Date and Venue

The Congregation will be held in Beirut, Lebanon to coincide with the first anniversary of the epic of Gaza, from 15 to 17 January 2010, to assert the historical role of the Lebanese capital in embracing the Palestinian Cause and all just causes and liberation movements in the Nation and across the world.
The opening session will be held in UNESCO Palace, plenary sessions will be held in several hotels in Beirut.
On behalf of the Preparatory Committee for the Arab-International forum for the Support the Resistance, which includes 65 Arab, Islamic and international unions, conferences and entities, we are honored to invite you to participate in the aforementioned forum. This event, which will be held under the banner “together for resistance” The concept of the forum was initiated by the Arab-International Centre for Communication and Solidarity. The specific objectives of the forum are included in the attached working paper, where they focus on asserting peoples’ right to resist occupation according to heavenly as well as earthly laws and conventions, including the Charter of the United Nations. They will also focus of the right to curtail colonial policies that label peoples’ struggles as terrorism and pointless violence. The activities of the forum will include, in addition to the opening ceremony, seminars, lectures, roundtable discussions, exhibitions and cultural and arts events. A declaration is expected to be issued by the forum under the title “the Beirut Declaration for Resistance”.

Mechanisms

The Arab-International Centre for Communication and Solidarity (AICCS), in cooperation with the initiative’s committee which comprises a number of prominent Arab personalities, invited all Arab, Islamic, international and transnational unions, conferences and entities to participate in a steering committee that would call for the Congregation on behalf of all participating entities.
An executive and follow up committee would stem from the expanded steering committee to undertake the execution and logistics of the Congregation.
The steering committee would supervise the formation of national preparatory committees in all countries in the region and the world, whose duty would be to ensure the widest possible exchanges with sectors, movements and parties regarding their participation in the Congregation.
The steering committee would also supervise the formation of specialized committees (organizational, political, educational, media related, programmatic, cultural, legal, exhibitions related…)

Participation

It is expected that thousands of individuals and representatives of concerned entities from the region and the rest of the world will participate in the Congregation. Special effort would be exerted to ensure wide participation from Palestine and from foreign countries, in addition to a number of distinguished Arab personalities.

Activities and Events


The Congregation will be a two day event that includes and number of activities:
1.Political, legal and technical seminars on the right to resist
2.Lectures by prominent Arab and international personalities
3.Specialized workshops in various fields on the means of supporting resistance
4.Photo and poster exhibitions on the martyrs of the resistance and its achievements
5.Relevant cultural events and performances by Arab and international groups and persons
6.Poetry festival on resistance and the Nation’s conflict with its occupiers

Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah: Israel faces defeat in new conflict
Last update Saturday, January 16, 2010   10.30 GMT
Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Friday that in case of any confrontation with Israel, the Resistance will foil the aggressions' objectives, defeat the enemy, and change the face of the region.
Sayyed Nasrallah was delivering a speech via video link before the Arab and International Forum for Supporting the Resistance at the UNESCO Palace in Beirut.
Sayyed Nasrallah started his speech by saying that Lebanon has abandoned the myth saying "Lebanon's strength is in its weakness" to adopt the truth saying "Lebanon's strength is in the solidarity of its army, people, and resistance."
The Resistance leader said that Lebanon has achieved victory by kicking out the occupier from its land giving its nation and people the pride of enjoying a new and advanced position in the way towards decisive victory. 
His eminence chose to highlight the bright and shining side of the current conflict in his speech and recalled that the forces of hegemony were seeking to create a settling entity that would constitute an eternal guarantee for their interests in the region.
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"The Zionists thought that they were achieving their scheme when the October 1973 war was launched. This war was a turning point in the conflict with Israel during which the Egyptian and Syrian armies put a limit on the Israeli dream of expansion. But a few years later, the Egyptian regime expelled Egypt from the conflict with Israel, thus marking the biggest transformation in the history of the conflict alongside the entry of Iran in it.""In 1982, Israel succeeded in invading Lebanon and its hopes of re-vivifying the Greater Israel project became high. But the Resistance was able to achieve Liberation in 2000, the year in which the Israeli troops withdrew from the Lebanese territories in a flagrant announcement of the failure of the theory of the Greater Israel project. Then came the Al-Aqsa Intifada that made Israel feel weak and talk about a battle for its existence but Resistant Gaza made it again and kicked out the occupation. Israel then continued its aggressive war against Lebanon and planned in 2006 to beat the Resistance but the Resistance remained. It was even strengthened."Sayyed Nasrallah concluded that Israel is living today a real dilemma: the dilemma of leadership and command, the dilemma of the invincible army which was defeated on the hands of the resistance fighters, and the dilemma of trusting the future. "Israel is trying to cover up its dilemmas through daily threats which scare only advocates of defeat and cowards," his eminence added. "However, those who experienced Jihad, they are missing the confrontations to produce a new victory and a new glory for their nation."Hezbollah Secretary General then said that Israel is leaning today on intimidation attempts and on settlements' building with the help of some countries, including the international community, the Security Council as well as some Arab regimes. "However, for the first time, Israel fears the military option and talks about the victory guarantees in any upcoming war."His eminence then noted that the Resistance overcame the most dangerous periods in the region when the United States was trying to transform the region into the so-called "New Middle East."
While emphasizing that the resistance made its achievements amid the worst Arab situation and despite being stabbed in the back by some forces, Sayyed Nasrallah that the aim of the hegemony forces was to eliminate the Resistance movements in Lebanon and in Palestine and surrender to US and Israeli conditions. "The New Middle East was the title of the battle but the Resistance and its people were able to achieve victories. Our people held on to the culture of dignity and Jihad and rejected giving up," his eminence said.Hezbollah Secretary General said that it was possible to talk about a US failure and impotence. His eminence addressed the nation's people and said: "The choice of Resistance is a true, logical and victorious one."
His eminence, meanwhile, pointed out that the project of the Resistance and its people needs all political, legal, media and moral support to confront the psychological war waged against it. "The resistance is still facing many threats topped by defaming attempts through accusations of committing crimes, drugs trafficking, and blind submission to Iran and Syria," Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted. "The threats also include besieging the Resistance and its voice through preventing it of attending conferences and through the bill the US working is preparing against Arab satellite networks, targeting Al-Manar and Al-Aqsa first of all." "If I had to address your forum with one call, I call you to support the resistance against this psychological warfare, but I assure you that this war will not shake us and that we will face it through patience and self confidence," Sayyed Nasrallah stressed.Hezbollah Secretary General concluded his speech by stressing that the Resistance would continue to recommend its soul to God and therefore achieve victory in any war. "I promise you, as I have always promised you. In any coming confrontation, we will foil the aggressions' objectives, defeat the enemy, achieve a great historical victory, and change the face of the region," his eminence said.
For his part, Meshaal urged Egypt to stop building an underground wall along its border with Gaza, which the Islamist group says would put further strain on the isolated enclave. Meshaal also called for a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the rival Fatah party, to try to achieve reconciliation between the two groups. Egypt is constructing an underground barrier to stem Palestinian arms smuggling into Gaza and has played down the scope of the work on the 14-kilometer-long frontier.  “We call on the Egyptian leadership to stop building the steel wall along its border with the Gaza Strip,” Meshaal told the conference. “A wall [is erected] between enemies and not between brothers.Israel has long lobbied Egypt to tackle cross-border smuggling, which supplies Palestinians with munitions as well as with basic goods lacking in Gaza. Meshaal’s day in Beirut was also spent visiting top Lebanese leaders, whom he told that Lebanon’s state sovereignty was of paramount importance. “Weapons outside or inside refugee camps are not part of a Lebanese domestic [political] formula but come from a historical background tied to the Palestinian revolution and concerns against Israeli aggressions,” he said following talks with President Michel Sleiman. Meshaal, who also met with Speaker Nabih Berri and Premier Saad Hariri, said he in­formed top Lebanese leaders of recent developments regarding the inter-Palestinian reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.For his part, Sleiman underscored the importance of sacrifices to complete the inter-Palestinian reconciliation, which would have a positive impact on the Middle East peace process. During his talks, Meshaal also tackled the issue of Palestinian refugees civil rights as well as the issue of Palestinian weapons outside of refugee camps. “This issue requires discussions, but as a principle we consider the state’s authority above all,” Meshaal said.