Iran - "Jerusalem Day"

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S)

October 31, 2005

“Jerusalem Day,” this year as in years past, was exploited by Iran and its supporters to call for the destruction of Israel, the support for the armed Palestinian struggle (i.e., terrorism), the rule of Islam over the entire world and the desire for a world without the United States.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian president, at the “World Without Zionism” [i.e, without Israel] convention calls
for wiping Israel off the map (Mehr News Agency, October 26, 2005).

Overview

On Friday, October 28, 2005, Iran and its supporters throughout the Arab world celebrated the annual “ Jerusalem Day ,” a day dedicated to identifying with the Palestinian issue and aspiring to “liberate Jerusalem .” ¹ As previously, “Jerusalem Day” was celebrated with rallies, parades and demonstrations in Teheran , Syria and by Shiite population centers in Lebanon and Iraq , and was exploited, as usual, for holding military processions and the dissemination of crude anti-Israeli and anti-American hate propaganda.

“ Jerusalem Day” in Iran : the Iranian president calls for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”

In Teheran and other cities, tens of thousands of Iranians gathered to demonstrate against Israel and the United States . The demonstrators shouted “Death to Israel ” and “Death to the United States ” and repeated the Iranian president's call to “wipe Israel off the map” ( See below.)

During the festivities Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, delivered a vicious speech to students at the “ World Without Zionism” convention organized by the Iranian Interior Ministry on October 26, 2005. ² The convention was attended by Abdallah Safi Al-Din, Hezbollah's representative in Iran , and Osama ‘Abd al-‘Ati, his Hamas counterpart , both belonging to terrorist organizations generously supported by Iran (Al-Manar TV, October 26, 2005).

Calling for the destruction of Israel on “Jerusalem Day”


Current Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a “ Jerusalem Day” speech calling for Israel “to be wiped off the map” (Photo: albawaba.com).		Current Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a “ Jerusalem Day” speech calling for Israel “to be wiped off the map” (Photo: albawaba.com).

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , the Iranian president, called in his speech for “ Israel to be wiped off the map .” He said that “ there would be no Zionism in the world and [Muslims] could breathe freely when Islam ruled the globe .” He further said that “ the occupying régime [i.e., Israel ] should be expunged from the world and the map of Palestine …” and that “ soon the Islamic world would erase the shameful stain of Zionism …” Also spoke of the continuation of the armed Palestinian struggle [i.e., Iran-supported Palestinian terrorism] against Israel and demanded that no concessions be made regarding any part of “the soil of Palestine [i.e., objection to negotiations and political agreements] .” Signing any agreement recognizing the State of Israel, he said, was “the surrender of the entire Muslim world,” and that the Muslim nation “would not agree that its historical enemies remain at its heart” (Mehr News Agency, October 26, 2005).


“ Jerusalem Day events in Teheran include the traditional desecration of the Israeli and American flags (Mehr News Agency, October 28, 2005).

“ Jerusalem Day” in Beirut

In Beirut Hezbollah held an well-attended show of strength but acted with a certain amount of restraint because the international community is currently pressuring it to disarm. The marchers did not exhibit weapons and in his speech the organization's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, did not dwell on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He did not repeat Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call to wipe Israel off the map, preferring to focus in the need to present a united front in Lebanon in the face of international threats. However, he reiterated the ideological commitment of the Islamic revolution in Iran to the “liberation of Jerusalem ,” saying “ Jerusalem will remain in our thoughts as the issue, the battle and the goal.”


“ Jerusalem Day” in Beirut , attended by Hassan Nasrallah and other high-ranking Hezbollah leaders (Al-Jazeera TV and Al-Manar TV, October 28, 2005)

“ Jerusalem Day” in Damascus

In Damascus “Jerusalem Day” was celebrated mainly by the Palestinian terrorist organizations which operate from Syria . A rally was held at Al-Yarmuq refugee camp, where Ziyad al-Nakhleh, the PIJ's second-in-command , delivered a speech in which he said that it was Israel 's fate to disappear. He also noted that “all of our forces will continue fighting until the cancerous growth that is Israel has been excised…”

International outrage and condemnation of the Iranian's president's remarks

The United States , Canada , Russia , the European Union, the United Nation and other countries were quick to condemn the remarks made by the Iranian president. ³ A number of countries, among them Britain , Spain and France , instructed their ambassadors to lodge official protests with the Iranian government. They also called in the Iranian ambassadors to clarify the issue and to lodge through them official protests with the Iranian government. Other responses were:

•	The UN Security Council published an official condemnation and noted that the United Nations charter forbids its members to threaten or use force against any other nation.
•	The European Union Foreign Ministers' Council issued a special announcement stating that the Iranian president's remarks were inconsistent with Iran's desire to be a full-fledged, “responsible member of the international community” (AP October 27, 2005).
•	Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state , said that the remarks of the Iranian president had to be “taken seriously”, and that they contravened the bylaws of the United Nations and clearly showed why international action was taking place to prevent Iran from acquiring the technology which would enable it to become a nuclear power . Iran was, she said, “probably the world's most important state sponsor of terrorism” (AFP.com, October 29, 2005).

The Iranian foreign ministry rejected the United Nations' condemnation, claiming that it had been “dictated by the Zionist régime” and that Iran had no intention of attacking any other country (AP, October 29, 2005). However, on October 28, at a rally attended by tens of thousands on the eve of “ Jerusalem Day” in Teheran, in clear defiance of the international community Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated his call to wipe Israel off the face of the map. He rejected the western condemnations, calling them “invalid .”

¹ In 1979 the Ayatollah Khomeini and the Iran government determined that every year the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan would be dedicated to the Islamic aspiration for the “liberation of Jerusalem .” For further information see our Special Bulletin, “ Every year Iran and its supporters celebrate Jerusalem Day on the last day of the holy month of Ramadan... ,”.
² Iran does not differentiate between Zionism and the State of Israel, and a “world without Zionism” means, in effect, a world without the State of Israel. In addition, quite often no distinction is made between the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist propaganda is often also anti-Semitic. Recently, the Iranians distributed anti-Semitic material at the International Book Fair in Frankfurt , including their own edition of the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion translated into English.
³ As of this writing, we know of no Arab or Muslim state that has formally condemned or even criticized the remarks made by the president of Iran .