Youths walk in Khiam, Lebanon, past Hezbollah's mock rockets at the former Zionist prison that was destroyed in the 2006 war. Photo: Mahmoud Zayyat/Agence France-Presse.
By Ibrahim al-Amin – Nov 1, 2024
There is nothing better than clarity in war. This is precisely what Benjamin Netanyahu practices without ambiguity. All his theatrics do not prevent him from being explicit when it comes to the core of his project. What he declares reflects—as facts indicate—the project of the vast majority of the settlers in the occupation entity, a project that enjoys genuine support from a world that has interests in supporting everything carried out by this “Hitler of the era.”
Yesterday, Netanyahu summarized in a short speech the essence of what he has been working on for many years. He told his people, as he told us, to prepare for a long and wide-scale war throughout the region. This challenge must be redirected to all those who speak to us about peace and settlement with the Zionist entity, or call us to bow before the storm, or hold us accountable for its open crimes across the region. Netanyahu’s allies have been clear that their expansionist project knows no bounds. While the Americans, along with some Europeans, want to convince Palestinians that surrendering to the enemy is the best way to curb its aggression, what they have done and continue to do for over a year in Gaza has resulted only in more killing.
The day before yesterday, the clown Amos Hochstein returned with a new proposal. To be fair, the problem does not lie with the man who does what he is skilled at or is required to do, but with those who still listen to him and take his words to heart, and those who believe that the Americans are in a position to pressure “Israel” to stop the war on Lebanon.
Practically, we face one truth: “Israel” is an enemy operating with the same mindset, spirit, and tools against Gaza and Lebanon, having initiated the same in Syria, is preparing to move to Iraq, and later Yemen. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is not hiding his ongoing preparations to strike Iran.
Those who call for separating the fields refuse to understand that what “Israel” is doing, with clear backing from the United States, Britain, Germany, and the partnership of some Arab countries, is forcefully unifying these fronts. Those who call for keeping the fronts separate fail to understand that the enemy, through its very existence and actions, is the one forcing these fronts to unite and escalating the struggle against all those who believe that “Israel” is an evil that must be eliminated.
Given this situation, the project of resistance is the only option, the alternative being a life or death of hunger, oppression, and humiliation. Those who lecture us about sovereignty, freedom, and national dignity, yet are willing to throw the country into crisis over something as minor as a political appointment or forest guard position, must understand that life’s most important lesson is taking the right stand on truly crucial issues. Those who continue to blame the resistance of being responsible for what is happening must know that from now on that they are partners in this aggression. They must understand that taking a clear position on the root nature of “Israeli” aggression is essential. If they choose to shirk their national duty—even as they claim to defend sovereignty—then they have no right to question why others are fulfilling their duty, sacrificing everything to defend their existence, fighting for their right to live freely, and pursuing genuine independence.
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Lebanese people must grasp that the American and “Israeli” agreement that is being offered to them is nothing but surrender. And they must understand that in this country, there are those who will not surrender.
As for those who speak endlessly about independence while steering the country toward a dangerous gamble, they should be aware of the grave danger in agreeing to and participating in placing the state’s political, military, security, judicial, and financial institutions under American colonial control. It must be said to those who think that the current harsh war allows or permits the American occupier to impose realities on the internal mechanisms in Lebanon, that they are deluded if they believe this will occur without resistance. Those among the Lebanese, Arabs, and Westerners—foremost the United States—who have not read history well, should only look back to the time when “Israel” occupied Beirut, installed a president for the republic, and brought in NATO forces to protect its interests, only for everything to dissipate in just a few years. This happened because what was imposed was neither real nor representative of the aspirations of the people of this country.
As for those who raise their voices today, wielding the “Israeli” stick to threaten us and behaving arrogantly towards the resistance and its popular cradle, should ask themselves: what prevents this monstrous army, with all its unprecedented firepower and aerial capabilities, from occupying a village in southern Lebanon? When they receive the obvious answer [about why “Israel” can’t occupy Lebanese villages], they should understand that the Lebanese people need only to mobilize to stop any collaborator with the occupation from creating internal discord. And these same people have both the courage and capability to hold the enemy’s Western partners accountable – particularly the Americans, British, and Germans. It seems these people are confused in how they handle their “Lebanese affairs,” so we might as well help them understand this reality: The same “rational thinking” that has guided the masses and urged them to maintain the “appearance of state institutions” for decades—this same public can use that very “rational thinking” to do what is necessary in defense of our sacred existence!
The fortunate thing about what has happened is that Netanyahu has made things easier for everyone to understand by announcing that his war is ongoing. He publicly stated his intention to expand the war further against Lebanon and across the region, all the way to Iran. And it is beneficial that he addressed the Americans directly, so that those betting on US intervention will understand that this war is ongoing and will be long-lasting. And then, no voice will be louder than the voice of the battlefield.
Translation: Resistance News Network, with additional translation by Orinoco Tribune
OT/DZ/SC
Ibrahim Al-Amin
Ibrahim Al-Amin is a Lebanese journalist, and the editor-in-chief of the Lebanese publication Al Akhbar.
