Check out the photos of the crowd.

Hundreds of thousands of people stood Friday and chanted "God, God, protect Nasrallah." It was the moment they had waited for: Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, in person, declaring that his militia was stronger than ever and that no army in the world could force it to disarm.

The crowd was mammoth, packing every corner of the 37-acre square in the southern suburbs of Beirut. There was a plastic chair for nearly everyone, and a baseball cap for protection from the sun. Hezbollah’s martial choir belted out chest thumping music.

"Hello, is this Partyland? Yes, I'd like to see about renting some plastic chairs for an event this weekend ..."

"We came to show the American administration, the British administration, the French administration, that the resistance population is increasing, not decreasing."

You can see the plastic chairs being set up.

Pro-Western Lebanese politicians have watched with dismay as Iranian influence has spread across the region, largely with the help, they say, of American foreign policy. Iran extended its reach into western Afghanistan and has secured a deep hold in Iraq.

Even if the current government remains in power, its influence has suffered severely.

Sheik Nasrallah has emerged as a hero of defiance against American influence and Israeli might for many people across the Middle East.

The group has made much of an incident in the southern town of Merj ’Uyun where the Israeli Army occupied a Lebanese Army barracks and detained the soldiers inside without resistance. Lebanese television aired a videotape of the Lebanese general in charge having tea with Israeli Army officers.