Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Nasrallah and War on Egypt | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Rather than having to listen to him, I read a transcript of the speech delivered by “king” Hassan Nasrallah, as there is a difference between watching the performance of the leader of the Iranian-affiliated party and actually reading what he said. Nasrallah did not hesitate in attacking Egypt, and calling on the Arabs to make today, and every day, another Battle of Karbala!

Nasrallah incited the Egyptians against their own country and leadership, accusing Egypt of treason and of playing a part in the crime [of the Israeli attack on Gaza]. Nasrallah also attacked the Arab countries that have signed peace agreements with Israel, calling for Egypt and the Arab world to take up arms and support Hamas and the resistance. He considered the disproportionate difference in strength an excuse for the weak, saying that martyrdom and sacrifice were inevitable.

This is what Nasrallah said, but what he failed to mention is far more important and dangerous. Nasrallah did not dare say a word about the Syrian who announced his willingness for direct negotiation with Israel despite the escalation of aggression in Gaza committed by the Israeli machine. Instead of mentioning this, he decided to attack Egypt.

The other issue is that Nasrallah asked about the whereabouts of “our oil and money”. Let us ask him; what happened to the “pure” money, and where is [Iranian-built] Shahab 1 or even Shahab 10 to help rescue Hamas? Instead of Nasrallah declaring war on Israel in solidarity with Hamas or Gaza, he declared war on Egypt.

Hamas rushed to Hezbollah’s rescue in 2006 [Israel-Hezbollah summer war] following the abduction of two Israeli soldiers at the hands of Hezbollah, and even opened up another battlefront by abducting Gilad Shalit themselves, so why has Nasrallah not come to Hamas’s rescue today, especially considering that Khalid Meshal said that Hamas was awaiting action, not words, from Hezbollah?

Hassan Nasrallah, who made an appearance on Sunday to stir up the Arabs and Arabism, who is the same man who occupied Beirut and tortured its Sunni citizens, along with Iranian agents and nobody else, today wants us to follow the instructions of [Supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah] Khamenei. This is what Nasrallah called for in his recent speech.

What many did not notice in Nasrallah’s address is that he devoted half of the speech to attacking Egypt and incitement against it, whilst the second half was devoted to attacking elements within Lebanon. Do you know why? This is one point.

Nasrallah says that he has no knowledge of the Katyusha rockets discovered in South Lebanon a few days ago, saying that those who claim that Hezbollah knew about these rockets are finding excuses for Israel to wage a war against his party. Half of his speech was about that.

So if Nasrallah doesn’t want to provide Israel with an excuse, shouldn’t it be the same for Gaza? Shouldn’t Hamas turn away from Iranian assistance to strengthen it when all this does is torture the people of Gaza and subject them to brutal Israeli force?

Why should there be no excuse with regards to Lebanon whilst at the same time, Ismail Haniyeh calls for the people of Gaza to persevere until obliteration? Why does seek to ensure that there is no excuse in Lebanon whilst there are calls for Egypt to surrender its security and decisions to Hamas and Iran, and to be dragged into another war with Israel? Would it not be more useful to call on “steadfast Syria” to open a battlefront along the Golan Heights, rather than asking Egypt?

The only advantage to Nasrallah’s speech is that it revealed to the world what we have been saying the whole time: that Iran is a real threat to Arab security, as today it launched a war against Egypt, tomorrow against Saudi Arabia, and then the whole house of cards will collapse.