Throughout history the land of Palestine has been the cradle of monotheist religions. It is the land where Bayt al-Moqaddas, the city where several prophets were based, is situated. It is revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews

This is indicative of its spiritual status. With the advent of Islam as the culmination of the messages of monotheism preached by all prophets Bayt ol-Moqaddas became the qibla or direction of the daily prayers for Muslims. Prophet Mohammad (SAWA), by the command of God Almighty prayed towards it during the first 12 years of his mission in Mecca and for another 17 months after immigration to Medina. God then commanded him to make the focal point of the daily prayers, the Sacred Mosque in Mecca that houses the holy Ka’ba, the first ever structure built by Adam and then rebuilt by Abraham. Thus, Bayt al-Moqaddas is the third sacred city for Muslims after Mecca and Medina. According to the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS), it is one of the four palaces of Paradise along with the Sacred Mosque of Mecca, the Prophet’s Mosque of Medina, and the Grand Mosque of Kufa, which was the house of Prophet Noah in Iraq before the great flood. It is said that during his Me’raj or ascension to the heavens and back in a fraction of a night, Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) was taken in the twinkling of an eye from Mecca to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Bayt al-Moqaddas. In view of this, praying and worshipping in this mosque is highly recommended.

Alas, today this sacred city, along with the rest of Palestine has been occupied by the Godless Zionists, who ever since the illegitimate birth of Israel have resorted to the most inhuman crimes against the Palestinian people, both Muslim and Christian.

The plight of Palestine started with the victory of the British in First World War over the Ottoman Turks and their occupation of this land in 1917 along with Bayt al-Moqaddas. In November 1917, the then British foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour in a letter to the head of the Zionist outfit in Britain Lord Rothschild, which has since become infamous as the ‘Balfour Declaration’, called for converting Palestine into a homeland for European Jews. In the subsequent years during its League of Nations mandate over Palestine, Britain illegally settled in this Muslim land hundreds of thousands of East European Jews, who were of Khazar origin with no connection to the ancient Israelites – most of whose descendants today are either Muslims or Christians. In May 1948, the illegitimate birth of Israel took place in Palestine under the United Nations and with the support of the big powers. Immediately, the Zionist entity drove away from their homes over 700,000 Palestinians and later the same year imposed a war on the neighbouring Arab states that resulted in the occupation of more parts of Palestine, such as Nasserah or Nazareth, the city where Prophet Jesus (PBUH) lived in his childhood and which is sacred to both Christians and Muslims. In 1956, the Zionist entity attacked Egypt when the Suez Canal was nationalized. In June 1967 it imposed the 6-day war on the frontline Arab states that resulted in the occupation of all of Palestine including the West Bank of River Jordan and the Gaza Strip, as well as seizure of Syria’s Golan Heights and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. The UN which had initially proposed that Bayt al-Moqaddas be kept as international enclave under its jurisdiction forgot its promise and allowed Israel to take complete control of this sacred city.

It is a matter of regret that certain Arab regimes, like Jordan, built secret relations with the illegal Zionist entity, and started suppressing the displaced Palestinian people. In 1978, Egypt’s Anwar Saadaat also betrayed the Palestinian cause by signing the scandalous Camp David Treaty. The plot, with the backing of the US and West European powers, was to close the Palestinian file forever. But this devilish plan went awry with the triumph of the Islamic Revolution in Iran in February 1979 under the enlightened leadership of Imam Khomeini (God bless his soul). Later the same year in Ramadhan, the Imam took the wise step of declaring the Last Friday of the Fasting Month as Qods International Day in order to mobilize world Muslims for supporting the Palestinian cause and the eventual liberation of Bayt al-Moqaddas. The Imam’s measure was in accordance with the teachings of the holy Qur’an for promoting justice and redressing the wrong done to the oppressed people. In his message, Imam Khomeini declared: For long years I have been warning the Muslims about the threat of the cancerous tumour called Israel. I appeal to Muslims all over the world and to heads of Muslim states to close ranks for cutting off the hands of the Zionist entity by designating the last Friday of Ramadhan as Qods International Day. I appeal for Muslim unity and pray for the victory of Muslims over the infidels.

Imam Khomeini’s historic decision was aimed at keeping alive the issue of Palestine and to mobilize world Muslims to knit ranks for this sacred cause.

This was a blow to the dreams of the Zionists and their godfathers in the West. Palestine turned into the most important issue of the Islamic world. Imam Khomeini remarked: Qods Day is an international day. It is the day of the oppressed against the arrogant powers.

Through such declarations, Imam Khomeini made it clear that the issue of Bayt al-Moqaddas is not solely the concern of the Palestinians or the Arab people, but of all Muslims and the oppressed of the world. He proved the futility of socialist, nationalist, and pan Arab tendencies, concerning Qods and Palestine by making it clear that only Islam can liberate Bayt al-Moqaddas. He made the issue of Palestine as one of the fundamental elements of the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He drew distinction between the teachings of Judaism which Jews follow and the racist ideology of Zionism that is not just agnostic and secular but violates the religious beliefs of Jews. Zionism and Israel are the outcome of colonialism for dominating the West Asia-North Africa region by sowing discord in Muslim ranks. Britain and the US by their political and military support for the Zionist entity have emboldened it to brutally attack Muslims as well as Palestinian Christians.

As part of its divisive policies, the Zionist entity, in league with the US, and certain reactionary Arab regimes, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has created Takfiri outfits, whose mission is kill and destroy the Syrian and Iraqi Muslims in the most brutal manner by posing as Islamists and Jihadists. This is evident by the attitude of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, slaughters Muslims but does not utter any word or the ongoing savage bombardment of Gaza by the Zionist entity. This is indicative of the fact that the crimes against humanity of the Zionists in Gaza and those of the Takfiris in Syria and Iraq complement each other in line with the objectives of the US. It is quite clear that none except the Zionist entity benefits from these killings. In such circumstances, only Muslim unity can save the Ummah, as was underlined by Imam Khomeini, who considered the issue of Qods and Palestine as the united objective of both Sunni and Shi’ite Muslims. This year’s Qods Day rallies are being held while Israel is raining down bombs and missiles on the besieged people of Gaza. Unfortunately, these crimes against humanity are being carried out with the tacit approval of the claimants of human rights supporters, and the reactionary Arab regimes. Thus, in view of these facts, Islamic unity is the need of the hour. It is time for Muslims to set aside their differences and rally to the cause of Palestine and the eventual liberation of the Islamic city of Bayt al-Moqaddas. Muslim unity is more powerful than any bomb or weapons of mass destruction, and once world Muslim knit ranks, it will be the end of the illegal Zionist entity. Remember what Imam Khomeini (RA) had prophesied concerning the eventual demise of Israel.