Without Popular Mobilization, ISIL Would Be in Arab Rulers’ Palaces Now
During a live televised speech on Sunday, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah also highlighted Hezbollah’s contribution to the fight against ISIL in Iraq and Syria.
He noted that ISIL has committed atrocities against all Iraqis, including Shias and Sunnis, stressing that what ISIL did to Sunnis was even worse than what it did to Shias.
Nasrallah censured a recent decision by the Arab member states of the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council to list Hezbollah as a terrorist group, saying that Arab states should have gone to Iraq to defend Iraqis against terrorism not describe those who defend Iraq as terrorist.
He also underlined Hezbollah did not wait for any orders to initiate its anti-terror fight in Syria and only fulfilled its religious commitment.
Last week, the six-nation Arab bloc issued a statement labeling Hezbollah a terrorist organization. The PGCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Elsewhere the Hezbollah leader said those who assume that the Arab regimes will protect Lebanon have "pinned their hopes on a fantasy.”
Had Lebanon waited for a unified Arab strategy in the face of Israel instead of opting to resist against the occupying regime, "then the fate of this territory would have been the same as the fate of the territories Israel has taken control of,” he said.
"Many of these Arab countries today, who designate us as terrorists, what do they have to do with this resistance and these victories and these achievements?” Nasrallah said.
Israel unleashed an all-out offensive on Lebanon 10 years ago under the pretext of releasing Israeli soldiers allegedly captured by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. The invasion claimed the lives of nearly 1,200 Lebanese people, most of them civilians.
The Tel Aviv regime was, however, forced to retreat without achieving any of its objectives after Hezbollah fighters displayed heavy resistance against the Israeli military.
"Back then, we said to them (the Arab countries) ‘we don’t want anything from you… Today, we also say to them, to these regimes, ‘We don’t want anything from you. We don’t want money, nor do we want weapons, nor do we want support or blessing,” he said. "Just leave this resistance alone, leave this country alone, and leave this people alone.”
He blamed some Arab regimes for conspiring against anyone standing against Israel.
Nasrallah’s speech was delivered at a ceremony held in Beirut to commemorate martyred Hezbollah commander Ali Fayad.
Fayad was killed late last month in the fight against foreign-backed Takfiri terrorists in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.
His funeral was held on Friday, February 26, with the participation of a large number people in Southern Lebanon.
Fayad was also known as "Alaa of Bosnia” for his part in defending innocent Bosnian Muslims against Serbian aggression in the 1990s.
