International Quds Day
The International Quds Day is an annual event that began in 1979 upon the call of Imam Khomeini on Muslims to declare, in the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, their solidarity with the Palestinian People in general and with occupied (east) Jerusalem (in Arabic, Quds) in particular.
East Jerusalem, housing the most holy sites for the three religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam, was occupied during the 1967 War, and has been under Israeli occupation ever since, with Israel announcing it as its capital, in defiance to international law and the UN’s Security Council resolutions.
In his call, Imam Khomeini said: ‘I invite Muslims all over the globe to consecrate the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as Al-Quds Day and to proclaim the international solidarity of Muslims in support of the legitimate rights of the Muslim people of Palestine. For many years, I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel which today has intensified its savage attacks against the Palestinian brothers and sisters, and which, in the south of Lebanon in particular, is continually bombing Palestinian homes in the hope of crushing the Palestinian struggle.’
The movement is now being continued by the current Supreme leader of Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khamanei, who also strongly supports the cause and the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli regime.
That call was quite timely, as Egypt was engaging in talks with Israel which led to their peace treaty that effectively took Egypt out of the struggle, leaving the Palestinians and Jerusalem exposed to Israeli aggression.
Since then, Israel, not only has been waging invasions and attacks on the Palestinians and Arabs in Palestine, Lebanon and elsewhere, but has been systematically changing the features of the holy city of Jerusalem, usurping property inside it and lands in the outskirts (as it has been doing all over Palestine, including the occupied territories, something which is forbidden under international law), and trying to effect a fundamental change to the holy sites by digging tunnels and excavation areas under Al-Aqsa Mosque (the third holy site in Islam) which is posing grave danger to the Mosque. As part of this plan, every now and then, but especially lately, Israel, officially or through some Zionist organisations, would declare certain Muslim and Christian areas as Jewish.
In addition, in their endeavour to try to bury Al-Aqsa Mosque away from the Arab and Muslim agenda being to them Jerusalem’s focal point, The Rock of the Dome Mosque always features in posters and tourist material, portraying it, albeit implicitly, as Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Quds Day is marked throughout Muslim and Arab countries. It was at the time of the first Palestinian uprising (Intifada) in early 1988, when the Organisation of the Islamic Conference[1] decided that Quds Day should be commemorated in public events throughout the Arab world. The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to encourage Muslims all over the world to commemorate this Day in order to keep Jerusalem, Palestine and the Palestinian People in the hearts and minds of Arabs, Muslims and Christians, as well as all human beings who reject occupation, aggression and racism.
[1] Now Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, was established after a Zionist arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 that caused a huge fire inside the Mosque.
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