The Egyptian Revolution & The American Strategy

By Hassan Nasrallah
Broadcast - 7 February 2011
Courtesy Of "Information Clearing House"

Today we declare our solidarity. One of the forms of our solidarity is to defend this revolution, this intifada, this great historic popular movement. One of the responsibilities of defending this revolution is to reveal its true image as all data indicate. . . . We contact those on the ground, in the squares, in the streets, the young and the old. We talk to them and listen to what they have to say: their slogans, songs, chants, words and statements. We listen to what is said in satellite media and other means of communication. That's because they, the Egyptians themselves, are the ones who can show us the truth, the form and content, the nature, aims, and hopes of their revolution, their intifada. . . .

First: We are witnessing a real popular revolution, a real Egyptian national revolution. Muslims and Christians are participating in this revolution, as are Islamic factions, secular parties, nationalist parties, and intellectuals. In fact all sectors of the popular classes are taking part in this revolution: the young, the old, women, men, clerics, artists, intellectuals, workers, and farmers. However, the most important of all is the presence of the youth. So from this perspective we are witnessing a complete revolution.

Second: This is a revolution of the will of the people, the determination of the people, the commitment of the people. People are demonstrating, they are offering themselves as martyrs, they are making sacrifices, they are risking injury. They are sleeping under the skies in this cold rainy weather. They are themselves determining what they want, what they want to do, where they want to go, what regime they will accept and what type of solution to adopt. They are the decision makers in everything they say, do, and look forward to. So all accusations of being part of a foreign agenda -- whoever this alleged foreign party is, whether it is a friend or foe of Egypt -- are accusations which will fail to stick, have failed to stick, given the will of the Egyptian people and its brave youth. This is a point I will come back to soon.

Third: the essence and content of this revolution, this intifada. Is this a revolution of bread because people are hungry? Or is it a revolution to achieve social justice and social equality? Or is it a revolution to attain freedom and democracy? Or is it a revolution for political reasons? Does it have something to do with the regime's foreign policies and Egypt's stance in the region, the ummah, and the world? We have heard many explanations and analyses. Everyone is trying to take things in a certain direction.

The friends of Israel and America -- intellectuals, political leaders, and media outlets close to America and Israel -- want to convince the world that what is taking place in Egypt is just a revolution of bread, a revolution of the hungry. The truth, however, is told to the whole world by the protesters in Liberation Square, the protesters in Egypt. It is expressed by their slogans, by their blood, by their smiles, by their anger, by their stances. . . . This means that we are witnessing a complete revolution in its essence, in its fundamental parts. It is a revolution of the poor. It is a revolution of freedom-loving people, of freedom seekers. It is a revolution of those who refuse to be humiliated and insulted because this nation has been under subjection having surrendered its will to America and Israel. It is a political, social, and human revolution. It is a revolution against everything -- corruption, oppression, hunger, the squandering of the capabilities of this country, and the regime's policy on the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Fourth: It is a duty to stand in solidarity with Egypt's popular revolution. It is a noble revolution, unbesmirched by all the accusations they try to stick to it. One of the worst accusations, made by certain figures in our Arab world, which we have heard from the very beginning -- we also heard this during the Tunisian revolution -- is that this revolution is fabricated by the US administration -- the US intelligence services, the Pentagon, and the US State Department; that the Americans are the ones behind the popular movement, pushing people to protest and coordinating with the youths of the movement; that the Americans are the ones leading and controlling this revolution.

On this day of solidarity, we must say that this accusation does great injustice. Any Arab or Muslim or free human being anywhere in this world cannot think that about the Tunisian youth or Egyptian youth; anyone who does is doing great injustice. It's an unjust way to speak, an insult to the minds and wills of these youths and people -- to their awareness, to their culture, and to their understanding.

Brothers and sisters! Who among us can believe that America is seeking to topple a regime which provides it with all the services it wants and works faithfully and truthfully to protect its interests and its project in the region? Can anyone believe that the Americans are behind this protest? It is absolutely illogical and irrational. . . .

Yes, the Americans are trying to ride the wave. They are trying to take advantage of this revolution. They are trying to curb and absorb this revolution. They are trying to beautify their ugly image in our Arab and Islamic world, and they are trying to present themselves as defenders of people, of their rights, wills, and freedoms, after decades of absolute support for the worst dictatorships witnessed in our region. This is the most serious danger, the greatest danger which our peoples in revolt, out resistance movements, must be aware of and be vigilant against.

Brothers and sisters! . . . The US administration has undertaken many studies and opinion polls in our region, especially in the Arab and Islamic world. It wanted to know: What is the direction of opinions? What do people think? What do they accept? What do they reject? What do they look forward to? The results were very clear. . . . They are published in newspapers and magazines -- especially those specializing in strategic affairs -- and forums and conferences. . . . All the studies and opinion polls reached the following conclusions:

The overwhelming majority of our Arab and Islamic peoples are against the US policies. They reject them. This does not mean we are enemies of the American people. Perhaps in time we will find out that the majority of the American people are poor people who don't know what is going on in the world and that their interests and priorities are totally different.

The overwhelming majority of our Arab and Islamic peoples reject the US policies for obvious reasons: the absolute American support for Israel and its wars from the establishment of the Zionist entity to the Gaza War in 2008 (we also saw it in the war on Lebanon in 2006); the absolute American support for the corrupt dictatorships that are US allies in the region; America's own wars and crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere in our Arab and Islamic world; the disclosure of US lies and double standards in everything, when it comes to human rights, freedoms, and democracy.

These American studies and opinion polls also revealed that there are major changes in store in the region. That is what Hillary Clinton hinted at just a few weeks ago. The Americans have become sure that the regimes that are allied with the US and collaborating with Israel are against the will of the people when it comes to their stance on America and Israel and will not be able to withstand popular pressure for long. The will of the people has had enough of this status quo. The polls and studies showed, too, that these regimes, their leaders, and their figureheads do not enjoy any popularity, respect, esteem among their peoples; at the same time, the polls showed that other figures, other leaders, occupy first, second, and third places because of their stances on the Palestinian cause and the American project. So the US administration expressed its anxiety.

That does not mean that the US administration has plotted or is working to overthrow the regime which serves it. However, it has been preparing itself for what could happen: if the people revolted and tried to express its rejection of the regime in any country, the US administration would then stand in the middle; having learned from its experience in confronting the revolution in Iran as well as from all its previous experiences, it would not do to support oppression and bloody confrontation because, as it knows, the result of bloody confrontation with the people would be catastrophic for America, and for its allies, its agents, its old and new servants as well. That is why it is standing in the middle now. It is trying to present itself in a different way -- as defender of people and their choices -- and trying to guarantee the kind of transition of power, authority, and leadership that would preserve all its relations and alliance, the American project and interests. . . .

What concerns the US regime in the region is its own interests and Israel's interests. It doesn't really matter who is in power. America can abandon anyone who is in power at any moment. Precisely who is in power is unimportant -- whether or not he is Islamic doesn't matter to America. No one there cares about that. The Americans don't veto anyone based on whether he is a Muslim, from an Islamic movement, a leftist, a rightist, a nationalist, a secularist, a religious cleric, a sheikh, a sayyed, a patriarch, or a bishop. No, that doesn't concern America. America is not concerned about such an ideological self-positioning of a leader. What is most important is this: Is this leader, is this regime, committed to America's interests and Israel's interests? If the answer is yes, no problem, whatever the ideological posturing of the leader and regime may be. . . .