Nasrallah: Israel to give crumbs to Palestinians

Hizbullah leader claims Israel will escape from territories; says "self-sacrifice" must end US plan.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Nasrallah 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Nasrallah 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
Israel will offer very little to the Palestinians in a peace deal, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday. "Israel plans to give only crumbs to the Palestinians during negotiations and [US] President [George] Bush plans to force the Palestinians to give up on the right of return and settle the refugees in Arab states [instead,]" Nasrallah said in a speech during a celebration for the Muslim New Year. "The Zionists will escape from the '67 territories, Jerusalem and the settlements… and the Palestinians will be given only crumbs," he was quoted as saying during a sermon in a Beirut mosque. "[Bush] will demand that the Lebanese accept this reality and recognize Israel. This is Bush's testament which he wills upon our people," Nasrallah continued. The Hizbullah chief insisted that this plan must be fought against with "the spirit of self-sacrifice," adding that "we will not leave, but we will stay in our lands, in our villages and in our cities, even if our homes are destroyed… we will not tolerate the Israeli program, so with resistance… as I promised in the past, we [will] go from victory to victory, and it will come with the help of intelligence, blood and desire." On Wednesday, the Shi'ite group's leader called Bush's visit to Israel "a black day for Arabs and Muslims." "Bush came to Israel to celebrate 60 years [of independence] of a state that has no right to exist," Israel Radio quoted Nasrallah as saying.