[THS] !!!! On the Egyptian Revolution and the American Strategy

[The Harder Stuff in news and commentary]

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27484.htm


On the Egyptian Revolution and the American Strategy

By Hassan Nasrallah

February 15, 2011  - Broadcast  - 7 February 2011 --  . . . Today we declare our
solidarity.  One of the forms of our solidarity is to defend this revolution, this intifada,
this great historic popular movement.  One of the responsibilities of defending this
revolution is to reveal its true image as all data indicate. . . .  We contact those on the
ground, in the squares, in the streets, the young and the old.  We talk to them and
listen to what they have to say: their slogans, songs, chants, words and statements.
We listen to what is said in satellite media and other means of communication.  That's
because they, the Egyptians themselves, are the ones who can show us the truth,
the form and content, the nature, aims, and hopes of their revolution, their intifada. .
. .

First: We are witnessing a real popular revolution, a real Egyptian national revolution.
Muslims and Christians are participating in this revolution, as are Islamic factions,
secular parties, nationalist parties, and intellectuals.  In fact all sectors of the popular
classes are taking part in this revolution: the young, the old, women, men, clerics,
artists, intellectuals, workers, and farmers.  However, the most important of all is the
presence of the youth.  So from this perspective we are witnessing a complete
revolution.

Second: This is a revolution of the will of the people, the determination of the people,
the commitment of the people.  People are demonstrating, they are offering
themselves as martyrs, they are making sacrifices, they are risking injury.  They are
sleeping under the skies in this cold rainy weather.  They are themselves determining
what they want, what they want to do, where they want to go, what regime they will
accept and what type of solution to adopt.  They are the decision makers in
everything they say, do, and look forward to.  So all accusations of being part of a
foreign agenda -- whoever this alleged foreign party is, whether it is a friend or foe
of Egypt -- are accusations which will fail to stick, have failed to stick, given the will of
the Egyptian people and its brave youth.  This is a point I will come back to soon.

Third: the essence and content of this revolution, this intifada.  Is this a revolution of
bread because people are hungry?  Or is it a revolution to achieve social justice and
social equality?  Or is it a revolution to attain freedom and democracy?  Or is it a
revolution for political reasons?  Does it have something to do with the regime's
foreign policies and Egypt's stance in the region, the ummah, and the world?  We
have heard many explanations and analyses.  Everyone is trying to take things in a
certain direction.

The friends of Israel and America -- intellectuals, political leaders, and media outlets
close to America and Israel -- want to convince the world that what is taking place in
Egypt is just a revolution of bread, a revolution of the hungry.  The truth, however, is
told to the whole world by the protesters in Liberation Square, the protesters in
Egypt.  It is expressed by their slogans, by their blood, by their smiles, by their
anger, by their stances. . . .  This means that we are witnessing a complete
revolution in its essence, in its fundamental parts.  It is a revolution of the poor.  It is
a revolution of freedom-loving people, of freedom seekers.  It is a revolution of those
who refuse to be humiliated and insulted because this nation has been under
subjection having surrendered its will to America and Israel.  It is a political, social,
and human revolution.  It is a revolution against everything -- corruption, oppression,
hunger, the squandering of the capabilities of this country, and the regime's policy
on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Fourth: It is a duty to stand in solidarity with Egypt's popular revolution.  It is a noble
revolution, unbesmirched by all the accusations they try to stick to it.  One of the
worst accusations, made by certain figures in our Arab world, which we have heard
from the very beginning -- we also heard this during the Tunisian revolution -- is that
this revolution is fabricated by the US administration -- the US intelligence services,
the Pentagon, and the US State Department; that the Americans are the ones behind
the popular movement, pushing people to protest and coordinating with the youths
of the movement; that the Americans are the ones leading and controlling this
revolution.

On this day of solidarity, we must say that this accusation does great injustice.  Any
Arab or Muslim or free human being anywhere in this world cannot think that about
the Tunisian youth or Egyptian youth; anyone who does is doing great injustice.  It's
an unjust way to speak, an insult to the minds and wills of these youths and people --
to their awareness, to their culture, and to their understanding.

Brothers and sisters!  Who among us can believe that America is seeking to topple a
regime which provides it with all the services it wants and works faithfully and
truthfully to protect its interests and its project in the region?  Can anyone believe
that the Americans are behind this protest?  It is absolutely illogical and irrational. . . .

Yes, the Americans are trying to ride the wave.  They are trying to take advantage of
this revolution.  They are trying to curb and absorb this revolution.  They are trying
to beautify their ugly image in our Arab and Islamic world, and they are trying to
present themselves as defenders of people, of their rights, wills, and freedoms, after
decades of absolute support for the worst dictatorships witnessed in our region.  This
is the most serious danger, the greatest danger which our peoples in revolt, out
resistance movements, must be aware of and be vigilant against.

Brothers and sisters! . . .  The US administration has undertaken many studies and
opinion polls in our region, especially in the Arab and Islamic world.  It wanted to
know: What is the direction of opinions?  What do people think?  What do they
accept?  What do they reject?  What do they look forward to?  The results were very
clear. . . .  They are published in newspapers and magazines -- especially those
specializing in strategic affairs -- and forums and conferences. . . .  All the studies
and opinion polls reached the following conclusions:

The overwhelming majority of our Arab and Islamic peoples are against the US
policies.  They reject them.  This does not mean we are enemies of the American
people.  Perhaps in time we will find out that the majority of the American people are
poor people who don't know what is going on in the world and that their interests
and priorities are totally different.

The overwhelming majority of our Arab and Islamic peoples reject the US policies for
obvious reasons: the absolute American support for Israel and its wars from the
establishment of the Zionist entity to the Gaza War in 2008 (we also saw it in the war
on Lebanon in 2006); the absolute American support for the corrupt dictatorships
that are US allies in the region; America's own wars and crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan,
Pakistan, and elsewhere in our Arab and Islamic world; the disclosure of US lies and
double standards in everything, when it comes to human rights, freedoms, and
democracy.

These American studies and opinion polls also revealed that there are major changes
in store in the region.  That is what Hillary Clinton hinted at just a few weeks ago.
The Americans have become sure that the regimes that are allied with the US and
collaborating with Israel are against the will of the people when it comes to their
stance on America and Israel and will not be able to withstand popular pressure for
long.  The will of the people has had enough of this status quo.  The polls and
studies showed, too, that these regimes, their leaders, and their figureheads do not
enjoy any popularity, respect, esteem among their peoples; at the same time, the
polls showed that other figures, other leaders, occupy first, second, and third places
because of their stances on the Palestinian cause and the American project.  So the
US administration expressed its anxiety.

That does not mean that the US administration has plotted or is working to overthrow
the regime which serves it.  However, it has been preparing itself for what could
happen: if the people revolted and tried to express its rejection of the regime in any
country, the US administration would then stand in the middle; having learned from
its experience in confronting the revolution in Iran as well as from all its previous
experiences, it would not do to support oppression and bloody confrontation
because, as it knows, the result of bloody confrontation with the people would be
catastrophic for America, and for its allies, its agents, its old and new servants as
well.  That is why it is standing in the middle now.  It is trying to present itself in a
different way -- as defender of people and their choices -- and trying to guarantee
the kind of transition of power, authority, and leadership that would preserve all its
relations and alliance, the American project and interests. . . .

What concerns the US regime in the region is its own interests and Israel's interests.
It doesn't really matter who is in power.  America can abandon anyone who is in
power at any moment.  Precisely who is in power is unimportant -- whether or not he
is Islamic doesn't matter to America.  No one there cares about that.  The Americans
don't veto anyone based on whether he is a Muslim, from an Islamic movement, a
leftist, a rightist, a nationalist, a secularist, a religious cleric, a sheikh, a sayyed, a
patriarch, or a bishop.  No, that doesn't concern America.  America is not concerned
about such an ideological self-positioning of a leader.  What is most important is this:
Is this leader, is this regime, committed to America's interests and Israel's interests?
If the answer is yes, no problem, whatever the ideological posturing of the leader
and regime may be. . . .

[video at url above]


Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is Secretary General of Hezbollah.  This speech was
broadcast at the solidarity rally with Egypt held in Ghobeiry Square on 7 February
2011.  The text above is an excerpt from the speech