Nassrallah makes first public appearance since 2008

Nassrallah makes first public appearance since 2008 Beirut – Ahmed El Hajj  Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah appeared publicly for the first time since 2008, in the Southern suburb of Beirut, at Ashura processions Tuesday. Nasrallah made his way surrounded by tight security measures amid the crowd, which was moving toward Al-Rai stadium in the suburb where he delivered a speech on the occasion of Ashura.
Nasrallah stressed on his insistence on “civil peace and overcoming any seditions regardless of the injustice and despicability, and in Lebanon there are many such injustices.”
He noted in his speech, that “when any incident happens, their talk turns to Hezbollah, which is a good indication confirming that the main obsession perched on their hearts is Hezbollah, and that the party is held responsible for what happens and what does not happen”. He believes that there are those who want to push matters in Lebanon towards an internal sedition, and we have to confront this patiently”, calling for “activating governmental duties,” stressing on “validity of demands of Change and Reform Bloc”, emphasizing “the necessity of the response of PM Najib Mikati to these demands”.
In addition, he stressed on “the need to resolve the issue of ‘false witnesses’, who have become enemies of Syria causing the death of dozens of Syrians with injustice and aggression, leading to tense internal affairs”.  He expressed his surprise at the existence of political forces which “turn the world upside down over nonexistent kidnapped Syrians while keeping quiet about dozens of Syrians who were killed as a result of the false witnesses issue”.
He continued “The main threat remains to be the Israeli threat, and we stress on the trinity protection of Lebanon ‘The army and the people and the resistance’. We would like to deliver a message that may not be new, but is clear to all who those who conspire or await changes, that this resistance and its weapons will continue to exist and your conspiracies as well as your psychological, political and media wars will not destroy us. We are holding on to the resistance and its weapons. We are increasing in numbers and in weapons, and our confidence in the future increases as well... and for those who are betting that our weapons are rusting, we say that our weapons are being renewed. Our power has increased and so has our arms day after day.”
He asked within the same context “Have you ever seen a security problem where Raad or Khaybar missiles or Heyfa were fired? In every problem an individual weapon is used, which is available for all and no party can say that they don’t have individual weapons.”
He explained “whoever tries to disarm the missile arsenal of Hezbollah provides a great service to Israel, and does what Israel has not been able to do for 33 days through dialogue”, noting that “since 1988 we took the initiative and we did not pay attention to the International Community, and with our resistance we will preserve our land and our dignity away from harm, and no changes or incidents or threats can come in the way of us carrying out this duty and responsibility.”
He pointed out “We are an unknown force to the enemy, and will be a surprise with its powerful presence in any confrontation. We say that the times where we bargain our dignity, pride, presence, honor, and our nation is over, regardless of the price.”
On the other hand, Hezbollah Secretary General noted that “the real threat to this nation is the US-Israeli project, and the American administration, regardless of its president, along with the Israeli enemy, are the “largest plunderer” of our goods. What is required of our people is to always be aware of this truth.”
 He elaborated “America tried to present itself as a defender of freedoms in the Arab world, but these swindlers, whose history of dictatorships is known to us as they used to support all dictatorships which have collapsed in the Arab world… such is the attitude of the devil, the devil in doomsday does the same thing, which conveys the diabolic nature of the American administration; that they give up their followers at any crossroad. Our Arab and Islamic people should know that they are the enemy and the threat.”
He noted that “The American President Barack Obama said a few days ago that his government gave Israel what no other American government did, and in his era, the CIA has become an informer serving Israel and its security. Arabs and Muslims, do not be fooled by the American government, for it is responsible for the detention and torture of thousands of Palestinians in jails and it is responsible for the occupation of our land.”
He believes that “we should not confuse friends and foes. The enemy is the American government and its tool – and not ally – in the region, Israel.” In addition, he called for “paying attention to the American government”, recalling that “after the failure of its project about the New Middle East, which was destroyed by the resistance in the region, particularly Iran and Syria, it was awaken to activate its New Middle East Project through the gate of sectarian sedition and race conflict”. He called for “paying good attention” stressing in this context on avoiding any sectarian discourse which would serve Israel and America.
He warned against the Judaisation of Jerusalem  “Every day new steps are taken in the context of this project, and we are afraid Israel will use the situation in the region to strike a fatal blow at Jerusalem.”
Betting on Arab people’s choice and awareness, he pointed out that “The Tunisian people triumphed over the tyrant. Equally in Libya and the political forces responsible for People’s ambitions. And in Yemen, the challenge is still great, and there are those who are trying to kill the revolution and its ambitions. In Bahrain, the people continue their peaceful movement despite the suppression and hypocrisy. In Egypt, great transformations occurred, shaking Israel, where the Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak spoke with concern. We are all anticipating a transformation in Egypt that inspires hope, because any transformation will put Israel in an existential and historical crisis.  This is the challenge before the political force which wins the Egyptian elections. Our hope is that Arab people will not be fooled by American hypocrisy, and will return to its natural place after it overcomes its crisis in order to face the central issue. And these Americans are failing in Iraq with the American withdrawal.”
 He considered the Iraq to be a true defeat for Americans, as Americans did not come to Iraq to leave it, and a large section of the Iraqi resistance operations was kept in the dark, which confirms the nature of the media controlling the Arab world. However, what happened in Iraq is a great defeat to Americans, and Iraqis should celebrate that and their victory should be revealed to the world.”
He added in the same context “US wants to hide its defeat by smoke bombs. And in this context, some ill-willed people in the region speak up aiming to distract the people away from the US army defeat. Unfortunately, US have succeeded to a great extent, and the news of the US withdrawal is not present in Arab satellite channels.”
He noted that “The responsibility on the resistance in the Arab and Islamic world today is to reveal this crime. Today we bless a historical incident where blood triumphs over sword once more.”
On Syria, Nasrallah said “our position from the Syrian events is clear, we support reform and we stand by a regime that has stood by the resistance for a long time. We say yes to all reforms accepted by the leadership and demanded by the people, but there are some who don’t want civil peace or stability and want to destroy Syria. There are some who want to make up for their defeat in Iraq and their inevitable loss in any change in the situation in Syria for the benefit of Israel.”
He pointed out “What is called the Syrian National Assembly, which is formed in Istanbul and headed by Burhan Ghalioun, announced two days ago that if it were ‘able to change the regime, will cut off relations with Iran and resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine’ is considered ‘permits to the outside.’”
He noted “the presence of another Syrian opposition who spoke of crossing the borders to Lebanon and fighting Hezbollah, which serves the US and Israel” saying that “what is demanded in Syria is not reform, but a betrayal to Arabs… and an Arab signature on a blank check to US and Israel.”
Nasrallah last appeared publicly in  a celebration in the Southern suburb of Beirut, after the operation of exchanging detainees between Israel and Hezbollah, including five Lebanese detained in Israeli prisons in return of the remains of two Israeli soldiers, imprisoned by Hezbollah in 2006.
Prior to that, there was a public appearance of the Hezbollah secretary general in a “Victory Celebration” after the end of the July war in 2006, which caused the death of more than 1200 in Lebanon, most of which were civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers. He also appeared for minutes in the Ashura march in January 2008 in one of the southern suburb streets.
Nasrallah is used to delivering his speeches through a large screen during mass celebrations, or through television.