In Iran, millions of people from all walks of life turned out in great numbers across the country to show their solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian nation, whose homeland is being occupied by the Zionist regime.
International Qods Day is a day of solidarity with Palestine observed on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. Anti-Zionist demonstrations are held on Qods Day all over the world, especially in Iran, where the event was inaugurated after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The late Imam Khomeini, the Founder of the Islamic Republic, made the proposal to establish an international day of solidarity with Palestinians in August of that year.
This year’s demonstrations were of great significance since a number of Arab countries are experiencing pro-democracy uprisings, which have so far brought down three dictators, namely former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
In Tehran, the marchers chanted slogans condemning Israel and its main supporter, the United States.
Almost all senior and mid-ranking officials, including President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, Judiciary Chief Sadeq Amoli Larijani, and Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, took part in the rallies and praised the people for their massive and glorious participation in the demonstrations.
Some marchers carried pictures of the late Imam Khomeini, the Founder of the Islamic Republic, and Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the current Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
The people chanted “God Is Great,” “Down with the United States,” “Death to Israel,” “Down with Britain,” “Qods Belongs to Islam” and other slogans.
Chants of “Death to the Seditionist, Death to the Monafiq (hypocrite)” were also heard in the streets.
Many demonstrators were also wearing Palestinian keffiyehs, a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, to show their solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Some people set Israeli flags on fire.
The demonstrators also carried a 24-cubic-meter Quran, which was made of wood and polystyrene.
On the sidelines of the demonstrations, a large amount of money was collected for the people affected by famine in Somalia.
At the end of the Tehran event, the demonstrators issued a statement saying that holding a referendum, with the withdrawal of the Zionists from the occupied territories, is the only way to resolve the Palestine issue and bring an end to decades of violence in the occupied territories.
The statement also called on regional governments to rescind their agreements with the Zionist regime.
Observation of Qods Day contributes to national security
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, “The day is a source of support for national security, and each Iranian who takes to the streets on Qods Day contributes to the security of the country and the nation and helps safeguard the achievements of the revolution.”
“The establishment of the Islamic Republic, the declaration of Qods Day, and turning the Zionist regime’s embassy in Tehran into the Palestinian Embassy were aggressive measures taken to foil the colonialists’ 60-year plot to wipe Palestine off the geographical map of the world,” he stated.
AM/EP/HG
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MNA