The *FREE ARAB VOICE*
July 3, 2000

In this issue of the Free Arab Voice (FAV) we present the first part of a
series dedicated to drawing lessons from the victory in South Lebanon. This
part includes a prelude and an English summary of the minutes of meeting
with Hassan Nasrallah, the General Secretary of Hizbullah in Lebanon.

Introduction:
=============

Two weeks ago the largest Arab delegation to visit South Lebanon since its
liberation departed from Amman, Jordan by bus towards Lebanon.  A small
grass-roots contingent of about one-hundred and fifty Jordanians and
Palestinians, mostly members of the Association against Zionism and Racism
(AZAR) and of the Union of Professional Associations (which is made up of
the associations of Engineers, Pharmacists, Lawyers, Agronomists, etc..),
left their jobs and families to express their solidarity and jubilation at
the liberation of the Lebanese south and to learn from the unique experience
of Hizbollah.

The highlight of this Lebanese tour included two meetings between the heads
of the Jordanian delegation and the Lebanese president, Emile Lahoud, and
the General Secretary of Hizbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.  Members of the
Steering Committee of the Association against Zionism and Racism (AZAR)
handed the two Lebanese leaders the Association's Shields of Appreciation
for their respective roles in the liberation of South Lebanon.

Towards the end of the tour some members of the Jordanian delegation were
sprayed with a barrage of Zionist bullets at Fatima's Gate on the state line
with occupied Palestine leading to the injury of three delegation members.
These are: Ali Abu Sukkar, the president of the Anti-Normalization Committee
in the Union of Professional Associations and a member of AZAR, Rashid Wadi,
a member of the Steering Committee of AZAR, and Ghassan Abu El Hajj, a
member of the Anti-Normalization Committee in the Union of Professional
Associations.

Due to the extreme relevance of the liberation experience in South Lebanon
to Palestinians, Arabs, and oppressed Third World peoples everywhere, the
Free Arab Voice (FAV) has taken it upon itself to start a calm cerebral
process of drawing strategic lessons from that wonderful experience. For it
is not right for Zionists to draw more lessons from their defeat in South
Lebanon than we are from our victory.

Now that the media blitz over South Lebanon has subsided to move on to the
next sensationalist news story, we bring you below the first part in the
series titled: THE LESSONS OF SOUTH LEBANON.

Read on..

The Free Arab Voice
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1) From the Minutes of Meeting between Nasrallah and the Jordanian
   Delegation:

Nasrallah's Recommendations to the Palestinian and Arab People

[Study them carefully, and think about the implications for
 Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization - FAV]

First the General Secretary of Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah, announced to the
delegation that Hizbullah has declined requests to transform itself into a
"pure" political party (that is, to abandon its militancy), in spite of the
generous financial bonanzas promised in return.

Furthermore, Nasrallah added that Hizbullah received clear messages
indicating that 'the whole world' would be willing to grant it RECOGNITION
if it undertook this process of transformation into a "pure" political party
even though Hizbullah has been considered until very recently just a
dangerous terrorist organization.   He pointed out in this context that
Hizbullah was also offered several ministerial positions in the Lebanese
government after the next parliamentary elections.

Nasrallah clarified that Zionists and the United States Government are
willing and have actually offered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars,
under the pretext of rebuilding South Lebanon, in exchange for converting
Hizbullah into a political party only, and to neutralize and freeze its
militant activities.

The General Secretary confirmed to the delegation that this will NOT happen
because Hizbullah refuses to say farewell to arms, and will definitely keep
its weaponry, especially in the presence of occupied Lebanese land, meaning
the farms of Shibaa, and the hitherto unresolved issue of the Lebanese
prisoners in "Israel".   The victorious guerilla leader concluded serenely
that Hizbullah will not give up its weapons as long as Lebanon remains
jeopardized in the circle of danger, always reeling under the potential
THREAT OF ZIONIST ATTACKS.

PALESTINIANS, TAKE NOTE!
========================
Calmly Nassrallah turned the discussion to the future saying that the
overarching objective of the nation in the coming phase should be the
elimination of the Zionist entity (i.e., the so-called "Israel").  He
clarified that the Palestinian people are capable of accomplishing that
objective alone if they followed the formula of one Palestinian life for
each Zionist one.  If they only used kitchen knives, Palestinians can turn
the lives of Zionist invaders in Palestine into living hell, given that the
invader fears human losses the most, Nassrallah patiently explained.

Our responsibility, he added, is to support the Palestinian people and call
for the continuation of the struggle.

ARABS, RESIST NORMALIZATION WITH ZIONISTS
==========================================
Nassrallah asserted that resisting normalization with Zionists is of maximum
significance at this stage.  To illuminate the point, he cited the example
of his rejecting an enormous sum of cash that was offered to him by a
Kuwaiti delegation which was visiting with him recently to congratulate
Hizbullah for the liberation of the Lebanese south. "I asked the members
of the Kuwaiti delegation to focus instead on catalyzing the efforts to
resist normalization with Zionists, and to stand up to "Israeli" attempts to
infiltrate Kuwaiti society at all levels", Nassrallah elaborated.

TO THE OPPRESSED EVERYWHERE: 'HIT THE WEAK SPOT OF THE OPPRESSOR'
=================================================================
In accounting for the experience of successful resistance in South Lebanon,
Nassrallah said that what happened is fairly straightforward, not something
beyond comprehension.  In fact, he stated that this aspect of the resistance
is the source from which its strength emanates.  Resisting the enemy, and
more specifically inflicting the largest possible amount of human losses
upon him, has been the foremost military priority of the fight to liberate
South Lebanon according to the somewhat quiescent liberation hero.

He explicated: "We organized ourselves to serve that foremost priority,
which is to resist the enemy and expel the troops of the occupation from
Lebanon.  These exceeded one hundred thousand soldiers plus thousands of
tanks and armored vehicles, in addition to advanced equipment and about six
thousand Lebanese agents spread in our midst.  BUT WE FOCUSED ON STRIKING AT
THE ENEMY'S MAIN POINT OF WEAKNESS, WHICH IS HIS INABILITY TO BEAR EXTENSIVE
HUMAN LOSSES".

Then Nassrallah went on:  "The strategy of the resistance has been to fight
a war of attrition.  We bled the enemy in the human element specifically.
This strategy obviously worked so well that the slogan of withdrawal from
South Lebanon became a winning card in "Israeli" electoral politics to the
point of helping Barak win over Netanyahu".  [This should be an important
lesson to all those who believe in seducing invaders, oppressors, and
"Israeli" public opinion via supplication and contrite appeals - FAV].

TO WIN, ONE HAS TO GRIN AND BEAR IT
===================================
Nassrallah elucidated that to achieve the goal of liberation, we had to bear
all the injustice incurred upon us within, including distortions of our
image as well as the deprivation of the areas where the main bulk of our
supporters reside from basic necessities like running water and electricity.
  Moreover, Hizbullah does not have any representatives in the executive
branch of the Lebanese government, even though it's a political party with a
very large popular base.  The point is that Hizbullah succeeded in avoiding
all the traps set to lure it into an internal fight. [Point: keep your eyes
on the prize - FAV].

THINK GRAND
============
Nassrallah made clear that the victory won in South Lebanon is not just a
Lebanese victory, but an Arab and a Muslim victory as well. He said that
the nation can maintain it and build upon its edifice because it belongs
to it, not just a Lebanese party or Lebanon alone. He pronounced that "the
so-called borders between Lebanon and Palestine" (literally, like that -
FAV), has become an attraction for many Lebanese and Palestinians, with
more than 300 hundred thousand Lebanese visitors alone so far. Nassrallah
clarified that Hizbullah has rebuffed pressures from many to prevent the
Palestinians of Lebanon from visiting these 'borders' to meet their
relatives and see their land.

SUMMARY
========
Nassrallah spent a great deal of the meeting explaining, for the benefit of
future applications perhaps, the objectives and the philosophy of the human
bombs tactic that was frequently employed by Hizbullah against the Zionist
invaders.  He pointed out that the main purpose of these military operations
has been to inflict human losses on the enemy, regardless of their size.  He
concluded that the strategy worked.

Finally Nassrallah described the various means to which the invaders
resorted in vain, in order to stem the human hemorrhage. Their losses
decreased but kept on mounting.  The human bombs operations continued
leading to the incessant wearing down of "Israeli" society, with ALL its
strata.

It was a happy ending!
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Remember: the main problem with Zionism in Palestine is THE OCCUPATION,
not the racism. The racism, aggression, militarism, and expansionism
are only the outward manifestations of that occupation.

We are frequently asked: "…but what is the alternative to Oslo, 242,
and the love-thy-invader mentality propounded by Edward Said, Azmi
Bshara, and Yasser Arafat"?

The answer has been aptly demonstrated by Hizbullah on the ground,
and by Nassrallah above.

Watch out for part two of the series The Lessons of South Lebanon.
Coming soon!

The Free Arab Voice

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Read a poem about the victory in South Lebanon (written in 1997)

http://www.freearabvoice.org/twelveGoldMedallions.htm

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