Was the naming of this day by the founder of the Islamic Revolution of Iran just a simple gesture to perpetuate this national and Islamic occasion, or could there be more important motives involved? Why was the Palestinian issue so important in the roadmap and theorization of the Iranian Revolution before the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran?
To understand the importance of this national and Islamic occasion, two important historical periods should be examined and compared with one another. The first is the developments and conditions of the time the Iranian Revolution won and the Quds Day was designated, and the second is the conditions that we are living in today after 41 years of holding the first Quds Day.
First: The situation in the region and Palestine before the victory of the Islamic Revolution
The Islamic Revolution of Iran gained victory in a situation where the Palestinian issue was on the verge of removal from the geography of the Islamic world.
Besides the huge mass of conspiracies devised and hatched by the global Zionism, what had dragged the situation down to this disappointing level was the sense of despair and resignation among the regional nations as a result of the successive defeats of the Arab armies against the Zionist regime.
The reason for these defeats was nothing except too much focus on ethnocentrism and ignoring the Islamic concepts in choosing the method of fighting, as well as the Arab leaders’ political exploitation of the Palestinian issue. In particular, the Arab leaders had no choice but to sacrifice the aspirations of the Palestinian people to ensure their own political stability. There was no rationality in the political behavior of these countries except for the desire to improve relations with the United States and the Zionist regime.
The process of decision-making and determining the political priorities of the Arab leaders was not rooted in the will and support of the people but in the Zionist regime. Therefore, their main focus had always been on keeping Tel Aviv happy, which resulted in their retreat, betrayal, and surrender in the face of the Palestinian cause.
The more humiliation these Arab governments received at the hands of Israel, the more oppressive and dictatorial they became toward their own people.
The militant movements at the time were virtually ineffective because they had no political experience and did not know the real demands of the people of the region and the Islamic Ummah, and also because of their dependence on the Eastern camp. As such, some of them, much like the Palestine Liberation Organization, ended up agreeing to negotiations and compromise.
The internal situation of the Palestinians was not optimal, either. Although their means and method of fighting were commendable, they were ultimately ineffective, especially since the main Palestinian resistance organization at the time became part of the 'compromise' project.
Outside the borders of the occupied territories, Israel was able to expand its security by occupying Arab countries, and continued with its acts of genocide by destroying Palestinian houses and causing their forced migration. The only thing the Arabs could do was to issue a statement or plead with international organizations and even the Israelis themselves to stop the genocide. Although, the same Arab countries had close relations at the highest level of security with the intelligence agencies of the Zionist regime.
All these factors together led to severe frustration and despair, and the peoples of the region became confused and hopeless due to the lack of a fixed and successful model for fighting. Conditions were set for accepting all of Israel's demands in the face of a small concession that, although not yet granted to the Palestinian National Authority, paved the way for the destruction of Palestine.
On the other hand, the efforts of the Western and Hebrew media were aimed at downgrading the Palestinian issue from a Muslim priority to an Israeli-Arab conflict.
Second: The conditions after the victory of the Iranian Revolution
Undoubtedly, one could say the victory of the Islamic Revolution of Iran meant the emergence of a new era for resistance movements in the region and even in the world. On the other hand, it should be noted that Quds Day is not just an Islamic and national occasion, but a strategic package and a valuable concept for drawing the future of Muslim nations and their point of convergence.
It can be said that all the concepts of political Islam and effective fight, as well as hope for the future in the light of the Islamic resistance discourse, have been wrapped up into a package called Quds Day.
But what happened after the victory of the Iranian Revolution that we believe was the beginning of a new era for Palestine and the region? The most important event was the creation of a new model in the region that, without being dependent on either the East or the West camps, was able to overcome a Western-dependent dictatorial structure.
It was then that the resistance groups in Palestine were formed, but this time with an Islamic suffix and approach. The formation of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine and Hamas are prime examples of such groups. Of course, it was not only the titles and suffixes that changed but also the approaches of these movements, which, influenced by the discourse of the Islamic Revolution, acquired a new way of fighting, which later, especially after 2006, led to dramatic changes in the region’s political literature and military balance.
The means, methods, and locations of the fight also changed. Intifada stones became rockets that have shattered Israel's depth of security today. The surrounding areas around the Zionist regime are insecure. If the regime’s biggest concern before was the opening of the Palestinian embassy in Tehran, today it should be worried about the presence of Resistance and its discourse only a few meters away from the borders of the occupied territories.
Despite the fictitious crises fabricated by the West in the region to reduce the power of Resistance, the Resistance, on the contrary, obtained experiences and achieved newer capacities because of them, so much so that today the Resistance enjoys both effective defense and deterrence and offensive power.
The end of the myth of invincibility
Today can be considered the peak of evolution and maturity in the history of Resistance, which has gone through hard times. This is an era that put an end to the myth of Israel's invincibility. Today, 41 years after the holding of Quds Day, we can understand the actual impact of this discourse and how it is materialized into the school of great commanders such as Hajj Qassim.
The political, military and even the media atmosphere in the region has changed. Today, everything has changed in the light of the Quds Day discourse, and day by day, the geography of its supporters becomes expanded.
MNA/4927739