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In a speech delivered on May 23 and broadcast on Al-Manar TV, Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah warned that "the war raging today" is a "war for survival," requiring sacrifices. Nasrallah said that "the day may come when we will have to declare general mobilization" and that "if the Hizbullah leadership decides to take to the streets, you will find tens of thousands of men there."
Following are excerpts:
Hassan Nasrallah: The war is raging today, this war for survival, also requires great sacrifices. This is a war is greater, more dangerous, and more ferocious, because it is raging within our home, one way or the other. Whoever wishes to defend his existence, survival, honor, dignity, and his homeland must be prepared to make sacrifices. They must make sacrifices. This is why I say to some Lebanese people: It is a disgrace that you are keeping count of our martyrs in this war. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Every day, they say: 30 [casualties] here, 40 there, 50 here, 100 there.
Do you think that we are ashamed of our martyrs? This war is no walk in the park. This is a war for survival, with brutal and ferocious fighting from hill to hill, from valley to valley, from house to house. It requires martyrs and sacrifice. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Do not count our martyrs. It is thanks to the martyrs, the wounded, and the prisoners that you – who have grown weak and tired – live in peace and security in this country.
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People say that Hizbullah has a problem [recruiting] men, so it is recruiting children to fight the war. This is all because of an incident involving one of the young martyrs. We have a program in which 15- and 16-year-olds are taken to a camp, where they study and get acquainted with nature. Sometimes accidents happen. This young man had an accident and we pronounced him a martyr. Ever since, we have been hearing that we have no men left, so we recruit children. Shame on you.
There were rumors yesterday that I was about to declare general mobilization. I am not going to do so. It is still too early. Everything is just great. It is true that I said that the day may come when we will have to declare general mobilization. But I did not declare it. To all those people, I say: Even if I do not call for general mobilization, if the Hizbullah leadership decides to take to the streets, you will find tens of thousands of men there.
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