Nasrallah makes waves with verbal assault on Israel

News of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on Friday makes headlines in most Arabic newspapers today. The multi-topic address sparked debate about the organization’s alleged support of Bahraini resistance, this week’s suicide attack in Damascus, and even the group’s educational plans for Lebanon.

Liberal leaning Al Hayat writes that Nasrallah addressed a crowd via teleprompter at a celebration marking the reconstruction of a south Beirut suburb. Speaking about the legacy of the 2006 Lebanon War, Nasrallah criticized Israel’s efforts to “deliberately transform people’s lives into hell.”

Regarding future conflict with Israel, Nasrallah is quoted as saying, “For every building destroyed in Dahiya [the Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut], a building will be destroyed in Tel Aviv,” and further that, “Today we are not only able to hit the city of Tel Aviv but, God willing, we are able to hit specific targets in Tel Aviv and anywhere in occupied Palestine.”

Responding to this week’s twin suicide blast in Damascus, Palestinian daily Al Quds UK reports that Nasrallah defended his organization’s support for the Syrian regime. “We are becoming increasingly reassured of our position on Syria,” as he explains that those who “want to destroy Syria” are extremely obvious, including, “America… the West, and Israel.”

Hezbollah’s media wing Al Manar also includes Nasrallah’s clarification about his stance on Bahrain. He calls rumors that Hezbollah is sponsoring violent resistance in Bahrain a “misleading lie” and “incorrect… We support the peaceful movement of the Bahraini youth.”

In a related editorial in the international Arab publication Al Hayat, Hazem Sagchi laments increasingly militant discourse in Lebanon. In the article, entitled “Rotting political language in Lebanon,” Sagchi argues that while Lebanese political rhetoric was never exactly “upscale,” the quality today is the most “degenerate” in Lebanon’s recent history. He is disappointed that the 1989 Taif agreement that effectively ended the Lebanese Civil War did not live up to its promise to “mature” dialogue and keep the media fair and open.

Damascus: The blame game

Following Thursday’s twin suicide attack in Damascus that left 55 dead, rhetoric heats up over who carried out the attack and why.

A Sharq Al Awsat leads with a story headlined, “Syrian government and opposition hold each other responsible for the bombing of Damascus.” Writing for Al Arabiya, Tareeq Hammid argues that the latest attack was a “gimmick” by the Syrian government to “distract” international observers and the press by creating the specter of an Al Qaeda plot.

Another article, in Al Arabiya, quotes Syrian Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jafari as saying “the attack bore all the hallmarks of Al Qaeda.”

These statements directly contradict a declaration by the Free Syria army in Al Arabiya that the “Damascus government system… bears full responsibility for the attack.” The Free Syria Army “called for an international team of experts to investigate the bombing,” stressing that the organization “defected to protect the people.”

In addition to an internal blame game, Arab pundits and commentators discuss why the stalemate in the Syrian struggle against Bashar Assad continues. One article in A Sharq al Awsat cites a UN official defending the current Annan Plan: “It is premature to declare the failure of the Annan Plan.” Another piece argues that the Annan plan is the only hope for a solution to the Syrian problem, as “alternatives to the Annan plan” as well as “military intervention” are unlikely.

This article further points out that “ahead of the G-8 Summit…if a consensus isn’t reached, civil war is likely.”

Hussein Salem on his way back

The Spanish government has agreed to deport notorious Egyptian businessman Hussein Salem and his two children back to Cairo.

Egypt’s Al Ahram reports that “a previous ruling by the Spanish Court has been appealed and has made extradition enforceable.”

Still, Al Masry Al Youm writes that a final decision “requires final approval as Hussein and his two children have Spanish citizenship.” Hussein Salem has been accused of bribery, corruption, and selling gas to Israel significantly below international market price.

This potential sigh of relief for Egyptians comes against a continued struggle to locate and return hidden funds from the top brass of Mubarak’s regime. Liberal Egyptian paper 7Youm reports that another “410 million Swiss Franks” continue to be frozen in Swiss Bank accounts. Retrieval has been complex because these “funds have been smuggled through complicated and indirect networks.”