Nasrallah hails 'courage, bravery of Nakba Day protesters'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 05/16/2011 10:24
Hezbollah leader predicts Israel's "demise," promises protesters "right of return" will be realized soon; Iranian FM condemns IDF actions.
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Monday praised the citizens who demonstrated at the Lebanese border on Sunday as part of Nakba Day events, and promised them that their "right of return" would be realized soon. Lebanese newspaper the Daily Star reported that ten were killed and over 100 wounded as clashes turned violent at the border.
“We
must bow before the courage, the bravery, of those who protested
yesterday at Lebanon and Syria’s borders with occupied Palestine, who
faced the tyranny of the enemy with bare chests and their heads held
high,” Nasrallah said in a Hezbollah statement quoted by AFP.
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“Your
message, loud and clear, to the enemy is that you will liberate your
lands, that the fate of this entity (Israel) is demise, and that no
initiatives, treaties or borders will protect it,” he added in the
statement. “You, the honorable, have given the nakba new meaning.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi also condemned IDF actions against Palestinian ralliers in Lebanon, the West Bank, and Golan, saying these actions violate international norms, PressTV reported quoting the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
The Iranian official also called on the international community to "deal with Israeli crimes as soon as possible," PressTV reported.
On Sunday, 10 Palestinians were
reportedly shot dead and 112 others wounded along Israel's
northern border as thousands of Palestinians congregated at the frontier
in order to commemorate the 'Nakba,' a day Palestinians see as the 63rd
anniversary of their expulsion from their homes in Israel, Lebanese
newspaper the Daily Star said.
While the Daily Star reported that IDF fire caused the protesters' deaths,the IDF said that Lebanese Armed forced shot the demonstrators down.
Lebanese activists, including Hezbollah members, were also among those included in the violent protests.
According to the Daily Star, protesters made there way from designated
demonstration sites in Maroun a-Ras and headed for the barbed wire fence
along the border. Protesters pelted Lebanese Internal Security Forces
and Lebanese soldiers with stones as they made their advance.
Lebanese-Palestinian demonstrators tried to ascend the fence in order to
mount flags and kaffiyehs on it as Israeli soldiers began firing
towards the demonstration. Protesters cried "We sacrifice our souls and
blood for Palestine," the Daily Star reported.
According to Human Rights Watch, there are an estimated 300,000
Palestinians living in Lebanon as of 2011. Palestinians in Lebanon do
not have Lebanese citizenship, and are legally barred from owning any
property and from a number of different desirable professions.
