In the Middle East today was Quds Day
Quds Day (Persian: روز قدس rūz-e quds), officially in Iran known as International al-Quds Day (روز جهانی قدس), is an annual event that began in Iran in 1979, that is commemorated on the last Friday of Ramadan,[1] expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposing Zionism as well as Israel's control of Jerusalem.
Quds Day rallies were first introduced in Iran by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979,[2] and the day's parades are sponsored and organized annually by the Iranian government there.[3][4] In recent years, only a marginal proportion of young Iranians have attended.[5]
Quds Day is also commemorated in several countries in the Arab and Muslim world with protests against the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem.[6][7]
But this week has been filled with lots of "noise" from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejhad as well as with unsettling news from around the Middle East with regards to Peace.
But first we start with President Ahamdinejhad.... I think I will let his words speak for themselves:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that the Holocaust was a "big lie" used to justify establishment of the state of Israel.
"The Zionist regime's establishment was based on numerous deceptions and lies and one of the biggest lies was the Holocaust," Ahmadinejad said in a speech after an anti-Israeli rally in Tehran and other Iranian cities.....
....On the one hand we have the Zionist regime as the global axis of thieves and murderers and on the other hand we have the Qods Day which is the axis of those seeking freedom, justice and end of suppression," the president reiterated Friday at Tehran University.
The crowd at the university greeted the president's remarks with cries of Allah Akbar, meaning God is great, and by chanting anti-Israel slogans.
The main benefactor of Syria and Hizbollah speaking out officially on Historical revision. Hamas as well but, Iran just cut some of their funding due to their refusal to completely support the brutal Assad regime in Syria.
Coupled with his charming denial of the Holocaust, President Ahmadinejhad had said earlier in the week: Iran is determined to eradicate Israel
"Iran believes that whoever is for humanity should also be for eradicating the Zionist regime (Israel) as symbol of suppression and discrimination," Ahmadinejad said in an interview with a Lebanese television network, carried by ISNA.
"Iran follows this issue (the eradication of Israel) with determination and decisiveness and will never ever withdraw from this standpoint and policy," the Iranian president added in the interview with the Al-Manar network....
.....Ahmadinejad on Monday said that Iranians and Muslim nations worldwide should hold Qods rallies and show their willingness to dispose of this "infectious tumor and this regime full of rascality."
Ahmadinejhad also had this to say concerning the September vote:
Recognizing the Palestinian state is not the last goal. It is only one step forward towards liberating the whole of Palestine," Ahmadinejad told worshippers at Friday prayers.
"The Zionist regime is a center of microbes, a cancer cell and if it exists in one iota of Palestine it will mobilize again and hurt everyone."
Any move for Palestinian statehood at the United Nations is likely to be vetoed by the United States, but even if it were to pass and Israelis and Palestinians found a way to co-exist, that would still be entirely insufficient, Ahmadinejad said.
"It is not enough for them to have a weak, powerless state in a very small piece of Palestine. They should unite to establish a state but the ultimate goal is the liberation of the whole of Palestine," he said.
Not to be undone in the language of rejectionism... Hizbollah Leader Hassan Nasrallah pretty much indicated Hizbollah's position of non acceptance of the State of Israel. Rather though then try to parse his words, here are Nasrallah's comments:
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called on the Palestinians not to give up on a “grain of sand or drop of water” in its fight for a state, as Jerusalem Day anti-Israel protests were held throughout the Muslim world on Friday to show support for the Palestinian cause.....
......Jerusalem is becoming more and more Jewish every day, but as far as we are concerned, Palestine is from the [Mediterranean] ocean to the [Jordan] river, and no one has any right to give up one grain of its land or one drop of its water (vb1 emphasis).”
.....The Islamist leader continued, saying that Maroun al-Rasshas, site of Nakba Day clashes earlier this year, has become a symbol of the struggle against the Israeli occupation.
Nasrallah then called on the Arab League and leaders of the Muslim world to recognize the Palestinian right to Jerusalem.
Well that pretty much clears up Hizbollahs postion. No recognition of the Right of Israel to exist as a State much less as a Jewish State. Nasrallah in his own words.
Now, to a degree this kind of rhetoric can be expected from Nasrallah (who now wields power behind the scenes in Lebanon as the most powerful armed faction there) and Iran.. so really there is nothing new here - but, progressive supporters of either Hizbollah and/or the Ahmadi regime should be aware of just what they support.
It is also important to realize that Iran plays a large role in funding enemies of Israel (and the U.S.) in the region and that this rhetoric could be a precursor to action against any possible Peace deal. With questions regarding security in the South as well as in the North, the Israeli security establishment may not be particularly eager to make deals that could put them in a vulnerable position.
Of course as a caveat to this it can be said that Israel's continued expansion into the West Bank adds to this in a major way by attempting to wipe out the most "just" or "fair" of the options for Peace; The Two State Solution. Not only does this building create animosity but, it realistically creates "facts on the ground" that render compromise (or at least a satisfactory compromise) moot.
With the changes to the region brought on by the "Arab Spring", there is a great deal of uncertainty. The Elections in Egypt of course will be the lynchpin in negotiations for Peace with Israel. Now there are splits within Egypt regarding the Peace Treaty. Even within the Muslim Brotherhood. It should be noted their new party (Party for Freedom and Justice) just bailed out on the Quds demonstration demanding the withdrawal of the Israeli ambassador while another faction embraced it whole heartedly. And in a good sign the 'Million man' anti-Israel rally in Cairo attracts only hundreds
Please discuss.