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| Pressed on Syria, Hezbollah Leader Urges Focus on Israel | |
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| BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a rare public appearance on Friday, Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, urged Arabs and Muslims to stay focused on opposing Israel despite bitter disagreements over the Syrian war, and declared that his Shiite followers would not bend in the face of rising anti-Shiite sentiment among those who oppose his support for the Syrian government. | BEIRUT, Lebanon — In a rare public appearance on Friday, Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, urged Arabs and Muslims to stay focused on opposing Israel despite bitter disagreements over the Syrian war, and declared that his Shiite followers would not bend in the face of rising anti-Shiite sentiment among those who oppose his support for the Syrian government. |
| It was the first time in nearly six years that Mr. Nasrallah delivered a speech in public; since Hezbollah battled Israel in 2006, he has stayed largely underground, fearing assassination, and has relayed his speeches via video. The half-hour appearance, at a rally in a hall in southern Beirut, came a day after Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, was filmed visiting the heavily contested Damascus suburb of Daraya, and appeared aimed at building on the message of confidence that Mr. Assad had sought to project. | It was the first time in nearly six years that Mr. Nasrallah delivered a speech in public; since Hezbollah battled Israel in 2006, he has stayed largely underground, fearing assassination, and has relayed his speeches via video. The half-hour appearance, at a rally in a hall in southern Beirut, came a day after Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, was filmed visiting the heavily contested Damascus suburb of Daraya, and appeared aimed at building on the message of confidence that Mr. Assad had sought to project. |
| Speaking on Al Quds Day, also known as Jerusalem Day, Mr. Nasrallah, a bodyguard standing stiffly beside him, also invoked the Palestinian cause to shore up his party’s legitimacy inside Lebanon. A day earlier, President Michel Suleiman of Lebanon called, for the first time, for the Lebanese state to rein in the ability of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group and political party, to act as an independent military organization, a right it claims on the ground that it is the only group able to defend Lebanon from Israel. | Speaking on Al Quds Day, also known as Jerusalem Day, Mr. Nasrallah, a bodyguard standing stiffly beside him, also invoked the Palestinian cause to shore up his party’s legitimacy inside Lebanon. A day earlier, President Michel Suleiman of Lebanon called, for the first time, for the Lebanese state to rein in the ability of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group and political party, to act as an independent military organization, a right it claims on the ground that it is the only group able to defend Lebanon from Israel. |
| Hezbollah’s rivals argue that it has forfeited that right by unilaterally sending fighters not to Israel but to Syria to battle an uprising that many Lebanese support. While the government lacks the ability to challenge Hezbollah militarily, the controversy has threatened Hezbollah’s political dominance, helped to bring down the government and left the state paralyzed under a caretaker prime minister. | Hezbollah’s rivals argue that it has forfeited that right by unilaterally sending fighters not to Israel but to Syria to battle an uprising that many Lebanese support. While the government lacks the ability to challenge Hezbollah militarily, the controversy has threatened Hezbollah’s political dominance, helped to bring down the government and left the state paralyzed under a caretaker prime minister. |
| Mr. Nasrallah also made his sharpest and most direct comments to date on the rising sectarian tone of the conflicts in and over Syria. He has long said Hezbollah is fighting in Syria not to defend Shiite interests, but to fend off an extremist rebel movement that threatens the entire region and to defend a Syrian government that he sees as a champion of Palestinians. | Mr. Nasrallah also made his sharpest and most direct comments to date on the rising sectarian tone of the conflicts in and over Syria. He has long said Hezbollah is fighting in Syria not to defend Shiite interests, but to fend off an extremist rebel movement that threatens the entire region and to defend a Syrian government that he sees as a champion of Palestinians. |
| But on Friday, he declared, to cheers, “Many times I speak as a nationalist, as a Muslim, but I’m going to speak as a Shiite.” | But on Friday, he declared, to cheers, “Many times I speak as a nationalist, as a Muslim, but I’m going to speak as a Shiite.” |
| He noted the rising attacks on Shiites in Iraq and Pakistan and the extreme anti-Shiite statements that have become common in some strains of the Syrian insurgency, a mostly Sunni movement. Mr. Assad is an ally of Shiite Iran, and his security forces are dominated by his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. | He noted the rising attacks on Shiites in Iraq and Pakistan and the extreme anti-Shiite statements that have become common in some strains of the Syrian insurgency, a mostly Sunni movement. Mr. Assad is an ally of Shiite Iran, and his security forces are dominated by his Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam. |
| “Say what you want; call us terrorists, call us criminals, try and kill us wherever you want,” Mr. Nasrallah said. “We shall not abandon Palestine.” | “Say what you want; call us terrorists, call us criminals, try and kill us wherever you want,” Mr. Nasrallah said. “We shall not abandon Palestine.” |
| Mr. Nasrallah appeared to be simultaneously trying to rally his Shiite base, to address its fear and anger after a recent car bomb wounded more than 50 people in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold, and to shore up wider support that has been drained by the group’s stance on Syria. | Mr. Nasrallah appeared to be simultaneously trying to rally his Shiite base, to address its fear and anger after a recent car bomb wounded more than 50 people in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold, and to shore up wider support that has been drained by the group’s stance on Syria. |
| Alluding to the tensions between Hezbollah and its longtime Palestinian ally, Hamas, which moved its leadership out of Syria last year, Mr. Nasrallah called for dialogue and said, “Whatever be the other issues which we might disagree on, the commitment must always be to Palestine.” | Alluding to the tensions between Hezbollah and its longtime Palestinian ally, Hamas, which moved its leadership out of Syria last year, Mr. Nasrallah called for dialogue and said, “Whatever be the other issues which we might disagree on, the commitment must always be to Palestine.” |
| Mr. Nasrallah has sought to justify Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria — which has helped Mr. Assad reclaim some areas long held by rebels — by arguing that the Syrian revolution was instigated by Israel and its Western allies. | Mr. Nasrallah has sought to justify Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria — which has helped Mr. Assad reclaim some areas long held by rebels — by arguing that the Syrian revolution was instigated by Israel and its Western allies. |
| “They are trying push the people to focus on another enemy, inventing other wars,” he said. | “They are trying push the people to focus on another enemy, inventing other wars,” he said. |
| But Hezbollah’s critics say it is Mr. Nasrallah whose focus has pivoted from Israel to fight fellow Arab Muslims in Syria. Hezbollah has lost the support of many Palestinian refugees in Syria, tens of thousands of whom have been displaced by the fighting. | But Hezbollah’s critics say it is Mr. Nasrallah whose focus has pivoted from Israel to fight fellow Arab Muslims in Syria. Hezbollah has lost the support of many Palestinian refugees in Syria, tens of thousands of whom have been displaced by the fighting. |
| It is also not uncommon for Mr. Assad’s Syrian opponents to say that the fight against Hezbollah and the Syrian government is more urgent than that against Israel, and that Syrian security forces have killed more Syrians during the uprising than Israel ever did. Mr. Nasrallah responded by saying, “Israel represents a permanent and grave danger to all the countries and all the peoples of this region.” | It is also not uncommon for Mr. Assad’s Syrian opponents to say that the fight against Hezbollah and the Syrian government is more urgent than that against Israel, and that Syrian security forces have killed more Syrians during the uprising than Israel ever did. Mr. Nasrallah responded by saying, “Israel represents a permanent and grave danger to all the countries and all the peoples of this region.” |
| The thinking of those who do not view it as the primary threat “reflects ignorance,” he added. The conflicts arising from the Arab uprisings, Mr. Nasrallah said, are political, not sectarian, in nature, but, he argued, in diverse countries like Syria, Lebanon and Bahrain, outside forces have tried to turn them sectarian “so that we Shiites forget Palestine and we forget Al Quds.” | The thinking of those who do not view it as the primary threat “reflects ignorance,” he added. The conflicts arising from the Arab uprisings, Mr. Nasrallah said, are political, not sectarian, in nature, but, he argued, in diverse countries like Syria, Lebanon and Bahrain, outside forces have tried to turn them sectarian “so that we Shiites forget Palestine and we forget Al Quds.” |
| Israel, which Mr. Nasrallah called “a cancer” that must be eradicated, has said it is not interfering in Syria’s conflict. American officials say Israel has bombed Syria several times to prevent the government from transferring strategic weapons to Hezbollah. | Israel, which Mr. Nasrallah called “a cancer” that must be eradicated, has said it is not interfering in Syria’s conflict. American officials say Israel has bombed Syria several times to prevent the government from transferring strategic weapons to Hezbollah. |
Hwaida Saad contributed reporting. | Hwaida Saad contributed reporting. |