Qods Day rallies held worldwide
Millions of people across the world held rallies in support of the Palestinian people on Friday, which was International Qods Day.
In Iran, people 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, which is committing atrocities against them with the support of the major powers that hypocritically call themselves advocates of human rights.
In Tehran, the marchers chanted slogans against the Zionist regime and the United States as its main supporter.
At the end of the Tehran event, the demonstrators issued a statement saying that only a referendum can provide a solution to the problem and bring an end to six decades of violence in the occupied territories.
They also said that the current peace conferences are only meant to deny the Palestinians their basic rights.
The founder of the Islamic Revolution, the late Imam Khomeini, named the last Friday of Ramadan Qods Day. Mass protest rallies are held on this day to call for the liberation of Al-Qods from the Israeli occupation.
Referendum is only solution to Palestinian issue
In his Qods Day speech, Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said a “free referendum” is the solution to the Palestinian issue, explaining that the Jews, Muslims, and Christians residing in the territory as well as the five million Palestinian refugees should take part in a plebiscite to determine their own destiny.
Addressing Israel’s Western allies, Ahmadinejad said that the powers that back the Zionists should be aware that they will soon be tried at international courts unless they stop supporting it.
“If you are enslaved by the Zionists, we are ready to help you, but if you are pulling the strings of the Zionist regime, then announce your stance clearly,” he added.
Ahmadinejad stated that Westerners cannot tolerate the Zionists in their regions or countries, but they want to impose them on the people of the Middle East region.
“Give these vast lands of Canada and Alaska to them to create a country for themselves,” he said.
“I ask European governments supporting the Zionists and the United States, ‘Will you allow the occupation of part of your land under a pretext and then talk about a two-state solution?’”
“Palestinians and Iranians will not halt the resistance until the liberation of Palestine,” he added.
Justice for 5 million Palestinian refugees
In his sermon at the Qods Day Friday prayers in Tehran, Expediency Council Chairman Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said no peace plan will succeed until a just solution is found for the problem of the five million Palestinian refugees who have been driven out of their homeland.
Resistance is the only correct solution to the Palestinian issue because none of the enemies’ peace plans can bring justice for the five million Palestinian refugees, Rafsanjani told the tens of thousands of worshippers who converged at the Tehran University campus and nearby streets after the rally.
The EC chairman called the occupation of Palestine a ‘disaster’ in human history.
At a time when old colonialism could not continue and nations across the world had risen up against this form of oppression, the colonialists created a new form of oppression, and Palestine, which is part of the Islamic world, fell victim to this conspiracy, he stated.
He said the colonialists are pursuing three main goals in the region.
First, they want to dominate the vast energy reserves of the Middle East; secondly, they wanted to divert attention from their problems at home by focusing attention on the Middle East; and thirdly, they want to take control of this sensitive region which connects Africa, Asia, and Europe, he observed.
However, the history of the colonialists’ actions dates back to the Crusades, which lasted for 200 years, and they dominated the Palestinian land for two centuries, but the Muslims eventually drove them out of the region, he added.
“If the entire Islamic ummah unites and holds fast to Islamic teachings, no power can withstand them,” he asserted.
Rafsanjani also expressed regret over the clashes between Palestinian groups.
“It is a serious and terrible problem that the resistance forces are now being gunned down on Gaza’s streets. This is also a colonialist conspiracy, and this schism is very dangerous.”
Thousands also marched in Gaza on Friday, torching the flags of Israel, the United States, and Britain in the Qods Day rally, Al-Alam reported.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Kabul on Friday for Qods Day to show support for the Palestinian people and to demonstrate the importance of Al-Qods to all Muslims.
Turkish protesters also attended a Qods Day demonstration in front of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul. One of their banners said: “Killer Israel, get out of Palestine. Al-Qods has been under Zionist invasion for 40 years.”