Transcript provided in English by Now Lebanon and in Arabic by Al Manar. [Emphasis mine]
Nasrallah: The government must know that it has led Lebanon into a dangerous situation. I will speak of many issues as they are.
Nasrallah: The first topic is the communication network, then the issue of airport security, Chief Shoukair and the hanging crisis.
Nasrallah: Throughout history, all combat has used signs. The communications network is a logistic means for us to use inside signs.
Nasrallah: The problem with a regular communications network is that it can be tapped.
Nasrallah: Another problem is that a regular communication can be bombed.
Nasrallah: The resistance cannot own hi-tech arms… The best means to face high technology is simplification
Nasrallah: Our communication network is a regular telephone network, and is… the most important weapon in any resistance.
Nasrallah: In the July War, our strongest point was control because communication between leadership and field battles was secure, and this was confessed by the enemy.
Nasrallah: We are not a disciplined army; this is how we ensured success.
Nasrallah: Many of our members died as martyrs because of landline and mobile phone communications.
Nasrallah: The most important request of Winograd was to [hit] the communication of Hezbollah.
Nasrallah: This network is neither new nor modern. It was updated, it's true.
Nasrallah: I want to remind them that when we entered the government, we (the government) released a statement saying the network was part of the resistance.
Nasrallah: After Winograd, Welch's promise of a “hot summer”… they opened this as a new dossier, despite the fact that when we were in dialogue we had begun to agree on the matter.
Nasrallah: This is an important detail: there was a cable connecting Dahiyeh to West Beirut, which we were told was making certain people uncomfortable, and we agreed.
Nasrallah: This is a new phase… there are bets on new wars which were lost… hence, they re-opened the network issue.
Nasrallah: We do not want to fight with our arms; that is not the aim.
Nasrallah: They accused us of extending the network through Kesrouan and Jbeil; this is untrue.
Nasrallah: We do not need a land-network in Jbeil and Kesrouan. They then accused us of doing it in the North, and we said we do not need it. They then targeted the line between Dahiyeh and the South.
Nasrallah: We met all their demands and reassured all their fears, and so they said the network was causing the government to lose money.
Nasrallah: They then said the network could be used for international intelligence; we said that this was a sin and a waste of public money. They looked into the matter, and it was resolved.
Nasrallah: They then asked for a compromise: end the sit-in downtown, and we will overlook the network.
Nasrallah: We asked, if we fulfill this, suddenly the network is not illegal and not a waste of public money? This is not a government; this is a gang. We told them that was blackmail.
Nasrallah: We told them the network was part of the resistance, but the sit-in was an opposition movement and hence not under our control anyway.
Nasrallah: (Our network) is related to defending the country against Israel.
Nasrallah: I have learned, through experiences, that we should not say the Siniora government. Siniora is a poor man, an employee. We should say the government of Walid Jumblatt. When Jumblatt wants to remove the airport security chief, he does.
Nasrallah: This decision is a declaration of war by Jumblatt on the resistance and its arms for the benefit of the US.
Nasrallah: This decision has uncovered the truth behind this team and their loyalties and behavior during the July War. This decision aims to destroy the infrastructure of the resistance and the ruling team is therefore implicated in the assassinations.
Nasrallah: Today this team is pushing the army and security forces into direct confrontation with the resistance.
Nasrallah: The government is a cover for Terje Roed-Larsen and UNSCR 1559. That is its basic description.
Nasrallah: We have the right to defend our existence from whoever declares and begins a war on us, even if they are our brothers.
Nasrallah: The network is part of the resistance.
Nasrallah: I said, before Jumblatt, that any hand that reaches for the resistance and its arms will be cut off. Israel tried that in the July War, and we cut its hand off.
Nasrallah: We do not advise you to try us.
Nasrallah: Whoever is going to target us will be targeted by us. Whoever is going to shoot at us will be shot by us.
Nasrallah: Let's look into who is really harming the people and stealing their money. Unfortunately, this is the government. Jumblatt acknowledges this openly on TV.
Nasrallah: Jumblatt is a liar and a killer. He sits up there and draws red lines, and the martyrs and people who defended Lebanon will be handed over to the courts. This is not a government, this is a gang.
Nasrallah: The second issue is the airport. It is not about Brigadier General Wafik Shoukair. It is entitled Wafik Shoukair. We were asked to replace him.
Nasrallah: Shoukair is not an Amal or Hezbollah member. He is the son of a national institution, who was raised to follow the law and not a ‘zaim.’
Nasrallah: Former President Emile Lahoud refused to sign this request, and so they turned to alternate means. We will not allow the airport to serve the CIA and Mossad, point blank.
Nasrallah: Sheikh Qabalan is not defending a Shia, but a national officer. If the military institution falls apart, there is nothing left of this country.
Nasrallah: The issue is much greater than the surveillance camera and Wafik Shoukair… The decision was made in Moukhtara and the employees had to carry it out.
Nasrallah: Shoukair was not given the chance to defend himself. This is how a gang works.
Nasrallah: The third and final issue is the current crisis. Who pushed the country into this crisis? They did. We are patient. We were fought, and we were patient.
Nasrallah: When they made their decisions, they created the current crisis. We are in a new phase. Am I declaring war? Not at all. I am declaring oppression and self-defense.
Nasrallah: We will not be killed in the streets. We will not be shot at. We will not accept for our resistance and military to be targeted.
Nasrallah: I want to tell the Lebanese people… and the Arab and Islamic people… that we did not see this emotion and enthusiasm when Israel destroyed 100,000 homes and the country's infrastructure.
Nasrallah: If the fight were over the government, we would have had a regular protest. We are not fighting for that. All this talk of power and coups has no value. The point is that there is a team serving the US to do what the US and Israel failed to do, and that is strip us of the resistance's arms.
Nasrallah: We do not need anyone's help. I am not asking for anything but understanding. I am asking for the sympathy of the Arab people. I tell you, we are not afraid of Sunni-Shia sedition. We are not going to use arms. End of story.
Nasrallah: The issue is that there is an American plan that we are fighting against. This is the nature of the crisis. There is no need for fear.
Nasrallah: Sectarian sedition is out of the question, and we will not use our arms to take power by force. It will only be used to defend our arms.
Nasrallah: After the July War, we were exposed to a billion-dollar smearing campaign. “Hezbollah is Iranian, Hezbollah is Syrian…”
Nasrallah: Our image was not smeared, however, for our image is as bright as the sun and cannot be damaged.
Nasrallah: Even if we disagree politically, we are brothers… There will be no Sunni-Shia strife in Lebanon.
Nasrallah: This is our description of the current phase, which was created by Jumblatt's government and the government of Condoleezza Rice.
Nasrallah: There are two options. In the one hand, we have the chance to go to Speaker Berri's dialogue table. On the other hand – and I’ve said this inside Hezbollah – we would never take over the government, even if we were invited to so, for we cannot build the country alone.
Nasrallah: We do not want to attack anyone or start a revolution.
Nasrallah: If we wanted to stage a coup, you would have woken up this morning in prison, or in the middle of the sea. We do not want that. It is a political issue, with a political solution through early elections.
Nasrallah: To exit this crisis, the illegitimate government's decisions must be revoked and we must head for dialogue.
Nasrallah: Obstinacy will have another solution.
