Hashim Safi Al-Din, Hizbullah Executive Council Head: We Won't Be America's Slaves; 'We Will Confront And Expel The American Project From The Region'

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On December 11, 2023, Hashim Safi Al-Din, chairman of Lebanese Hizbullah's Executive Council, delivered a speech at a memorial ceremony held at Al-Zaareer village in Lebanon's Beqaa Valley in honor of a Hizbullah "martyr" who was killed fighting Israel in the south of the country. In his speech, Safi Al-Din asserted that Hizbullah has two options: To resist or to be "slaves in the service of America." He declared that his organization had chosen the former option, and added, "We will confront and expel the American project from the region." He explained that Hizbullah is conducting "a campaign in the defense of Gaza and the West Bank," and stressed that it is a just campaign against "the enemies of religion and humanity." He also noted that Israel's loss of faith in its army is "the most important outcome of the war."

The following is a summary of the main points of Safi Al-Din's speech, as presented on Hizbullah's Al-Ahed website:[1]

In his speech, Safi Al-Din claimed that Israel is always the aggressor that threatens and initiates wars, and that any show of weakness tempts it to start a wide-ranging war. However, he asserted, "when one tells it, 'We are not afraid of your threats. We are strong,' that is what will deter [it] and help." He stated that today Hizbullah is conducting "a campaign in the defense of Gaza and the West Bank," and stressed that it is a just campaign against "the enemies of religion and humanity. America and Israel are worse than Pharoah the tyrant."

The mujahideen "fulfill their wish and the purpose of their faith. Martyrdom is status, a crown and success," declared Safi Al-Din. He boasted that the many internal and external challenges facing the resistance have not managed to destroy it or to weaken it, and added that today Hizbullah has tens of thousands of "fierce, heroic mujahideen." He said that, "This insane war [against Hizbullah] led by the U.S. and Israel which will cause them only disappointments, will embed them in a pit of disintegration, more than the war in Gaza [will]."

He mocked the residents of the communities in northern Israel who refuse to return to their homes as long as Hizbullah remains on the border, and said that they wouldn't be saying that if they had confidence in their army. He contended that that "is the most important result of the shocking and oppressive war in Gaza, [and that it is] because of the exact hits by Hizbullah."

Safi Al-Din asserted that, "The war against Gaza exposed the extent of the hatred harbored by the U.S. and Israel toward the Palestinians, and the Arabs, who, he says, are not perceived by them as human beings who deserve to live. He stated that, "the Lebanese and the Islamic world must know the truth about America and the West that do not spare a school, a hospital, or a child. This war has exposed a bitter and shameful truth – those who have worked with America for dozens of years, and still serve them – it does not attribute any importance to them, not concerning their abilities and not in a summit or at a meeting."

The sentiments expressed by Safi Al-Din corroborate those voiced by senior Hizbullah officials, headed by the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah, against the backdrop of the current war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which asserted that the war is waged by the U.S. Administration and President Joe Biden and is only being carried out by Israel, and vowing that the "eradication" of Israel and the removal of the U.S.-led "global arrogance" are imminent.[2]