New York City: Vigil for Hassan Nasrallah in the Heart of the Empire

Yesterday, in New York City and in conjunction with the historic funeral, where 1.5 million people participated in Beirut, a vigil was held to honor the revolutionary Hezbollah martyrs Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Safieddine. Alongside photographs of the martyred resistance leaders Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh, and Qassem Soleimani, our gathering affirmed that millions around the world are mourning and celebrating leaders whose legacies have ignited indigenous resistance in Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Syria, and beyond.

At the Beirut funeral, in a calculated attempt to undermine the gathering, Zionist warplanes flew at dangerously low altitudes directly over the attendees. This act of intimidation was designed to instill fear in those mourning at the funeral. Similarly, here in New York City—at the very heart of the empire—Zionist thugs, including those holding political office, attempted to silence our solidarity with the resistance through threats and intimidation. Yet, as one organizer declared:

“Their threats did nothing to weaken our resolve. We stand here unafraid. Repression does not silence us—it only breeds more resistance and fuels our determination to honor our martyrs.”

The indigenous peoples of the world continue to rise up, uniting against Zionist repression and imperial domination. Our stand in New York City not only reflects a steadfast commitment to remembering our late martyrs but also reinforces that no act of repression—whether in Beirut or the heart of the empire—can extinguish the flame of revolutionary struggle.

In the spirit of resistance, we joined millions worldwide—whether gathering in Beirut, Kargil, Ramallah, or in neighborhoods here in NYC—demonstrating that the struggle against imperialism and colonialism transcends borders and sectarian divisions. Our collective mobilization in the streets is proof that attempts at intimidation only forge stronger bonds among the oppressed, fueling our determination to dismantle Zionist colonialism and imperial terrorism.

Long live resistance.

Glory to the martyrs.

Words from the vigil (1/2):

“Today we honor the revolutionary lives of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Hashem Saffiedene. They join the ranks of the great revolutionary martyrs…Che Guevara and Fidel Castro. Louverture and Kanafani. Harriet Tubman and John Brown. Brendan Hughes and Dolours Price of the Irish Republican Army. Ho Chi Minh. Mao Zedong. Yahya Sinwar and Patrice Lumumba. Ulrike Meinhoff and George Jackson.

All of these heroes have built off of the work of one another, an International constellation spanning decades, centuries and thousands of miles. They exist in a continuum with one another, speaking through history to build the international resistance against imperialism, colonialism and western hegemony. Without them, we would not exist and in many ways, we owe them our lives.

It was Nasrallah who said “We uphold the global resistance against global imperial terrorism.”

We know full well, as did Nasrallah, that it is the United States of America, the country that we are sitting in the center of, that is the main exporter of this imperial terror. This is why it is unsurprising that the US has created such vile monsters as the vigilante pigs of Betar, who threaten us with death and put bounties on the heads of Palestinian women militants. We are unintimidated. They are lowly scum and the only reason they are trying to attack our movement is because we are strong, not because we are weak. They want to attack a mosque in Bay Ridge this Wednesday and we will resist them.

Our movement knows no borders, our numbers here are small but we stand with the global majority who gathered 1.4 million strong today in Beirut to honor Hezbollah’s martyrs. Everyday the popular cradle grows and it is the duty of every revolutionary from the West Bank to Derry to the arch of Washington Square Park to build the popular cradle of resistance. No matter what obstacles stand in our way…”

Words from the NYC vigil for Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (2/2):

“The counterinsurgent wing of our movement functions to delegitimize and contain resistance, funneling militant energy back into the NGO sector and electoral politics. They throw out those who push the limits, abandoning solidarity to protect their own skins and class privilege in the belly of the beast. Beware of those who claim easy victories, who condemn certain forms of protest for not being “peaceful” enough, who try to contain Palestine as a single issue struggle whenever we threaten to grow into a full-fledged movement against imperialism. Remain vigilant and refuse compromise. Remember that peace in the U.S. is a lie. As long as this entity exists the people of the world will face annihilation. There is nothing more violent than amerikan peace.

The so-called “United States of America” is on its last legs. Our role as revolutionaries here is to do everything in our power to hasten its collapse and serve the colonized people within its borders. The mass mobilizations of working class youth against ICE deportations, the militant uprisings spreading across prisons, the growing anti imperialist consciousness on college campuses and the use of political violence against individual members of the ruling class—these are all actions that attack US empire at its internal pressure points. As revolutionaries, we must build the popular cradle of resistance that can support and sustain these actions in the long term, as well as strategically direct them as the fourth reich evolves.

To quote Nasrallah again:

“We should thank Trump for revealing yet again the true face of the U.S. administration—a racist, criminal, murderous, bloodthirsty entity that confiscates freedoms, plunders wealth, conspires against oppressed peoples.”

We are not intimated by the new administration or the worms at Betar or the New York Pig Department. Why should we be? Today we gathered 1.4 million strong. The resistance grows against all odds.

A message to the scum of nations and the pigs of the earth:

Glory to he who makes the occupier taste bitterness.

Long Live the Axis of Resistance and the International Popular Cradle of Resistance.”