Over the weekend, Beirut proudly hosted a large gathering of the world's most notorious terror leaders and their supporters.The Hezbollah news site describes the scene:
Friday, January 15, 2010, the Arab International Forum for the Support of the Resistance held its opening ceremony in the UNESCO Palace in presence of hundreds of participants from all over the world. Representatives from the Arab world were present, in addition to some representatives from Europe, the United States, and many other countries, who came to express their support of the resistance.Some of the speeches from the Friday sessions are reproduced at the Syrian News Agency site.
Hizbullah Secretary General, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, gave a speech showing his support for the forum, stating the importance of the resistance world wide- whether the Lebanese, Palestinian, or Iraqi - as well as representing the historical roleof the resistance and what it has done.
As for Hamas' Khaled Meshaal, he stated his total support for the resistance, and thanked Iran for the support it has been giving.
Iraqi representative Hareth Al Dari, talked about the current situation of the Iraqi resistance, stating the importance of the resistance by all its means in order to get rid of the enemy invading the different countries.
Many speeches from representatives from all over the world were made, more than thirty speeches, all having the same objective as to achieve what the forum aims at and to lead the resistance worldwide into a better and safer place.
[On Saturday] the Lebanese National Movement spoke about the need to face Zionism, and that it was time to take into consideration the resistance and its needs all over the world.The spokesman also saluted Hizbullah and all the resistance movements in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq, stressing that they don't believe in a settlement with "Israel" that would lead to their surrender, stating the importance of the Palestinian reconciliation between the Palestinian forces.
Layla Khaled, from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said that the political resistance is a necessary security measure. She added that the resistance should be supported in Palestine, for although it is surrounded by the Arab countries that supported it from the beginning, yet they backed out of where they stood.
"This world needs a bomb explosion so the people could listen", she added, referring to the operations done by the Palestinian resistance confronting the Zionist enemy, which says that the Resistance are the terrorists, which in reality, "Israel" is terrorism its self.
The resistance of the 1948 occupied lands [to destroy Israel] also took part in a speech, in addition to the Iraqi resistance, whose spokespersons stated some recommendations for the congregation to take into consideration for the final statement, including forming committees to take care of the national and international rights of the resistance in all its forms.
One of the most significant participants of the forum was the Jewish American attorney, Stanley Cohen, who spoke in this workshop about the legal aspect of the resistance, stressing on the American law which lacks the presence of a law concerning the resistance, although "America is proud of its laws" as he said.
He also added that if he is at his home in New York, and someone came and invaded his home and killed his children, it is thus his duty to resist the invaders and that is what the resistance in Palestine is doing.
[On Sunday] Jewish American Stanley Cohen ended the decelerating process, when he said that: "It is always with great pain and great shame as a Jew and as an American to come to this land which has suffered so long by my people. Every time I come, I walk away with hope, for the resistance will be the road to victory". He added that the resistance could be found by many forms; by guns, words, and prayers, but together resistance is the most powerful on earth, adding that it can't be stopped and it won't be stopped. His final words in his statement were: "Inshalla, next year we meet in Al Quds."
The attendees included
vice-president of Islamic Iran Mohammed Reza Mir Tajeddini, regional leader of Ba’ath Party Shahinaz Fakoush, former Lebanese prime minister Salim al-Hos, founder of International Action Center (IAC) former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and head of the International Council of Scholars Sheikh Dr. Yusuf Qaradawi. Messages of support from the President of Islamic Republic of Iran Dr. ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad – supporting a unified resistance against the Israeli and American imperialism in the region.
(The UNESCO Palace appears to be a Lebanese government building, not a UN building.)
I wonder if there was a concurrent vendor exhibition showing off the latest in suicide bomb belt technology, and maybe a gala dinner where terrorists could network with their adoring politician fans.
Talk about a target-rich environment! Apparently, even Nasrallah thought so, as he didn't attend a conference in his own back yard but only spoke by videoconference.