Lebanese MP Raad: ‘Israel’ genocide major blow to bid for legitimacy 

The Israeli occupation’s genocide of women and children and its destruction of residential neighborhoods, schools, and hospitals without any pretexts revealed its real image, that of brutality and expansionism, Lebanese MP Mohammad Raad told Al Mayadeen on Monday.

The Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc MP talked to Al Mayadeen about the Israeli occupation’s criminality and the martyrdom of his son, Abbas “Siraj” Raad, who ascended after an Israeli airstrike targeted a home in southern Lebanon on November 23.

The ongoing genocide, Raad stressed, nullified all the Israeli efforts that have been taking place for decades in a bid to garner legitimacy and international recognition.

“The Israeli entity has exposed itself and shown its truth that nullifies all legitimacy. It has proven morally unacceptable in the hearts of the people as it did yesterday, as it does today, and as it will tomorrow,” he said.

Talking about the Resistance, on the other hand, Raad said: “I take pride in the path of resistance in which we were raised, and raised our children in; this approach that constantly reflects an abandonment of selfishness and self-interest to the benefit of dedication and sacrifice for the common good and the public conciseness.”

“There is no greater act of generosity than martyrdom. Martyrs sacrifice their lives for others, the homeland, the people, dignity, and human values,” Raad said.

“When a martyr is raised in your home and is a member of your family, that is all he is before martyrdom. After martyrdom, he becomes a son of the Ummah, that of the homeland and all people,” the Lebanese MP said.

The father of martyr Siraj stressed that any family member ascending to martyrdom brings the entire family a sense of pride and holds them responsible in the sense that they need to achieve the martyr’s goals because they are owed that due to their great sacrifice.

“The martyr is called a ‘martyr’ because he was striving for the sake of Allah, for the honor and benefit of others,” he explained.

The martyrs of Gaza, Raad underlined, “Are a plea to humanity, a plea to the entire political world, a plea to all oppressive authorities and governments, whether neglectful of or exploiting the interests of their people.”

“What is happening in Gaza is a massacre that is being watched by the world, and they may be afflicted with a great humiliation due to their abandonment of our people in Gaza,” he added.

Siraj’s martyrdom

MP Mohammad Raad recounted how he received the news of his son’s martyrdom. He mentioned that he was in a work session around midnight when the news of Siraj’s martyrdom reached Sayyed Hashem Safieddine, the head of Hezbollah’s executive council. However, he himself had not known of Raad’s fate at the time.