A few days after Obama's scheduled speech in Cairo in June, Lebanon will hold general elections that Hezbollah may win. The following report is from our Palestinian-American California friend whom we've previously called "Seven" in part because she fears loss of her ability to travel to Palestine. That seemed too impersonal a name for someone to whom we listen and want to give credit. She said we could use her middle name: Seham. Seham writes:
So Nasrallah gave a speech yesterday today about the Palestinian issue and Lebanon's security. In the first part, about Palestinians he said the following:
We have to speak the naked truth. The origin of the struggle is the Palestinian cause and everything that happened later was the result of this struggle. The bargain has always been on liquidating this cause. Schemes were set to push the Palestinian people to yield to the status quo, to surrender and to relinquish their legitimate rights. Since the beginning, plans to settle Palestinians (outside Palestine) and finding an alternative country as well as autonomous rule in Gaza and the West Bank were put on the table. 61 years after this collusion on the people of Palestine, and in front of this people’s steadfastness, we can’t but praise this people and its armed resistance and the martyrs, as well as the determination of the families, the injured, the 11,000 detainees and the refugees….
We have to remind the Umma and all the free men in the world, particularly the governments and the peoples in the Arab world, that they have a responsibility to take for Palestine and its people, especially those who have been suffering in the Gaza Strip in the wake of the latest war…They share responsibility to support this people with every possible means. This is the people that proved it is worthy of support and perhaps the best proof is that it refused to surrender for decades and it is bearing the suffering of the resistance.
It's hard to speculate what the real motivation was on Nasrallah's part. It could be a warning message to Obama and the Arab dictators after the Obama-Netanyahu meeting; it could be an attempt to win support in the so-far-undecided but Sunni-majority Lebanese towns of Saida (Sidon) and Trablous (Tripoli). The Saudis are throwing a lot of money into those towns and though they have endless amounts of money, they don't have enough time.
Or was this just Nasrallah's contribution to Nakba Awareness month? Some people think that Nasrallah has gotten chatty lately in an attempt to lose the elections because Hezbollah doesn't gain anything by inheriting a country plundered by the current pro-western and pro-Israeli factions and/or because they fear that Hezbollah will be forced to disarm if they win the election.
I doubt it. Who in Lebanon would have the power to disarm them or even attempt to go down that road? The Lebanese Army that is best known for serving tea to the Israelis when they invaded in 2006?
Do people realize how significantly it has registered in the minds of Arabs how the all-powerful Israelis got forced to retreat, once again, from Southern Lebanon in 2006 at the hands of Hezbollah? Americans probably don't think about that as much as Arabs do. Really, thanks to Israel, Hezbollah is more powerful today than ever before and it's probably going to win the election. Not only do they enjoy stronger military power, they also have vast support amongst their own constituents, which means they have even more recruits than before. They have gained respect and support from Lebanese who ordinarily wouldn't support them because of the tremendous work they have done in uncovering that Mossad spy ring in Lebanon. And, despite the positions of the various Arab regimes, Nasrallah has the popular support of the Arab people. Oh by the way, one of the spies arrested on Sunday has ties to Sa'ad Hariri and his family, so really, Merry Christmas to Hezbollah.
The second part of Nasrallah's speech deals with Lebanon's security and some upcoming military exercises Israel has planned. Nasrallah says there is a remote possibility Israel might use those as an opportunity to attack Lebanon:
“Accordingly, I would like to say that with regards to the resistance, we have taken a series of precautionary measure to foil any military aggression against Lebanon during the maneuver. We will be on very high alert. I am telling you this not to scare you, but to reassure the people. When this message reaches the Israelis, they will know that they have lost the element of surprise. They might not try anything, but we have to act based on worst case scenarios. The Israelis know very well that this resistance has never fell behind its duty to defend the country. There is no need for me to make a threatening speech. They got the message. I hope that people will go on with their normal lives and not to worry, but our duty is to be on high alert. I heard that the army commander had visited south Lebanon and made excellent comments. Security forces are acting responsibly and I hope they all share this responsibility because it’s a national matter.”
It's a pretty bold statement. Basically Nasrallah is saying that the resistance is more ready than ever to confront Israel. Most people take everything he says at face value because unlike most Arab leaders he has yet to make a promise he didn't keep. But still, I don't know how part two of his speech will play out in the few undecided Christian towns like Keserawan, which also play deciding roles in the election. Will those people vote for the March 14th movement, or will they support Aoun's Christian lists which will be aligned with Hezbollah? It seems like the Americans and other Europeans are bracing for a Hezbollah victory. So we'll see if there is a "Nasrallah effect" with the Sunnis and Christians in Lebanon.
I hope Hezbollah wins. Is it even legal for me to type that in the U.S.? Nobody else seems to care for the poor people in Southern Lebanon, none of the other sectarian groups ever did a damn thing to help them. All of the money that the world gave to Lebanon to help rebuild the south after Israel's attacks went into remodeling Beirut, not to help the people who actually needed it the most. Even before the war in 2006 Hezbollah was providing an incredible array of social services to their people in the south because the state refused to do so. It's hard to ignore the similarities between the people of Southern Lebanon and the Palestinians in Gaza, who are also still waiting for the money that they're owed to rebuild Gaza but are watching it being spent in Ramallah instead.
By the way I was looking on youtube for footage of the Al Amriya shelter massacre of the Gulf War and I came across this great song by an Iraqi artist that depicts the events of that day which resulted in Iraqi children being boiled alive. I'm not trying to be morbid or end on a Debbie the Downer note, but I thought it might appeal to the Jimi Hendrix 'Star Spangled' fans.
