Let Us Put Hands Together and Defend Lebanon

His eminence welcomed political, religious and diplomatic personalities as well as the massive popular gathering. “I welcome you at this national victory. Welcome Samir, Maher, Khodor, Hussein and Mohammed. I welcome the martyrs whom we will receive tomorrow. I welcome Arab and Lebanese martyrs who are the pride of our Arab and Islamic nations,” his eminence said. Sayyed Nasrallah added that in 2006, a group of resistance fighters captured two Israeli soldiers to set Lebanese detainees free. “On the 16th of July, Samir and his comrades have returned and with them returned the martyrs. Is it a coincidence that dream is fulfilled in July or is it the will of Almighty Allah? How did we reach this result? The main factor is steadfastness and victory in the face of the 2006 aggression and the failure of enemy in fulfilling any of their objectives. Had we been defeated, Samir and his comrades as well as the martyrs would have never returned and everything would have been lost,” the Hezbollah chief explained. In this context, Sayyed Nasrallah recalled that the Israeli enemy was demanding an unconditional release of the two captured soldiers, adding that “we have to remember those who spearheaded the fight on top of which is their brave leader Imad Moghniyeh. We recall the steadfast people who suffered devastation without showing weakness. This steadfastness has materialized victory.” His eminence also explained that there had been other factors that helped during “the tough negotiations.” “The enemy’s incapability of gaining back the soldiers without negotiations and this had been clear in the outcome of the war. The enemy’s security and intelligence fiasco. They failed to determine the location and the fate of the soldiers. These had been our points of strength during the negotiations. One more thing: The enemy feared to announce the failure of the negotiations because he feared that this could prompt the resistance to carry out a new operation to capture more soldiers.” Sayyed Nasrallah said that some positions by the detainees during the formal court session in the Zionist entity made him cry. “When one of you was asked if (Nasrallah) ordered you to fight again, would you? He replied: If we saw (Nasrallah) walking towards the sea, we would walk with him without being asked to. These words made me cry and I craved for these fighters who never change even in prisons.” “When Samir Kintar left 30 years ago, Hezbollah was not existent and when martyr Dalal Moghrabi carried out her brave and unique operation, Hezbollah was not existent. Today, Hezbollah gained them back as living heroes and martyrs and this has significant indications…Arab, Palestinian and Jordanian prisoners were always present during negotiations. We used to tell the Israelis that what matters to us is that prisoners return to their families. Hand them to any leader, to any country, this is not an issue. What we want is that they return to their families. In the final stages of the negotiations, we managed to agree on the release of some Palestinians. For us, this a humanitarian and symbolic step, but nevertheless, we insisted that Palestinian prisoners be released in the framework of the swap to underline the unity of the cause. I address Arab and Islamic governments, some of which are the richest in the world. You should not turn a blind eye and say that this is a Palestinian affair. This is wrong. We should recall the suffering of 11 thousand Palestinian prisoners and their families. Today the achievements have been completed. We set tow goals after the 2006 war: To release the detainees and this has been fulfilled today. And to Have a national unity government in Lebanon and this has been fulfilled today as well. Let us put our hands together to build Lebanon and protect it. I thank President Michel Suleiman who organized this great national reception of the detainees, just like former President Emile Lahoud had done in 2004. Both events took place in and around the airport. Lebanon has proved that it’s a country worth sacrificing for. All we want is for our land to return to us, and we in Hezbollah, are open to any discussion over the defensive strategy. We insist on discussing it without delay. Lebanon is still in danger and it is important to have this dialogue with a positive mind. We will ask everybody to help us in defending our country and he who abandons this duty is a traitor. We are ready to tackle any file in a way that serves our national unity. In the coming days, we will know the fate of those missing in Israeli jails. We will also talks about the file of the Iranian diplomats.” Sayyed Nasrallah also recalled Imam Sayyed Moussa Sadr who has been kidnapped since 1978. “We want to close this file. If he was dead, give him back to us. No one should forget the founder of the resistance in Lebanon. I call for a real and serious joint Arab-Islamic cooperation to end this matter.” His eminence concluded: “I congratulate you again because this victory is yours and this achievement is yours. Freedom for the prisoners and mercy on the martyrs. All the pride and glory to Palestine, Lebanon and the Umma.”