Mass protest in Beirut against Gaza blockade
Thousands gather after Hizbullah chief's call to rally; Organization's deputy chief calls on Egypt to open Rafah crossing
Egypt must open the Rafah crossing on its border with Gaza, said Hizbullah's Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Kassem, during a speech Friday afternoon in Beirut. Hundreds of thousands of Hizbullah supporters gathered all over the city in protest of the 'siege' on Gaza.
"Why is Gaza under siege," asked Kassem in his speech. "Because its people rejected humiliating political initiatives and chose resistance. Israel doesn't want them to choose their own destiny, so it set up a blockade," he said.
"Egypt has all of the religious, moral and legal justification to stand with the people in Gaza and Palestine. There is no agreement in the world that allows for standing with a blocked, starving people and killing women and children," Kassem said.
"Egypt, know that the Arab nation, the Muslim nation, will stand with you," he said, adding that "the world must know – the Palestinian people will not be defeated and will fight forever. Those standing against them will be defeated."
"Palestine is the main problem and we will work to liberate it from the (Jordan) River to the sea," he continued, referring to an extremist platform that refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist.
"We say to Gaza residents – we are with you in your struggle," Kassem said, explaining the rally. "We in Hizbullah will never neglect this issue until Palestine is returned to its rightful owners.... I call on all Palestinians to unite together in resistance!"
In support of Hamas' decision to end a ceasefire with Israel, he said that Hizbullah "would not let the problem of Palestine turn into a pathetic ceasefire or allow Palestine to become a refugee camp in Gaza, at the expense of the rest of Palestine."
