TEHRAN – On Friday, demonstrations were held across the world to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine on International Quds Day.
Quds Day acquired special importance this year due to Israel’s ruthless and indiscriminate attacks on the Gaza Strip.
In Iran, the nation that established Quds Day, people poured into the streets in large numbers across the country to denounce Israel’s savage acts in Gaza
Many people who usually would not participate in Quds Day events came out for the demonstrations this year to express their disgust at Israel’s massacres of children and women.
In Tehran, some demonstrators carried photos of a bloodied Gazan child with the word “genocide” written under it. Many carried banners reading “We Are All Gazans”.
Some people chanted the slogan “Death to the Child Killer” in reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Others chanted “Children Need Toys not Bombs”.
Israel’s acts in Gaza are examples of war crimes
The demonstrators in Tehran issued a statement in which they declared that Israel’s savage acts against the people of Palestine, especially defenseless women and children, constitute examples of “war crimes and genocide”.
Those silent about Gaza will hang their heads in shame for all of history
Iranian officials also joined the demonstrations against Israel.
President Hassan Rouhani joined the protestors and said the people who are silent about the crimes being committed in Gaza will hang their heads in shame for all of history.
He added, “We all hope that the Palestinian people will soon have normal lives, and everyone should rise up for this.”
Palestinian cannot acquire their rights through international organizations
Rouhani said the Palestinian people will not acquire their rights through reliance on international organizations
‘Claims of support for Gaza are comical’
Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said the claims by certain countries that they support Gaza in the face of Israel’s attacks are “comical”.
Larijani, who joined protesters in Karaj, a city 40 kilometers west of Tehran, said the chaotic situation in the region, as well as crises in certain Islamic countries, encouraged Israel to commit crimes in Gaza.
He also said, “We are proud that we support the Palestinian nation.”
Many countries see Israel as ‘killer regime’
Larijani also said the crimes against the people of Gaza have severely damaged the global reputation of Israel, and now many countries view it as a “renegade and killer regime”.
Government official likens Israel’s crimes to ISIL’s
Government spokesman Mohammad Baqer Nobakht, a close aide of President Rouhani, likened Israel’s acts in Gaza to the crimes of the Islamic of State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which aims “to destroy Islam.
On Israel’s offensive in Gaza, Nobakht said, “We condemn this genocide and inhumane act and announce to the international community that it must stop these savage acts immediately.”
Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said ISIL’s actions in Iraq and Syria are an “indication of a kind of consensus and cooperation between them and the Zionists.”
Rezaei also said the turnout for this year’s Quds Day demonstrations was very high because “insecurity has spread into the region.”
Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), said the Palestinian people will no longer remain silent in their struggle against Israel.
The general also said, “The Islamic world will seek out the invaders house by house.”
Rahim Safavi, the senior military advisor of Iran’s Supreme Leader and the former commander of the IRGC, told a gathering of demonstrators in Mashhad that “takfiri and Baathi terrorists” have been assigned the mission by the U.S. and the Zionist regime to start a war against Muslim nations in the name of Islam.
The annihilation of this group will in fact neutralize the plots of the Western-Zionist-Arab evil axis, whose main aim is to undermine security in the region and trigger war between Shia and Sunni Muslims in order to provide security for the Zionist regime, he stated.
Israel has lost psychological balance
A top Iranian diplomat also said the Zionist regime has lost its “political, security and psychological balance.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the continued attacks on Gaza will make the situation “unbelievable” for the Zionist regime as the resistance movement has only used “three percent” of its strength against Israel.
He added that the silence of certain countries about the Gaza tragedy is “suspicious”.
Gaza war is ‘crime against humanity’
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday that the Israeli offensive in Gaza is an example of 80 years of savagery against Palestinians by Zionists.
Any interpretation of international law can only call Israel’s actions genocide and crimes against humanity, he observed.
