Showing posts with label Maroun al-Ras. Show all posts

Monday, 26 July 2021

July War Diary: Hezbollah Fighters Turn Lebanese Towns into Graveyard for Israeli Invaders

July 21, 2021

Visual search query image — Hezbollah fighters standing beside a rocket launcher (photo from archive).

In the tenth day of July War in 2006, the Israeli enemy went crazy with its air strikes and bombardment of Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Resistance fighters’ heroic confrontations with the occupation soldiers in the southern border towns made it clear to the invaders that “this land is forbidden to you”.

The Israeli warplanes in that day (Friday, July 21, 2006) launched more than seventeen air strikes on Baalbeck city, killing or injuring dozens of Lebanese civilians. The strikes also destroyed Mudeirej Bridge which links Beirut to Bekaa.

More than 100 strikes were also launched on the southern city of Tyre, with Israeli warplanes dropping leaflets there, calling on residents to evacuate the area.

The Israeli air strikes, meanwhile, targeted several schools that hosted displaced Lebanese in Bint Jbeil (south Lebanon) and in Baalbeck (Bekaa).

Strikes on the southern city of Nabatieh and Beirut’s southern suburb (Dahiyeh) also did not stop, with more residential areas were targeted.

Israeli artillery also fired internationally-banned cluster bombs at several Lebanese towns in the south, including Maroun Al-Ras, Khiyam, Aitaroun, Qulaiaat, Ebl Sukei and Houla.

For its part, Hezbollah kept the rocket fire at occupied territories, with missiles pounding Israeli cities of Safad, Haifa, Nahariya and Taberias, as well as settlements of Upper Galilee, Lower Galilee and Kiryat Shmona.

A Raad-2 rocket hit the Israeli city of Haifa, killing or injuring 30 Israelis.

Also on Thursday (July 21, 2006), the Israeli soldiers repeated attempts to make a ground incursion in the southern border towns. Israeli media reported that at least 300 and 500 Israeli soldiers backed by 30 tanks were already believed to be over the border. However, Resistance fighters were closely monitoring the invaders. Hezbollah fighters who were positioned in the border town of Maroun Al-Ras repelled the Israeli infiltration. Several Israeli soldiers were killed and at least three Merkava tanks were destroyed, with the occupation military acknowledging that 7 soldiers were killed. The Israeli army usually minimizes its military losses.

On the political level, it was clear that the United States was opposing a cessation of hostilities, in a bid to make more pressure on Hezbollah. Then US Secretary of State Condaleezza Rice made her well-known stance, describing the war on Lebanon as a part of the “birth pangs of a new Middle East”.

Then US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, also defended the Israeli war, wondering about the futility of “holding talks on ceasefire with a terrorist organization”.

For his part, then Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said that the Israeli war on Lebanon was planned before the Resistance operation in which it captured Israeli soldiers, noting that the Zionist regime took Hezbollah’s border operation a pretext to launch its military campaign against Lebanon.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

Monday, 2 September 2019

Avivim Strike Hit or Didn’t Hit Soldiers!!! Netanyahu Big Liar, ‘Israel’ Cannot Attack Lebanon for Fear of Hezbollah

September 2, 2019

As Hezbollah struck Sunday an Israeli military vehicle in Avivim settlement, killing or injuring all soldiers on board, the Zionist PM Benjamin Netanayhu started announced his big lie that the operation did not hit any of his soldiers.

Knowing that the Zionist media is completely subject to the military censorship, the enemy’s media outlets circulated this lie and claimed that ‘Israel’ fooled Hezbollah by showing fake rescue operations.

In a statement, the Islamic Resistance announced it managed to target an Israeli military vehicle near the border with the occupied Palestinian territories, killing and injuring all occupation forces on board.

Sources close to the Resistance said that it would circulate the footage of the operation which shows accuracy and professionalism, adding that it was the Israeli target was spotted from a very narrow angle in Maroun Al-Ras and Aitaroun border towns.

The sources pointed out that the Zionist vehicle was moving slowly on an internal road 899 for the soldiers on board did not expect to be struck in that position.

In this context, Hezbollah fulfilled a promise made by Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to respond to the Zionist attacks on Dahiyeh and one of its sites in Damascus, restoring the balance of deterrence which Israel tried to break.

Hezbollah Attack on Avivim Turned Balance of Deterrence against Israel to Be Internationally Acknowledged

Diplomatic sources reported that the United States of America, Britain and France had promised Lebanese senior officials that ‘Israel’ may never repeat its attacks on Lebanon, urging them to call on Hezbollah to refrain from responding to the Israeli violations.

The following video which was broadcast by Al-Mayadeen TV Channel shows the Israeli soldiers escaping the border positions after Hezbollah strike and tells all the story:

Finally, even the Israelis know that Hezbollah could have targeted the rescue staff which arrived to the scene of the strike; however, the Resistance’s intention to protect Lebanon and save the Lebanese from the Israeli barbarism was behind the part’s decision to carry out a calculated blow.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

Sunday, 1 September 2019

Islamic Resistance Targets Israeli Military Vehicle, All Forces on Board Killed, Injured

September 1, 2019

Hezbollah announced on Sunday that Hasan Zbeeb and Yasser Daher’s unit has targeted an Israeli military vehicle near the border with the occupied Palestinian territories, killing and injuring all occupation forces on board.

“At 4.15pm (Beirut Time) on Sunday, September 1, 2019, the unit of martyrs Hassan Zbib and Yasser Daher has destroyed an Israeli military vehicle on the road at the Avivim base, killing and injuring all forces on board,” the Islamic Resistance announced in a statement issued on Sunday afternoon.

Following the attack, the Israeli military confirmed that a military vehicle has been targeted at the border with anti-tank missiles, saying ‘multiple hits’ were scored on ‘army base’.

Israeli websites said helicopters were transferring casualties to Zif Hospital in Safed (Zfat), highlighting that a state of fear and panic prevailed among settlers in the North of occupied Palestine who were told to go to shelters.

Israeli shells were falling around the villages of Maroun al-Ras and Aitaroun in Lebanon’s South.

Hezbollah Secretary General announced last week that Hezbollah won’t keep mum before Israeli aggression and that the resistance will inevitably retaliate the killing of martyrs Hassan Zbeeb and Yasser Daher who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Syria a week ago.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

Wednesday, 18 April 2012

Picnics at the border: Hezbollah resistance in Bint Jbeil and Maroun ar Ras

By Eva Bartlet

*monument at Maroun ar Ras, site of Hezbollah defeat of Israeli army

Some time after descending further south from the former Khiam prison, the fortified fence separating Lebanon and occupied Palestine appears, as do the red-roofed Israeli homes in the formerly mixed Palestinian and Lebanese town of Metulli: M notes that this town was an example of many such towns home to Jews and Muslims, living side by side without problem…before the arrival of Zionists.

The landscape is confusing: looking south, the border fence loops northward, peninsula-like as it encircles “the Finger of Galilee”…now occupied Palestine. I’m alarmed that we can drive so close to the fence, my own experience with border fences in Gaza meaning anyone within 1-2 km of the Green Line border risks being assassinated or maimed by IOF soldiers. But in Lebanon, the presence of UNIFIL soldiers and the mediation of the UN “keeps both sides on their side,” M says, adding, “but if the Israelis ever crossed the fence, everything would change.”

At Kfar Kila, we speak briefly with some of the UNIFIL soldiers stationed at Bab al Fatima (Fatima Gate) who tell us all is calm along the border now. We break for Arabic coffee in the shade of a nearby, low-key cafe, the staff of whom are enjoying shisha (tobacco water pipe) as they look towards Palestine and the hilltop Israeli town that now occupies the land.

M tells me a little about Kfar Kila. The front line of resistance since the mid 70s, it like most of southern Lebanon was occupied by the Zionist army, the towns’ residents fleeing north to Beirut.

“This town has had many, many martyrs, since the 70s,” he notes, something I continue to hear as we pass through more towns further south, the martyr posters re-iterating the vast losses.

Leaving Kfar Kila, we head up mountain roads again, from which below and to the east more of “the Finger of Galilee” becomes visible, laden with apple orchards and surrounded by Zionist fencing.

“This is our land,” M murmurs, adding “Shams” when I ask what he means. “It was all Arab land, there were no borders.”

The winding roads take us through familiar Lebanese villages, with their small town squares, and into the terrain of rolling hills that stretches across Lebanon and Palestine. “This village was also occupied in ’78,” M’s refrain continues, out of respect to history.

To the east, IOF military bases flank hilltops, lording over occupied Palestine and taunting Lebanon. Posters of Hassan Nazrallah and Hezbollah flags brave up to the challenge: We’re ready for you.

At the entrance to Mays al Jabal—another town with numerous martyrs and strong resistance—a sign reads: “In these hills and valleys the Zionists were defeated by the resistance.”

Aytaroun comes soon after, “a town of martyrs”. In the ’60S and ’70s, “they used to actively confront the IOF. In the ’70s, the IOF came to the town and assassinated many of the resistance” M says. The town was occupied, and 95% fled to Beirut—to the “belt of misery” as Bourj Hamad, Bourj el Barajney and the suburbs of Beirut were known due to their sub-par living conditions, great poverty, and over-crowding.

Along the hilltop road at Maroun ar Ras, a town roughly 1 km from the border, a crumpled Israeli tank sits roadside, a rusting display of the IOF defeat at Maroun ar Ras.

The town itself was badly bombed during the 2006 Israeli war on Lebanon, M points out as we stand next to the ruin of one of the few homes not since re-built. During the drive south, M has been pointing out village after village where mass numbers of homes were destroyed by the IOF bombings but re-built by Hezbollah.

“The battle at Maroun ar Ras changed question of the 2006 war,” he tells me. “Hezbollah resistance took the IOF by surprise, so instead of trying to advance north up to the Litani river, they changed plans and resorted to heavy bombing instead.”

Alastair Crooke and Mark Perry wrote in detail about Hezbollah’s victories over the IOF during the 2006 war (“How Hezbollah Defeated Israel”)

'Israel' Recalls Defeat each August

Regarding Maroun ar Ras, they wrote:

…On July 22, Hezbollah units of the Nasr Brigade fought the IDF street-to-street in Maroun al-Ras. While the IDF claimed at the end of the day that it had taken the town, it had not.

…IDF detachments continually failed to flank the defenders, meeting counterpunches toward the west of the city. Special three-man hunter-killer teams from the Nasr Brigade destroyed several Israeli armored vehicles during the fight with light man-made anti-tank missiles.

…After-battle reports of Hezbollah commanders now confirm that IDF troops never fully secured the border area and Maroun al-Ras was never fully taken. Nor did Hezbollah ever feel the need to call up its reserves, as Israel had done. “The entire war was fought by one Hezbollah brigade of 3,000 troops, and no more,” one military expert in the region said. “The Nasr Brigade fought the entire war. Hezbollah never felt the need to reinforce it.”

Reports from Lebanon underscore this point. Much to their surprise, Hezbollah commanders found that Israeli troops were poorly organized and disciplined. The only Israeli unit that performed up to standards was the Golani Brigade, according to Lebanese observers. The IDF was “a motley assortment”, one official with a deep knowledge of US slang reported. “But that’s what happens when you have spent four decades firing rubber bullets at women and children in the West Bank and Gaza.”

Atop the 1km hill, the Iranian Park attracts visitors pursuing history and families wanting to picnic at a site both scenically stupendous and revered for its resistance.

The park, funded largely by Iran, comprises a mock military training site—tight rope walks and all—with a playground, bbq picnic sites, and a reproduction of Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock mosque.

We climb to the top of a three-storey tower, where the view of Lebanese hills and occupied Palestine is panoramic and stunning. A powerful telescope, free of charge, affords a chance to view Palestine close-up.

Below us lies Bint Jbeil, a town known as “the Capital of Liberation.” M points to a large pool of water, citing the Battle at the Pool, and explains that Hezbollah held off invading IOF soldiers, eventually repelling them from the town.

Crooke and Perry wrote:

Later… on July 25, the Israeli military fought its way into Bint Jbeil, calling it “Hezbollah’s terror capital”. The fight for Bint Jbeil went on for nine days. But it remained in Hezbollah hands until the end of the conflict. By then, the town had been destroyed, as Hezbollah fighters were able to survive repeated air and artillery shellings, retreating into their bunkers during the worst of the air and artillery campaign, and only emerging when IDF troops in follow-on operations tried to claim the city.

…On July 26, IDF officials conceded that the previous 24 hours in their fight for Bint Jbail was “the hardest day of fighting in southern Lebanon”. After failing to take the town from Hezbollah in the morning, IDF commanders decided to send in their elite Golani Brigade. In two hours in the afternoon, nine Golani Brigade soldiers were killed and 22 were wounded.

On July 27, in response to the failure of its units to take these cities, the Israeli government agreed to a call-up of three more reserve divisions – a full 15,000 troops.

…Hezbollah officials calculated that from the time of firing until the IAF was able to identify and deploy fighters to take out the mobile rockets was 90 seconds. Through years of diligent training, Hezbollah rocket teams had learned to deploy, fire and safely cover their mobile launchers in less than 60 seconds, with the result that IAF planes and helicopters … could not stop Hezbollah’s continued rocket fire at Israel (“Israel is about three helicopters away from a total disaster,” one US military officer commented).

Moreover, and more significant, Hezbollah’s fighters proved to be dedicated and disciplined. Using intelligence assets to pinpoint Israeli infantry penetrations, they proved the equal of Israel’s best fighting units.

…The robust Hezbollah defense was also taking its toll on Israeli armor. When Israel finally agreed to a ceasefire and began its withdrawal from the border area, it left behind upwards of 40 armored vehicles, nearly all of them destroyed by expertly deployed AT-3 “Sagger” anti-tank missiles – which is the NATO name for the Russian-made vehicle- or man-deployed, wire-guided, second-generation 9M14 Malyutka – or “Little Baby”.

see also:

Hezbollah – Lebanon 2006 – zionist aggression and resistance

How Hezbollah Defeated Israel

Hizbullah’s New Face:

“All kinds of people, from hardscrabble farmers to well-educated members of the liberal professions, were brought into the constellation of mass organizations that the party established in every region, every profession, and every sector of the economy. Timur Goksel, who last year retired after 24 years as the chief political advisor to the UN’s (highly constrained) peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, told me how surprised he was to discover that the members of the first Hizbullah delegations sent to deal with him, in the mid-1980s, were not wild-eyed Islamist radicals but calm, serious men who were doctors, engineers, or businessmen: men of real substance in their local communities.

Nasrullah’s leadership strategy—combining efforts at mass organizing and inter-group negotiating with a “militant” image and targeted violence—has many parallels with that pursued by the African National Congress leaders in South Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. And just as the ANC realized its longtime goal of establishing a one-person-one-vote system in South Africa, so too did Hizbullah succeed in May 2000 in winning an unconditional Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon….”

The Khiam prison is now open

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

Palestinian Youth… New Hope for Near Return

Sara Taha

It has been 63 years since the UK handed over Palestine to Zionist gangs allowing them to forcibly exile the Palestinian natives from their homes and establish a racist state that overpowers and terrorizes all its neighboring countries.

Time flew by and the Palestinian dispersed community has been conducting operations, concluding agreements, making concessions and achieving victories, yet no practical progress has been attained. Palestine is still controlled by a Zionist scheme backed by international resolutions; Palestinians are still listed as refugees; and extending refugee camps are still present in various spots in the Arab world.

The Palestinian “right of return” was adopted 63 years ago by the Arab states as their major cause, yet various Arab causes have been resolved except for this one. Regional enmity and war were declared against Israel, yet peace and truce treaties were signed with the “enemy” by those regimes.

Despite all these frauds, compromises and abandonments, the Palestinian refugee has never lost hope and has always been ready to sacrifice and die as martyr; even if he did not witness liberation and return, his satisfaction lies in knowing that he did not desert his origin and has passed his cause on to his sons and grandsons.

On Sunday, the Palestinian youth assured this to the entire world. They sent a clear message that even if the exiled generation was gone, there are still descendants who are ready to carry the banner with even more challenge and persistence.

IN MAJOR CAUSES, PASSION IS CARRIED GENERATION AFTER GENERATION
Sociopolitical analyst Dr. Nadim Mohsen explains this point to Al-Manar’s Website saying that “in major causes that have cultural, national, and moral bases like the Palestinian cause, direct exposure to the issue is not basic. It is not confined to the generation that was exiled from Palestine and is still keeping the house keys until today. As long as the cause is alive, consequent generations would be more involved as they would carry the passion, burden as well as the responsibility; and even if the direct suffering was gone, the latent love would evolve, in addition to the latent misery due to their residence in refugee camps”.

This year’s Nakba (catastrophe) Day differed from previous years on various levels. The Palestinians were united, Arab victories were in their heydays, Arab enthusiasm was unprecedented, and so a successful and diligent commemoration was conducted.

Dr. Mohsen describes the scene Sunday, May 15, 2011 as full of hope.
“Seeing those men and women climbing the hills toward the border fences, nonchalant of the bullets and wounds, was like a new beginning. This passion that emerged that day is addicting and contagious, it could never be concealed anymore”.

He considers that the “return to Palestine” march is a “relief to the Palestinian refugee, as the misery of the refugee camps was substituted by the dream of Palestine”.
“They recognized that Palestine was their shelter and their belonging,” the sociopolitical analyst stressed.

Furthermore, Dr. Mohsen assures that “this is the natural state that should have been present and supported all along”.

“The natural state for the Palestinians is to be present on a daily basis on the borders trying to return to Palestine, and the Lebanese and Syrian people helping them achieve that… The absence of such daily actions is due to a certain pressure imposed on the refugee camps and on the Palestinians”.

The Palestinian youth on Sunday showed the world an omnipotent bravery and an evident passion when they confronted heavily armed Israeli occupation forces with bear chests and decided to advance closer to their usurped land armed with stones, loud voices, slogans and determination.

According to Dr. Mohsen, such pressure should be imposed permanently and in similar rallies by all the Arab countries that share borders with Palestine.

“We’ve always used to say that if all Arabs march towards Palestine, the Israelis would attack them and commit massacres, but eventually we would enter Palestine; just by the pressure our big number would impose, we would succeed in achieving that”.

Pointing out to the important role the media play in directing points of views, Dr. Mohsen says that “the media are strongly involved in revealing one’s right. Israelis for example have an unjust idea that is manipulated by media to appear righteous. However, the Arabs that have all the right are weak, and by continuously organizing peaceful civilian rallies to the borders, the whole world would recognize this right”.

“The intifada (uprising) that took place in 1987 had the strongest effect. It was able to dent the international public opinion, as for the first time they saw children tossing stones at heavily armed soldiers. This is a major issue, every citizen should resist with the capabilities he has. If we have rockets, we fire rockets, if we have the physical ability, we march with our bodies, and if we have influential music, we use music”.

The sociopolitical analyst further said that “the latest internal reconciliation as well as Sunday’s march to the borders have redirected the Palestinians’ attention”.

“Today, and after seeing Palestine with their bare eyes, the Palestinian refugees’ concern is no longer Fatah, Hamas, the Islamic front, PLO or other groups, but the major focus is Palestine. They saw Palestine as a reality rather than a slogan, an unattainable cause, or an internal conflict and competition… When you see it that close, you start thinking, this is our land just a few meters away, this is our right and it is so close to us”.

Dr. Mohsen explains that as human beings, the materialistic part in us needs to be satisfied with material as well.
“When a person sees his olive trees and hills, when he sees Palestine with his senses not just emotions, he would recognize the realism of this right”.

However, to what extent will the Palestinians tolerate marching in “return to Palestine” rallies toward their occupied country’s borders and coming back to their refugee camps? When will the patience of seeing Israeli soldiers arrogantly preventing them from entering Palestine fade away? And when will they decisively revolt against their long stay in deprived camps because they are denied of living in their vast, flourished occupied land?

Amid the Arab youth revolutions against their corrupt regimes, the Palestinian youth got enthused to follow these successful steps in attaining victory, and if this atmosphere proceeds… could this be the last Palestinian refugee generation?
Maroun Al-Ras pictures by Wassim Sader
Just another Palestinian sample...
Via FLC
Palestinians will march back to Lebanon-Palestine border on Sunday ...

'Washington wants the Lebanese Army 'act as buffer''

BEIRUT: "Palestinians will march on Israel’s borders from neighboring Arab states Sunday to mark the 1967 war, a top Fatah commander said, calling on the United Nations to protect the protesters.“We, who hope to return to our lands in Palestine, are planning a peaceful rally this Sunday” at the Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian borders with Israel as well as the Gaza Strip, Fatah commander in Lebanon Munir Maqdah told AFP.Maqdah urged Arab states and the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, a 12,000-strong peacekeeping force stationed at Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, to “ensure the protection of this peaceful gathering.”

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 6:38 PM

River to Sea

Uprooted Palestinian

Sunday, 29 May 2011

Time to tear down the fences

Rahela Mizrahi

The Electronic Intifada

Tel Aviv

28 May 2011

Israeli soldiers patrol the fence between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights town of Majdal Shams.

(Oren Ziv ActiveStills)

I spent a part of my youth in a kibbutz very close to southern Lebanese village Maroun al-Ras, where the historic march of return of Palestinian refugees took place earlier this month.

The kibbutz was surrounded by fences and more fences. Every night in the children’s house, another member of the kibbutz was guarding us, sleeping with an Uzi gun nearby his bed. In this house, away from our parents, boys were raised Spartan tough to be the next pilots and elite unit warriors of the Israeli army, and the girls were raised very freely, in order to supply the needs of the future warriors. Growing up in such an unorthodox environment appears to be natural if you do not know any other type of life.

Living on the lands of the Palestinian village Kafr Birim, some information about its expelled inhabitants was leaked to us through the demonstrations that demanded the right of return. Hanna and Atallah, expelled from the village, actually built the kibbutz. Atallah’s handsome sons, who worked with him, were transparent to us. We were raised not to see them. I noticed the elder because he looked exactly like my cousin from Jerusalem.

As a teenager I was distressed by the Ikrith and Birim expulsions. The Israeli military occupied the two villages toward the end of 1948 and asked the inhabitants to leave for a period of two weeks only, and then come back. They left their villages and were never allowed to return.

It was obvious to me that the villages’ residents should be allowed to return. Meanwhile, nothing was mentioned about the other refugees, the vast majority who were expelled during the Nakba — the expulsion of approximately 750,000 Palestinians in 1948. Some said that Birim and Ikrith residents could return, for they are Christians. But what about the “legal precedent?” Precedent for what? That was not a question to ask. Ikrith and Birim functioned as a perfect camouflage over the entire story: the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

Last week, images from Maroun al-Ras took me back to my youth, when after learning exactly what happened since 1948, my solidarity crossed all the way over to the “other” side. Visiting my remaining family in the kibbutz, I am now met by electric fences, and the automatic gates no longer look natural. By committing the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the kibbutz’s founders predestined their grandchildren to live behind fences forever. According to an Arabic proverb, a thief does not sleep at night, and will not allow anyone else to sleep.

Last week, behind the fence of my childhood, Palestinian refugees gathered to demand return. They protesters looked and sounded exactly like the revolutionaries of Cairo’s Tahrir square. As with the uprising that began in Egypt on 25 January, I could not stop watching the exciting events in Maroun al-Ras, Majdal Shams, Qalandiya and Gaza, wishing I was part of it. Just take down the fences, I thought.

The refugees will one day return, but I am afraid that rivers of blood will be flooded by then. Declaring the immediate return of all refugees and replacing the apartheid state with a democratic state looks to me the most reasonable thing to do right now. But the supremacist will never give up his privileges voluntarily.

And that is exactly what one of the bravest refugees that we saw this month, Hassan Hijazi, told the Israeli press: Palestine will return to its owners only by force.

Hassan Hijazi crossed the Syrian border to the heart of the Zionist project: the white city of Tel Aviv. For a day he wandered around his hometown, Jaffa, a few years before its expected complete Judaization (gentrification) by demolition, expulsions, kicking out its Arab residents — most of them already displaced from the neighboring villages that Israel demolished in 1948.

The new residents are liberal Ashkenazi Jewish Israelis. Fake co-existence projects were the first steps of this latest invasion, serving the new white inhabitants of Jaffa. Now these new residents complain about the voices of the mosque muezzin and the Orthodox church band.

Hassan Hijazi reminded Israelis that he is not going to give up his hometown of Jaffa. For now, Tel Aviv exists as a European colonial bubble protected by the human shield of Sderot, the violent settlers in the West Bank and Jewish-Arab Mizrahim pushed by white gentrification to settlements such as Maale Adumin and Pisgat Zeev. But that bubble, surrounded by fences and more fences, is soon to pop.

Welcome home to Jaffa, Hassan Hijazi — the first returning refugee!

Rahela Mizrahi is a member of a family of Arab Jews which has lived for several generations in Jerusalem. She has a degree in fine arts from the Betzalel Academy in Jerusalem and a degree in Arabic literature and language from Tel Aviv University. In 2006 she signed the petition calling for the cultural boycott of Israel. She lives and works in Tel Aviv.

River to Sea

Uprooted Palestinian

Wednesday, 25 May 2011

Sayyed Nasrallah on Liberation Day 2011: ’’Again..Israel’’ is Weaker than A Spider Web

Nour Rida

On the eleventh anniversary of the Resistance and Liberation Day, the 25th of May 2011, Hizbullah organized a ceremony celebrating the first and sole victory in the region against the so-called unbeatable "Israeli" enemy.

Following the festival program, which included the national anthem and some chants, Hizbullah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah appeared via video-link to address the people gathering in the rally, this time in Baalbeck, in The Martyr Sayyed Abbas Moussawi shrine.

Thousands of people cheered, chanted and, waved their flags as Sayyed nasrallah appeared on screen to deliver his speech on this victorious day.

Hizbullah Secretary General at the beginning thanked the crowds of people who gathered to take part in this ceremony. Addressing the people, he hoped they would accept their humble participation and waiting in the sun as part of the 30 year struggle of the resistance fighters under the heat of the sun a nd in face of the Zionist enemy. The leader congratulated the people, the Islamic and Arab world on this day also as it coincides with the birth of Sayyida Fatima Al Zahraa, daughter of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH)
Choosing the location of the festival had a message, Sayyed Nasrallah, which is that this area was of the first Lebanese areas that witnessed the birth of the Resistance and was a bridge of communication between the Lebanese resistance fighters particularly during the occupation.
Sayyed Nasrallah also recalled the sacrifices of Sayyed Abbas, and the lands that were drenched with the bloods of the martyrs in the Bekaa as they trained and fought against the enemy, and reminded this land will always be part of the Resistance path.

Sayyed Nasrallah divided his speech on the festival event, the Palestinian cause, the situation in the Arab world, Syria, Lebanon. Also he tackled the latest speeches of the two "Leaders of occupation" concerning Lebanon and the region.
"In this speech, I will talk about the event [Liberation day], the situation in Palestine, the Arab world, Syria and finally in Lebanon. I will also be concerned to discuss the political event that cannot be ignored, hence, the stances and speeches Obama and Netanyahu declared in the recent days," Sayyed Nasrallah said.

Sayyed Nasrallah reiterated this ceremony does not concern a certain people, sect, or party. He said that the 25th of May is the fruit of all sacrifics since the year 1948, adding "This ceremony is eternal, because what happened on that day changed the face of the region. There is a strategic and moral need to commemorate this holiday. In modern history, there is the Nakba day and the Naksa day, and our nation needs days of victories in order to get rid of the moral, spiritual, political, and military meanings of the Nakba [Catasrophe] and the Naksa [Setback] during the dark days then."

US-"Israel" Gave Deadly Strike on Palestine...Arab Peace Initiative Should Come to An End!

The Resistance leader moved on to discuss the Palestinian cause. He reminded of the speeches made by "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama in which in the AIPAC conference before the congress. Sayyed Nasrallah said that such speeches make us only realize more that our decisions have been correct all the way from the beginning. "The events during the past three decades have proved that the correct, realistic, logical, productive choice which allows reaching the targets and aims is the choice of the popular armed resistance," Sayyed explained.

Reiterating the reiterating the importance of this resistance, Sayyed Nasrallah said that "if we were to wait in Lebanon for a national consensus, an Arab united stance, or an international move, our land would have still been under occupation and "Israel" would have remained in Lebanon as an occupation, and settlements would have been built on the territories of Lebanon. The resistance in fact achieved the desired result, liberated the land and retrieved the dignities with no conditions."

Also, recalling the words of Netanyahu in the year 2007, which again reiterate the righteous path of the resistance, Sayyed Nasrallah quoted the Zionist PM as saying that "the historic path of the "Israeli" entity has been turned upside-down since the beginning of the withdrawal from Lebanon in the year 2000 all the way until the "Israeli" withdrawal from the Gaza strip. And so, in the eyes of the Arabs "Israel" is no longer invincible." That same fear Netanyhu lived in 2007; Sayyed Nasrallah said was obvious in his eyes during his speech in the AIPAC conference, as he spoke about the rockets of Hizbullah and Hamas.

Hizbullah SG said that the latest speeches of Netanyahu and Obama were an unprecedented assurance that both entities are to preserve their mutual security. "Obama renewed his commitment to "Israel's" security and its prevalence over the region. He pushed the US-"Israeli" relations and cooperation to an unprecedented level. He declared his rejection to a Palestinian State and rejected the reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, and talked about an unarmed Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and then backed up after two days."

Continuing on Netanyahu, Sayyed Nasrallah went on to say "As for Netanyahu, there were more applause than talk in the Congress as he gave his speech, which means that both Republicans and Democrats totally agree on what he said.

Netanyahu said he wants al-Quds as an eternal capital to "Israel", and that the Palestinian refugee issue should be discussed outside the borders, wants an acknowledgement to a Jewish "Israeli" state and "Israeli" military presence at the Jordan River, and a Palestinian armless State with total rejection to the 1967 borders. He also asked (PA head Mahmoud) Abbas to tear apart any agreement with Hamas and return to negotiations."

Sayyed Nasrallah said all that is misleading and that there is nothing left for the Palestinians to negotiate for, adding "the US and "Israel" clearly determined their stances, who is the friend and who is the foe when they talked about Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas. Yesterday, Netanyahu and Obama delivered the final and deadly strike to the so-called Arab peace process." Hizbullah SG demanded that this initiative be pulled out after the speeches of the US and "Israeli" leaders.

Ending on the Palestinian issue, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the Palestinians have no other choice than resistance to realize liberation. "I call you all to meet together and gather around this choice, l call on all the Ummah to embrace the choice of the resistance as the entire ummah is threatened," Sayyed Nasrallah concluded.

US-"Israeli" Hypocrisy Ongoing, People Should Beware of the US Policies

Concerning the situation in the Arab world, Sayyed Nasrallah said that there have been some rumors by some media outlets and internet websites particularly in Lebanon quoting a NATO Forces General, saying that Hizbullah has military bases in Ben Ghazi [Libya] or quoting the Libyan government as saying that Hizbullah snipers are present in Misrata. "This is not true," Sayyed Nasrallah said. He explained that such was the case in Yemen at the time there were clashes between the Yemeni government and the Houthis, as some went to claim that Hizbullah is fighting in Yemen and has some 50 martyrs. So was the case when a Syrian TV claimed that some 3000 Hizbullah fighters also are in Damascus fighting and supporting the Syrian government. "I tell all the liars in the Arab world, whether these were channels, newspapers, or websites that they write for the money of Feltman," His Eminence pointed out adding "Any military interference in any Arab country in not our responsibility, and if we do go some day to a certain battle field, we have the guts to say that we are there to fight and get martyred."

Hizbullah leader, addressing the Arab revolutions said "We have been united in our stances, on the side of the peoples in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Bahrain." He warned that "America and "Israel" want to confiscate these revolutions, which was clear in Obama's sweet talk addressing the Arab revolutions [in his speech]. Sayyed Nasrallah further tackled Obama and Netanyahu hypocrisy and double standards on the Arab world and people. He said that Netanyahu harshly humiliated Arab leaders, Kings, Princes, and regimes when he said that 300 million Arabs do not enjoy any freedom, dignity or democracy. Answering Netanyahu His Eminence said "If the rest of the world does not want to answer you, I tell you, we in Lebanon are the free people of the world, and we made this freedom with our blood, victories and sword." He reiterated his support to the Arab revolutionary peoples in their demand and action of reforms.

Again moving on to Obama, Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted an example on the US President's disrespect as he has remained in Iraq as an occupying force, calling on the revolutionary people to beware the American policies as they should not fall for these policies anymore.

Collapse of Syrian Regime...An "Israeli"-American Interest

Moving on to the Situation in Syria, Sayyed Nasrallah said Syria has presented so much to Lebanon, as it prevented division in Lebanon and the region, stopped the bloody civil war in Lebanon, and supported Lebanon and its resistance and so Lebanon achieved the 1985 liberation in Mount Lebanon, Beirut, Saida, and Tyr all the way until the liberation day on the 25th of May 2000, when all Lebanon was liberated except for the Kafarshouba Hills and Shebaa farms, not to mention the 2007 victory after the July war.

"No one denies that Syria has committed mistakes, but no one can deny the historic achievement of Syria to Lebanon, also Syria's stance on "Israel" and the Palestinian Resistance, in addition to Syria's stance on the new Middle East Project," Hizbullah SG said reiterating the Syrian positive role that cannot be ignored. Also, on the internal Syrian situation, Sayyed Nasrallah said that Syrian President Bashar Al Assad believes in reform and is serious in his attempt of reforms in the country. His Eminence underscored that the majority of the Syrian people still support Al Assad and his regime, and that the collapse of the Syrian regime is an American-"Israeli" interest.

"All these issues imply that we, as Lebanese and as a Resistance movement in face of "Israel" should take a responsible stance. First, we should all be concerned about the stability and security of Syria, whether the regime, the people or the army. Second, we call on the Syrians to preserve their country and their resistance regime and to give this regime the space to execute reforms. Third, we as Lebanese should not interfere in Syrian affairs. Fourth we should reject any sanctions, which the US and the West raised and wanted Lebanon to abide by and I say, this was one of the goals of the Feltman latest visit to Lebanon." Sayyed Nasrallah concluded on Syria, reminding that a strong Syria is in the interest of Syria, Lebanon and the entire Arab Ummah.

STL American-"Israeli" Project, US and West Demands Hamper Government Formation

On the Lebanese arena, Sayyed Nasrallah tackled the accusation Obama pointed at Hizbullah during the AIPAC speech when he said that Hizbullah is executing political assassinations. "US hostility towards the Resistance is not new," Sayyed Nasrallah said. He explained that the US pays pledge to "Israel" with such words, words based on no evidence. "This assures what we said earlier about what is being prepared, which comes in contest of the conspiracy of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and he [Obama] declared what we were waiting [STL General Prosecutor] Daniel Bellemare to declare," Sayyed Nasrallah said. He further noted that Obama's speech assured that the tribunal is American-"Israeli' where the US is the prosecutor, the judge and the executioner.

"The US, which speaks about political assassination is the country most involved in political assassination. I remind Obama of what investigations and facts proved, that American intelligence was behind the car bombing in the crowded street of Bir Al Abed, which targeted Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah back then and led to the martyrdom of hundreds of Lebanese most of which were women and children," Sayyed Nasrallah reminded.

Sarcastically, Sayyed Nasrallah said he had the honor to be a target to Obama and Netanyahu, reiterating "When they attack us we feel proud, because this mean we are of great importance and position in the regional and local equation," his eminence said reminding that this is one of the teachings of Imam Khomeini, as when the devil praises you, you should be concerned.

Concerning the government formation, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the new majority has not been able to form a government so far, which is no problem. He recalled how certain sides in Lebanon instigated tension when said that an overthrow is being prepared by Hizbullah, but soon they figured out there is no such thing. Still, Sayyed said, these cries were messages to the US and the West and some Arab countries, because Hizbullah was ‘taking over the country' as they claim. His Eminence assured that the government formation has been hampered due to American and European demands even though all sides try to deny this fact.

Sayyed Nasrallah said "Concerning the government, we believe that a government should be formed as soon as possible, and that the country cannot remain in void like that. There is no replacement for the government as it is the base in solving and facing problems in the country," Sayyed Nasrallah assured. He underscored that it is the concern and in the interest of the Hizbullah to have a strong and capable government that can resolve crisis in the country, as Hizbulah does not want to form a state within another state, but rather wants a one State. His Eminence Assured that more effort will be put to form a government without any pressure.
Hizbullah leader said that Hizbullah supports parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's initiative to reactivate the Parliament and pointed out that the party will take part in the sessions to be held.

Nothing Intimidates the Resistance, "Israel" is Weaker than A Spider Web

He finally reassured that neither Obama nor Netanyahu or their military fleets intimidate the Resistance, saying "We belong to this land which defeated all fleets in 1982, we are not afraid of intimidation or threats. What Netanyahu said should be a message to all those who discuss the resistance arms. Netanyahu himself fears the rockets that will remain to protect Lebanon and that will remain to be present in the regional equation. No one in Lebanon or in the entire world can disarm us." He also saluted the souls of those who fell martyrs on the Nakba anniversary at the borders with Palestine on the 15th of May in Maroun Al Ras and Majdal Shams.

Hizbullah Secretary General at the very end, reiterated that the Resistance will remain loyal to its aims, path, pains, blood, martyrs, reminding "Again I tell you like I said in 2006, the time of victories has arrived and that of defeats has gone. "Israel", which I said on 25 May 2000 is weaker than a spider web, and repeated the same phrase after the July war and Gaza war, the Maroun Al Ras and Majdal Shams incidents, again I say, I swear, "Israel' is weaker than a spider web."

River to Sea

Uprooted Palestinian

US Embassy In Lebanon: 'We've Asked For Clarification Regarding 'Nakba Day' Events At Maroun Al-Ras'

Via FLC

(US General discussed LAF's role on Nakba day with ISF's Ashraf Rifi? at least this is what MEMRI 'translated')

"The U.S. Embassy in Beirut has said that during his visit to Beirut May 19-20, U.S. Gen. John Charlton met with Ashraf Rifi and asked for clarifications regarding the "Nakba Day" events at Maroun Al-Ras. Charlton underlined the importance of cooperation between the two countries' militaries, and the tightening of relations between them, which would soon be manifested in a visit by a high-level Lebanese military delegation to Washington."

Posted by G, M, Z, or B at 12:39 PM

River to Sea

Uprooted Palestinian