Speech by Leader Al-Sayyid Abdul Malik Badruddin Al-Houthi on Latest Developments

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the outcast.
In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

Praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. I believe that there is no god but Allah, the Sovereign and the Manifest Truth, and that our master Muhammad is His servant, Messenger, and Last Prophet.

O Allah! Confer Your salat and blessings upon Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad as You conferred Your salat and blessings upon Ibrahim and the Family of Ibrahim. You are Owner of Praise, Owner of Glory! And be pleased with Muhammad’s good companions and all Your righteous servants and mujahidin.

Brothers and sisters, peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.

On the arrival of the holy month of Dhu Al-Hijjah, we extend our warmest congratulations to our dear Yemeni Muslim people; to their dear mujahidin on the front lines; to our Islamic Ummah as a whole; and to the pilgrims of the Sacred House of Allah.

The month of Dhu Al-Hijjah is one of the blessed seasons for drawing closer to Allah, the Almighty. It is also a season for multiplied reward and for spiritual and moral refinement. It is marked by great and important religious occasions, foremost among them Hajj, which is one of the pillars and blessed rites of Islam. Hajj has profound spiritual and formative effects; it reinforces Islamic brotherhood and unites Muslims in fulfilling their great, sacred collective responsibilities, including jihad in the path of Allah (Glory be to Him), establishing justice, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, holding fast to the rope of Allah all together, cooperating in righteousness and piety, and other important duties. Although the enemies of Islam and Muslims, together with those aligned with them, have sought to strip Hajj of much of this vital meaning and have erected many obstacles to turn it into a complicated process, thereby preventing most Muslims from performing this sacred duty, it remains an important obligation of immense value and benefit. This remains true despite the obstacles facing the Islamic Ummah at this stage. However, this calls for conscious attentiveness from the Ummah and a sincere commitment to benefiting from these great and significant Islamic rites, given the immense blessings and far-reaching effects that Allah has placed within them.

Among the blessed occasions of Dhu Al-Hijjah is Eid Al-Adha, observed on the tenth day of the month. In addition to being one of the festivals of the Muslims, it commemorates the noble example of Prophet Ibrahim, the confidant of Allah, and his son Prophet Isma’il (PBUT). Through that example, they presented every generation with a timeless lesson in submission to Allah, the Almighty. The account of this occasion is given in detail in Surah As-Saffat.
Among the great acts of devotion in this blessed month is the takbir of Tashriq, recited over five days, beginning at dawn on the ninth day and concluding in the afternoon on the thirteenth day. When undertaken with awareness and concentration, it has a profound psychological and emotional impact. It is one of the significant manifestations of Allah’s words: {‘And remember Allah during the given number of days’}[Al-Baqarah 2:203].

Muslims also agree on the virtue of the first ten days of Dhu Al-Hijjah, with narrations revealing the multiplication of reward for righteous deeds performed during them, as well as their blessings, their importance in drawing closer to Allah (Glory be to Him), and their role in spiritual and moral refinement. Some narrations interpret Allah’s saying, {‘and by Ten Nights’}[Al-Fajr 89:2], in Surah Al-Fajr as referring to these ten days. Among the important occasions in Dhu Al-Hijjah are the anniversary of the Prophet’s Farewell Pilgrimage (PBUH&F) and the occasion of the Day of Wilayah.

It is therefore a month rich in blessed religious occasions, and a great season of goodness in which abundant opportunity is available for spiritual advancement and for drawing closer to Allah (the Almighty) for whoever seizes it and strives to benefit from it. It is a chance that everyone deeply needs. At the personal level, each of us needs it, and at the collective level, we need it as well. We, as a Muslim ummah, face dangers and endure suffering of a severity unmatched by any other ummah on earth.

Benefiting from this season and from the religious occasions in it has never been more urgent, for spiritual and moral elevation, and closeness to Allah (Glory be to Him) yield profound fruits in divine enablement, guidance, and assistance. These fruits are manifest in lived reality: in one’s actions and stances, and in the consequences that unfold in his lives. We ask Allah to aid us by His grace so that we may be among those who seize this opportunity.
Before beginning our lectures, which we usually deliver during the first week of Dhu Al-Hijjah—as has been our practice in previous years—we will first review the most prominent developments of the final week of Dhu Al-Qadah. Foremost among them is the renewed desecration of the Holy Quran in America, which is part of a relentless Jewish-Zionist campaign against Islam and Muslims.

With the increasing frequency of offences against the Holy Quran by those Zionist criminals—ranging from burning and defilement to other heinous acts—hearing such news may become normalised and routine for many in our Islamic Ummah. Many are affected by a process of desensitisation, especially in an environment marked by inaction and the evasion of responsibility, where no serious effort is made to uphold a just cause that all Muslims should embrace in the face of such horrific, heinous, and dangerous offences against the holiest of sanctities on earth: the Holy Quran.

A Muslim must be wary of this condition. He must strive to safeguard his conscience, his sense of humanity, morality, values, human worth, and human dignity. For it is an extremely dangerous condition for a person to become accustomed to hearing such offences without any reaction, any stance, or any emotional response. It means that he has lost his humanity: those qualities that distinguish him as a human being—pride, honour, human dignity, and essential values.

These Zionist offences form part of an organised effort by Jews and their Zionist lackeys in America and elsewhere. As we have said, they are part of a broad programme of hostile actions directed against Islam and Muslims. One of its principal fronts is the deliberate targeting of the Holy Quran with the aim of defamation, among other objectives, some of which we shall address. These are not merely isolated incidents occurring by chance, nor are they random reactions arising from some individuals. Rather, they form part of an organised programme pursued by Jews and their Zionist lackeys as part of a comprehensive offensive against Islam and Muslims. This is something we must understand, for some people genuinely regard such incidents as random personal acts—unorganised, purposeless, and merely spontaneous expressions of anger supposedly provoked by Muslims.

While expressing hatred towards Islam, Muslims, and Islamic sanctities, these acts also reveal the extent of their alarm at the Holy Quran. The Jewish-Zionist movement, together with all its lackeys, sees the Holy Quran as the strongest shield that can safeguard the Muslim Ummah and humanity from their evil, corruption, tyranny, and infiltration. They understand the significance of the Holy Quran. They recognise that it can elevate human society in general and the Islamic Ummah in particular, especially those among the Ummah who recognise its significance and consciously return to it for guidance while practically adhering to its teachings. It gives them the means to rise to a level at which they are capable of thwarting and defeating Zionist schemes. It enables them to repel their evil, criminality, and corruption and dismantle their campaigns of misguidance and falsehood through which they infiltrate different peoples and nations.

Through the qualities Allah has placed within it, the Holy Quran possesses the power of truth and the ability to vanquish falsehood. It is the firm rope of Allah, connecting this Ummah and all who hold fast to it with divine support and assistance. For that reason, they regard it as a grave threat to them: one capable of bringing them down, nullifying their falsehood, frustrating their plans and conspiracies, and exposing them before human society. It is capable of revealing their true reality and fortifying communities against their methods of deception, misguidance, and corruption, among other things. They are aware of the Quran’s importance and greatness, and that is why they are deeply disturbed by it. They recognise its immense significance and see in it a grave threat to their schemes of misguidance, corruption, and criminality against peoples.

Furthermore, their desecration of the Holy Quran serves as a strategic litmus test. For them, it is a way to measure the spiritual and emotional connection Muslims still maintain with the Holy Quran—their most sacred sanctity. It is indeed a telling metric: If the Muslim world reaches a state of indifference and complete lack of concern where it fails to feel outrage or show any response when those criminal and wicked evildoers from Zionists and Jews commit the worst insults against the Quran, it signals a profound weakening of the Ummah’s bond with the Holy Quran. This indicates a profound fault in this Ummah’s relationship with the Holy Quran—in its reverence for this great sanctity, this blessed light, this magnificent book. This is a dangerous state. Reality does indeed reveal a serious fault in the relationship many Muslims have with the Holy Quran: They no longer regard it with the profound sanctity it merits; they no longer feel a close bond with this book or recognise the significance it holds for them in this world and in the Hereafter. As a result, many of them reach the point of showing no concern for this issue at all, as though it were of no importance whatsoever.

The Zionist Jews and their lackeys in America and Israel also seek to condition Muslims into a state of submissiveness, seeking to crush their spirit of defiance and extinguish the flame of dignity within them. They want to reduce them to passivity in the face of whatever their enemies do to them, however extreme it may be. In other words, even if their enemies were to commit against them the most horrific, atrocious, and appalling acts imaginable, the response would resemble that of many Muslims towards the insults directed at the Holy Quran: a state of inaction, silence, and total indifference. We see no emotional response or practical reaction. This is an extremely dangerous condition. The Jews are relentless in this process of taming the Ummah because they know its true potential. They realise that the Islamic Ummah is a great ummah which, in reality, possesses all elements of strength. Were it to harness them, its condition would be entirely different from the humiliation, meekness, fragmentation, weakness, incapacity, and abasement in which it now finds itself, which is disgraceful. They understand the Ummah’s moral and material sources of strength, and the foundations required for its revival, so that it may become a great, proud, dignified, and powerful ummah, in a position worthy of it—worthy of the immense capacities it possesses. However, they are keen for the Ummah to remain distant from the sources of strength, deprived of those factors that can lead to strength and revival. They want it to remain restrained, to grow accustomed to a state of humiliation and submission, and to reach a state where it accepts disgrace. This is an extremely dangerous matter for Muslims.

In fact, this insult is directed at Muslims: That is, what they intend by it is the humiliation of this entire Ummah. Also, it is part of the enemies’ efforts to separate the Ummah from the Quran and to weaken its sanctity within the hearts of Muslims—an objective they pursue extensively through various activities, policies, and means. Their aim is to distance Muslims from the Quran: from forming an emotional and spiritual attachment to it, from revering and venerating it, from seeking guidance through it, and from following and adhering to its teachings. They seek to remove the Holy Quran entirely from the course of their lives, until they bring the Ummah to abandon it and turn away from it entirely, leaving it with no value or significance in their lived reality. They want the Quran to disappear, to a great extent, from educational curricula and from all educational, cultural, media, and awareness-related fields. They want speaking through it, or reminding people of it, to be treated as improper, unacceptable, and out of place in any political subject, any major issue concerning the Ummah, or any sphere of life. Their aim is to exclude it from the reality of the Ummah and to turn the relationship of the Ummah with it into one of abandonment and total disregard. The enemies of Islam made great efforts to achieve this goal.

What is clearly evident is that the vast Islamic world and the Ummah of two billion Muslims—with all the enormous capabilities they possess—do not even adopt the simplest positions or measures in response to those insults: neither a political position, nor an economic one, nor any other form of action within its capacity to undertake. Indeed, there are many practical options that Muslim governments and peoples could potentially take, including economic and political boycotts. Thus, there are many measures the Ummah can adopt, which are entirely available and at the same time are effective in placing real pressure on the enemies.

For example, we can observe the global impact resulting from the American failure in the aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran: When disruptions affected the flow of oil from the Islamic world to global markets, this led to a huge global impact. So what if this Ummah, as a whole, were to adopt a genuine stance of economic boycott or apply economic pressure in one form or another? The options are many, and entirely within reach. Politically, as well, the Ummah possesses many options. However, in reality, there is absolutely no intent to take any position whatsoever, whether at the political, economic, or any other levels, despite the fact that such action lies within their power and would have tangible effect.

This means that there is no will to adopt any position. This is a serious state for the Muslim Ummah, as it only fuels the ambitions of their enemies—and not any enemies. These are the Zionist Jews, the Zionist movement, and the leaders of disbelief, America and Israel. In other words, they are the worst of enemies who harbour intense malice against this Ummah and covet everything it possesses—its homelands, its wealth, its resources, and its geographical position. At the same time, they harbour extreme hatred and animosity towards this Ummah. It is only natural that enemies should set their sights on this Ummah when they witness it reduced to such a low ebb of degradation, irresponsibility, and apathy, even towards its most sacred sanctities—sanctities whose desecration ought to stir it into action. This emboldens them, for, as we have previously noted, it serves as a metric for them to gauge the Ummah’s reality. It also emboldens them to see this Ummah forsaking the greatest element of its strength: the rope of Allah, which connects it to Him, to His support and victory. There is also the matter of divine punishment, which undoubtedly falls upon the Ummah when it reaches the point of turning away from the book of Allah and showing no regard for it whatsoever.

Therefore, in keeping with piety towards Allah, and since the conclusion the enemies draw from this test ought to be one that deters them, it is of the utmost importance that whoever still possesses a conscience and a sense of Islamic belonging should act, express his stance, and work to confront the enemies and their comprehensive hostile assault against Islam and Muslims. For the repeated offences against the Holy Quran are part of their hostile campaign against this Ummah. These form part of a comprehensive onslaught targeting us as a Muslim ummah in all fields. As we have said, these are not merely random individual incidents born of angry emotion for personal reasons. Rather, the matter forms part of a comprehensive aggressive onslaught targeting us as a Muslim ummah. This is the reality. It is important for us, as Muslims, to possess a sound understanding of what the enemies are doing, the motives behind their positions, their objectives, and what they are striving to achieve.

Many people might buy into the absurd justifications put forward by some in America or certain Western states to permit and protect these practices. They deploy police forces to guard those committing these offensive crimes against the Holy Quran, labelling it a matter of ‘freedom of expression’. Yet this cannot properly be called an expression. Expression is conveyed by the tongue; it consists of speech or writing that gives form to what the tongue would say. This desecration of the Holy Quran is a direct assault—an actual criminal act. At the same time, in the West, they completely abolish and erase ‘freedom of expression’ when it comes to expressing solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people in the face of Zionist, Jewish, American, and Israeli crimes committed against them—crimes that include:
– the killing of thousands of children, including premature babies;
– the killing of thousands of women, both young and old;
– genocide;
– the widespread destruction of hospitals, schools, homes, and entire cities;
– the deliberate use of siege and starvation as weapons; and
– every form of unjust targeting practised against the Palestinian people by the Israeli enemy, in partnership with America.

Then, merely expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and demanding an end to those crimes leads the American authorities, through their police and repressive apparatuses, to inflict every form of repression: severe beatings, arrests, and various arbitrary measures, even against university students, female students, university professors, and members of the public.

Through its police forces and repressive apparatuses, America employs every form of repression and abuse, including brutal beatings, arrests, and various arbitrary measures. This is practised even against university students—whether male or female students—university professors, and ordinary people. This has occurred not only in America, but also in Germany, France, Britain, and other European countries. Their claims about freedom of expression collapse when the matter concerns nothing more than peaceful protests or demonstrations calling for an end to the horrific crimes being committed against the oppressed Palestinian people. What freedom of expression can they speak of when they do not even allow this basic and legitimate form of solidarity with the oppressed—people suffering an unmistakable injustice for which no absurd justification could ever be accepted? Children, women, the elderly, and the young are being killed; people are being forcibly displaced; entire areas are being destroyed, and much more besides.

From their side, this is a comprehensive assault. It includes a clear campaign against the Holy Quran, another directed at insulting the Messenger of Allah—Muhammad (PBUH&F)—as well as a broader campaign directed against Islam itself. Beyond this, there are many other agendas, principles, and detailed efforts through which they operate. That is, their activities extend deep into our own countries and societies, where they work across all spheres affecting our peoples. We are a targeted Ummah.

Our dear Yemeni people—the Yemen of faith and wisdom—are among those who have taken the lead in declaring and adopting the correct position towards this aggressive assault on our Islamic Ummah and its sanctities. The stance of the Yemeni people towards insults against the Quran is expressed clearly through mass demonstrations attended by millions, large public gatherings, cultural activism, the boycott of American and Israeli goods, jihadi mobilisation, and Quranic education. In reality, we are in a clear and explicit state of hostility towards Zionism and its two arms: America and Israel.

This is the stance a Muslim should naturally hold. Our Ummah is targeted by them and is subjected to aggression and injustice by them. They are the ones who initiated hostility against us and subjected us to oppression, persecution, criminal acts, comprehensive assault, and aggression in all its forms. Our response to this must continue tirelessly and without weariness. In other words, the matter is not merely temporary, nor is it confined to immediate emotional reactions. Rather, it requires sustained courses of action aimed at building the Ummah so that it is capable of confronting those enemies across all fields and with full commitment.

Such efforts are also a means of drawing closer to Allah (Glory be to Him), because all of this forms part of striving in the cause of Allah. When we act from a standpoint of faith to confront their evil, corruption, criminality, misguidance, and aggressive assault against our Islamic Ummah, against us as a Muslim people, and against human societies in general, such efforts constitute part of jihad in the cause of Allah (Glory be to Him).

The hostile campaign directed at the Holy Quran attempts to undermine its sanctity in the hearts of this Ummah; detach the Ummah from it; distance people from revering it, acting by it, following it, honouring the teachings it contains from Allah (Glory be to Him), and remaining steadfast in adherence to it. It is the Book that brings people out of darkness into light when they are guided by it and adhere to it. Therefore, one of the most important responsibilities in confronting the enemies is to care for the Holy Quran in all fields: through adherence to it, following it, holding firmly to it, acting upon it, reinforcing reverence for the Quran, and maintaining adherence to it.

This is an extremely important matter and forms part of the path of confronting the enemies. They pursue a deliberate strategy with defined objectives, some of which we have already discussed. Those efforts must be met with firm positions, practical action, and broad-ranging concern. These are matters of profound importance to us and represent the natural relationship we ought always to maintain with the Holy Quran, particularly in confronting attempts to distance this Ummah from it.

There have also been further developments in the Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people and in the violations against the sanctity of the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque. Among the many crimes committed by the Israeli enemy is the intensification of Zionist incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the imposition of further restrictions on worshippers. They are attempting to prevent Muslim Palestinians from reaching and praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque by imposing numerous restrictions upon them, while at the same time allowing Zionist Jewish usurpers and criminals to desecrate the mosque through repeated, organised, and intensified incursions into its courtyards. Indeed, this week they went so far as to attempt to seize control of some of the entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque near one of its gates.
The aggressive Zionist campaign against the Al-Aqsa Mosque is an ongoing scheme pursued according to a plan.

This explains the vast difference between the situation in previous years and the present day, where such incursions have now become almost a daily occurrence. Hearing about such matters has become routine for many Muslims, like any other ordinary news they hear repeatedly; thus, they have grown accustomed to it—without any reaction, without taking any stance, and without any feelings of anger or responsibility being stirred within them regarding this matter.

This too is extremely dangerous, because when an Ummah reaches the point of becoming indifferent towards its sanctities and when the things that ought to matter most to it lose their value in its eyes, then the Ummah itself becomes weakened and diminished: It accepts humiliation, degradation, enslavement, and crushing at the hands of its enemies; loses its sense of human dignity, its faith-rooted honour, and its sense of pride and self-respect; and eventually grows accustomed to every form of humiliation and accepts subjugation. This is an extremely dangerous state for the Ummah.

It is clear that the Zionist enemy ultimately seeks to achieve its goal of destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque and constructing the alleged Temple. For this reason, the Ummah must continually be reminded of the seriousness of what is happening to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and this issue must remain present in all the activities through which the Ummah seeks to awaken and mobilise itself, so that it may fulfil its responsibility towards itself, towards its sanctities, and towards remaining an honourable, dignified, and free Ummah that refuses subjugation.

The Zionist enemy also continues to carry out every form of violation and aggression against the Palestinian people in the West Bank. The daily life of the Palestinian people there is one of oppression, humiliation, and persecution. This includes the daily demolition of homes; the daily forced displacement of families and households, sometimes affecting entire towns, villages, areas, or communities; and the targeting of everything: the community itself, the Palestinian people themselves, and everything they possess—their land, their honour, their wealth and property, and their homes. Everything is targeted. Their daily existence consists entirely of aggression, abuse, injustice, and persecution, often carried out in vile ways that reflect the Jewish hatred, depravity, and criminality underlying these acts.

In addition, with regard to the confiscation of land and the establishment of settlement outposts upon it, vast areas of the West Bank are being confiscated and usurped. The situation has reached an unprecedented level in the West Bank. Land seizures and the construction of settlement outposts are increasing continuously and on a large scale. Numerous newly established facilities, including farms and other sites, are also being established on usurped land for Jewish Zionists, usurpers, oppressors, and criminals.

The process of forced displacement is ongoing and proceeding at a dangerous and alarming pace. In time, the extent of what the Zionist Jews have accomplished in this regard will become fully apparent, amid the Ummah’s heedlessness and indifference. No regard whatsoever is being given to any of the agreements concluded by the Palestinian Authority with the Israeli enemy. The Israeli enemy pays them no attention, assigns them no value, and does not take them into consideration at all. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority remains preoccupied with security coordination and cooperation with the Israeli enemy.

Likewise, with regard to the ongoing aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, it is carried out using every form of aggression. Daily killings are escalating in intensity: Thus far, hundreds from among the Palestinian people have been martyred, from across Palestinian society: men and women, young and old alike, from all segments of society. The crime is truly horrific—hundreds upon hundreds of martyrs—and this must never become routine news for the Islamic Ummah. When the Israeli enemy continues perpetrating killings, shedding blood with impunity, and taking lives on a daily basis with complete disregard for this Ummah, this is an extremely dangerous state of affairs that must never be accepted under any circumstances.

The Israeli enemy is also carrying out killings targeting the security and police forces in Gaza, while attempting to create a state of chaos in the Gaza Strip. It targets the civilian administrative system, which provides the population with even the most basic services within the limited means available—services that are already at an absolute minimum because of the severe blockade. In fact, the Israeli enemy seeks to destroy every foundation of life in the Gaza Strip.

In addition, it targets the mujahidin. One of the major escalations was the targeting of the prominent jihadi commander, Izz Al-Din Al-Haddad, which constitutes a major escalation. The targeting of this great mujahid commander—who is one of the foremost symbols of jihad among the Palestinian people—is itself a grave escalation. The Israeli enemy seeks to normalise such a situation. It seeks to target the Palestinian people, their leaders, their national symbols, the mujahidin and heroic figures, and every segment of Palestinian society, while the primary concern of others becomes persuading the Palestinian people not to respond in any way and silencing anyone else, thereby allowing the Israeli enemy to continue its crimes.

The Israeli enemy continues tormenting the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip through the blockade. Only a very small proportion of food, medicine, and humanitarian supplies is being allowed in, falling far short of meeting even the most basic essential needs required by the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, only a small fraction of the quantities agreed upon for daily entry is actually being allowed in—an extremely limited proportion estimated at roughly thirty-eight per cent.

Instead of reconstruction and instead of creating the conditions for reconstruction in accordance with the agreements, the Israeli enemy continues destroying and demolishing what remains of homes and buildings. It is proceeding to demolish the few remaining homes and buildings. Meanwhile, the Palestinian people continue to endure immense suffering under this blockade and torment. Hundreds of thousands are living out in the open, in tattered tents, and in truly catastrophic conditions regarding their health conditions, their daily living conditions, their desperate need for food, and every basic necessity of life. Epidemics are ravaging them, along with disease, scorching heat, rainfall, and countless other hardships—a catastrophic situation in every sense of the word.

In the face of all of that, where is the Arab stance? Where is the Islamic stance? Where is the stance of the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement? This ceasefire agreement includes a full ceasefire, a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and allowing humanitarian aid and essential supplies to enter—supplies that are a fundamental humanitarian right of the Palestinian people. This is all the more so when there is an agreement backed by guarantors, even though these are humanitarian rights that must be upheld under all circumstances. The Palestinian people must be granted the food, medicine, and essential humanitarian necessities they require under all circumstances.

The pressure and blame are increasingly directed towards the resistance in Gaza, even by some Arab regimes. The aim of this is to force it to accept being disarmed. Yet in reality, these are merely light arms—scarcely more than personal firearms and extremely limited in quantity. Everyone knows this reality well. Only a very small number of Palestinians possess weapons, despite being among the people most in need of arms of every kind. They possess the legitimate and rightful claim to obtain all forms of weaponry, and it is the duty of the Islamic Ummah to provide them with every kind of weapon so that they may defend themselves, their lives, their freedom, their dignity, and their honour. They also need to stand confronting the bitter enemy of the entire Ummah: the criminal Zionist Jewish enemy, which commits the most horrific and atrocious crimes on the earth. Therefore, it is the duty of the Islamic Ummah to support them with all forms of weaponry. However, Arab regimes and regimes within the Islamic world exert pressure upon them to surrender the very little weaponry they possess, thereby enabling the Israeli enemy to establish complete domination without any obstacle.

What is deeply regrettable is that the priorities of many Arab regimes, and even some regimes across the Islamic world, have become aligned with serving the American and Israeli enemy. In all of its interventions throughout our region—whether in Palestine or elsewhere—the Americans consistently place their own interests at the centre, alongside those of the Israeli enemy, which they openly regard as a fundamental partner. They state this reality plainly and repeatedly acknowledge it without hesitation: that they always take the interests of our Israeli enemy into consideration, regard it as a fundamental partner, and seek to empower it to dominate this region. In fact, this is a clear matter.

Thus, when many regimes—and the forces loyal to them in our region—align themselves with the American agenda, serve American interests, and adopt American and Israeli dictates, this means that they are working to remove every obstacle standing in the way of the Israeli enemy’s complete domination over Palestine. Thereafter, the Israeli enemy turns towards carrying out the remainder of its Zionist project in targeting the rest of these peoples.

All of Palestine—and Gaza within Palestine—constitutes the foremost defensive front line of the entire Ummah. Had the Israeli enemy succeeded in overcoming this advanced line of defence and breaking through this forward trench standing in its way, it would already have secured decisive gains in Egypt, in Jordan, and even more extensively in Syria, as well as in Lebanon—were it not for the Islamic resistance and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This is the reality, and it is deeply regrettable: when attention becomes focused on serving American and Israeli interests through political pressure and organised, systematic media campaigns aimed at discrediting the mujahidin brothers in Palestine—indeed through the application of every form of pressure against them. This has reached the point where they feel estranged from this Ummah and experience profound suffering caused by this Ummah itself—by its regimes, by its governments, and by the failure of its peoples to stand by them. This is an extremely regrettable situation. When we reflect upon these events, we must become aware of our responsibility and the importance of adopting the correct stance.

As for the developments concerning the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, this aggression has continued unabated throughout the entire previous period and did not cease even after the previous agreement. During the more than fifteen months that followed that agreement, and prior to this latest round, the Israeli enemy continued all forms of aggression against Lebanon, including:
– daily killings,
– the destruction and demolition of homes,
– the targeting even of agricultural crops with toxic gas,
– abductions,
– violations of Lebanese airspace, and
– the prevention of residents of southern towns from returning to their villages.

Thus, every form of aggression and targeting continued unabated. Even after the most recent agreement—concluded under Pakistani sponsorship between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the wider axis alliance, with Lebanon at its forefront, on the one hand, and the American and Israeli enemy on the other—the Israeli enemy did not halt its aggression. Rather, it continued all forms of attack and violation.

Hezbollah is exercising its legitimate right and duty by every standard and consideration —including under international law, United Nations conventions, recognised norms, and divine laws—in confronting the Zionist Jewish aggression targeting Lebanon and Hezbollah within Lebanon. The targeting of the Lebanese people in the south is, in reality, an attack on all of Lebanon and a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty in its entirety.

Yet despite this, some within the Lebanese authorities, driven by deviant tendencies, direct blame and responsibility towards Hezbollah. They exert pressure upon it, incite against it, and seek to undermine it politically through foolish positions that merely serve the enemy while denying facts that are as clear as daylight: namely, that the Israeli enemy is the aggressor, that it continues its aggression and violates every agreement, and that it has not adhered to any agreement. In fact, it neither abides by the agreement in Gaza nor the agreement in Lebanon; indeed, it abides by no agreements whatsoever, repeatedly violating them while continuing its aggression.

Hezbollah confronts the Israeli aggression against Lebanon with great effectiveness and deals severe blows to the Israeli enemy through major, heroic, and suicide drone operations against the aggressor and occupying force in southern Lebanon—operations that are effective, influential, and exert considerable pressure. Yet, instead of making use of these operations to strengthen a sound political position, to achieve proper outcomes, and to compel the Israeli enemy to completely halt its aggression and fully withdraw from every town, area, and position it occupies in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese authorities adopt political positions that are foolish, reckless, and false. They wish for the situation to remain as it was throughout those fifteen months: Hezbollah restrained and constrained, while the issue is portrayed as though the problem lies in Hezbollah’s weapons, even as the Israeli enemy remains free to continue its attacks and maintain its occupation indefinitely. This is something Hezbollah certainly cannot accept.

It is natural that Hezbollah—which proceeds from great principles and stands as a distinguished model within this Ummah through its dignity, resolve, steadfastness, resilience, principled positions, and high effectiveness in confronting the Israeli enemy—would never accept such false bargains and illegitimate equations: that it should remain shackled and disarmed while Israeli aggression, occupation, and threats against Lebanon continue.
Therefore, the peoples of our Ummah must remain fully aware of these realities. For there is an ongoing campaign of distortion targeting both Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, based on the adoption of American and Israeli narratives that portray the weapons of the resistance as the problem—whether in Gaza, in Lebanon, or in any other country that confronts the enemies and resists their efforts to occupy these lands and dominate this Ummah.

Hezbollah’s operations are effective, significant, and powerful. They are highly important operations that have restored the dignity and standing of the Lebanese people. The Lebanese authorities should recognise the high degree of effectiveness and immense pressure generated by Hezbollah’s operations and make effective use of them.

No reliance should be placed upon the illusions through which the Americans deceive naïve and gullible parties, as is the case with the foolish authorities in Lebanon. Had such illusions been truly beneficial, they would have benefited Syria under the control of those groups that adopt different positions and genuinely seek reconciliation and peace with the Israeli enemy—yet to no avail. We all recognise the sincerity of the groups controlling Syria in their claim that they do not adopt hostility towards the Israeli enemy, a claim they openly affirm. They also affirm that their enemies are other parties, not the Israeli enemy. We indeed acknowledge this reality and attest that these groups truly are as they present themselves. Yet has this benefited them? This should serve as a lesson to them and to everyone else.

In contrast, the Israeli enemy has neither withdrawn its occupation forces from Syrian territory nor ceased its daily violations, infringing upon Syria at will. Furthermore, it continues seeking to consolidate its control over southern Syria and persists in abductions, killings, theft, and every form of violation and abuse. If there truly were an approach capable of benefiting the Lebanese authorities or any other party, then the first to benefit from this theory—the theory of loyalty to America, accommodation with Israel, and maintaining positive relations with the Israelis—would have been those groups in Syria. The Israeli enemy would then have fully withdrawn in order to prove that this approach is useful and effective and that it genuinely seeks peace with these peoples. Yet it remains far removed from such intentions.

Therefore, there must be widespread awareness that what the Americans always seek—whether while presenting themselves as mediators in Lebanon, Syria, or elsewhere—is the removal of obstacles that hinder the consolidation of Israeli domination. This is because the Americans are a clear and open partner of the Israeli enemy in pursuing the very same objectives: The establishment of ‘Greater Israel’ is an explicit and openly declared shared objective between the Americans and the Israelis. Likewise, the ‘reshaping of the Middle East’, in their own terminology, is a shared American-Israeli objective—{‘They are guardians of each other,’}as Allah (Glory be to Him) says in the Holy Quran.

More than that, this week the Israeli army conducted military manoeuvres simulating surprise attacks against Egypt and Jordan. There are also clear and explicit indications regarding the intentions and strategic direction of the Israeli enemy towards Jordan and Egypt. Everyone knows what the Israeli map signifies: the inclusion of the entire Levant and vast portions of Egypt. This is the trajectory the Israeli enemy is pursuing.

Likewise, regarding recent developments and the current truce between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the American and Israeli enemy, it is evident that America is not honouring its commitments. It has therefore moved towards imposing a blockade on Iranian ports in a manner that even affects the global economy. The matter is clear: It shows no concern for the harm inflicted upon the world so long as this serves Israel first; for Trump, serving Israel takes precedence over everything else—even over America itself.

There are indications that America is preparing for further escalation following its failure in the previous round. It is deeply regrettable that these preparations rely on exploiting certain Arab countries in any future escalation. Moreover, some regimes and governments have themselves failed to draw lessons from the previous round, despite the consequences they faced from hosting American bases, which were used in aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran. They continue to burden themselves with further financial costs in order to protect not only American bases, but also the Israeli enemy itself. At the same time, they target their own peoples through arrests and the revocation of citizenship, as is occurring in a number of Gulf countries.

Citizens whose families have belonged to those countries for generations are treated as though they were merely naturalised residents; they are effectively stripped of their nationality, as if they were not indigenous inhabitants of those lands. Furthermore, the political, media, and intelligence positions adopted by some countries all serve the American and Israeli agenda. This is deeply regrettable, as it encourages the Americans and Israelis to spread chaos throughout the region while exposing both the region itself and those very countries to danger—all in service of the Israeli enemy and in betrayal of the Ummah through collaboration with its adversaries. This is despite the clear reality that any new escalation will have dangerous consequences not only for the region as a whole, but for the wider world as well.

Therefore, the peoples and countries of this region must recognise who the enemy is and who the ally is. America and Israel are foreign aggressors against this Ummah—foreign in every sense. They came, and continue to come, to occupy, oppress, commit crimes, target this Ummah, dominate these countries, and subjugate these peoples through every form of aggression, criminality, and conspiracy. For this reason, we must realise that the essential criterion in determining our position is adherence to Islamic principles.

Even if matters have descended into confusion and genuine awareness of the true interests of the peoples of this region has faded, then the Ummah must, at the very least, continue to hold firmly to this criterion: its belonging to Islam as one ummah targeted by a common enemy that poses a danger to all.

The Zionist scheme targets this Ummah, and the Arab countries have been among the first to suffer from it through the occupation of Palestine and other Arab lands. Moreover, the Zionist scheme is clear, and the map of ‘Greater Israel’ plainly demonstrates that Arabs themselves are its primary targets. How, then, can they move towards cooperation with a direct enemy that threatens them?

Any slogans or justifications advanced by the Americans or Israelis—such as the issue of nuclear weapons—are deceptive pretexts. They themselves possess nuclear weapons, and America was the first to use them for mass extermination and widespread criminality. Indeed, the American and Israeli enemy should be stripped of every form of weaponry, as they are the ones who use arms for oppression, aggression, criminality, and the extermination of peoples. Although this excuse is false and has no basis in reality, and despite Iran’s clear position that it does not seek nuclear weapons at all, we must recognise that these are merely labels and pretexts used to justify targeting the peoples of this region, and that countless others can easily be manufactured.

The Jews, America, and Israel will not cease targeting our peoples so long as the opportunity remains available to them and so long as they continue to receive every form of collaboration and encouragement from within the region itself. It is easy for them to advance further deceptive pretexts alongside the real objective that they themselves openly acknowledge: reshaping the Middle East and establishing Greater Israel. For this reason, it is entirely wrong to comply with their dictates. They put forward one pretext after another while simultaneously demanding the removal of every obstacle standing in the way of their openly declared aggressive objectives—objectives aimed at occupying these homelands, subjugating these peoples, and erasing the identity of this Ummah.

It is therefore important for our peoples to remain aware and clear-sighted regarding the true nature of the enemies’ schemes and their sacred responsibilities. If they fulfil these responsibilities, they will receive Allah’s support and victory, as Allah (Glory be to Him) says, {‘And Allah will surely grant victory to those who stand for Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Mighty’}[Al-Hajj 22:40], and as He says, {‘O you who have attained faith, if you stand for Allah, He will grant you victory and strengthen your foothold’}[Muhammad 47:7]. Likewise, we must all recognise that the solution for this Ummah does not lie in abandoning responsibility, nor in implementing what the enemies dictate. Rather, the solution lies in following the correct course to which Allah has guided us—a course for which He has also given assurance concerning the ultimate outcome of this struggle with that criminal enemy. Allah says, {‘But if you return, We will return’}[Al-Isra 17:8]. When we act within the framework of the divine plan in confronting evil—confronting those Zionist Jews and their supporters and resisting their criminality, tyranny, oppression, corruption, and wrongdoing—we attain victory from Allah (Glory be to Him).

We in Yemen—the land of faith and wisdom—at both the grassroots and official levels, move forward with Allah’s guidance, relying upon Him and placing our trust in Him, within the framework of our sacred responsibilities, our Quranic awareness, and our identity rooted in faith, across all fields. At the military level, we are, Allah willing, prepared for all developments. Likewise, our dear people maintain a powerful presence in the public squares through million-strong demonstrations, through the major activities of general mobilisation, and through training, preparation, and readiness at every level, along with action at all levels and in every sphere.

This great and noble faith-based mobilisation is worthy of this great people—the Yemen of faith, wisdom, and jihad. We remain steadfast in our clear and principled positions, which we have affirmed in all speeches, all stances, and through practical action as well. By the will of Allah (Glory be to Him), we are ready for any future developments.

We ask Allah (Glory be to Him) to grant us all success in seeking what pleases Him. O Allah, have mercy on our virtuous martyrs, heal the wounded among us, set free our captives, and grant us victory. You are the Hearer of Prayer!

Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.