«HEzbollah will never recognize Israel, not even if the Palestinians in the land of Palestine were to do so”, exclaims without hesitation Houssein Hajj Hassan, 64 years old, leading leader of the Lebanese Shiite “Party of God” linked to the Tehran regime, now a member of parliament and in past Minister of Agriculture and Industry.
We met him in his office in Beirut on the morning of two days ago, just as the first details of the attacks on Iran were arriving.
It seems that Israel carried out a weak raid to avoid escalation…
«As for the attack on Iran, it is its leaders who will decide how to react. As far as Lebanon is concerned, I can reiterate that we will respond promptly to each of their raids with the weapons and strategies decided by our Resistance. It should not be forgotten that at the origin of all the problems of the Middle East and its chronic instability is the creation in 1948 of a terrorist, racist and aggressive entity such as Israel with the full support of you Westerners.”
These are very worrying statements, more interested in giving you legitimacy than in finding a peaceful solution. You exclude any compromise a priori, you fuel radical, fanatical extremism and in effect you do nothing but perpetuate a war destined to never end, given that you intend to destroy Israel…
«Why did no Western government condemn the Israeli raid on the Iranian consulate in Damascus on April 1st? If a stone is thrown at a European embassy in Beirut, everyone immediately points the finger at Iran. But your silence is scandalous, double standards.”
The Israelis reply that Iranian diplomatic offices are being used as military bases to attack them. Unacceptable, don’t you think?
«Argument rejected: the consulate is open to any Iranian, it makes no distinction between politicians and soldiers».
He didn’t answer the first question. But now he believes that war will return to Lebanon?
“We are ready to respond to any attack.”
Don’t you risk losing even more popularity than what happened in 2006, when you fired over 4,000 rockets, today when you have over 100,000?
«I’m not a military man. But I know that in the last 6 months Israel has experienced a small taste of our arsenals. If it provoked, it would be worse for Israel. We are much stronger today than in 2006. I hope that the Lebanese will not suffer any harm if open conflict reignites, but freedom comes with a price to pay. The Netanyahu government aims to expel all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. If he wins it would be a tragedy for the Middle East flooded by millions of refugees, including for Lebanon. Better then to fight now.”
The Lebanese don’t support you, they don’t follow you…
“Who says that? After 2006 we received 70 percent of the Shiite vote and together with Amal 90. And the figure remains constant to this day.”
Your leader, Nasrallah, is very attentive: he knows that Iran supports your military wing, but he tries to respond to the concerns of the Lebanese.
“The Iranians are our allies, but we are first and foremost Lebanese.”
Tehran killed almost a thousand Iranian women who asked for freedom…
“The Israelis massacred tens of thousands of them and their children in Gaza.”
