Tens of thousands of people, including religious, political and military figures attended the festival and waited with strong enthusiasm for Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Nasrallah to appear and address them live through a giant screen. Amid cheers and pledges of allegiance to the path of the resistance, Sayyed Nasralla hailed Baalbek, the reservoir of the resistance, and the entire Bekaa region. He congratulated them as well as all the Lebanese on this glorious day. “I address all our people in the Bekaa, particularly in the Baalbek-Hermel region and congratulate you on the ninth anniversary of the Resistance and Liberation day; this Day that you fully contributed in achieving and this resistance that you spearheaded be it in founding it or in scarifying in its ranks.This region that was the launch pad of the resistance from the very first day in the Imam Montazar hawza (pbuh), was the core of Hezbollah, under the guardianship of our great teacher Sayyed Abbas Moussawi. In a very fast pace, the Bekaa and Baalbek-Hermel embraced everyone who migrated to it from south Lebanon, Western Bekaa and Rashayya, Beirut’s southern suburb and Mount Lebanon after the zionists occupied them. Later on, recruitment, training, arming and rehabilitating stations were established and the resistance rose. This region’s participation was not only logistic, but its sons have sacrificed and fought until liberation was achieved in 2000. They also fought in Beirut’s southern suburb and in south Lebanon, even after the Israelis withdrew to the security zone. You have offered martyrs and bore the burdens of the resistance during the 2006 war, when your brothers and sons were fighting in the battlefield. We all remember the bombing that led to the martyrdom of many of your loved ones in the city of Baalbek and other places. Sacrifice reached its peak when the Bekaa and the south were destroyed and their residents were displaced. You could have said that you are a deprived and neglected region and that you have nothing to do with this battle, but you did not. You continued to support the resistance. I hereby bare witness that you acted with a clear background of faith, ethics and patriotism. You resisted and bore the hardship of resistance, but you did not wait for anyone in this world – even in Lebanon – to support you, just like those who had faith in the resistance and embraced it; you did not wait for national consensus, although we would have loved such consensus to take place. Since the very beginning, there was no national consensus on the resistance. Therefore we did not lose national consensus because you cannot lose what you don’t have. How can Lebanon come first, and Israel is violating its airspace every day? How can Lebanon come first, and the Shebaa Farms and the Kafarshouba Hills are still occupied? How can Lebanon come first, and it is still in the circle of danger and threats, at a time we are not taking real action to confront this? This is your Day. This is the Day of the families of the martyrs and the injured and the liberated detainees. This is your Day that bares the memory of martyrs Sayyed Abbas Moussawi, his wife Um Yasser and their child Hussein. This is the Day of all the martyrs of this resistance that you took part in founding and launching as well as in its path, victories and challenges.” “The resistance faces today new and serious challenges that prompt us to assume great responsibilities. Following the 2000 victory, the zionists have worked on a new strategy which was frequently declared by former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. He said that Israel will work on a new strategy through which the whole international community will be put in the face of Hezbollah. He also said that Israel will work on issuing international resolutions to put an end to Hezbollah and establish it as a terrorist organization. The zionists exerted massive efforts. Some countries responded to the zionists and enrolled Hezbollah on their terror lists like the United States and Holland, however other countries like France and the United Kingdom, have refused this notion from the beginning. The Zionist lobby spared no effort to convince world governments to list Hezbollah on their terror organizations lists. This is not an analysis, this is what Shalom had said. He also admitted that UNSCR 1559 was made by Israel. Some of the Lebanese may have contributed in issuing this resolution, whether they were aware of it or not. I do not wish to charge anyone with treason, but interests had intersected and eventually led to this resolution. But Shalom acknowledges that this is an Israeli made resolution. Pressuring the resistance was followed by the 9/11 events, the occupation of Afghanistan, the occupation of Iraq, the assassination of martyr Rafiq Hariri, the pullout of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the general elections that brought the current political bloc at the helm of rule. Ever since, and despite our quadripartite alliance, our openness and our cooperation, the focus of this bloc has been on the arms of the resistance. They know that the resistance can never be disarmed by force, so they started to raise the notion of handing Hezbollah’s arms to the army. As if there is no economic problem, no financial problem, no social problem, and no deprived regions; as if there is no problem in Lebanon but the arms of the resistance. How can Lebanon be in a good state with a $50 billion debt, detainees in Israeli jails and daily violation of the Lebanese sovereignty? There is no problem in Lebanon but the arms of the resistance that liberated Lebanon and defended it against the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. I used to tell that ruling political bloc to solve the problems of the people and make them feel safe…consolidate the army and then assail the arms of the resistance; you will find all the people with you against us. But it seems that they had limited time. On the other hand, we called for dialogue and for a defensive strategy for Lebanon, and this was mentioned in our understanding with the Free Patriotic Movement. Throughout the past years, we sensed that some sides did not give heed to ways to protect this country, to liberate the remaining occupied lands, to release the rest of the detainees from Israeli jails and to confront the daily violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty. All they care about is how to disarm this resistance. This is the same mentality that exposed Lebanon. In 1967, the Israeli chief of staff said that ‘(invading) Lebanon only needs a military orchestra.’ But today, what made Lebanon strong, ready and undaunted to confront the Israeli army’s five divisions, even all its divisions, is you and your resistance. We came under tremendous pressure but we held on to our right. When the political efforts failed, the 2006 war was waged on us with the aim to crush the resistance and the popular base that embraces it; however this war also failed with help of Allah and your steadfastness as well as the bravery of our fighters. When the war ended, they returned to raising the issue of disarming the resistance, as if there were no other problems caused by the 2006 war.Israel acknowledged its defeat three years ago and embarked on tackling its mistakes and defects. For three years, Israel has been training, conducting maneuvers and arming itself with modern fighter jets. Israel is working on restoring its broken image and strength. On the other hand, for the past three years, the resistance that defeated Israel has been engaged in arguments and discussions with those who are demanding it lays down its arms. Where is the logic in this? How can this be fair? Israel is preparing itself and Lebanon is not taking concrete action to strengthen the army and arming it, or even to adopt a defensive strategy; on the contrary, they are working on eliminating the element of strength that achieved victory in the 2006 war.” “We have been calling for building a strong state and we will be very relieved to have a strong state, but who is ready to finance and arm the Lebanese army? After all these experiences, we all know that the US and the West as well as the vast majority of world are not willing to arm the Lebanese army against Israel. Their justification is that the weapons will reach Hezbollah; this is ridiculous. Hezbollah has enough weapons that can destroy the Israeli army’s divisions; it does not need the weapons that the US will give to anyone in Lebanon. The real reason is that the US does not consent giving the Lebanese army weapons to fight Israel. Who is ready to arm the Lebanese army? Vote for the opposition and then I will tell you who. For instance, did the government ask for weapons from Syria and it said no? I followed up President Sleiman’s visit to Iran. True, Iran did not offer arms to Lebanon and will not offer, because this is not logical. But, until this moment, Lebanon did not ask for weapons from Iran. If Iran had offered to arm the Lebanese army, they would have said that Tehran wants to push Lebanon into war and include it in the Syrian-Iranian axis. This is why no one should wait for Iran to offer arms, however any Lebanese government in the future will have to ask Iran for arms. The US Vice President brought us a few tanks and a few cannons; what are they good for? Had Lebanon asked Iran for weapons, what would the Islamic Republic’s response be? Will it help Lebanon or not? I know the answer but I will not say it; you all know it. I know that Iran and Imam Khamenei in particular will not withhold anything that could render Lebanon a strong and honorable country, without preconditions. I tell you this: if the opposition alliance won the upcoming elections and formed a national government, it will work on having a strong national army capable of defending Lebanon. They ask us to hand over our arms to the Lebanese army. This cannot be because the types of weapons we have are of no use for a regular army; they are only useful for a popular resistance.” “Yes, the war that the zionists are threatening to wage is still standing, though unlikely. They know very well that Israeli wars have failed in the past and they will fail in the future to eliminate the resistance. This is why they will probably continue working on assassinations as they did with our dear brother martyr Imad Moghniyeh. This also explains the huge number of spy cells and collaborators seeking targets. Yet, the most important and most dangerous challenge that we are facing is the persistence of Shalom’s strategy after 2000, that is to introduce Hezbollah as a terrorist organization that attacks nations and peoples and threatens international security. The worst is the attempt to accuse Hezbollah of assassinating martyr Rafiq Hariri so as to create sedition in Lebanon. Our information is that the Der Spiegel report is Israeli made and this accusation is Israeli made. You have noticed how the Israelis swiftly launched statements which, unfortunately, speak clearly of the entity’s relation with the international investigation. They have been making schemes against Hezbollah and the arms of the resistance as well as its popular base. They have been preparing security, military and political schemes while others have been working on redirecting the course of the Hariri investigation against Hezbollah because they have consumed everything within their reach. They have killed Sayyed Abbas, they have killed Hajj Imad, and they have destroyed homes and waged wars in vain. They are facing a resistance that believes in what Imam Khomeini had said: Kill us and our people will become more aware. What is the worst thing they can threaten us with? Death? Our answer is clear. It has been our answer for hundreds of years; the answer that our fathers raised us on: You threaten us with death? It is hour habitude to be killed and the honor Allah has granted us is martyrdom.They realized that killings, massacres, assassinations, destruction and instigation are futile when it comes to Hezbollah, the Islamic Resistance and the blessed people who support us. What else do they have? We have passed through a dangerous phase, but thanks to Allah and the awareness of officials and leaders, the Der Spiegel report was exposed. However, the challenge is still standing because there are some who have decided to go on with this this since there is no other way. God willing, we will proceed through this challenge with our heads high, just like we have always done. I assure you that we want a national unity government following the June 7 elections. We want understanding and cooperation even if we had to follow a review policy to draw lessons. We support dialogue because we want a defensive strategy that the government, the people and the resistance would commit to.”
“Have the consecutive governments considered the Bakaa region part of Lebanon? The government must answer this question. This is about the state’s mentality. In recent years, someone told the Bekaa residents that they are being punished because they support Hezbollah and the resistance. This is not true. The problem does not lie in the Bekaa alone, but in Akkar in the north, in south Lebanon and in all precincts. In south Lebanon’s festival, I read an important text by Imam Sahrafeddine, and today I will read another text by the Imam directed to then President Bshara el-Khouri. Back then, a problem had occurred in the Bekaa and some members of the region’s tribes escaped to barren mountains. The government dispatched a massive armed force after them, and the catastrophe was on the brink of taking place. Imam Sharafeddine sent a letter to the President in September 1949 saying: The tribes in Hermel did not rise against the authorities nor did they abandon any community. I fear of weepers filling every house in Lebanon…and blood calling for more blood. Would your Excellency consider reviewing the methods of disciplining the delinquent? Wouldn’t you consider approaching them with tolerance? Wouldn’t you consider disciplining them to take them from unemployment to jobs and from despair to hope? Don’t you believe that building schools and hospitals would be more useful that building prisons and digging graves? Yes, we are sure that your noble character is enough to make this happen and to guarantee the prosperity of Lebanon. Peace be upon Imam Sharafeddine who did not receive any reply. Since the establishment of the state of Lebanon, the Bekaa has proven through its patriotic conduct and sacrifices that it is one of the dearest parts of this country. We tried – as Hezbollah – to treat some of the aspects of deprivation in this region. Our MP brothers have worked incessantly to realize something, however there is no party or side that can take the full responsibility with respect to this region as the government ought to. In the elections of 2005, we had a chance. We had hoped that we would be able to serve this region through our four-party alliance. Unfortunately, the former government’s priorities were different. It had other political commitments. Whenever we talked to them about Bekaa, they talk back to us about the arms of the resistance. Four years have passed and they were not in Lebanon’s interest. In the elections of 2009, we have another even better chance. We should all vote for a cohesive political alliance that proved its strength against tough challenges. Should we help this alliance to win, we would see a new government with a new mentality towards deprived precincts and balanced development in those regions. Political cunning has even deprived the city of Baalbek of a mayor.” “I would like to stress that we will also work on the issue of the tens of thousands of arrest warrants in Bekaa. If the opposition wins the coming elections, it will call for the formation of a joint ministerial-judicial-legal panel to study this file from a to z. I am not promising a general pardon. There are killers and thieves and they should be punished, but there are other arrest warrants for other reasons that can be tackled, particularly that there are too many legal problems in this region; probl