Atlanta, GA – On October 29, Hezbollah announced the election of Sheikh Naim Qassem as the party’s new secretary-general. Qassem is the successor to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israeli forces in an airstrike last month.

In a public statement, Hezbollah’s leading body, the Shura Council, recognized that the election of Sheikh Qassem represents a reaffirmation of the group’s long-standing commitment to defending Lebanon’s national sovereignty and the cause of Palestinian liberation.

The announcement comes at a time when Hezbollah is leading the resistance to an ongoing U.S.-backed Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. This invasion, which is intimately connected with the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, aims to stamp out popular resistance to Zionism in the region and conquer neighboring territory as part of an insane “Greater Israel” scheme by the Netanyahu regime.

Last month, Hezbollah confirmed the assassination of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an apocalyptic Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburb. Israeli forces, equipped with F-35 jets and 85 tons of explosive ordinance provided by the United States, bombed a neighborhood block and slaughtered dozens of civilian families in an attempt to eliminate Hezbollah’s leadership. Hezbollah mourned Nasrallah as a heroic martyr who led Lebanon’s resistance with unwavering courage and determination.

But neither the death of Nasrallah nor the barbaric Israeli pager attack days earlier, which killed and wounded hundreds, have dismantled the resistance movement. Hezbollah fighters and other national democratic forces have repelled attempts by Israeli troops to penetrate into southern Lebanon. Israel has experienced heavy losses, both in troops and equipment, with more than 70 dead and 600 injured, along “with the destruction of 28 Merkava tanks, four military bulldozers, an armored vehicle, and a troop carrier,” according to a field report summary released by Hezbollah. Equally significant, Israel has sustained serious losses at its own bases, military sites and barracks within its own border lines as a result of the Lebanese incursion. At each step, Israel’s would-be occupation forces are meeting fierce resistance by the people of Lebanon, making forward motion nearly impossible.

Qassem inheriting Nasrallah’s legacy

The legacy Sheikh Qassem inherits as Secretary-General of Hezbollah is profound. Under Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah grew from a national resistance movement in Lebanon into a major anti-imperialist force in the Middle East. They helped steer the liberation of southern Lebanon in 2000 and defeated Israel’s savage assault on the country in 2006. When the Syrian Arab Republic faced a sustained, U.S.-backed regime change campaign in the early 2010s, Hezbollah came to Syria’s aid, helping defeat imperialist-backed proxy militias as well as the right-wing Islamic State (IS) on the battlefield. In doing so, they strengthened the anti-imperialist camp of resistance in the Middle East.

By all accounts, Sheikh Qassem is expected to continue this tradition of principled anti-imperialism and international solidarity, specifically in continuing to support the Palestinian resistance to the ongoing Zionist genocide.

Who is Sheikh Naim Qassem?

Well-known within Hezbollah and Lebanon as a whole, Sheikh Naim Qassem played a significant role in the party’s founding and development. Born in 1953 to a Shi’a family in Beirut, Qassem has his roots in southern Lebanon's Iqlim al-Tuffah region, an area long associated with the resistance to the Israeli occupation that lasted nearly two decades.

Holding academic degrees in both chemistry and theology, he was involved in student politics at the Lebanese University and, later, political and cultural activism in Lebanon. After the 1982 Israeli invasion, he became part of Hezbollah’s founding circle and rose within the newly formed party’s ranks, serving as Deputy Secretary-General since 1991.

Qassem’s many writings on Hezbollah’s political and military strategy, as well as the party’s history, continue to guide the organization’s orientation as a resistance force. His most celebrated work, Hezbollah: The Story From Within, is still widely read by party members and others today.

The most significant takeaway of Sheik Qassem’s elevation is that it signals Hezbollah’s will to fight back, even in the face of the criminal imperialist-backed Zionist war on Lebanon. The party’s leadership announcement means continuity with the liberation theology of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which cannot be bought or intimidated into submission. In 2011, Qassem famously told a reporter, “Billions of dollars have been offered to us to rebuild the deprived south Lebanon and in return to surrender our arms and stop the work of the resistance. But we told them we're not in need, and the resistance will go on regardless of the consequences.

Palestinian resistance offers support, congratulations

The Palestinian resistance has voiced support for Qassem’s elevation to leadership of Hezbollah. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other groups have reiterated their support for Hezbollah and offered congratulations to Sheikh Qassem on his election.

The PFLP, an important Marxist-Leninist party in Palestine, called Qassem’s election a “remarkable succession process” that signals Hezbollah’s ability to overcome external challenges. They noted, “The election of Sheikh Naim Qassem reaffirms Hezbollah's strength, resilience, and ability to renew its leadership.” Selecting Qassem, the PFLP writes, “is a clear challenge to the occupation and a blow to the illusions of Israel and the U.S., which have repeatedly tried to weaken Hezbollah through assassinations and targeting its leadership.”

Hamas – an acronym meaning Islamic Resistance Movement – expressed its solidarity too, describing Sheikh Qassem’s election as evidence of Hezbollah’s resilience and praised the new Secretary-General as a “relentless fighter” for the liberation of Palestine.

#AtlantaGA #GA #International #Palestine #Hezbollah #Palestine #PFLP

Atlanta, GA – The assassination of Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, in an apocalyptic Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 28, has shaken Lebanon and the entire Middle East. For the forces of liberation, Nasrallah was a mighty resistance leader, a voice of the oppressed, and a tireless fighter for the liberation of Palestine. His death marks a deeply tragic moment in the struggle against Zionism and imperialism, but the legacy he built, one grounded in solidarity and liberation theology, will continue to inspire the masses of people who remain committed to his vision of a free and sovereign Arab world.

Nasrallah was the secretary-general of Hezbollah (the Party of God), a broad mass movement in Lebanon dedicated to national liberation and social justice. Under his guidance, Hezbollah grew from a small resistance group into a formidable political and military force, capable of challenging not only Israel but also the broader imperialist designs of the United States and its allies in the region. Nasrallah’s life was dedicated to defending the dignity and sovereignty of Lebanon and to supporting the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

A religious and political leader all at once, Nasrallah preached and practiced a form of Shi’a Islam – one rightly called “liberation theology.” Hezbollah, the “Party of God” as translated, is an armed resistance movement of the Lebanese people, which administers social services, education and medical care to the poor and oppressed in Lebanon, as well as to thousands of Palestinian refugees. Under Nasrallah’s leadership, Hezbollah embraced the principles of national democratic revolution, always with an eye toward the broader liberation of the Middle East – and Palestine in particular.

Hezbollah defeated Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 2006, cementing itself as a significant counterweight to the designs of Zionism and U.S. imperialism in the region. In the 2010s, Hezbollah became an integral part of the Axis of Resistance in the Middle East. This anti-imperialist alliance encompasses the Palestinian resistance, the broad masses of Palestinians, the revolutionary and patriotic forces in Lebanon – of which Hezbollah plays the leading role” the Houthi movement in Yemen, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Syrian Arab Republic, and the national democratic militias in Iraq.

Hezbollah and Syria: International solidarity in practice

In 2010, the monopoly capitalist rulers of the United States, through its regional proxies, launched an all-out attack on the national democratic government of Syria. Enjoying regional backing by reactionary Gulf monarchies as well as the state of Israel, reactionary paramilitaries like al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State (IS) attempted to topple the popularly supported government of Bashar al-Assad. Despite brutal U.S. sanctions and diplomatic attempts at isolation, Hezbollah rallied to defend Assad’s government – one of the only principled supporters of Palestinian national liberation in the Middle East. Nasrallah’s decision to stand firmly behind Syria during the Western-backed proxy war against Assad demonstrated concrete international solidarity that helped cement the Axis of Resistance, which is the concrete form of the united front against U.S. imperialism and Zionism in the Middle East. In doing so, Hezbollah helped deal a crushing blow to the designs of U.S. imperialism.

Appropriately, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in his message to the Lebanese National Resistance in general and Hezbollah in particular, declared that Nasrallah’s martyrdom would not weaken the cause. “Resistance does not weaken with the martyrdom of its leader but remains firmly rooted in the hearts and minds,” Assad said, reminding all that Nasrallah’s legacy is far greater than any individual life. His leadership built the framework of a lasting struggle against occupation and imperialism, and his vision will guide future generations in the continued fight for justice.

Assad also emphasized Nasrallah’s role as a symbol of resistance across the Arab world, particularly in his unwavering support for the Palestinian cause. He commended Nasrallah for standing alongside Syria in its struggle against Zionism and praised him as a leader whose courage extended beyond Lebanon’s borders. For the Syrian people, Nasrallah was more than an ally – he was a brother in the fight for dignity and liberation. While his loss is deeply felt, Assad assured that the legacy of Nasrallah’s sacrifices would fuel the ongoing resistance until every occupied Arab land is free.

‘Free Palestine’ central to Nasrallah’s movement

Palestine, however, always remained at the heart of Nasrallah’s anti-imperialist theory and practice. His sermons often echoed the pain and suffering of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. He understood that the liberation of Palestine was not just a local issue – it was the key link in the broader anti-colonial struggle against Western imperialism in the Middle East. “We fight for Palestine because it is the cause of justice, the cause of all who believe in human dignity,” Nasrallah once said – a belief that guided every decision he made as a leader.

An important Marxist-Leninist organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), issued a solemn declaration honoring the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, hailing him as a “great national Arab leader” who dedicated his life to the struggle for the Arab nation. The PFLP's statement emphasized that Nasrallah's assassination, resulting from a “treacherous Zionist raid” in Beirut, would not break the “banner of resistance,” but rather mark the “beginning of a new phase of greater strength and determination.” In mourning the loss of Nasrallah and his comrades, the PFLP affirmed its solidarity with Hezbollah and the Lebanese people, stressing that the blood shed by the resistance would fuel the ongoing struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

In its statement, the PFLP also highlighted Nasrallah's pivotal role in the regional resistance movement, describing him as an “exceptional leader” who left a lasting impact on the fight against Zionism and imperialism. The statement further noted that Nasrallah's leadership transcended the borders of Lebanon, as he played a crucial role in supporting Palestinian resistance factions with logistical support, military training and weapons. The PFLP reaffirmed its commitment to the cause of liberation, declaring that the resistance would continue to stand united against imperialist forces, armed with the “will of the peoples” until the final victory over Zionist occupation and the liberation of all occupied Arab lands.

Hezbollah: A movement born from resistance to Zionism

Nasrallah’s assassination comes at a time when Israel, with the full backing of the United States, is engaged in a genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people, particularly those living in the Gaza Strip. His death is part of Israel’s broader effort to crush all forms of resistance across the region, from the Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza to the cadre of Hezbollah defending their Lebanese homeland. Israel’s military triumphalism in this moment is intended to demoralize the people of Lebanon and Palestine, and to make them believe that resistance is futile. But history proves that imperialist war, no matter how brutal, cannot break the will of the people.

The Zionist state may celebrate this assassination as a victory, but history has shown that such victories are fleeting. When Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, it quickly took control of large swathes of territory and even laid siege to Beirut. But out of that occupation grew Hezbollah, a movement that would ultimately force Israel to retreat in 2000, marking the first time that Israeli forces had been expelled from Arab land through military action. The current moment is no different. Nasrallah’s death, while a profound loss, will not break the spirit of the resistance. If anything, it will intensify it.

Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in response to the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, which lasted until 2000. Its success in forcing the Israeli military to withdraw without a formal ceasefire marked a turning point for the region, establishing Hezbollah as a symbol of Arab resistance to Israeli occupation. This victory not only solidified Hezbollah’s military reputation but also elevated its political influence in Lebanon. Hezbollah's ability to regenerate leadership and continue operations despite losses, such as the assassinations of key figures, further showcased its institutional resilience.

Western imperialism and the Israeli Zionists have consistently misread Hezbollah's strength, believing that assassinating leaders like Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would lead to the group’s collapse. They have never understood Hezbollah’s structure, deeply rooted in the working masses of the Lebanese people, which extends beyond individual figures. It enjoys strong community ties and ideological commitment among the broad masses of people in Lebanon. Even after the deaths of military leaders like Hajj Imad Mughniyeh and Sayyed Fouad Shokor, Hezbollah not only continued its operations but advanced its military capabilities, including the ability to launch successful precision missile strikes against Israel.

Hezbollah’s resilience is not just military in nature but also ideological, rooted in a commitment to defending Lebanon’s national sovereignty and resisting occupation, both by Israelis as well as undue influence by the reactionary Gulf monarchies. Its strong connection with local communities, predominantly but not exclusively Shi’a, ensures widespread support for its leadership as a resistance force.

Even as its leaders have died in cowardly Zionist assassination plots, Hezbollah continues to play a crucial role in the broader resistance against Zionism, directly supporting Palestinian organizations in Gaza and coordinating with allies to challenge Israeli and Western designs. This collective resilience makes it difficult for external powers to dismantle the movement, which is sustained by a deep sense of loyalty to land, national identity, and liberation.

Nasrallah himself assumed leadership of Hezbollah after Israel assassinated Abbas al-Musawi in 1992. Just as his predecessor’s martyrdom led to the strengthening of Hezbollah, so too will Nasrallah’s. The people of Lebanon and Palestine are no strangers to sacrifice, and they have learned through decades of struggle that true liberation comes only through steadfast resistance.

Repeated efforts by Israel and the U.S. to dismantle Hezbollah and other resistance movements in Lebanon and Palestine have consistently fallen short. The core reason for this failure lies in the West’s misreading of the Resistance, which is deeply rooted in historical injustices, ideological strength and resilience. Targeting leaders like Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah overlooks the fact that Hezbollah is not dependent on one person. This miscalculation reinforces the stereotype that Middle Eastern movements rely solely on charismatic leaders, ignoring their strong institutions and community support. As a result, Hezbollah has not only survived the loss of leaders but has continued to grow stronger.

Hezbollah’s military capabilities, for example, significantly advanced after the assassinations of leaders like Hajj Imad Mughniyeh and Sayyed Fouad Shokor. Rather than weakening, the group developed more sophisticated missile systems and refined its tactics, as seen in its operations in Syria during the battles of Qusayr and Aleppo against both U.S.-backed rebels like al-Nusra Front and the reactionaries in the Islamic State (IS). Even recent targeted strikes aimed at destabilizing Hezbollah has shown the movement possessing an ability to regenerate leadership and maintain its strength.

Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned in 2006, “If you strike Beirut, we will strike Haifa – and beyond Haifa.” This institutional resilience has made it difficult for Israel and the U.S. to dismantle the group, as they fail to grasp the depth of its ideological commitment and community-based support, which ensure its continued survival. The future does not bode well for Israel.

The struggle continues

Nasrallah gave his life for Palestine, for Lebanon, and for oppressed peoples across the world. And while his enemies may celebrate his death, they will soon discover that resistance, as Nasrallah often reminded us, is not an individual – it is an idea. And ideas, especially those born of justice and liberation, can never be bombed out of existence. Those ideas find their expression in organizations like Hezbollah, and their strength will only magnify in the face of this cowardly assassination.

In moments of tragedy, it is vital to remember that resistance movements like Hezbollah are not built on the charisma or will of one individual. They are rooted in the broad masses of working people. As the Algerian revolutionary Frantz Fanon wrote, “Each generation must, out of relative obscurity, discover its mission, fulfill it, or betray it.” Nasrallah discovered his mission. He fulfilled it, and his martyrdom only strengthens the resolve of those left behind to carry on the fight.

#International #Lebanon #Palestine #AntiWarMovement #Rememberances #Hezbollah #Nasrallah

According to a statement from Hezbollah “The drone is now in the hands of Islamic Resistance fighters.”

In September, 2019, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said that every Israeli drone which violates the Lebanese airspace will be a target for the resistance, after an attack by Israeli drones laden with explosive materials on the Beirut media office belonging to the Lebanese party.

Israel occupies Lebanese territory and frequently enters the country’s airspace.

#Lebanon #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #Hezbollah

In a statement, Hezbollah’s media relations office said their forces “repelled with appropriate weapons an Israeli drone as it crossed the Palestinian-Lebanese border towards the southern town of Ramieh.”

“The drone was downed in the outskirts of the town and now it is in the hands of the Resistance fighters,” the statement added.

Israel frequently violates Lebanon’s airspace and launched an August 25 drone attack on Beirut’s southern suburb, Dahiyeh, hitting Hezbollah’s media center.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Nasrallah has stated that the problem of Israeli drones over Lebanon will be confronted.

#WashingtonDC #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Lebanon #Hezbollah #IsraeliDrones

Nasrallah stated, “After liberating the Lebanese occupied territories from the Zionist enemy in 2000, the UN demarcation of the national border with the Palestinian territories left 13 controversial positions, and the Lebanese government informed the UNIFIL [United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] about its rejection for any Israeli measure in this concern. The Islamic Resistance backs the Lebanese government and army, and the Zionists must take Lebanon’s warning seriously.”

#Palestine #Israel #Hezbollah #MiddleEast

On Nov. 5, 2017, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri appeared in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and abruptly announced his resignation. In his resignation speech, Hariri denounced the Islamic Republic of Iran for supposedly interfering in Lebanese politics through Hezbollah, which makes up part of Hariri’s own coalition government.

The unexpected announcement, made from Saudi state-run television, raised suspicions across the Middle East. Many speculated that Riyadh forced Hariri’s resignation in a clumsy effort to ratchet up aggression towards Iran. Hezbollah and other national democratic forces in Lebanon vocally deny any attempt to drive Hariri from power and claim that the former prime minister, a close associate of the Saudi royal family, was coerced into making the announcement.

The same day as Hariri’s abrupt resignation, Saudi Arabia also announced they had intercepted a Burqan 2H ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s defense forces on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Saudi authorities claimed the missile was provided to Houthi rebel forces in Yemen by Iran, supposedly proof of the Islamic Republic interfering in the region.

As Saudi Arabia attempts to destabilize Lebanon and continues its three-year carnage in Yemen, the risk of regional war grows. Beneath these sparks of political and military crisis, however, exists an even greater crisis for imperialism in the Middle East. The United States’ efforts to dominate the region, especially with the use of Israel and Saudi Arabia as attack dogs, are crumbling as resistance grows. The heightened risk of war reflects the desperate attempts by the U.S. and its allies to crush that camp of resistance, particularly Iran.

Hezbollah is the target of Saudi interference in Lebanon

Saudi authorities are almost certainly holding Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri prisoner and pressured him into resigning, according to Sayid Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.

“We deem the resignation of Hariri illegal and invalid,” said Nasrallah on Nov. 10. “All of a sudden, out of nowhere, Saudi Arabia called the prime minister on an urgent matter without his aide or advisers, and was forced to tender his resignation, and to read the resignation statement written by them.”

Hariri holds dual Lebanese-Saudi citizenship, prompting some observers to speculate that Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman placed the billionaire prime minister under house arrest alongside the other Saudi officials caught up in a recent crackdown.

In the immediate aftermath, Saudi Arabia has attempted to inflame sectarian tensions in Lebanon by calling for Sunnis to take to the streets against the predominantly Shi'a Hezbollah. But despite these calls for disunity, the response across the country to Hariri's resignation was near unanimous in denouncing Saudi interference. All major political players have called on Saudi Arabia to allow Hariri to return to Lebanon and resolve this crisis.

Hezbollah called for calm and stability while the nation sorted through this bizarre incident. “Lebanon had enjoyed unprecedented stability over the past year,” said Nasrallah. “We declare that the prime minister of Lebanon has not resigned. Saad Hariri is our political opponent, but he is also our prime minister.”

Beyond Hezbollah, Lebanese president Michel Auon appealed for calm. Even members of Hariri’s own party, the Future Movement, expressed concern at Saudi interference in Lebanese affairs.

The target of Saudi Arabia’s interference is Hezbollah. While officially Shi’a Muslim in its religious orientation, Hezbollah is a progressive non-sectarian national liberation movement. Its leader, Sayid Hassan Nasrallah, preaches liberation theology and anti-imperialism. The organization has a mass base among poor and working class communities in Lebanon, and its armed wing has supported the Palestinian liberation movement and Syria’s national democratic government. In 2006, Hezbollah defeated a brutal 32-day-long invasion of Lebanon by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), marking a new chapter in its resistance to foreign domination.

While Saudi Arabia has long interfered in Lebanese political affairs, the Arab uprisings that began in 2011 forced the bulk of their attention elsewhere – Syria, Bahrain and now Yemen. In that period, Hezbollah made marked gains both in its electoral strategy, its social influence, and its military capacity, culminating in their presence in the ruling parliamentary coalition government that Habibi headed. With Lebanese elections on the horizon, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the U.S. fear that Hezbollah's victorious return from Syria may translate into serious gains in parliament

“It is clear that Saudi Arabia and Saudi officials have declared war on Lebanon and on Hezbollah in Lebanon,” Nasrallah stated.

Saudi Arabia descends into further crisis

Saudi Arabia’s erratic and violent actions reflect a growing crisis for the gulf monarchy, both internal and external. For over half a century, the Saudi monarchy functioned as a vital part of U.S. dominance in the Middle East. In exchange for its enormous oil reserves and support for the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency, the U.S. provided the Saudis with both military protection and cheap weapons of war to defend its power.

But deep social and economic contradictions exist behind the wealthy façade of Saudi power. Dependent on migrant labor from neighboring countries, like Yemen, and the exploitation of petroleum, Saudi Arabia saw its status sharply decline with the global drop in oil prices. Attempts to drive competitors, like U.S. shale oil producers, out of the market by ramping up its own production backfired, further driving down prices – and with it, Saudi revenues.

Forced to run huge budget deficits, the Saudis have become desperate to shore up their financial situation. On the economic front, they announced plans to sell shares in its state-owned oil industry, ARAMCO. Even more drastic, Saudi leaders agreed to offer oil futures contracts denominated in Chinese Renminbi, backed by gold, in September 2017.

Saudi Arabia’s deep economic crisis has triggered an acute political crisis as well. Earlier this year, Saudi Prince Mohammad bin Salman relaxed restrictions on women driving cars – one of the more bizarre and widely criticized aspects of the country’s theocratic oppression of women. Far from the image of a ‘reformer’ promoted by the U.S. corporate media, Salman’s move was a cynical attempt to make Saudi Arabia appear ‘more modern’ and drive up foreign tourism. It accompanies announcements to build extravagant beach resort hotels and attract foreign capital from corporations like Virgin Airlines.

Unfortunately for Salman, this concession to the Saudi women’s movement angered the hardline conservative religious elements in the House of Saud, sharpening a power struggle within the ruling family. Salman has responded by savagely cracking down on dissent, beheading Shi’a religious clerics, and even jailing other members of the royal family in the name of “fighting corruption.” In reality, Salman, who is just as corrupt as the royals he throws in prison, cares only about consolidating his power in a time of crisis.

Saudi Arabia’s gangster ‘Game of Thrones’

Salman's purge shows the gangster nature of the Saudi monarchy. Between suspicious plane crashes, the extrajudicial executions of political rivals, and the bizarre jailing of opponents in the Ritz Carlton hotel in Riyadh, it plays like a scene from the movies Goodfellas or Scarface. By some estimates, Salman's so-called anti-corruption dragnet have arrested nearly 500 members of the Saudi monarchy and expropriated their wealth. But there's something bigger at work.

Corrupt wheeling and dealing between Saudi royals and international oil tycoons is a key component of the gulf monarchy's wealth. Salman now labels these backroom deals, struck with U.S. and European oil corporations by members of the Saudi government, as “corrupt” and illegal, even though the Saudi monarchy has known and encouraged these practices for decades.

Salman instead hopes to consolidate his power before the death of his father, King Salman, and stabilize Saudi Arabia's massive budget deficits by liquidating competitive elements of the royal family. The younger Salman, a junior member of the royal family, faces external instability and internal crisis, which raises concerns for his power after his father eventually abdicates the throne. Prince Salman himself jumped another Saudi prince, long thought of as the next in line after King Salman, much to the frustration of other elements in the royal family.

Prince Salman's crackdown is a move of desperation from a young, brash monarch who sees the writing on the wall. It's a response to severe crisis, not corruption.

The massive wave of arrests came on the heels of a visit by Jared Kushner, chief advisor to Trump, to Saudi Arabia. During the visit, Kushner praised the Saudis for purchasing U.S. arms and “modernizing” the country – sentiments later echoed on Twitter by Trump, who also praised Salman's crackdown on rival elites.

It isn't hard to see why Trump would support – and many believe greenlighted – Prince Salman's purge. Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, the most prominent royal arrested in Salman's crackdown is estimated to be the 45th wealthiest men in the world, with large shares in Fox/Viacom and Twitter. But unlike Prince Salman, who has intimately tied his rule to the Trump presidency, al-Waleed voiced criticisms of Trump during the 2016 U.S. election, at one point even calling for the billionaire mogul to drop out of the race. From the White House’s perspective, Prince Salman is weeding out potential obstacles for U.S. domination.

The Saudi killing fields in Yemen

Equally troubling for Prince Salman is the disastrous Saudi-led war on Yemen. While the Saudi state claims they intercepted the ballistic missile fired on Nov. 5, both the Houthi-led resistance in Yemen and many international observers report that the strike was successful. But far from unprovoked aggression by the Houthis, the missile was fired in response to the Saudi coalition bombing of a market in northern Yemen three days earlier, which killed 26 people, mainly civilians. This act of Yemeni resistance highlights the failure of the Saudi war effort. Prince Salman, the primary architect of the Saudi war on Yemen, now faces the reality that the Houthi movement has withstood even the most brutal carnage inflicted on it.

In response, the Saudi-led coalition waging war on Yemen announced a comprehensive total blockade of the nation, closing land, air and sea ports to aid workers and journalists. Aid agencies connected with the UN and other providers were not notified prior to the implementation of the blockade. Effectively this move cuts Yemen off from the outside world while Saudi warplanes and mercenary death squads strangle the Yemeni people.

The consequences of this latest blockade will devastate Yemen further. Every ten minutes, a child in Yemen dies from conditions stemming from the savage, Saudi-led, U.S.-backed war on the country, according to UNICEF.

United Nations officials say that Yemen will face the world's largest famine in decades, larger than the monstrous famines in South Sudan and Somalia earlier this year, if the Saudi-led coalition doesn't lift its blockade. Out of Yemen's population of 28 million people, about 20 million “do not know where they're going to get their next meal,” said one UN official.

Famine isn't the only heinous result of the Saudi blockade. Since the war began nearly three years ago, Yemen has suffered the largest outbreak of cholera, a deadly disease nearly eliminated by modern medicine, in over a century. Yemen's cholera epidemic, which has stricken more than 900,000 people, is the result of the nation's devastated water and health care infrastructure, which Saudi-coalition warplanes have deliberately targeted. By blocking access to clean water and medical supplies, the Saudis have guaranteed the epidemic will spread and kill more people.

The Saudi-led war on Yemen could not continue without the support of the U.S. Every step of the way, the U.S. and the U.K. have backed the Saudi-led slaughter by refueling warplanes, selling death machines and providing diplomatic cover. The U.S. and the U.K. are the two largest sellers of arms to Saudi Arabia. British arms sales to Saudi Arabia have increased 500% since the war began three years ago, according to a report by the Independent newspaper in the U.K.

Even Sweden, a country that many people in the U.S. don't associate with imperialist war, has stepped up its arms sales to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – one of the partners in the Saudi-led coalition attacking Yemen.

For the entirety of the three-year assault on Yemen, the Saudis and the U.S. have claimed the Houthi rebels are proxy forces for the Islamic Republic of Iran. In reality, the Houthi insurgency began in 2004 among the rural populations living in northern Yemen, who make up about a third of the entire country. Influenced by the liberation theology of Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah, the Houthis formed with the goal of driving out U.S. imperialism, Saudi domination and their puppet rulers.

Today, the Houthis lead a united front against the Gulf monarchy coalition that seeks to dominate Yemen by force. Deposed Yemeni ruler Ali Abdullah Saleh, once an ally of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, has joined the united front along with elements in the nation’s south. Together they comprise a united front resisting the U.S.-backed, Saudi-led war on Yemen.

Israel and Saudi Arabia: Partners in crime

Despite the blank check of support offered by the Trump administration, Israel has seen its position in the Middle East decline sharply. Like Saudi Arabia, the Israeli government backed the seven-year war in Syria in hopes of toppling President Bashar al-Assad, a key regional partner of Iran and a supporter of the Palestinian liberation struggle. It covertly assisted fighters from al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and bombed the Syrian Arab Army several times to no avail.

Worse than Assad remaining in power, though, is the strengthening of Hezbollah in Lebanon. As the Syrian civil war winds down, Hezbollah returns from the battlefield victorious, better armed and with greater influence in regional politics. As a key ally to both Palestinians and Iran, Hezbollah poses an existential threat to Israeli power. They defeated the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the summer of 2006 and have only grown stronger since that time with battle-tested experience fighting the Islamic State death squads in Syria. Publicly released threat assessments by the Israeli Defense Forces in 2016 identified Hezbollah as the main external threat to Israeli security.

Wikileaks cables have revealed growing ties between the Israeli government and Prince Salman, who see a common foe in Iran and the entire camp of resistance. Saudi Arabia, for its part, never supported Arab resistance forces like Hezbollah, who they blamed entirely for the 2006 Israeli invasion, but their collaboration with Israel has deepened. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for instance, released a statement after Hariri’s resignation hysterically denouncing Iran and Hezbollah.

In Washington, Israeli lobbyists have begun working closely with lobbyists from the Gulf monarchies in Washington, particularly from the UAE. After securing greater arms sales to their countries in the latest U.S. military budget, these lobbyists have a singular goal in mind: Build consensus for war with Iran.

Imperialism and the camp of resistance

On Nov. 10, the Syrian government declared final victory over the Islamic State. While pockets of conflict will likely continue, this effectively means the end of the nearly seven-year war in Syria.

The Islamic State (IS), born out of the disastrous U.S. occupation of Iraq, functioned as a proxy army for the U.S. in Syria. While President Obama and later Trump formally declared war on IS, the U.S. contained the bulk of its offensive against the right-wing Salafist militia to Iraq in hopes of pushing the group away from Iraqi oil derricks and into Syria. Often U.S. warplanes bombed Syrian Arab Army forces that were actively fighting IS on the ground. All doubts over the real target of U.S. bombing missions in Syria ended on April 6, 2017, when President Trump fired 59 tomahawk cruise missiles at a Syrian government air base.

At the center of these victories are the anti-imperialist forces in the Middle East, which comprise a camp of resistance. Anchored by the Islamic Republic of Iran, the camp of resistance includes the Syrian Arab Republic, Hezbollah and the patriotic forces of Lebanon, the Palestinian liberation organizations, the Houthi insurgency in Yemen and other allied national democratic movements in the Middle East.

The goal of the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Israel is to destroy the camp of resistance in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia, in alliance with the Israelis, has taken stock of the major battlefields in the Middle East. The influence of the camp of resistance is expanding. Almost seven years of trying to topple the Assad government in Syria has failed, and the attempts to stop the Houthi movement in Yemen have proven disastrous for the Gulf monarchies. Hezbollah's influence in Lebanon and beyond has grown. And worst of all for the U.S., Iran's influence has grown.

With Trump’s move to sabotage the Iran nuclear deal last month, the risk of region-wide war in the Middle East rises each day. Imperialism is a brutal, vicious system that guarantees high oil profits for the 1% while brining death and destruction on the rest of the world. All people opposed to that system should resist the threats of war and work to bring an end to the slaughter in nations like Yemen.

#SaudiArabia #MiddleEast #Yemen #Hezbollah #SaadHariri

According to Lebanon’s authoritative news outlet Al Manar, Mr. Nasrallah stated, “Trump has not come up with anything new. He just revealed the real face of the racist, oppressive and ugly U.S. administration. We have to thank him for this.”

Nasrallah went on to say, “We consider that having a foolish president at the White House as good news to the vulnerable people across the world.”

#WashingtonDC #MiddleEast #Lebanon #Hezbollah

The well-known Lebanese resistance leader Samir Kuntar was assisinated, Dec. 19, in Jaramana, Syria. Kuntar spent nearly 30 years in Israeli prisons for his role, at age 16, in a military operation of the Palestine Liberation Front against the Israeli occupation. Kuntar, the longest-serving Arab prisoner, was one of the detainees release in an exchange with Israeli authorities in 2008.

The Lebanese media is reporting that Israel has been shelling villages along the border.

#Lebanon #MiddleEast #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #Hezbollah

Kuntar spent nearly 30 years in Israeli prisons for his role, at age 16, in a military operation of the Palestine Liberation Front against the Israeli occupation. Kuntar, the longest-serving Arab prisoner, was one of the detainees release in an exchange with Israeli authorities in 2008. The Israelis believe that Kuntar had become an important figure in Lebanon’s resistance group Hezbollah

The air strike on an apartment building also killed a number of Syrian civilians.

Lebanon’s media outlet, Al-Manar reports, “Israeli warplanes struck the building with four long-range missiles, causing complete destruction of the building and partial damage to the surrounding structures.”

“At 10:15 p.m. on Saturday December 19, Zionist warplanes struck a residential building in Jaramana city in Damascus countryside,” Hezbollah Media Relations said in the statement.

The statement added “The Dean of liberated detainees from Israeli prisons, brother Mujahid Samir Kuntar was martyred along with several Syrian citizens in the strike.”

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah is expected to make a statement on Kuntar’s killing on Dec. 22.

#Syria #Lebanon #Hezbollah #SamirKuntar #MiddleEast

“An Israeli enemy reconnaissance plane breached the Lebanese airspace at 6:45 a.m. Sunday over the town of Alma el-Shaeb, circled over the South region, as well as Beirut and its suburbs, and then left at 3:00 p.m. from above the aforementioned town,” stated the National News Agency report. It was also reported that up three other Israeli aircraft flew of Lebanese territory later that day.

Another Jan. 25 National New Agency report says, “Israeli enemy forces fired around 7:00 p.m. Sunday, six flares over the eastern hilltops of Kfarshouba in the South, which coincided with an Israeli pilotless plane's violation of national airspace and circling over the occupied farms.”

These new acts of aggression come on the heels of the Jan. 18 Israeli attack in Quneitra, Syria targeting the progressive Lebanese resistance group, Hezbollah. The attack, on what has been reported to be an observer group looking into cooperation between Israel and Syrian sectarian terrorists, killed six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general.

The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Ali Jaafari, stated that there will be a response. Hezbollah is expected to say more about a response later this week.

#Lebanon #MiddleEast #Israel #Hezbollah

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine sent a message of condolences to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the General Secretary of Hezbollah, in the name of its General Secretary, Comrade Ahmad Sa’adat, and all of the leadership and members of the PFLP, mourning the martyrs, six Hezbollah leaders and cadres assassinated in Syria by a Zionist airstrike.

The Front saluted Hezbollah’s “escalation of the resistance as a strategic option and a comprehensive culture…building a serious force to be reckoned with and confronting the Zionist enemy both with words and deeds, which has earned the well-deserved respect of the revolutionaries of the world.”

The Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the armed wing of the PFLP, had earlier issued a statement mourning the slain leaders of the Lebanese resistance: Mohammed Issa, Jihad Imad Mughniyyeh, Abbas Hijazi, Mohammed Ali Hassan Abu al-Hassan, Razi Ali Dawi and Ali Hassan Ibrahim, noting that the Palestinian and Arab resistance are together in the fight against the Zionist criminal enemy.

#Palestine #PopularFrontForTheLiberationOfPalestine #MiddleEast #Israel #Syria #Hezbollah #Airstrikes

Shebaa Heights, part of Lebanon, has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

The Oct. 8 report quoted Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem as stating that the “military operation carried out by the Islamic Resistance of Lebanon in the occupied Shebaa Farms on the border with Palestine has achieved its complete goal.”

#Lebanon #Hezbollah #ShebaaHeights #MiddleEast

The statement relates the Israeli solider was captured “during the recent operation carried out by the Brigades east of At Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, which killed 14 soldiers and wounded more than 50, including the commander of the Golani Brigades.” The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry group that is well known for committing war crimes.

The statement from the Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades also noted, “This operation came as a response of killing more than 480 Palestinian civilians and wounded more than 3200 due to Israeli attacks on Gaza residential districts.”

On July 21 Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades told of a another successful battle. “The Israeli patrol was ambushed by Al Qassam members in Ash Shuja’iya neighborhood east of Gaza city, the Qassam members clashed with them from zero point, killing 10 soldiers and wounding 30 others.”

Another resistance group that has been battling the Israeli assault on Gaza is the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and its armed wing the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades. According to a statement from the PFLP, on July 20 members of the Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades “infiltrated and engaged occupation forces at the Rafah airport area and confronted them with a variety of weapons including four ‘107’ type missiles,” and they targeted “enemy artillery east of Shuja’iya at 12:45 a.m.”

Also on July 20, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, of Lebanon, pledged to stand with the Palestinian and the people of Gaza. Al –Manar News reports, “In a phone call with Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal, Sayyed Nasrallah said Hezbollah and the Lebanese resistance will support the Palestinian Intifada and resistance, with all their hearts, willpower, hope and destiny.”

According to Al-Manar News, “Sayyed Nasrallah also contacted the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, where they discussed the developments on the battleground in Gaza, including field conditions and political advances.”

#GazaPalestine #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #Israel #Hamas #Hezbollah #SoldierEzzedeenAlQassamBrigades #ShaulAaron #GazaCity #AbuAliMustafaBrigades #MiddleEast

A statement from the Lebanese Army states that an Israeli reconnaissance plane breached the Lebanese airspace for nine hours, Jan 1. “The enemy plane circled over the South region, Beirut and its suburbs, Riyaq and Baalbek for 9 hours, and then left at 4:15 p.m. from above the aforementioned town,” stated the army communiqué.

This latest violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty comes at a time of heightened Israeli aggression in the region. Israel shelled villages in south Lebanon on Dec. 29. On Dec. 30, Israeli troops fired several artillery shells into central Gaza.

U.S. and Israeli policies in Lebanon are an attempt to weaken the patriotic and national resistance forces in Lebanon. Also, many believe that the Israeli intelligence service, Mossad, is responsible for the murder of Hassan Lakkis, an important resistance and Hezbollah leader.

#Lebanon #Hezbollah #MiddleEast

The progressive Lebanese political party Hezbollah sharply condemned a decision by the European Union to put a ‘terrorist’ label on its military wing, June 22.

“It looks as if the decision was written by American hands with Zionist ink and the EU had only to put its seal for approval,” Hezbollah’s statement said.

Hezbollah has worked hard to overcome sectarian divisions in Lebanon and across the Middle East. It is working with an array of nationalist, communist and religious organizations, as well as countries like Syria and Iran, to build a camp of resistance to imperialism and Zionism.

#Lebanon #Iran #Zionism #Syria #antiimperialism #EuropeanUnion #Hezbollah #MiddleEast

Speaking from at the Sayyed Shohadaa complex in Beirut’s southern suburbs, Nasrallah responded to Western claims about weapons transfers to Hezbollah, saying, “Everything we need is found in Lebanon; we don't need to transfer it neither from Syria, nor Iran.”

Looking back over recent decades, Nasrallah said, “30 years on, the Resistance project stands on a solid ground of equations, achievements and victories, not just dreams that ought to be true.”

Nasrallah refuted claims that Hezbollah was behind an attack that killed Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, saying about Israel’s prime minister, “Netanyahu immediately blamed Hezbollah of being behind the attack... But Israel doesn’t wage a war as a reaction.”

The U.S. has used the Bulgarian accusation to pressure European counties to classify Hezbollah as a ‘terrorist’ organization. Hezbollah, one of Lebanon’s largest political forces, is working with communists and members of all religious groups to build a front of resistance against imperialism and Zionism.

#Lebanon #Hezbollah #MiddleEast

Hezbollah, the largest anti-imperialist political party in Lebanon, condemned the Oct. 19 Beirut bombing that took the life of Brigadier General Wissam Al-Hasan and others. In a statement, Hezbollah declared, “This hideous crime is a vicious attempt to target stability and national unity,” and urged the “security and judicial apparatuses to use all efforts to control the crime, uncover its committers, and bring them to justice.”

Much of the western media is implying that supporters of Syria are behind the blast. There is no evidence that this is the case.

Syrian Information Minister, Omran al-Zoubi, denounced the bombing as “cowardly,” and on Oct. 19 stated, ''Such terrorist acts are condemned and unjustifiable wherever they happen.''

Who benefits

Hezbollah and other progressive political forces, including Lebanese communists, have worked hard to build a powerful national resistance project that is capable of standing up to imperialism and Zionism. They have struggled to overcome sectarian divisions within the country. The main leader of Hezbollah, General Secretary Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, has been crucial to the effort to build national unity and to beat back Israeli aggression. Hezbollah and other democratic forces now play a leading role in the government of Lebanon.

In the wake of Oct. 19 bombing, the right-wing, pro-western political forces associated with the Future Movement and other reactionary political parties have been staging violent demonstrations in Beirut, Tripoli and other cities to take advantage of the situation. They aim to weaken the government and turn Lebanon from the path of resistance.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said in the bombing’s aftermath, “Lebanon's insecurity only serves the interests of the occupying force of the Zionist regime.”

Context

Iran, Syria and the progressive forces of Lebanon constitute a camp of resistance that fights attempts by the U.S. and other western powers to dominate the Middle East. At the current time, whatever weakens the camp of resistance weakens the struggle against imperialism and is a setback in the fight to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The U.S. and other western powers, along with Turkey and the reactionary Arab governments, are backing the effort to destroy the progressive government of Syria. The U.S. and Israel are threatening the government of Iran. In Lebanon, the right-wing political parties who also help the pro-western forces in Syria are using Oct. 19 bombing as a pretext to destabilize the country.

The western media claims violence from Syria is spreading to Lebanon. This is not the case. Violence from the U.S. and its allies, threatens Iran, has engulfed Syria, and is showing itself again in Lebanon.

#BeirutLebanon #Beirut #Lebanon #Hezbollah #WissamAlHasan #MiddleEast