MOUSSAWI: STRUGGLE OF RESISTANCE CAN’T BUT CONTINUE
Arab Monitor
26/01/2009
Beirut, Lebanon
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Nawaf Mousawi, heads Hezbollah’s office for international relations,
agreed to be interviewed by Arabmonitor and to give his comments about
the more recent events within the frame of the Israeli aggression
against the Gaza Strip.
What is your interpretation of the unilateral Israeli cease-fire
in Gaza?
"We are talking about an initiative aimed at saving Israel’s image,
after it had behaved in Gaza like a war criminal; furthermore, Israel
is in need of some justification for the prosecution of its aggression
through the occupation of the area, which has not yet been lifted and
therefore makes this so-called unilateral cease-fire unacceptable for
the Palestinian resistance. Under such conditions the struggle of the
resistance cannot but continue until it obtains the withdrawal, the
lifting of the siege, the opening of the crossings and the launching
of a reconstruction campaign, which cannot and must not be hampered
by Israeli interference. Just imagine the pictures of the relatives
of those six thousand Palestinian casualties, killed or wounded,
during the three weeks of Israeli military rampage: now that the
truce permits20 them to emerge from their shelters, what are they
seeing? They’re looking at the tanks that committed a massacre against
their loved ones. I can imagine what their feelings are".
The behavior of the Egyptian regime has been widely criticized.
"The Egyptian regime does not believe in the choice of resistance,
but prefers a strategy based on negotiation. It wants, not just
as of now, but since long ago, to speedily wrap up the file of the
Palestinian issue, at the cost of Palestinians renouncing even on
their most elementary national rights. Egypt wants to play an active
part in the set-up of the new regional security architecture. The
resistance constitutes a major obstacle to such plans. The Palestinian
resistance won’t accept anything less than implementation of its
national rights. Another reason why the regime in Cairo wants to weaken
Hamas as much as possible, is that it fears a victory for Hamas would
boost even further the dreaded Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s image
at home. For sure we can say that the Egyptian behavior hampers any
of the alternative mediation efforts trying to find a solution for
Gaza and it is equally sure that the Arab regimes are partners in
the crimes committed by Israel".
Haven’t you been surprised by one or the other absence from the
emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha?
"Undoubtedly, it was surprising that Yemen failed to participate. The
absen ce of countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates however,
is easy to explain, because they are satellites of Saudi Arabia. As
for Qadhafi, I believe he refrained from participating not so much for
political reasons as for personal motives. He might have thought that
someone among the participants could have hijacked the spot-lights,
so he preferred to simply dispatch a delegation".
What’s your opinion about the growing role of Qatar in the Arab world?
"There can be no doubt that Qatar’s impact is growing, on the
information level as well as on the political one and also in
the diplomatic field. Right from the beginning we acknowledged the
efficient performance of Al Jazeera. Then, later on, Qatar succeeded
in capitalizing on Americas’ diminishing capability to contain
the resistance movements in the region. I would like to remind you
that Qatar granted asylum to Khaled Meshal (head of Hamas’ political
office). Doha seeks to make Washington understand that it is playing a
crucial role in reducing the damage done by US policies in the entire
Middle East. Its role is certainly positive".
We’re also witnessing a growing political and diplomatic involvement
of Turkey regarding the Middle East.
"There’s no doubt to that. After the end of the cold war, Turkey
tried to redefine for itself a role in central Asia, but Armenia
turned out to become a barrier to such ambitious plans. Syria, on the
other hand, guaranteed to provide Turkey with a viable entrance to
the Middle Eastern scene. It must be kept in mind that public opinion
in Turkey is heavily biased against Israel and America, obliging the
Turkish government to behave in a certain way. Turkey’s performance
in Iraq, aimed at preserving the country’s territorial integrity,
is definitely positive and Turkey’s approach towards the Gaza Strip
issue is very realistic".
Is it true that Lebanese President Michel Suleiman was of the opinion
not to go to the Arab-Islamic emergency summit called for by Qatar
to discuss the situation in Gaza?
"Yes, that’s true. We did our best to persuade him to participate
(Suleiman met with representatives of Hezbollah and Amal, who explained
to him the necessity of his participation), pointing out that his
election as President of the Republic was the result of a Lebanese
national accord that had been forged at an extraordinary meeting held
just in Doha".
How do you explain his hesitations?
"It has to do with his character".
What’s your opinion about Abu Mazen’s performance during the Israeli
assault on Gaza?
"Well, he is the Palestinian Fouad Siniora and in the past weeks
he didn’t even weep a tear (The Lebanese Prime Minister repeatedly
broke out in tears at conferences or in interviews during the Israeli
aggression against Lebanon in summer 2006)".
=0 D The crisis in Gaza broke out on 27 December. Has any European
country tried to get in touch with you, as Hezbollah, after that date ?
"In times of crisis demands for contacts and talks always come in. We
get visits from envoys, from diplomats. This time it was in no way
different. France was in the forefront, but there were others, also".
And what about the team around the administration of Barack Obama,
has anyone of them showed up to find out what the atmosphere was like ?
"Nobody with direct connections to past, present or future American
administrations showed up. We don’t accept to sit down and discuss
with people of that kind. However, we did indeed receive visits from
private people with whom we exchanged ideas".