Hizbullah Webinar Features Activists From West

Two international webinars on mobilizing students for Palestine, streamed live on YouTube, featured Hizbullah official Ali Al-Hajj Hassan, head of the Youth Section at Hizbullah's Cultural Mobilization Department. Other speakers included activists identified as "student representatives" from countries including the U.S., Canada, UK., and Australia. The webinars, held on May 16 and August 20, 2024, were hosted by the Imamia Students Organization Pakistan (ISO Pakistan), the country's largest Shi'a student organization. The videos of the events were posted on the ISO Pakistan YouTube channel.[1] The May 16 event, titled "Responsibilities of Students in Palestinians Issue," featured self-described student representatives from the U.S., UK, Australia, Gaza, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Iran.^{^[2]} It prominently featured Hizbullah official Ali Al-Hajj Hassan who called for forming a "Palestine Force" of "resisting" students and professors worldwide. The August 20 event featured speakers from countries including Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Nigeria, the U.S., Pakistan, Canada, Turkey, and the Palestinian territories.[3]

August 20, 2024 ISO Pakistan webinar with activists from different countries including Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Nigeria, the U.S., Pakistan, Canada, Turkey, and the Palestinian territories.[4]

Head Of Youth Section At Hizbullah's Cultural Mobilization Department Calls For Forming 'Palestine Force' Of 'Resisting' Students, Professors Worldwide, Including In The U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, Australia, Who Will 'Carry The Spirit Of The Mujahideen' In Online International Student Seminar: 'We Are In A Historic Moment... Wherever We Are Present, We Must Influence Young People'

The May 16, 2024 webinar, marking International Nakba Day, featured Hizbullah official Ali Al-Hajj Hassan, Head of the Youth Section at Hizbullah's Cultural Mobilization Department. Participants included activists identified as "student representatives" from countries including the U.S., UK, and Australia.

During his speech, Hassan called for establishing an international "Palestine Force" of youth and students across Western and Islamic countries, including the U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, and Australia, who will lead protests in support of armed resistance in Gaza, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, and "carry the spirit of the mujahideen" in their respective countries. He emphasized that the Al-Aqsa Flood war, which he said began on October 8, 2023, is a global war between "humanity and the monstrous West." The youth's role in this global war, he said, is crucial at this historic moment, adding: "Wherever we are present, we must influence young people."

Ali Al-Hajj Hassan also recently spoke about his efforts to mobilize pro-Palestinian activism among students on college campuses in the West in an interview on Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV. Other participants in the webinar included Houston-based activist Mohsin Naqvi and Canadian activist Firas Al-Najim of CD4HR.

To view a full transcript of Ali Al-Hajj Hassan's speech, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11562 Head Of Youth Section At Hizbullah's Cultural Mobilization Department Calls For Forming 'Palestine Force' Of 'Resisting' Students, Professors Worldwide, Including In The U.S., UK, Germany, Italy, Australia, Who Will 'Carry The Spirit Of The Mujahideen' In Online International Student Seminar; Adds: 'We Are In A Historic Moment... Wherever We Are Present, We Must Influence Young People', September 17, 2024. Other speakers in the May 16 webinar were identified as Samana from the UK and Baqir Ali from Australia.

Houston-Based Activist Syed Mohsen Naqvi: In The Past, U.S. Protesters Shied Away From Openly Supporting Iran, Hizbullah, And Hamas; But Now, Protesters Chant: 'There Is Only One Solution – Intifada, Revolution!'

Another speaker in the May 16 webinar was Houston-based activist Syed Mohsen Naqvi, who was presented as representing the U.S. student community. Mohsen is also a political commentator who has frequently appeared on PressTV, an Iranian state broadcaster sanctioned and Designated by the Treasury Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control.[5] In 2019 he posted a flyer promoting an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran at the Houston Islamic Education Center, in which a children's choir sang that they are the soldiers of Supreme Leader Khamenei.

Naqvi said that it was a true honor to share the screen with a representative of Hizbullah and accused the United States of being complicit in genocide. He said that "the United States Empire" had constantly been exposed for their "atrocious" and "genocidal" foreign policy, not only toward West Asia and South America, but toward the whole world, including their own people. Furthermore, that when the U.S. talked about human rights, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly, it was "nothing more than a farce," which was why Imam Khomeini said that the U.S. was Satan. He also said that the Israel was as "weak as the spider's web," and said that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation had left no doubt in the minds of the people that it was the U.S. who was behind the Zionist regime and was responsible for its survival.[6]

Declaring that the college encampments and protests in the U.S. were "not socially engineered," Naqvi said that they were "organic and natural" and the result of the U.S.'s genocidal history, which had "drenched U.S. taxpayers in the blood of innocents in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Africa, South America, and Palestine."[7]

Furthermore, he added that Ivy League colleges and universities in the U.S., such as Columbia University, Harvard, Stanford, and MIT were directly responsible for funding the genocide through the Zionist donors and lobby groups that funded research at these universities to develop the weapons that companies like Raytheon, General Dynamics, and Caterpillar then used to arm the Zionist regime. He also said that graduates from these Ivy League universities went to work in banks like BNY Mellon, which funded military factories like those of Elbit Systems in Israel.[8]

Lastly, Naqvi stated that students and different segments of society in the U.S. were now taking a "pro-resistance stand" and supporting Iran, Hizbullah, and Hamas in the streets of the U.S. He said, "freedom fighters in Palestine are defending themselves. These are reactionary measures that the innocent are taking."

He continued: "There was a time when people at protests would shy away from taking the name of Iran, the Islamic Republic. They would shy away from taking the name of Hizbullah on the streets of the U.S. They [would] shy away from taking the name of Hamas. But now we see these protests echo with the chant that there is only one solution, 'Intifada Revolution.' This is a direct result of the blood of the martyrs, may that be the blood of the martyrs of Hizbullah, may that be the blood of the martyrs of Hamas, of the Islamic Jihad, of the Lion's Den, of the Jenin Brigades, of the PFLP, of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs brigade."[9]

Syed Mohsen Naqvi speaking at the May 16 webinar.

Hizbullah Official Ali Al-Hajj Hassan On Efforts To Mobilize Students In The West For Palestine Action In The Upcoming Academic Year: We Told The Student Activists That They Have A Great Impact, They Should Fill The Campuses, Raise Their Voices

In an August 21, 2024 interview with Hizbullah-affiliated outlet Al-Manar TV, Ali Al-Hajj further discussed efforts to mobilize students in the West.

To view the clip, click here or below:

Ali Al-Hajj Hassan: "We have seen the mobilization of students and youth in the West. Yesterday, for example, I participated in a symposium with young people from America, Britain, and various other countries. We agreed that it is our duty today, as student and youth organizations, to unite and become as one, for the sake of Palestine.

"We need to establish this global front in support of Palestine. We said that anyone capable of connecting with those students at Western universities, should urge them to make sure that the launching of the new academic year will be marked by Palestine, the defense of Palestine, and the slogans of liberating Palestine, and stopping the aggression against Gaza.

"These young people are active in this regard. We told the student organizations and youth activists in the West that their voice is loud and that they should raise it as much as they can, and fill the public squares and universities, and the social media platforms in their countries, in defense of Palestine. We told them that they have great impact on the battle to stop the aggression against this oppressed people.

[...]

"If we want to go into detail, Western Civilization is a colonialist civilization. It is a criminal, enslaving, occupying, terrorist civilization..."

Host: "Hypocrisy!"

Ali Al-Hajj Hassan: "It is a civilization that plunders the resources of other nations."

Host: "Absolutely!"

Ali Al-Hajj Hassan: "It is a lying and conspiring civilization that sows division..."

Host: "It annihilates nations!"

Ali Al-Hajj Hassan: "These have become clear signs of that fake and artificial civilization."

August 20 Webinar – Canadian Activist Firas Al-Najim: The 'Deviant Jews' Are Treacherous, Know How To Bribe And Steal; We Respond To Your Call, Oh Khamenei; American Activist Mohsin Naqvi: Campus Encampments Scare 'U.S. Empire'

On August, 2024, ISO Pakistan organized and hosted another international webinar, this time on the occasion of the Shi'a holiday of Arbaeen. The webinar featured activists from different countries including Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon, Nigeria, U.S., Pakistan, Canada, Turkey, and Palestine. Ali Al-Hajj Hassan, head of the Youth Section at Hizbullah's Cultural Mobilization Department, was again among the speakers, as was Houston-based activist Syed Mohsen Naqvi, again presented as representing the student community of the U.S.[10] To view the MEMRI TV clip of their statements, see MEMRI TV 11371.

Flyer disseminated on Facebook announcing Al-Hajj as guest speaker in the August 20 webinar.[11]

Screenshot of the August 20 webinar

Canadian activist Firas Al-Najim of CD4HR said that the "deviant Jews" killed thousands of prophets. He added that they are treacherous and that they know how to steal, bribe, and blackmail. He mentioned a video of a Hamas spokesman who said that the tunnels in Gaza are the product of the planning and engineering of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh and IRGC Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani, see MEMRI TV clip no 8902.

Houston-based activist Mohsin Naqvi said that he would never want to represent the U.S, but "unfortunately," he lives there. He discussed campus encampments, saying that they scare the "U.S. empire." It is worth noting that another participant in the webinar was Ali Al-Hajj Hassan, head of the Youth Section at Hizbullah's Cultural Mobilization Department, who discussed extensively in a recent interview his efforts to mobilize pro-Palestinian activism among students on college campuses in the West. Canadian activist Firas Al-Najim is a regular guest on Iran's English-language state TV channel Press TV, as is American activist Mohsin Naqvi.

The following is a transcript of Naqvi and Al-Najim's statements:

Mohsin Naqvi: "I don't represent the U.S. I would never want to represent the U.S., but rather, I unfortunately, live here.

[...]

"When you have students in Ivy League [schools] protest, take over, and do encampments in these colleges, you see the kind of U.S. they want to see in the future. These people, these students, are of the best students in the country, and their opinion is taken seriously, and this is what scares the U.S. empire.

[...]

"Even after the death of the martyr [Iranian President] Ebrahim Raisi, after the death of the martyr [Hamas leader] Ismail Haniyeh, after the death of [Hamas deputy leader] Saleh Al-Arouri, after the death of the martyr [Hizbullah senior commander] Abu Taleb, after the death and martyrdom of [Hizbullah military commander] Fuad Shukr, we see that the resistance becomes stronger, and stronger, and stronger."

[...]

Firas Al-Najim: "We need to go to the roots. How many prophets were killed by the deviant Jews? Thousands. They tried to kill Prophet Muhammad.

[...]

"Imam Hussein, if you look also at the background and the details, you can see that the deviant Jews of that time, the Zionists of that time, supported Yazid [against Hussein]. They contributed to him, they gave him information. They are people who have a very treacherous and very deceiving manner. They know how to work with the media. They know how to convince people. They know how to steal. They know how to bribe. They know how to blackmail. They know how to do all kinds of treacherous activities.

[...]

"I have seen a video of a Hamas spokesman saying that all the tunnels that were built beneath Gaza – the idea, architecture, and engineering of this was by Imad Mughniyeh and Qassem Soleimani. These are the people that supported this whole underground battle that is taking place.

[...]

"All I ask for is just that we recite the Fatiha for the martyrs of Gaza, the martyrs of the Islamic Republic, the martyrs of all the axis of resistance. So, if you don't mind. 'In the name of Allah, the Merciful...' Let's take a minute and recite the Fatiha.