Ayoon wa Azan (Your Eminence, Be Lenient) Jihad el-Khazen - Al-Hayat - 27/05/09 I noticed an obviously unjustified and incomprehensible sharpness in Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speeches, statements, and comments over the past weeks, a sharpness that has nonetheless receded in his speech two days ago. Hezbollah and its allies are in a strong, perhaps advanced position in the upcoming parliamentary elections. When I ask colleagues living in Beirut or coming back to London-- all being better informed than me on the state of the contest-- most give preponderance to the opposition; only two expect the elections to end in a parity. Does His Eminence know of something the others do not know of? I do not think so. He must be more familiar with the voters' inclinations than I and other people are. Consequently, he is supposed to be satisfied and his stances are supposed to reassure Lebanese voters belonging to other sects, parties, and with different affiliations. However, the elections results will not bring about a perilous situation in Lebanon once again. May 7, 2008 was not a glorious day and we do not want it to come back if the armed party loses a political confrontation. Before I go on, I probably need to reiterate an old stance of mine that I still maintain. I personally support Hezbollah and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah against Israel a thousand per cent for obvious national reasons. Under this ceiling many questions are on my mind. As the four generals were released, His Eminence questioned the integrity of a tribunal that comprises international judges who cannot ruin their reputation in a political deal, and in case one of them does, the others do not. I heard His Eminence say that the opposition wants to rule not because it has a craving for power, but rather to save Lebanon from certain plans, ideas, and plots. But the other party can say the same thing and claim it wants to rule in order to save Lebanon from certain plans, ideas and plots. Such words uttered by both parties are in the sphere of opinion, and as such they could be wrong or right. It is the Lebanese voter who decides whom to trust. There remains the most important point, namely not to accuse others of treason, for such accusations represent a humiliation to the entire country. In fact, had they been true, this means that half or all people would have been traitors. For this reason, I wish the mutually exchanged slogan “We will never forget, not by any means” could be eliminated. His Eminence also described as “suspicious” the visits by US Vice President Joe Biden, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and other officials from the Obama administration. Perhaps they are, but if I were to have suspicion, I would choose the other opinion. In other words, I have nothing against the new Obama administration, but the anti-American feelings remain unabated. Thus, the visits by US officials to Lebanon on the eve of the elections bring harm to the party that is closer to the US policy, or the one considered an ally of the US. In other words, the consecutive official US visits to Lebanon bring harm to March 14 and benefit March 8. Had I been in the majority, I would have been suspicious about the causes behind these visits. The US has offered Lebanon around a billion dollar in assistance since 2006, and Vice President Biden promised additional aid, depending on the elections results. Most of the offered aid go to the Lebanese army and the security forces, and a part arrived at Beirut Airport as Biden was concluding his trip. I hope that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah does not utter words that threaten the flow of this aid, especially that the Lebanese army is the first beneficiary, and that His Eminence has reiterated his confidence in the army and its commander. Then, there is Egypt and its government. After Hezbollah Secretary General had called on the Egyptian people and army to support the Palestinian resistance, I warned him of not making any mistake with Egypt. We ended up with a Hezbollah cell, arrested and wanted people, and we might end up seeing His Eminence brought to trial in Egypt with an Interpol subpoena for his arrest. Egypt is the largest Arab country and the most important politically speaking, but sometimes the Egyptian state and the Egyptian government are mixed up. Here is a little story that explains the situation in Egypt. Five people are sitting at a table in a Cairo café, four intellectual Egyptians and an Arab guest who could be either Sayyed Hassan or me. The four Egyptians criticize the Egyptian government, ministers, and all the whole administration. If the Arab guest interferes by uttering similar critical words, the Egyptian intellectuals return to him with rejection, condemnation, and defend Egypt as the mother of the world. My experience in general is limited. But in light of my old, deep, and ongoing experience with Egypt, I see that the Sayyed's popularity in Egypt has dramatically dropped in comparison with last summer 2006. I beg him to reconsider his stances and to distinguish between the Egyptian state and government. Despite my criticisms and comments, I do support Hezbollah (as well as Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and all resistance factions) against Israel. I wish that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah could embrace President Michel Suleiman's balanced and mild language, to the relief of the people. I do not understand the logic behind this sharpness. The election atmosphere is very favorable to the opposition, unless the difficult conditions in which the Sayyed lives, hiding underground with tight security measures for perfectly justified reasons, have distanced him from us all. Your Eminence, be lenient. http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com/
