Speech by Hezbollah Secretary General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, May 31, 2019, on the occasion of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) International Day.
Transcript:
I seek refuge with God against the stoned devil. In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and salutations be upon our Master and Prophet, the Seal of Prophets, Abul Qasim Mohammad b. Abdallah, and on his pure and noble family, his chosen and faithful companions, as well as all the Prophets and Messengers. Dear brothers and sisters, dear participants in this honorable protest, peace be upon you and God’s mercy and His blessings.

I welcome you warmly for this celebration that is dear to us, and I thank you all for this massive participation, to commemorate this celebration full of jihad (effort towards God), faith, humanity, ethics, which stems from our religion, our doctrine, our belief, our struggle, our present, our future and our destiny, and our honor, our pride, our freedom and our holy places.

God the Almighty and the Exalted said in his Holy Book: In the Name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. “O ye who believe! fear Allah and (always) say righteous and truthful words. That He may make your conduct whole and sound and forgive you your sins: he that obeys Allah and His Apostle has already attained the highest Achievement.” (Quran, 33, 70-71) I ask God the Almighty to make us utter words of truth, (especially) during these sensitive, difficult and decisive times for our future.
Today, 40 years have passed since Imam Khomeini, may his soul be sanctified, declared the International Day of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), the occasion (we celebrate every last Friday of Ramadan). Imam announced and called for this day in 1979. And for 40 years, the enemies of Al-Quds have placed their hopes in the disappearance, neglect or oblivion of this day with the passage of time, because in their eyes, such is the nature of people. But year after year, we have seen the importance bestowed upon this day by the peoples of the world and of the (Islamic) Community grow larger and larger, the occasion becoming ever more grandiose, despite attempts to present it as an Iranian day, give it a sectarian appearance, and describe it as a day (celebrated only by) Shiites.

But the sincerity of Imam Khomeini, may his noble soul be sanctified, and the purity of his intentions, were stronger than all these conspiracies and all these shenanigans, as well as the sincerity and honesty of all those who have walked this path (of resistance) that will lead to the Liberation of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), which will return (to Muslims) with the Grace of God, managed to overcome every blockade. And that’s why we see (such huge demonstrations) today, this very day, but in reality (this celebration is such a success that) soon, this will be the week of Al-Quds (and not just the day).

Yesterday afternoon and last night there were rallies in many cities and many countries, and today as well, (there are celebrations) in our region, the Middle East —or Western Asia as Imam Ali Khamenei calls it—, in African countries, either in North Africa or the rest of the African continent, in Indonesia, Malaysia, in several European countries, in some cities of America, Australia and Latin America. (Many) peoples, currents of thought, various religious and political groups, and a huge & massive participation. And there will be people who will celebrate this occasion tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, especially in certain European countries, because of the authorization they get to demonstrate in public squares or streets during their weekend. Thank God, (the celebration) of this Al-Quds Day is becoming increasingly important and increasingly massive. It is something quite natural and predictable.

Today, the summary of my speech (is this).

I / I will say two words about the event (we celebrate).

II / The main part (of my speech) will concern Palestine and the Deal of the Century, our collective responsibility in this regard and our assessment of the current situation.

III / From there, I’ll talk —because the issues are related— about all that is said now or has been said in recent weeks, about a US war against Iran, which has become less likely in recent days.

IV / I will also comment on the recent Arab summit held in the holy city of Mecca.

V / And I will conclude my remarks with a Lebanese issue concerning the delimitation of (Lebanon’s land and sea) borders (with occupied Palestine), but there is a very sensitive and related issue in which the border demarcation is exploited to pressure the Lebanese, a sensitive issue (directly) involving the Resistance (Hezbollah) and Israel, and I will talk about it, because if I do not do it tonight, in a few days… Because this issue is beginning to spread behind particular scenes, and will soon be discussed in the media, and we will then have to respond. It is preferable to state now our position of principle, after which anyone who wants to write a comment about it could do so at will. We will state our position in this new hotspot (Hezbollah precision missile factories in Lebanon).

I / Regarding the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, today, we saw large protests in several countries. But the first thing we have to mention is the huge popular demonstrations in Iran, which brought together millions of people. In previous years, we didn’t mention it at length, because it was regarded as something quite normal (for Iran). This year, we’ll mention it somewhat, because the world needs (to know)… I saw that the Arab media, including those who support and help the Resistance Axis, failed to show the true extent of (the participation of the Iranian people to the event). I followed the Iranian media and television, and I could see cities (blackened with people), a large number of cities in which there were huge demonstrations.

This is a message to whom? Why do I dwell upon it? Iran, about which Trump pretends that every Friday, there are (major) protests against the regime of the Islamic Republic, that the Iranian people is rising against the State and the government, that Iran is in the process of collapse, and that Iran will soon contact him (to beg for mercy)… (But Trump) will wait for a very long time (if he hopes to see such a thing). It is true that the Iranians were busy reciting the invocations of Al Jawchan al-Kabir and Abu Hamzeh al Thumali (specific to Ramadan, and extremely long), but Trump had to wait (for an Iranian response) until the end (of their long) prostrations. This is a message to whom? To all those who are betting on seeing this noble people eventually flinch, weaken, become discouraged, change his course, etc., etc., etc. And this people is not commemorating the victory of the Islamic Revolution or defending the Islamic regime in Iran, things that concern (directly) all Iranians. This people was demonstrating for the occasion of (the International Day of) Al-Quds (Jerusalem), for the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim cause, that is to say, for a foreign policy matter.

The Iranians demonstrated by the millions, while fasting, and for hours, and I saw on the television screens that all the officials of the Islamic Republic, the Presidents (of the Republic, of Parliament, etc.) and the other leading officials participated in the demonstrations. And I saw that at the protest of Qom (spiritual heart of Iranian Shiism), many of the main religious authorities in Qom participated, despite their advanced age. They were both great in their authority, and great by their age —80, 85, 90 years—, they came up with the crowd and expressed this position (unwavering commitment to the complete liberation of Palestine and to Israel’s disappearance). Anyway, this is a message addressed primarily to the United States, secondly to all governments in the region, and thirdly to anyone who follows the events, has hopes (for or against Iran and Palestine) or merely waits (to see what will happen, without taking sides).
Similarly, as for last year, we have to mention the scale of the huge demonstrations in Yemen, in Sanaa and in several Yemeni cities, this massive popular presence, and the eloquent and fiery speeches of the leaders in Yemen regarding Palestine, Al-Quds (Jerusalem), the struggle against Israel and the United States… Anyway, the Yemeni people, through his (massive) presence in the streets, as well as his (exploits) on the battlefield and in the fighting (against the Saudi-US coalition) —I’ll come back to this point in my speech to make it more clear—, has established himself strongly in the regional equation and all the struggles of the region.

What happened in other countries of the world (should also be mentioned), as it becomes increasingly widespread and massive. We have a long list (of countries where protests commemorated Al-Quds Day): in Palestine and Gaza in particular, naturally, —there were martyrs in Al-Quds (Jerusalem)—, in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Nigeria, Ghana, Malaysia, Indonesia, Belgium, the United States themselves, Russia, Oman, Tunisia, Algeria, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Senegal… That’s the list of countries identified by our young (Hezbollah members) for us (so far). Of course, tomorrow, things will be clearer.

I should also mention the popular demonstrations that took place last night in Bahrain, in the hamlets, villages and cities of Bahrain, and also today, and their slogan was “No to the Deal of the Century, and in the direction of Al-Quds (to liberate it).” Despite the fact that, unfortunately, the first operational step (of the Deal of the Century) must be launched from Bahrain (at the end of June 2019), the scholars of Bahrain took to the streets, as well as the people and political forces, to confirm that everything that happens on their territory (normalization with Israel) is illegitimate, and that Bahrain, its people, its scholars, its political forces, its present and its past are innocent of this abandonment (of Palestine), this submission and the servility of the Government of Bahrain towards the US administration. […]

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“Any amount counts, because a little money here and there, it’s like drops of water that can become rivers, seas or oceans…” Hassan Nasrallah