Following are excerpts from an address by Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr at a public rally in Najaf, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on January 7, 2011.
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2754.htm.
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "Iraq has been through difficult conditions, which have stricken everybody with fear, have upset everybody, and have not pleased anybody – with the exception of our common enemy – America, Israel, and Britain.
"Repeat after me: No, no, America."
Crowds: "No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "What, are you afraid of America?! No, no, America."
Crowds: "No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America.
"No, no, America."
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "Well done. Well done.
"No, no, Israel."
Crowds: "No, no, Israel.
"No, no, Israel.
"No, no, Israel.
"No, no, Israel.
"No, no, Israel.
"No, no, Israel."
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "We have not forgotten the occupiers. We continue to conduct resistance. We are still conducting resistance against the occupiers – military resistance, cultural resistance, all form of resistance.
"Repeat after me: No, no occupier."
Crowds: "No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier."
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "Let the whole world hear that the Iraqi people reject the occupier and Falsehood: No, no, Falsehood."
Crowds: "No, no, Falsehood.
"No, no, Falsehood.
"No, no, Falsehood.
"No, no, Falsehood.
"No, no, Falsehood.
"No, no, Falsehood."
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "Let us annoy the American occupier by chanting once again: No, no, occupier."
Crowds: "No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier.
"No, no, occupier."
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "Well done. Let us annoy them some more: Yes, yes, resistance."
Crowds: "Yes, yes, resistance.
"Yes, yes, resistance.
"Yes, yes, resistance.
"Yes, yes, resistance." [...]
Muqtada Al-Sadr: "The Iraqi government has been established. The Iraqi government has been established, with all its ministers. If the government serves the people, its security, and its well-being, and if it provides the people with services, we will support it, and not oppose it. Listen, we all support the government if it serves the Iraqi people.
"If it does not serve the Iraqi people, there are measures – only political ones – that need to be taken, in order to reform the government. This is a new government, and we must give it a chance to prove that it serves the people." [...]
