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US to appease Israel by banning Hezbollah: Activist

Saturday, 28 May 2016 2:25 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 28 May 2016 2:25 PM ]

The file photo shows the headquarters of the US Department of Treasury in Washington DC

Press TV has interviewed Paul Larudee, co-founder of Free Palestine Movement in Berkeley, about a US Treasury Department official saying Lebanese officials who are members of the resistance movement Hezbollah could be sanctioned under a new US law.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Is this a kick in the face for Hezbollah when it is exhausting and losing, having members martyred daily in its fight against terrorism?

Larudee: Well Hezbollah has never targeted the United States. The only times that it has, it has always targeted any threats to Lebanon for foreign fighters on Lebanese soil or threatening Lebanese soil and sometimes that has included Americans as well but otherwise it is not trying to defeat the United States or anything like that. It is defeating the enemies of Lebanon and those are the targets and those include the terrorists.

But frankly in doing so, it is fighting against the allies of the United States and those allies include of course Israel. And Hezbollah has fought against Israel, and it is fighting against other allies of the United States such as Ahrar al-Sham and Daesh and al-Nusra and all of these are essentially allies of the United States because the United States is protecting them and providing them with weapons and the means through NATO arms and so forth to wage the battle.

Press TV: Why now? Why are US lawmakers choosing now to go after Hezbollah’s finances?

Larudee: Possibly because the allies of Syria like Russia and Iran have helped to embarrass the United States by conducting successful campaigns against the terrorists in Syria whereas the United States is not conducting successful campaigns. On the contrary, they are essentially preventing them. This is an embarrassment.

So they do not want Hezbollah or the Syrian army or the Russians or anyone else to embarrass them. So they go against what for them is a relatively easy target compared to say the Russian military, they choose Hezbollah. And furthermore, it has the benefit of being at the direction of the Zionists. The Zionists also are one of their archenemies, and the military force that embarrassed and defeated Israel was Hezbollah. So they are helping to appease Israel by taking stronger measures against Hezbollah.

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