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Hezbollah leader calls for ban on attacks on religious symbols

There should be resolutions adopted in top international institutions, which are binding on all states and governments in the world, to forbid the defamation of religions.” Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said

Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has called for the adoption of an international law to criminalize all forms of attacks against Islam and other religions.

In a speech broadcast on closed-circuit television in Lebanon on Sunday, Nasrallah said, “There should be resolutions adopted in top international institutions, which are binding on all states and governments in the world, to forbid the defamation of religions.”

He was speaking in reaction to a low-budget film recently made in the United States that insults Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

“Those who write or draw or make such a film would know that they would be punished wherever they are and they would not feel protected,” the Hezbollah secretary general stated.

He called on the Muslims across the world to protest against the anti-Islam film, which he described as “the worst attack ever on Islam, worse than the Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, the burning of the Qur’an in Afghanistan, and the cartoons in the European media.”

“The whole world needs to see your anger on your faces, in your fists and your shouts… The whole world should know that the Prophet (PBUH) has followers who will not be silent in the face of humiliation,” he added.

Anti-US demonstrations, which began on September 11 over the anti-Islam film, have been held across the Muslim world, with protesters storming US embassies and torching US flags.

Muslims in Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Kashmir, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Gaza, Morocco, Syria, Kuwait, Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Australia, Britain, the United States, France, Belgium, and some other countries have held many demonstrations to condemn the movie.

Nasrallah called on the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to hold an extraordinary meeting on the issue. The Hezbollah chief also demanded an urgent Arab League session to discuss future moves against the sacrilegious film.

He also criticized the double standards practiced by European states and the US. Nasrallah referred to laws that impose heavy fines and even jail terms on anyone who questions the Holocaust or the Israeli occupation and atrocities.

The Hezbollah chief called on the US to hold those behind the movie accountable and prevent a possible screening of the entire two-hour video. He called for weeklong protests in Lebanon to condemn the provocative film.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Nasrallah urged Muslims to know the hidden goals of the people who produced the sacrilegious movie, and cautioned them to be vigilant.

“Those who made the movie knew that Muslims would be enraged by it, and attributed it to Christians to cause strife between Muslims and Christians. Israel wants to watch Muslims killing Christians and burning their churches.”

“Yet, Muslims released their anger on the US and Israel, and not on Christians, which is a positive sign,” Nasrallah noted.

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