclusions drawn by the 40 panels many gaps which must be addressed were disclosed. There is one characteristic for the enemy which must be acknowledged: its seriousness. So we are before an enemy who works according to its interests and aggressive illegitimate void project. Still it works with a degree of responsibility. Thus they started instantly in putting plans to rebuild the army, fill the gaps and address defaults and defects besides using new weapons and technologies and undertaking a series of lengthy exercises and great and important maneuvers. Time does not allow tackling these issues with details but their exercises were very broad and the aspects of the maneuvers are offensive in the northern region. Some people in Lebanon say that this issue does not concern us as Lebanese and as Lebanon. Well does a maneuver in the northern region concern Gaza? They also staged a Maneuver (Turning Point I) which focused on the leading bodies and the home front. That means how the leadership works. This maneuver was at the level of the enemy entity as a whole and not at the level of a definite region. There was also the offensive Spring Flowers Maneuver which was staged by the joined squads in the northern region. There was also the offensive Northern Winds Maneuver staged by the joined squads in the northern region. The Fire Stones Maneuver was on the level of the leadership of the chief of armed staff and the various arms: air, land and sea. They also staged a maneuver on the level of regions for leaders with partial representation for troops in the north, south and middle. They staged an offensive maneuver for brigades: 14 maneuvers for regular brigades. They staged a long-range offensive air maneuver. The French press has talked about it some days ago. This morning also the Israeli military radio said there are maneuvers in the Zionist entity for the Israeli Air Force. As for exercises, they are taking place in hundreds. There's no need to discuss them now. That's in addition to the joined maneuvers especially with the US troops whether the maneuvers with anti-rocket specialization or maneuvers with other nature. In this framework, and to wrap up this lengthy festival of maneuvers and exercises comes the maneuver of May 31 – June 4 which is called (Turning Point III). Let’s talk a bit about this maneuver which will be held on the level of the entire entity and not in one definite region. It was prepared for directly after the end of last year. It is a continuation of Maneuver (Turning Point I) which was staged in 2007 and (Turning Point II) which was staged in 2008. Now the Maneuver (Turning Point III) is in 2009. They describe the sum of all these maneuvers as gigantic. They say that its aim is raising and promoting the national Israeli readiness state in preparing for a military confrontation in which the home front would be a part in the battlefield. So they will stage a maneuver on the supposition that all the internal square – i.e. all the Israeli cities, villages, settlements, centers and edifices in Occupied Palestine were a part in the battle and the confrontation. The Deputy Israeli War Minister, the head of the national emergency body – whose name is General Vilnai - says that the aim of such a maneuver is introducing the people to the culture of emergency. Now I am talking with you but with precaution. Many in Lebanon will be precautious saying that this speech would cause fear for the Lebanese and the peoples of the region. Thus there is no need for this story. We'll try to handle the issue in an objective and appropriate way. On the other hand, observe how the Israelis talk and act. From May 31 to June 4, the entire entity – hospitals, schools, shelters, armed forces, the government and mass media - will be staging a maneuver and in a state of alert. There are measures demanded on the Israelis without any psychological or moral consideration being observed. How will the Israeli people in the enemy entity react to this issue as this maneuver has several dimensions which I will handle in this reading? Thus General Vilnai says that the aim of this maneuver is introducing the people to the culture of emergency as if war will take place next morning. If we added that to the words said by Ashkenazi – the chief of staff – who says that in 2009 complicated security challenges would ripe (and God knows what these complicated security challenges are which would necessitate that we (the Israelis) be fully ready) All of that highlights the importance of this maneuver according to the Israelis. In brief, Vilnai is saying that the entire state –the political leadership, the army, the security forces, the ministries and the civil society institutions (anyway they don't have any civil society) would practice that for five days. The topics covered by this Maneuver which is called Turning Point III are: the emergency cases authority which is under the leadership of the deputy Israeli war minister who assumes the responsibility of running the maneuver with all this authority members in all the entity. Secondly comes the Israeli government which will be in a state of alert. The security cabinet during the maneuver will convene as in a state of war as they follow up events and take decisions on war. Then comes the Israeli army with most of its forces, arms, bases (on top of which are the air forces), ministers, public administrations, local councils (i.e. the municipalities), 258 educational councils and institutions and internal front units (which put an alert plot through which it divided the enemy entity to 27 regions as compared to 10 regions to which it was divided before during emergency states). So they were ten regions: police forces, the civil defense, the Red Magen David, the firefighting… According to the scenario they are talking about, there is assumed to be an enemy and confrontation. How will they confront a wide-range rocket offensive staged by Iran, Syria, Lebanon or the Gaza Strip, with a simultaneous escalation in the West Bank, unconventional rocket attacks and explosions of dangerous materials in Haifa Bay, a great and unconventional terrorist incident in the city of Eilat, a series of sporadic events and the shelling of rockets in a number of cities and settlements across the entity. They are putting military targets for the maneuver related to the special readiness of ministries, state bodies, early alert stations, the performance of the government. How would it practice in a way different from its performance in July War regarding cooperation with the various bodies whether political, military and security? The prime target is to train the residents to confront the rocket threat and to reach the shelters and fortified rooms in a time that ranges between 15 seconds and three minutes. Imagine that! Also they aim to try the capacities of hospitals and their abilities to treat great numbers of wounded and injured.

In this maneuver the entire enemy entity will be preoccupied for five days. Still they are overcoming clearly all negative repercussions such as the retreat of the residents' personal security feelings. They say there is no problem in that. Let the people in the entity live in a state of apprehension and experience for a while the state of war, fighting, rocket shelling, and targeting of the occupied land? Why is that so? That I will mention later in my reading. But this feeling may be stood for greater goals sought by the Israelis through this drill. The Israelis determine to stage this maneuver - to which preparations started today through the Israeli Air Force- for five full days at the level of the entity and its surrounding. Reading this maneuver which can't be separated from the series of maneuvers, exercises and war plots executed by the enemy on one hand and which can't be separated from all the events and developments taking place in the region we reach several possibilities. In readings, they say we must read the current strategic environment through which the enemy entity looks, acts and takes into consideration. There is a number of developments and challenges on the level of our region which is not linked only to the past year, two or three but rather goes back to a longer time range. If we talked from the beginning (about the days we are commemorating these days i.e. May), there is no doubt that the defeat of the Israeli Army on May 25, 2000 and its unconditional humiliating pullout from Lebanon without any security arrangements, agreements with Lebanon, commitments, donations, profits and awards and in that humiliating way recalled by the Lebanese and the whole world has led to very serious repercussions on the Israeli Army and entity as acknowledged by senior Israeli officials at that time. This defeat in 2000 had serious repercussions which we will not explain now because they have repetitively been explained and in the coming ceremonies on May 25, we might mention them. The second point is that after year 2000 was Al Aqsa Intifada. It's the Intifada of the Palestinian people which developed to armed resistance with such broadness, comprehension and strength inside Occupied Palestine for the first time what led the enemy leadership to consider the confrontation of Al Aqsa Intifada and armed resistance as being involved in a second independence war (That's because they consider the establishment of the entity in 1948 as the first independence war.) Then came the compulsion of the Israeli enemy to pull out unilaterally from the Gaza Strip due to the escalation of resistance operations and the exhaustion of the enemy in Gaza. Fourthly came July War and the miserable defeat of the Israeli Army in this war. Then came Vingrad and its conclusions and statements besides the results and repercussions of this war on the enemy army, government and society. That's not to forget the development in the resistance movements of which I will talk later. That's not to forget taking into consideration within the strategic environment the failure of normalization with the peoples of even the states which signed peace treaties with Israel. These treaties remained official and they all failed to turn them to a natural status and natural relations with the peoples of the region especially the Egyptian and Jordanian peoples. Another point must be mentioned: the increase of awareness and the refusal of the Arab peoples to succumb to the Zionist project and the broad public massive support to the resistance and its movements and symbols. This support had transcended all considerations the Americans, Israelis and all who back them try to contain and isolate. Here we also add the growing capabilities of Iran during the past years on all domains especially on the technological level and its acquirement of nuclear technology for peaceful and civil purposes while Israel accuses Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapon which Israel views as an existential threat for the state of Israel though Iran definitively denies seeking to possess nuclear weapon. Fourthly we add the enhancement of Syrian capabilities on the military level, the strategic cooperation between Syria and Iran, Syria's firm backing of the resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine and the flop of the attempts to isolate, weaken and impose conditions on Syria. The past few years were certainly among the most difficult years on Syria. Fifthly comes the setback of the Israeli project in the region as well as the special US capacity to launch new broad wars as the War on Afghanistan and Iraq. Sixthly is the preoccupation of the whole world with many crises and difficulties that arouse in other places but are caused by the world financial crises. We must take all of that as part of the strategic environment which must be taken into consideration in addition to the development of the resistance capabilities and skills in Palestine and Lebanon in quality and quantity as well as on the level of comprehension, plotting, performance, and tactics. First the Israelis used to face guerrillas but now they are facing a new school that projected itself in July War and Gaza War. Even more there is something new in the Israeli struggle with the resistance movements. All the area of Occupied Palestine is part of any coming war. It's not anymore limited to few settlements on the border. Now Israelis started acting seriously pursuant to the fact that any war in which they might engage –especially with the resistance in Lebanon – will be on all the area of the occupied land and not on a limited place in northern occupied Palestine (that's if not being involved in a regional war.) So the Israeli categorization of the resistance movement has moved from being threatening to the security of citizens and the current daily security to being a threat to the strategic security of the Zionist enemy if it hasn't developed to a threat of existential security. Israelis don't see the resistance movements as threatening to the existence of the entity; they rather see Iran as an existential threat. They see the resistance movements as threatening to the strategic security of the entity.

Amid this environment, these developments and after July War in particular and under the new Israeli cabinet (which returned the settlement process to square one as the Palestinian say where the world is begging Netanyahu to endorse the two-state solution i.e. talks returned to the very beginning), the enemy is carrying on its great wholesome maneuvers. So how do we read these maneuvers? What are the possibilities? We are talking about the possibilities the experts are also talking about. Nothing prevents that these possibilities come together or that there be other possibilities. The first possibility: saying that the goal of these maneuvers is first psychological and moral after the confidence in the undefeatable army, the political leadership, the government was shaken and the fall of the successive cabinets, the increase in early parliamentary elections and the crisis experienced by the Israeli street. So the first goal of these maneuvers is restoring the confidence and morals whether the confidence of the army in itself, its generals, officers and soldiers (because as is well-known after July War generals started holding the soldiers responsible and vice versa) or the confidence of the Israeli enemy in the army and cabinet and the confidence of the army and cabinet in one another. It might be said that the goal is psychological and moral of which the Israeli entity is in need. Thus these maneuvers will take place.

The second possibility is that Israel really feels worried on its existence or at least is living a great worry over its national and strategic security. Thus Israel is undertaking all what it believes is necessary to preserve its power, supremacy, competence and readiness to face any threat. So it would be putting all its exercises and maneuvers in the defensive framework.

The third possibility is of intimidating nature which aims at sending a strong message worldwide and to the region whether the Palestinians, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, the Arab peoples, all the Arab regimes and the rest of the world. The aim of this message is that Israel says that it's not weak, disintegrated, retreating or hesitant but rather strong, able, supreme, arrogant and is able to confront and crush and is ready to go to a war at the level of the entity and region without any hesitation. The message is above all to the Palestinians from Netanyahu cabinet to accept the statue quo because Netanyahu and Lieberman do not give in to the principle of two states and want to push things towards a limited administrative autonomous rule through highlighting the economic and living status of the Palestinians. The Israeli project is a Jewish state and consequently attacking the Palestinians of the territories occupied since 1948 and saying to the Palestinians: "There is no more Al Qods" as they carry on displacing the Palestinians in Al Qods while continuing in settlement building. Today it was said in the news that there are auction for building new settlements in the West Bank. So the Israelis are telling the Palestinians: You have no other choice but succumbing to what we want to give you as George Bush advised you in the past: Take from Sharon what he wants to give you. Now also take from Netanyahu and Liebermann what they want to give you. It is also a message to Syria which is looking forward to its occupied land and to all the Arab peoples and governments which says: We are proceeding towards a Jewish state through usurping territories and settlement-building and through judaizing Al Qods and displacing Palestinians. You - Arab governments, armies and peoples - can't do anything. Let no one among you think of preventing us from proceeding in our Zionist project on the level of Palestine. See Israel is armed from top to toe and not with ordinary conventional weaponry only but also with nuclear weapon. Israel is ready for war!

It's a message of intimidation also to Lebanon saying: We have been killing you, and we will carry on killing you. It's not I who is saying so but there are official security circles which fear a great security event might take place in Lebanon brought along by Israel. Consequently Israel is telling the Lebanese: Whatever I do in Lebanon –should my airplanes violate your horizons and spying networks infiltrate your families, villages, cities, sects and institutions - don't think of defending yourself or of taking any reaction. You must submit to whatever aggression because you will be facing an entity ready for war!

The message to Iran is that Israel will not tolerate the nuclear issue because it pauses a threat. So you Iranians threat us of a reaction if we staged an aggression against you. Here Israel is with its army, government and population all-ready to confront your reaction!

So we have three possibilities. The first possibility has a psychological-moral dimension. The second possibility has a defensive dimension and the third possibility is of an intimidation nature or psychological war. Nothing prevents that these three possibilities be collective goals for these maneuvers especially (Turning Point III).

The fourth and final possibility which I want to talk about and which couldn't be overlooked is that Israel be preparing for a new and sudden war, because as it's noticed, all Israeli speeches to their population which are setting the ground for the maneuver talk about sudden reactions though they know that at least no one in this stage will activate a front against Israel on the level of rockets and a broad and comprehensive military war. So why are they talking about that now? This gives hints that the Israelis are preparing for a security military aggression and supposes that this aggression will lead to sudden unexpected unpredicted reactions. Consequently, they want their entity and society to be ready in seconds or minutes to execute a maneuver on this level because they are the one who will start suddenly the aggression through their military and security action. Consequently they fear sudden reactions on their entity. Thus they are staging this maneuver. This is a possible assumption as all the other assumptions. We have no information and we are not able to determine decisively this issue. But this possibility must remain in the mind. This is a reading of the maneuvers and its possible assumptions especially the last possibility. So maybe the issue is limited to restoring confidence, defensive readiness, psychological war as well as the preparation for a military or security aggression which the Israelis think will lead to sudden reactions on this perspective.

The third topic of my speech is: before such possibilities, assumptions and reading, how are we concerned, how will we act and what shall we do? First to ease tension I want to say that we have no information but by analysis we don't go for believing that the Zionist enemy will wage a sudden war on the military level. As for the security level, it remains open any moment. From May 31 to June 4 – during, before and after the maneuver – the security level is liable at any moment. But benefiting from the maneuver and military readiness during these four or five days to stage a military aggression remains not a strong possibility but rather it's weak. We are talking about mere analysis. We have no information on which we may build any assumption. It's a kind of analysis. Precaution and our sense of responsibility necessitate that we act differently i.e. taking the worst possibilities into consideration. In politics we have the right to analyze as we want: be optimistic or pessimistic. We have the right to say decisively that nothing will take place. But this political analysis does not protect our country by any means in the moment of surprise, challenge and confrontation. Thus we are concerned about being precautious, alert and watchful in the broad line. As we have been following – since the end of July War – the Israeli maneuvers and exercises with the available information capabilities – we have highlighted at an early time this maneuver (Turning Point III). In a session for the national dialogue conference to discuss the defense strategy, the Head of the Loyalty to Resistance Bloc -Hajj Mohamad Raad - took a text with him. Some of what I've read on you now is from the text presented at the dialogue conference. He told them that something will take place on May 31. This is its magnitude and dimension. Consequently we in Lebanon as a state and people of a neighboring country to this aggressive entity which usurped Palestine we are concerned in assuming responsibility. We frankly did not take that paper to the dialogue table to convince anyone or to record points against anyone. We just made a political national demand of how to deal with this maneuver and any similar maneuvers which will follow (since that won't be the end of the path of the Israeli movement.) We wanted a national policy (namely an official policy) to deal with this issue because it concerns every Lebanese person and not Hezbollah alone or the armed resistance alone but rather all of Lebanon and even more it concerns the whole region especially that the possibilities and readings do vary. But unfortunately – talking responsibly- that issue did not meet the appropriate interest. Some officials on the dialogue table were concerned and asked questions. Some commented later and took political and media stances but on the level of the state as a state, neither did the dialogue table discuss the issue or considered that it will be discussed seriously – because in the coming date of convening the maneuver would've started and we won't be able to see what we are to do – and neither did the Lebanese government evoke this issue and discuss it or form a ministerial committee to study the issue. The issue did not even deserve that the Higher Council for Defense meet to discuss it. At least they had to convene and study and analyze the issue and make their contacts then say – at least – that they found nothing threatening Lebanon. There is nothing on the security and military levels and no surprises. O Lebanese! Cool down. There are no risks. At least a state or political authority which says is responsible about a country and its security, stability, fate and defense, must put this responsibility into action. We did not prevent them. We told them practice this responsibility and tell the Lebanese people, society and army how we must act. Shall everything remain normal and we take some pre-emptive measure or shall we get mobilized or is there anything else? What shall we do? Shall we rest and remain preoccupied with elections. No answer and no one to answer. Well some might not consider themselves concerned. Unfortunately we hear speeches and slogans saying that the decision of war and peace is among the responsibilities of the state. Now did the state ever take a decision of war or peace for the interest of Lebanon and its security, stability, the restoration of its territories, dignity and waters, and the Lebanese people – including the resistance – stood in face of this decision?

The issue does not end in giving in to one another who takes the decision of war and peace? You have to prove it. That's why we used to call for an able strong state. What does a strong able state mean? That doesn't mean that it has weapons only. It must have political leadership. What was the problem with the Israelis in July War? Was it its army or its political leadership which was confused and didn't know how to act? We want a strong and capable state and authority. Well in the current ministerial statement, the one that preceded it as well as Taif Accord and what preceded it, Lebanon officially considers Israel an enemy. Well, this enemy is saying that it will stage a maneuver at the level of its entity which is one of the greatest and largest maneuvers in the history of the entity since 61 years. Now the Lebanese state considers Israel as its enemy. Now this enemy is about to stage the greatest maneuver in its history. Still the Lebanese state doesn't have time to discuss how to handle this issue whether diplomatically, militarily, on the media, military, security and civil levels. (The issue of spying networks is another story and it seems I won't have enough time to discuss it. This issue has nothing to do with the maneuver and war. It is another story which we'll talk about later). But we all hoped the Lebanese government and authority would act otherwise. Anyway, there are still few days. I'm not recording points. This issue concerns Lebanon and it has to do with our fate and the dignity of our country. It's not a local affair to record points on one another. We still have time. Let the dialogue conference hold an extraordinary meeting and let the government specialize a session on this topic or form a ministerial committee that includes the Foreign Minister, the Defense Minister or others or let the Higher defense at least show up and reassure us – the Lebanese – that there is nothing frightening but we must take such and such precautions as you always demand on us. Let them tell us that there are parties which are more concerned with the resistance or definite regions which are more liable to being targeted. So let's put a national policy in this perspective… But unfortunately, it's not that we didn't see any responsible action in this perspective only, but also we noticed that some said that this issue does not concern Lebanon. On the other hand, we find Israel talking about the northern front which means Lebanon. After the dialogue conference, some people -whom you know and I don't need to name and whose responses to Friday's speech we are still waiting until they be wrapped up) said that this issue does not concern Lebanon and there is no need to take them into consideration. Indeed I understand the background of the issue. We say that Israel is our enemy in the official statement but on the cultural, emotional, psychological and spiritual levels do some Lebanese political forces act seriously as if Israel is our enemy? That means that when it says an enemy does it mistrust it or suppose that it might stage an aggression against our country? At least this is an enemy which is full-fledged and wants to stage a maneuver on the level of the entity. Some Lebanese show up to say that they are not concerned with this issue. Some also said that this issue was fabricated by Hezbollah who tossed it on the dialogue table. God knows what Hezbollah means by that! Maybe Hezbollah is preparing for something before the elections such as creating an atmosphere of struggle with Israel. Here we say: No. We have interest in the elections. We are waiting for June 7. The elections are important for all the Lebanese. The elections must take place on June 7. The Opposition and the resistance in particular have the greatest interest that elections take place on June 7 in a stable atmosphere because the resistance knows what it has suffered from in the past four years and what it might suffer from in the coming four years if the results of the elections were something else. Unfortunately instead of handling this issue seriously, they resorted to accusations.

Now the state is to assume its responsibilities and we are ready because after all we are part of this people and part of this targeting. Consequently, since 1982 till now the state hasn't done many in the various issues. In the liberation issue, the state was absent even on the political and media level. Afterwards it was present somehow. But the people did not abandon their responsibilities whether in liberating their territories, captives and water or in defending their honor, country, dignity and sovereignty.

Accordingly I like to say what follows so that no leakages would be heard later on what Hezbollah is doing. As resistance, we are concerned in taking a number of precautionary measures during the maneuver to foil any chance for any security or military action that might target Lebanon. As for Gaza, Syria, Iran and the occupied West Bank the issue concerns our other brethrens.

As for Lebanon, we are concerned in taking these measures in a natural way. At the same time, we will be fully-ready and fully-aware and watchful. I'm announcing this from now not to let people be worried but rather to assure them. Because if this message reached the Israelis from now, if they are planning for anything during these five days (May 31 –June 3) and want to make use of the factor of taking by surprise, we are saying that this element is lost. You might not do anything, but it's our obligation to take the worst possibilities into consideration. The Israeli enemy knows from his experience with the resistance in Lebanon as with the resistance in Palestine that this resistance would never become weak and feeble and it will never hesitate in assuming its obligation of defending its people, country, dignity, honor, high-esteem and glory.

The Israelis now came to know this message. I don't need to make a threatening speech. I like to tell the enemy: No the element of surprise is lost. I say even more: Not only starting from May 31 but even before May 31, the element of surprise is not present. We are ready. We will not bury our head in the sand. What shall we do? Unfortunately this is our fate; we will accept it and face our enemy because we live in a country on the border of which – i.e. on the holy land of Palestine the worst and most terrorist entity in the world and in history was implanted. Consequently this is our fate. We have to confront it. What else shall we do? Shall we leave our country, run away and immigrate? Shall we bury our head in the sand? Shall we succumb to the Israelis or work as agents for them or be a part in its project?

Since 1982, we didn't act as such. Many apart from us from among the Lebanese, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians, Syrians and Arabs did not do that. Since 1948 we did not act as such and we will never ever act as such too.

I hope people will carry on their normal life. Don't worry. Don't be afraid. But it's our obligation to say what the scene is like. Our responsibility necessitates that we say the truth as it is. But at the same time our responsibility necessitates that we be cautious. We head to our schools, work and live our daily lives and go to elections. But I promise you that while people go for voting some people will be all-alert around the clock and in all fields.

Finally, I say that the decision of the army and security forces is in the hand of the political authority. I heard that the Commander of the Army visited the south some days ago and he had excellent stances. The security apparatuses likewise are working with alert whether the internal security forces or the Lebanese army and the other security bodies. I hope all of these parties would assume their responsibilities even the public security and the state security because this issue concerns the home and national security in particular concerning the spying networks. In this period, we must all be alert while we follow events. We mustn't all work for elections or cripple the elections. But well I can't say whether the timing is deliberate or not or it has political or psychological dimensions as it coincides with elections in Lebanon. It has no evidence but everyone is free to analyze as it suits him. We are living in a world of wolves where the strong devour the weak; a world run by the law of the forest; a world which is weak even to condemn the government of the enemy which had killed women and children in Qana Massacre I and II and in the United Nations headquarters and which uses the veto against condemning it; a world where man can't trust but in Allah and the available self-capabilities to defend his existence, honor, dignity and sovereignty. Thus we have no other way out but what I have mentioned. I hope that Inshallah these days would pass in peace. I believe that the existence of the resistance and the strong and broad popular embracement of the resistance, the existence of the army with its national conviction besides the security forces and the great national affiliations make us strong as it forms a deterrence to the Israeli enemy who knows that any war which he is heading to must be with guaranteed results or else its results will be catastrophic on him.

Medvedev invites Ahmadinejad to SCO summit

Press TV reports: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has invited his Iranian counterpart to participate in an upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

Iran's ambassador to Russia, Mahmoud Reza Sadjadi, was quoted as saying by IRNA on Monday that President Ahmadinejad would attend the summit, which will be held in Russia's Yekaterinburg city.

Iran, an observer member since 2005, has been seeking to join the 9-year-old international organization since 2008.

The SCO summit, will come at a time when the military alliance of European and North American states (NATO) plans to increase its influence in ex-Soviet nations, such as Georgia.

Formed in 2001, the SCO aims to act as a counterweight to NATO's influence in Eurasia and to oppose US interference in Central Asia by developing regional security cooperation between its member states - China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan currently hold observer status in the organization.