Thu, 27 May 2010 07:03:48 GMT
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the influential pro-Israel AIPAC lobby group in March that "the dynamics of demography, ideology, and technology" in the Middle East was not working in Israel's favor, cautioning Tel Aviv that its status quo in the region was unsustainable.
Speaking on Tuesday on the tenth anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah shared the views expressed by Clinton on the Israeli situation.
Nasrallah said, "If we are targeted, we target them as well. (If) we are killed, we can kill. (If) we are forced to leave our homes, we force them to leave their homes. (If) we are confronted, we confront them and so they will have a real problem."
Jennifer Loewenstein, Associate Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison joined Press TV in an exclusive interview to comment on Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech.
Jennifer Loewenstein: I think it is high time for the people in the US and the Israelis to hear it (Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech). They (Israelis) provided the conditions that made such a speech necessary and possible. You know, yesterday was the anniversary of the withdrawal from Lebanon by the Israeli forces. I remember it very, very clearly. What I want people to understand is that these events did not grow up out of a void. The appearance and the emergence of Hezbollah did not just happen because of some vague circumstances. It happened because of the history of the region and in particular because of the occupation of Palestine and the Israeli invasions of Lebanon and a lot more.
Press TV: Do you think that the resistance is showing that they have been more successful than in the past, or they are showing more confidence?
Jennifer Loewenstein: Here, in the United States, we really got to hear Seyyed Nasrallah's speeches. We should follow this news. It is obvious that we only get the picture from one side. I have followed his speeches as far as possible. I remember when Lebanon was liberated by Hezbollah in 2000, a year before and a year after I listened to his speeches. I have to say that was a turning point in my mind and since then the resistance has not only gotten better and more skillful and I also think it has been winning the hearts and minds of the people in the Middle East, across the region, as far as I can tell, in almost every country. It is having an effect on the US public as well.
Press TV: Why do the Israelis fear a resistance group?
Jennifer Loewenstein: Because the Israelis can not win against this resistance movement. Because, it is built into the people...comes through the identity of the land and I think it is far and beyond just the Shia community. I have been following Lebanese history for a long time. It does not matter how many nuclear warheads Israeli has. It does not matter how many iron domes or rockets or missiles they have, they will never have security in the region because what they are doing there is wrong and the actions they have taken and the presence they have made for themselves in the Middle East since well before the 1948 has worked against them. I think they made no effort to integrate themselves into a region. They have done the very opposite thing. They have turned people against them from the time they started colonizing back in the early 1880s. It is impossible for Israel to ever win against Lebanon. It would mean the extermination of the Lebanese people. I do not believe that is anywhere in the cards. There are many forces that are in sync with the resistance in Lebanon across the region... I would say in every country, and I am not counting the governments but certainly talking about the people. There is simply no way that Israel would ever attain any security in the region.
RZS/CS
Speaking on Tuesday on the tenth anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon, Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah shared the views expressed by Clinton on the Israeli situation.
Jennifer Loewenstein, Associate Director of the Middle East Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison joined Press TV in an exclusive interview to comment on Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech.
Jennifer Loewenstein: I think it is high time for the people in the US and the Israelis to hear it (Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech). They (Israelis) provided the conditions that made such a speech necessary and possible. You know, yesterday was the anniversary of the withdrawal from Lebanon by the Israeli forces. I remember it very, very clearly. What I want people to understand is that these events did not grow up out of a void. The appearance and the emergence of Hezbollah did not just happen because of some vague circumstances. It happened because of the history of the region and in particular because of the occupation of Palestine and the Israeli invasions of Lebanon and a lot more.
Press TV: Do you think that the resistance is showing that they have been more successful than in the past, or they are showing more confidence?
Jennifer Loewenstein: Here, in the United States, we really got to hear Seyyed Nasrallah's speeches. We should follow this news. It is obvious that we only get the picture from one side. I have followed his speeches as far as possible. I remember when Lebanon was liberated by Hezbollah in 2000, a year before and a year after I listened to his speeches. I have to say that was a turning point in my mind and since then the resistance has not only gotten better and more skillful and I also think it has been winning the hearts and minds of the people in the Middle East, across the region, as far as I can tell, in almost every country. It is having an effect on the US public as well.
Press TV: Why do the Israelis fear a resistance group?
Jennifer Loewenstein: Because the Israelis can not win against this resistance movement. Because, it is built into the people...comes through the identity of the land and I think it is far and beyond just the Shia community. I have been following Lebanese history for a long time. It does not matter how many nuclear warheads Israeli has. It does not matter how many iron domes or rockets or missiles they have, they will never have security in the region because what they are doing there is wrong and the actions they have taken and the presence they have made for themselves in the Middle East since well before the 1948 has worked against them. I think they made no effort to integrate themselves into a region. They have done the very opposite thing. They have turned people against them from the time they started colonizing back in the early 1880s. It is impossible for Israel to ever win against Lebanon. It would mean the extermination of the Lebanese people. I do not believe that is anywhere in the cards. There are many forces that are in sync with the resistance in Lebanon across the region... I would say in every country, and I am not counting the governments but certainly talking about the people. There is simply no way that Israel would ever attain any security in the region.
RZS/CS
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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