Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah Incites Egyptian People to Defy Their Government

Following are excerpts from a speech by Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Manar TV on December 28, 2008.

Hassan Nasrallah: So far, we have been talking civilly, making pleas, but after what happened yesterday, we say to the Egyptian regime: "Oh Egyptian official, unless you open the Rafah border crossing, unless you help your brethren in Gaza, you will be accomplices to the crime, accomplices to the killing, accomplices to the siege, and accomplices in generating the Palestinian catastrophe.

Masses: We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

Hassan Nasrallah: The Egyptian officials should hear this message from all the peoples of the Arab and Islamic world – from the religious scholars, from the political parties, from the elite groups, from the intellectuals, from the journalists, from the different echelons of society. They must know that they will be condemned by the nation, by history, by the prophets, and by the martyrs, unless they take a stand appropriate to an event of such human and historic proportions.

The message is directed, first and foremost, to the Egyptian people – to this proud, fighting, honorable, courageous, Muslim, Arab people. We all know what is in the heart and mind of the Egyptian people. Let the Egyptian people take to the streets in millions. Will the Egyptian police be able to kill millions of Egyptians? It will not. We all address our call to the Egyptian people, because this people is located on the land of the regime which blocks the Rafah border crossing. Oh the Egyptian people, you must open this crossing with your bare hands. I do not give empty advice to anyone. I am speaking as a member of the resistance that fought for 33 days, and as a member of a people that fought and sacrificed martyrs.

Masses: We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

We respond to your call, oh Nasrallah.

Hassan Nasrallah: We hear and know that the officers and soldiers of the Egyptian army continue to preserve their Arab roots and their anti-Zionist positions despite the dozens of years that have passed since the Camp David Accords. That is what we know about them. I am not calling for a coup in Egypt. I am not in a position to do so. But the officers and generals in Egypt should go to the political leadership and say: "The honor of our uniform, our belonging to the military, and the stars on our shoulders do not permit us to watch our people being slaughtered in Gaza, while we protect the borders of Israel."