Monday, April 13, 2009

Bin Nasrallah

Tariq Alhomayed
Asharq Alawsat

What do Hassan Nasrallah and Osama Bin Laden have in common?

Both of them do not believe in states, borders and international laws. Their followers only move around as sleeper cells, with Osama’s men reaching the United States and Bin Nasrallah’s men reaching Egypt. The Hezbollah leader is proud of his crime of violating Egypt’s borders based on the pretext of supporting the Palestinians with no consideration for Egypt’s sovereignty. He completely ignored the fact that Egypt has a government and state apparatus and most importantly that Egypt is not a place where Sultan Hassan Nasrallah can send his men and his army as he pleases.

Nasrallah’s most recent televised speech that was broadcast last Thursday was yet another demonstration of being drunk with power, which has blinded the Hezbollah leader, as he distorted information in a continuous manner. He said that he was repeating for the fifth time that he does not want anything from anyone and [wants Arab regimes] “to leave us alone just as I said in the 2006 war.” This is not true; what Nasrallah said in that war was that anyone who loved Lebanon must put a stop to the conflict. He also stated that he does not interfere with other countries; so why did Britain negotiate with him over a group of hostages held in Iraq, which includes a leading figure of Hezbollah? This raises another question: what was this leader doing in Baghdad?

Moreover, in his recent speech, Bin Nasrallah leveled accusations against the press – the so-called “Gulf” press – regarding his party’s role in Bahrain. He was forgetting that the accusation cast against Hezbollah came from the Bahraini Interior Minister, not from the press.

The biggest issue however is Hezbollah’s ties with Iran, as Bin Nasrallah said that the relationship with Tehran is based on respect; the truth is that the relationship is built on subordination. In a speech delivered on May 26, 2008, Bin Nasrallah himself publicly stated that he was proud to be a member of the Wilayat al Faqih party and for that reason we always say that Bin Nasrallah is nothing like us!

As for sectarianism and “Shiification,” we all know that Nasrallah is sectarian to the core, suffice it to mention the acts carried out by his men against the Sunnis of Beirut during the May 7 coup. As he attempted to clear himself of the charges of sectarianism, Bin Nasrallah fell into the biggest trap as he said that he is nothing like “Al Qaeda” only to add, “My apologies to the Al Qaeda organization”!

Nasrallah’s speech does not mean much to those who are aware of the danger this party poses. However, it is more evidence for those who continue to deny its danger and defend it whether they are in Egypt or in other Arab countries. Nasrallah’s speech is a predicament for the Iranian lobby in Cairo; what will the members of this lobby, particularly Egyptian intellectuals on Iran, have to say now?

The danger of Bin Nasrallah and those like him is that they strive to overthrow governments and create chaos in regions within our own Arab territories in the interest of Iran so that our countries will follow in the footsteps of Lebanon where there is no respect for authority or the state as whole. Consequently, our countries will become fertile ground for weapons and violence. The excuse that is given of course is that this is all for the sake of defending Palestine, just as Bin Nasrallah said. This is the same excuse that Saddam Hussein used when he occupied Kuwait; the same excuse that Bin Laden used after he caused havoc in our countries and throughout the world; and the same excuse used by a battalion of criminals in our region.

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