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Nawaf Mousawi, heads Hezbollah's office for international relations, agreed to be interviewed by Arabmonitor and to give his comments about the more recent events within the frame of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.
What is your interpretation of the unilateral Israeli cease-fire in Gaza?
“We are talking about an initiative aimed at saving Israel's image, after it had behaved in Gaza like a war criminal; furthermore, Israel is in need of some justification for the prosecution of its aggression through the occupation of the area, which has not yet been lifted and therefore makes this so-called unilateral cease-fire unacceptable for the Palestinian resistance. Under such conditions the struggle of the resistance cannot but continue until it obtains the withdrawal, the lifting of the siege, the opening of the crossings and the launching of a reconstruction campaign, which cannot and must not be hampered by Israeli interference. Just imagine the pictures of the relatives of those six thousand Palestinian casualties, killed or wounded, during the three weeks of Israeli military rampage: now that the truce permits them to emerge from their shelters, what are they seeing? They're looking at the tanks that committed a massacre against their loved ones. I can imagine what their feelings are”.
The behavior of the Egyptian regime has been widely criticized.
“The Egyptian regime does not believe in the choice of resistance, but prefers a strategy based on negotiation. It wants, not just as of now, but since long ago, to speedily wrap up the file of the Palestinian issue, at the cost of Palestinians renouncing even on their most elementary national rights. Egypt wants to play an active part in the set-up of the new regional security architecture. The resistance constitutes a major obstacle to such plans. The Palestinian resistance won't accept anything less than implementation of its national rights. Another reason why the regime in Cairo wants to weaken Hamas as much as possible, is that it fears a victory for Hamas would boost even further the dreaded Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's image at home. For sure we can say that the Egyptian behavior hampers any of the alternative mediation efforts trying to find a solution for Gaza and it is equally sure that the Arab regimes are partners in the crimes committed by Israel”.
Haven't you been surprised by one or the other absence from the emergency Arab-Islamic summit in Doha?
“Undoubtedly, it was surprising that Yemen failed to participate. The absence of countries like Bahrain or the United Arab Emirates however, is easy to explain, because they are satellites of Saudi Arabia. As for Qadhafi, I believe he refrained from participating not so much for political reasons as for personal motives. He might have thought that someone among the participants could have hijacked the spot-lights, so he preferred to simply dispatch a delegation”.
What's your opinion about the growing role of Qatar in the Arab world?
“There can be no doubt that Qatar's impact is growing, on the information level as well as on the political one and also in the diplomatic field. Right from the beginning we acknowledged the efficient performance of Al Jazeera. Then, later on, Qatar succeeded in capitalizing on Americas' diminishing capability to contain the resistance movements in the region. I would like to remind you that Qatar granted asylum to Khaled Meshal (head of Hamas' political office). Doha seeks to make Washington understand that it is playing a crucial role in reducing the damage done by US policies in the entire Middle East. Its role is certainly positive”.
We're also witnessing a growing political and diplomatic involvement of Turkey regarding the Middle East.
“There's no doubt to that. After the end of the cold war, Turkey tried to redefine for itself a role in central Asia, but Armenia turned out to become a barrier to such ambitious plans. Syria, on the other hand, guaranteed to provide Turkey with a viable entrance to the Middle Eastern scene. It must be kept in mind that public opinion in Turkey is heavily biased against Israel and America, obliging the Turkish government to behave in a certain way. Turkey's performance in Iraq, aimed at preserving the country's territorial integrity, is definitely positive and Turkey's approach towards the Gaza Strip issue is very realistic”.
Is it true that Lebanese President Michel Suleiman was of the opinion not to go to the Arab-Islamic emergency summit called for by Qatar to discuss the situation in Gaza?
“Yes, that's true. We did our best to persuade him to participate (Suleiman met with representatives of Hezbollah and Amal, who explained to him the necessity of his participation), pointing out that his election as President of the Republic was the result of a Lebanese national accord that had been forged at an extraordinary meeting held just in Doha”.
How do you explain his hesitations?
“It has to do with his character”.
What's your opinion about Abu Mazen's performance during the Israeli assault on Gaza?
“Well, he is the Palestinian Fouad Siniora and in the past weeks he didn't even weep a tear (The Lebanese Prime Minister repeatedly broke out in tears at conferences or in interviews during the Israeli aggression against Lebanon in summer 2006)”.
The crisis in Gaza broke out on 27 December. Has any European country tried to get in touch with you, as Hezbollah, after that date ?
“In times of crisis demands for contacts and talks always come in. We get visits from envoys, from diplomats. This time it was in no way different. France was in the forefront, but there were others, also”.
And what about the team around the administration of Barack Obama, has anyone of them showed up to find out what the atmosphere was like ?
“Nobody with direct connections to past, present or future American administrations showed up. We don't accept to sit down and discuss with people of that kind. However, we did indeed receive visits from private people with whom we exchanged ideas”.
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