JERUSALEM DAY: AGAINST ALL OPPRESSION
What follows is my English translation of an article by Hanieh Tarkian published on ComeDonChisciotte.org [original emphasis in bold, mine in bold and italic].
On 16 August 1979, about six months after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Imam Khomeini declared that the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan was to be celebrated as the “World (or International) Day of Jerusalem”. Imam Khomeini had always emphasised that the Palestinian issue was [and still is] one of the fundamental issues and he gave awareness of the crimes of the Zionist regime of Israel to the Iranian people, other Islamic nations and all free peoples. After more than six months of aggression by the Israeli regime against the oppressed people of Gaza, with more than 32,000 civilians killed, mostly women and children, it is clearer than ever that we need to celebrate this day and remember that the Palestinian issue did not begin on 7 October; over the years, many efforts have been made to make people forget the plight of the Palestinians and the oppression they are suffering.
Imam Khomeini stated that Jerusalem Day is actually not a day dedicated exclusively to this city and the Palestinian cause, it is rather the day of the struggle of the dispossessed and oppressed against oppressors and arrogant powers, such as the United States and its allies. The Palestinian issue is what allows us to understand who supports the oppressed and who is on the side of the oppressors, it is the struggle of good against evil.
Like Jerusalem itself, World Jerusalem Day is not a day that belongs only to Muslims, but belongs to all free peoples who still believe in the right to self-determination and true freedom. The Palestinian issue is first and foremost a question of humanity, beyond whatever political or religious vision one espouses.
Those who believe in the right of a people to protect their land and self-determination must join forces to oppose oppression and support the Palestinian cause, because the oppression that the Palestinians have been suffering for more than seventy years is unparalleled in history and does not only affect them, it is part of the oppression that is implemented in various forms globally. We must therefore be united, also because we see that the enemies always seek to create division and conflict between free people and peoples, and as oppressors they want to impose their interests on the entire globe, and anyone who fights for justice is seen as an obstacle to their aims.
Father Atallah Hanna, Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, the church of most Palestinian Christians and whose main point of reference is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Holy City, stated that Arabs, both Christians and Muslims, consider Palestine their main purpose. “Israeli attacks on Jerusalem are attacks on our heritage” he declared. Many people think that the Palestinian issue concerns only the Islamic world, instead we know that a very old Christian community lives in the Holy Land, a community that, at the beginning of the 20th century and before the Zionist occupation, comprised about 9 per cent of the population, while now it is only 2 per cent.
The issue of Jerusalem, and the Palestinian question in general, is therefore not only of concern to Muslims and the Islamic world, which is why in this online conference we have decided to share the views of some representatives of the major religions.
Rabbi Weiss, representing the anti-Zionist Orthodox Jewish organisation Neturei Karta, will explain how, according to the view of Orthodox Judaism, the Zionist ideology behind the foundation of the State of Israel contradicts the teachings of Judaism and that the Orthodox rabbis were the first to oppose its foundation, and that the solution to the Palestinian issue is to end the occupation.
Professor Adolfo Morganti, president of the European Identity Association, will illustrate the situation of Christians in Gaza and how all Palestinians, both Christians and Muslims, are suffering as a result of Israeli aggression.
E. Mohammad Reza Sabouri, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Italy, will explain how Operation Storm of Al-Aqsa was a response to the Zionist regime's seventy years of occupation, the ineffectiveness of the resolutions of international organisations, and the contempt of the great powers for the suffering and aspirations of the Palestinian people, and that the solution to the Palestinian issue is the implementation of international law, and the formation of an independent Palestinian state.
Dr. Mohsen Saleh, Palestinian writer and essayist, president of the al-Zaytuniah Research Institute, will illustrate, just as Rabbi Weiss did, that the solution to the Palestinian issue is to end the occupation and that the Palestinians like any other people have the right to self-determination.
The broadcast will be aired tomorrow 5 April at 21:00 [CEST] on the ComeDonChisciotte.org YouTube channel - Directed and edited by Giulio Bona
I will end this article with a note, saying that today Israel has started panicking about a possible retaliation strike by Iran tomorrow, following the Israeli attack against the Iranian consulate in Damascus (Syria) two days ago - see my previous post, in case you missed it:
As reported by The Guardian, Israeli military has halted leave for all combat units and has stepped up GPS jamming/spoofing all over the country in an effort to thwart guided drone and missile attacks. However, the former may be more counter-productive (i.e. causing the death of more soldiers) and the latter may work up to a certain point, because inertial navigation systems in some missiles allow navigation to a pre-configured target even in a GPS-denied environment, plus Iran has never said that it would retaliate on Jerusalem Day… or any other specific day, for that matter. In fact, the other day Hossein Akbari, the Iranian ambassador in Syria, said “We will reciprocate when we want”, which probably means “on a day that Israel does not expect”. In practice, Israel should stay on high alert for foreseeable future… and beyond.