Political Crossfire Forums

[lester1/2jr]

Hizbollah promises Israel a blood-filled new year, Iran calls for Israel’s end


December 31, 1999

BEIRUT (AP) - Lebanon’s Hizbollah guerrillas warned Israel tody that they would usher in the New Year with more suicide attacks against Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon.

In a scathing speech to a rally of more than 1,000 supporters, Hizbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said peace deals between Arabs and Israel would not bring stability to the Middle East or legitimacy to the Jewish state.

"There is no solution to the conflict in this region except with the disappearance of Israel," he told the crowd. "Peace settlements will not change reality, which is that Israel is the enemy and that it will never be a neighbor or a nation.

"Peace will not wipe out the memory of the massacres it has committed ... And on this last day of the century, I promise Israel that it will see more suicide attacks, for we will write our history with blood," Nasrallah declared.

The rally, held outside Hizbollah’s headquarters in Beirut’s southern suburbs, followed the group’s first suicide attack against Israeli troops in years. It also comes three days before Lebanon’s political master Syria begins a second round of peace talks with Israel in the United States.

Twelve civilians and an Israeli soldier were wounded on Thursday when 20-year-old Ammar Hammoud blew up his explosives-laden van near an Israeli patrol inside Israel’s south Lebanon occupation zone.

Israel said it had expected such attacks ahead of the peace talks, even though it freed five Hizbollah prisoners this week.

Nasrallah told Israel not to confuse political gestures with humanitarian issues and hailed Hammoud as a valiant hero who gave his life for the liberation of Jerusalem.

"Ammar is proof that Israel will certainly vanish and Jerusalem will return. There are thousands like him waiting for Israel," Nasrallah said as supporters interrupted his speech with chants of "God is Greatest" and "Death to Israel."

Nasrallah, his voice brimming with pride, said Hammoud had detonated a van packed with 550 lbs of explosives, killing at least seven Israelis and wounding eight more. "Israel will not admit to the casualties, but we know," he said.

Hizbollah, backed by Iran and supported by Syria, held the rally to commemorate "Jerusalem Day," which Tehran celebrates on the last Friday of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

Guerrillas, dressed in Hizbollah’s black and green fatigues, paraded before Nasrallah, stomping on Israeli and U.S. flags which were painted on the ground.

Hizbollah and other guerrilla groups are fighting to end Israel’s 21-year-old occupation of the south. Israel has controlled parts of the area since 1978 and in 1985 carved out its security zone to guard against potential guerrilla attacks.

The group has said it would continue to battle Israel’s presence in the south but it has not said what it would do if Israel makes peace with Syria and Lebanon or if Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak honors a promise to quit the south in July.

Syria, which has 35,000 troops stationed in Lebanon, sees the conflict in the south as a lever against Israel.

Despite the fiery rhetoric, Nasrallah avoided condemning a Syrian or Lebanese peace deal with Israel. But he attacked Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s "treacherous" negotiations and incited the Palestinians to take up arms against Israel.

"Israel is as strong as a spider’s web. It can be wiped out with guns, knives and blood," he declared.

Meanwhile, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called today for the destruction of Israel, saying it was the only way to solve the problems of the Middle East.

Khamenei’s remarks came as millions of Iranians held rallies across Iran to protest Israel’s control over Jerusalem, the city where Muslims believe Prophet Mohammed began his journey to heaven. The demonstrations for "Al-Quds Day" -Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem- spilled over into anti-American protests because of U.S. support for Israel.

"The hands of the U.S. are fully stained with the blood of the Palestinians," Khamenei told hundreds of thousands of Iranians in his Friday prayer sermon at Tehran University. He said there is only one possible solution to unrest in the Middle East, "namely the annihilation and destruction of the Zionist state."

Khamenei also attacked the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

"When they started the talks, I said that this man (Arafat) is a traitor and stupid, too. If he was a smart traitor, he would have at least acted in a better way than this," Khamenei said.

The demonstrators held a rally on the way to the university campus, chanting "death to Israel, death to America." A banner carried a slogan by the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini: "Quds is part of Islam’s body."

In 1979, Khomeini declared the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as "Al-Quds Day," a day of protest to show the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims. Jerusalem is the third holiest site in Islam, after the Saudi Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina.

In Lebanon, Iranian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas marked Al-Quds Day with a rally outside the capital, Beirut. Fighters in combat gear stomped on U.S. and Israeli flags, crying "Death to Israel" and "Jerusalem is Ours."

The guerrillas, who are trying to oust Israeli forces occupying southern Lebanon, took a public oath to continue their fight.

[nrhy]

list your source. I don´t think i have heard of hizbullah sending any suicide bombers yet.

[lester1/2jr]

look at the DATE

[maalox]

they didn`t , americans do say so , just for creating a bad image of the arab and muslim world

it`s american propaganda

hezbollah didn`t send any suicide bombers

[superskippy]

nrhy wrote: list your source. I don´t think i have heard of hizbullah sending any suicide bombers yet.

The Israeli Embassy attack in Buenos Aires in 1992, carried out with the support of Hezbollah, if not a direct action by Hezbollah.

The AMIA bombing on the Jewish community center in Argentina, in 1994. Carried out by a known and identified member of Hezbollah honored with a plaque in Lebanon, and his family given a $300 a month pension by Hezbollah.

Argentina has arrest warrents out for several connected members.

And most likely the Barracks, and Embassy bombings of French and American targets in Beirut.

[lester1/2jr]

guys / girls look at the DATE at the top of the article

[SaladFingers]

Please guys, especially pro-arab peeps here that are quick to call such articles Anti-Arab American White Aryan Propaganda whatnot..

What you are saying.. this original poster made all this up?! LOL..

Here is his source, please in the future do a little extra homework (ie a quick search in google) and dont act like headless chickens.

Ah behold the fruits of a quick google of the Article title in the Google search field.

http://www.unb.ca/bruns/9900/issue14/intnews/israel.html

The Bruns International
©1999 Brunswickan Publishing Inc

Good day.

[nrhy]

Quote: And most likely the Barracks, and Embassy bombings of French and American targets in Beirut.

that wasn´t conducted by hizbullah.

super...please list your sources for the rest. I´m not questioning whether these events truly occured, but I want to know more about them.

[superskippy]

Thats what you say, but a vast amount of evidence points that they did. However you are correct it has yet to be confirmed only speculation weighted with heavy evidence exists. But none the less unconfirmed.

As for the other attacks.

http://www.intelligence.org.il/eng/bu/hizbullah/pb/app5.htm is one summary, lacks depth information but I can provide more.

http://www.ict.org.il/spotlight/det.cfm?id=318 is one on the embassy bombing, and Argentina has several arrest warrents out and still in effect for several hezbollah members.

[nrhy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5190892.stm

they never solved anything. Only suspects. They suspected hizbullah and hizbullah denied. One thing to get straight, whether you´d believe it or not. Hizbullah is Israel´s enemy, and not the jews. Hassan nasrallah and his father before him have repeated this over and over.

[superskippy]

nrhy the evidence is overwhelming for the AMIA bombing, Hezbollah is paying the pension of the bombers family, Hezbollah built a plaque to honor the bomber, Hezbollah is implicated by nearly every major intelligence network, the completed investigation by the Argentina and several arrest warrents in effect, the fact that the men were definatly from a major Lebanese group and by that time Hezbollah was the only major group left, as well as much more.

nrhy you can choose to deny it or contest it, thats not my domain. However the evidence is overwhelming.

[nrhy]

superskippy...problem is...they weren´t blamed for it. Nobody had hard evidence that it was hizbullah, or else the governments would have done something. I rely on BBC and if they claim no one was detained or ACCUSED over the tragedy then you can´t assume that it was hizbullah. I can say that the israelis have been operating in lebanon for quite a while and kidapping random civilians who may share ties with hizbullah...the evidence is overwhelming, but israel is not accused and thus i can´t assume that it really was them.

[superskippy]

nrhy wrote: superskippy...problem is...they weren´t blamed for it. Nobody had hard evidence that it was hizbullah, or else the governments would have done something. I rely on BBC and if they claim no one was detained or ACCUSED over the tragedy then you can´t assume that it was hizbullah. I can say that the israelis have been operating in lebanon for quite a while and kidapping random civilians who may share ties with hizbullah...the evidence is overwhelming, but israel is not accused and thus i can´t assume that it really was them.

Wait I think we're misunderstanding eachother, are you talking about the embassy and barracks bombings? Or the embassy and community center bombings?

[Zoot]

http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=%22The+hands+of+the+U.S.+are+fully+stained+with+the+blood+of+the+Palestinians%22&meta=

http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=%22Lebanon+or+if+Israeli+Prime+Minister+Ehud+Barak+honors+a+promise%22&meta=

Do AP stories usually appear more than that?

[Kane]

I thought it was widely held that Hezbollah taught Hamas and the PLO about Suicide bombers...seeing as how they were displaced up there not too long ago...and that the Suicide Bombings from Hamas took place shortly thereafter...

------------------

"2.2.3 Lebanese Hezbollah
Investigations have shown that Hezbollah’s terrorist wing, the Hezbollah External Security
Organisation, has been directly and indirectly involved in terrorist acts. It can also be
concluded that Hezbollah’s political and terrorist wings are controlled by one co-ordinating
council. This means that there is indeed a link between these parts of the organisation.
The Netherlands has changed its policy and no longer makes a distinction between the
political and terrorist Hezbollah branches. The Netherlands informed the relevant EU bodies
of its findings."

-Source

------------------------------------------

[Kane]

Zoot wrote: http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=%22The+hands+of+the+U.S.+are+fully+stained+with+the+blood+of+the+Palestinians%22&meta=

http://www.google.co.nz/search?hl=en&q=%22Lebanon+or+if+Israeli+Prime+Minister+Ehud+Barak+honors+a+promise%22&meta=

Do AP stories usually appear more than that?

When you include the quotes with the words in the search box...no.

[nrhy]

skippy...plz read the article i posted...i read yours. And you´d know which im talking bout.

[superskippy]

Oh then I have some very obvious responses.

Quote: superskippy...problem is...they weren´t blamed for it. Nobody had hard evidence that it was hizbullah, or else the governments would have done something.

We blame them, and Argentina blames them. They have several arrest warrents out for the Hezbollah members who helped support the attacks, and the requast has been submitted to Interpol.

No one was arrested that is correct, only because Argentina can hardly track them down in Lebanon or what ever Arab nation has been their refuge, and then either spirit them to Buenos Aires for trial or get extradition.

But they know who they want.