Ayatollah Khamenei:

Everyone must assist in holy struggle to liberate Palestine

Ayatollah Khamenei delivered a televised speech on the occasion of al-Quds Day on May ‎‎22, 2020.‎

News ID: 450175

Date: 22 May 2020 - 21:42

RNA – The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, says ‎the struggle to liberate Palestine is an obligation and an Islamic goal, adding “everyone must ‎assist the Palestinian nation in this holy struggle”.‎

‎“The struggle to liberate Palestine is Jihad in the way of God, and it is an obligation and an ‎Islamic goal. Victory in this struggle has been guaranteed,” the Leader said on Friday. ‎

His remarks came as millions took part in worldwide events to mark the International al-‎Quds Day, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadhan to express solidarity with the ‎Palestinian people and condemn Israeli atrocities. ‎

Ayatollah Khamenei said, “The Zionist regime is a deadly, cancerous growth and a detriment ‎to this region” which “will undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed”.‎

‎“And then, the shame will fall on those who put their facilities at the service of the policy of ‎the arrogant powers,” the Leader added.‎

Ayatollah Khamenei rebuked “certain Arab governments in the region, which act as the ‎minions” of the United States by preparing the ground for normalization with Israel through ‎establishing economic ties.‎

‎“These efforts are completely vain and futile,” the Leader said.‎

The following is the full text of the Leader’s speech on the occasion of al-Quds Day.‎

In the Name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is due to God, the Lord of the worlds, and His peace and greetings be upon ‎Muhammad, upon his pure Household, upon his chosen companions and upon those who ‎follow them until the Day of Judgement.‎

I extend my greetings to all the Muslim brothers and sisters throughout the world and I ‎congratulate them in advance on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr. I also pray to God to accept ‎their worship and servitude in this Holy Month of Ramadhan, and I thank the Benevolent ‎Creator for the blessing of being present in this month of this divine banquet.‎

Today is al-Quds Day, a day created - thanks to Imam Khomeyni’s intelligent initiative - to ‎unite Muslims on the issue of Holy al-Quds and in support of the oppressed people of ‎Palestine. It has played an important role in this regard for several decades now, and God ‎willing, it will continue to do so in the future as well. Nations welcomed al-Quds Day and ‎considered it to be a religious obligation to hold up the flag for Palestine’s liberation. The ‎main policy of the Arrogant Powers and Zionism is to push aside the issue of Palestine in the ‎minds of Muslim communities and to cause it to fade into oblivion.‎

Magnitude of tragedy and most urgent responsibility ‎

The most urgent responsibility in this regard is fighting this treachery, which is conducted by ‎the enemy’s political and cultural mercenaries in Islamic countries. The truth is that an issue ‎as important as Palestine is not something that the pride, self-esteem and increasing ‎intelligence of Muslim nations will allow to sink into oblivion, even if the Americans, other ‎domineering powers and their regional minions use all their money and power to achieve this ‎goal.‎

First, I would like to highlight the magnitude of the tragedy of the occupation of Palestine ‎and the formation of the Zionist cancerous tumor in that country. Among crimes against ‎humanity in recent times, there is no crime that equals this crime in terms of scope and ‎gravity. Occupying a country, permanently driving its people out from their homes and their ‎fatherland, and continuing this historical oppression for decades using the most horrifying ‎forms of murder, crime, destruction of farmlands, and genocide – this is indeed a new record ‎in brutality and wickedness.‎

The main agents and criminals behind this tragedy are the western governments and their ‎satanic policies. The day when the triumphant governments who had won the war in the First ‎World War were carving up West Asia – namely, the Asian territories of the Ottoman Empire ‎‎– among themselves at the Paris Conference as spoils of war, they felt the need for a safe ‎stronghold in the heart of this region more than ever in order to guarantee their permanent ‎hegemony. Years earlier, through the Balfour Declaration and with the help of the thinking of ‎the rich Jewish sympathizers, the British had prepared the ground for the innovation of ‎Zionism to carry out its role. And now the practical steps groundwork was in place. During ‎those early years, they gradually prepared the preliminaries, and finally after the Second ‎World War they used the opportunity created by the negligence and problems of the ‎regional countries, and dealt their blow. They announced the creation of the bogus regime, ‎the nationless Zionist state.‎

The primary target of this blow was the Palestinian nation and the secondarily all the other ‎nations in the region. A look at the events that followed in the region shows that the main, ‎short-term goal that westerners and Jewish company -owners pursued by creating the Zionist ‎regime was to build a stronghold for their permanent presence and influence in West Asia ‎and also to gain easy access to the opportunity to interfere, coerce and dominate over the ‎regional countries and governments. Therefore, they equipped the bogus and occupying ‎regime with various kinds of military and non-military tools of power, even with atomic ‎weapons, and their plans included the growth of this cancerous tumor from the Nile to the ‎Euphrates.‎

Submission of Arab governments ‎

Sadly, after their initial struggles of resistance, some of which were praiseworthy, the ‎majority of Arab governments gradually succumbed. Particularly after the United States took ‎charge of this matter, they forgot their human, Islamic and political responsibilities and their ‎Arab pride and with delusional hopes they contributed to the enemy’s goals. The Camp ‎David Accord is a clear example of this bitter historical fact.‎

After brave sacrifices and struggles in the early years, resistance groups were gradually ‎pulled to the path of unsuccessful negotiations with the occupier and its supporters. They ‎abandoned the route that could have led to the realization of the Palestinian dream. ‎Negotiations with the United States and other western governments, and also negotiations ‎with useless international groups were bitter, and unsuccessful experiences for Palestine. ‎Holding out an olive branch at the United Nations General Assembly had no result other than ‎the injurious Oslo Accords, and it led to the eye-opening fate of Yasser Arafat.‎

Dawn of Islamic Revolution in Iran

The dawn of the Islamic Revolution in Iran opened up a new chapter in the struggle for ‎Palestine. From the first steps – namely, driving out the Zionist elements who considered ‎Iran of the Pahlavi period to be one of their safe strongholds – to delegating the unofficial ‎embassy of the Zionist regime to the Palestinian representative office, stopping the flow of ‎oil, other great achievements and widespread political activities. All of these measures ‎brought about the emergence of a front of resistance in the entire region. The hope of ‎solving this issue flourished in hearts. The emergence of the resistance front presented the ‎Zionist regime with increasing problems. God willing, the Zionist regime will encounter even ‎more problems in the future.‎

However, the efforts of the supporters of that regime – with the US in the front – increased ‎sharply in order to defend the Zionists. The emergence of the faithful, young, self-sacrificing ‎force of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the formation of highly-motivated groups such as Hamas ‎and Islamic Jihad within the Palestinian borders unsettled and alarmed not only the Zionist ‎ringleaders but also the U.S. and other aggressive western powers. After and in addition to ‎their support of the occupying regime with weapons and publicity, they added recruiting ‎from within the region and from within Arab society to the top of their agenda. Today the ‎result of their voluminous work is obvious and in plain view, revealing itself in the actions ‎and words of certain leaders of Arab governments and certain treacherous political and ‎cultural Arab activists.‎

Today, both fronts engage in various activities in the arena of struggle. The difference ‎between them is that the resistance front is moving with increasing power and hope, and it ‎marches on towards attracting increasing elements of power, while the opposing front of ‎oppression, unbelief and arrogance is growing more hollow, hopeless and powerless by the ‎day. A clear manifestation of this assertion is the fact that the Zionist army—which was once ‎considered to be invincible and lightning fast, one that would stop the aggression of two ‎great armies in a matter of days— is currently forced to retreat and accept defeat against ‎popular forces in Lebanon and Gaza.‎

Nevertheless, the arena of struggle is volatile and full of dangers. It requires constant ‎vigilance, and the objective of this struggle is very important, fateful and vital. Any kind of ‎negligence, inattention or mistakes in fundamental calculations will inflict heavy damage.‎

Therefore, I would like to offer some advice to all those who have strong feelings for the ‎issue of Palestine:‎

Jihad in the way of God

‎1- The struggle to liberate Palestine is Jihad in the way of God, and it is an obligation and an ‎Islamic goal. Victory in such a struggle has been guaranteed, because the person who is ‎fighting, even if he is killed, he will receive “one of the two excellent things.” [The Holy Quran ‎‎9, Sura at-Tawbah: 52]. Apart from this, the issue of Palestine is a human issue. Driving out ‎millions of human beings from their homes, farmlands and places of business, and doing so ‎through murder and crimes, troubles everyone’s conscience and it inspires opposition in ‎everyone who enjoys courage and determination. Therefore, restricting this to merely a ‎Palestinian issue, or at best, an Arab issue, is a grave mistake. Those who consider the ‎concessions made by a few Palestinian elements or rulers of a few Arab countries as a ‎license to sidestep this Islamic and human issue, are making a grave mistake in ‎understanding the matter, and perhaps they are guilty of betrayal for distorting the truth.‎

‎2- The aim of this struggle is the liberation of all the Palestinian lands – from the river to the ‎sea – and the return of all Palestinians to their homeland. Reducing this struggle to the ‎formation of a government in a corner of the Palestinian lands – particularly, in the ‎humiliating way that is mentioned in the discourse of shameless Zionists – is neither a sign of ‎righteous struggle nor a sign of realism. The truth is that today millions of Palestinians have ‎achieved a level of thinking, experience and self-esteem such that they can focus their ‎efforts on this great struggle in the way of God and be certain of divine assistance and the ‎ultimate victory. “And surely God will support those who support His cause; most surely, ‎God is Strong and Mighty.” [22 The Holy Quran, Sura al-Hajj: 40]. Undoubtedly, many ‎Muslims throughout the world will support them and share in their struggle, God willing.‎

No trust in Western governments ‎

‎3- Although using any halal and religiously permissible means, including global support, is ‎allowed in this struggle - it is absolutely essential to avoid trusting western governments and ‎international groups that are covertly or overtly dependent on them. They are opposed to ‎any effective entity of an Islamic nature. They have no regard for human rights. They ‎themselves are the cause of the worst harm and crimes against the Islamic nation. Which ‎international entity and which criminal power is currently being held accountable for the ‎assassinations, the mass murders, the war mongering, the bombings and the human-made ‎famines in many Islamic and Arab countries?‎

Today, the world is counting one by one every victim of the coronavirus across the globe, ‎but nobody has asked who is responsible for the hundreds of thousands of martyrdoms, ‎imprisonments and disappearances in countries where the US and Europe have waged wars. ‎Who is responsible for all the unlawful bloodshed in Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya, Iraq, Syria ‎and other countries? Who is responsible for all these crimes and for the occupation, ‎destruction and oppression in Palestine? Why didn’t anyone count the millions of oppressed ‎children, women and men in the world of Islam? Why doesn’t anyone extend their ‎condolences for the mass murder of Muslims? Why should millions of Palestinians spend 70 ‎years away from their homes and in exile? And why should Holy al-Quds, the first Qiblah of ‎Muslims, be desecrated? The so-called United Nations is not fulfilling its function and the so-‎called human rights organizations are dead. The slogan of defending the rights of women and ‎children excludes Yemeni and Palestinian women and children.‎

This is the current conditions of the oppressive western powers and dependent global ‎organizations. The disgrace of certain regional governments that follow them is beyond ‎words.‎

Therefore, a proud and pious Muslim society must rely on itself and its internal forces. It ‎must raise its powerful hand and remove the obstacles by relying on and trusting in God.‎

US, Zionists have targeted front of resistance ‎

‎4- The important point that must not be ignored by the political and military elites of the ‎Islamic world is that the policy of the US and the Zionists is to transfer conflicts to behind ‎the frontlines of the front of resistance. Staging civil wars in Syria, the military siege and ‎constant killings in Yemen, the assassinations, the destruction, the creation of Daesh in Iraq ‎and other similar things in some other countries in the region are all machinations to divert ‎the attention of the resistance front and to provide opportunities for the Zionist regime. ‎Some Muslim politicians knowingly, and some others unknowingly, have contributed to these ‎machinations of the enemy. The main way to prevent these machinations majority is for the ‎proud youth throughout the world of Islam to seriously make this demand. Young people in ‎all Islamic countries, particularly in Arab countries, must pay attention to this advice from ‎Imam Khomeyni (r.a.): “Vent all your shouts on the US” and of course, on the Zionist ‎enemy.‎

Normalizing ties with Zionist regime futile ‎

‎5- The policy of normalizing the presence of the Zionist regime in the region is one of the ‎main policies of the United States of America. Certain Arab governments in the region, which ‎act as the minions of the US, have been preparing the ground for this normalization, by ‎establishing economic ties and the like. These efforts are completely vain and futile. The ‎Zionist regime is a deadly, cancerous growth and a detriment to this region. It will ‎undoubtedly be uprooted and destroyed. Then, the shame will fall on those who put their ‎facilities at the service of this policy of the arrogant powers. To justify such disgraceful ‎behaviour, some people argue that the Zionist regime is a reality that the region must come ‎to terms with. They forget that it is necessary to fight and destroy fatal and harmful realities. ‎Today the coronavirus is a reality and yet all wise people agree that it is necessary to fight ‎it. Undoubtedly, the long-lasting virus of Zionism will not last much longer and it will be ‎uprooted thanks to the determination, faith and pride of the youth.‎

Everyone must help Palestinian fighters ‎

‎6- My main advice is to continue this struggle and to better organize the organizations for ‎Jihad work, and to expand the arenas of Jihad inside Palestinian territories. Everyone must ‎assist the Palestinian nation in this holy struggle. Everyone must contribute to the Palestinian ‎fighters and stand behind them. We will proudly do everything in our power on this path. ‎One day we came to the conclusion that the Palestinian fighters had piety, pride and courage ‎and their only problem was that they had no weapons in their hands. With divine guidance ‎and assistance, we planned and the result was that the balance of power was transformed in ‎Palestine, and today Gaza can stand against the aggression of the Zionist enemy and defeat ‎it. This change in the equations in the occupied lands will bring the question of Palestine ‎closer to the final steps. The Palestinian Authority has a great responsibility in this regard. ‎One cannot communicate with a savage enemy except through force and from a position of ‎power. Thankfully, the ground has been prepared for the brave and resistant people of ‎Palestine to gain this power. Today, the Palestinian youth are yearning to defend their ‎dignity.‎

Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Palestine and Hezbollah in Lebanon have been a proof for ‎everyone. The world has not forgotten and will not forget the day when the Zionist army ‎broke through the Lebanese borders and marched to Beirut or the day when a criminal ‎murderer by the name of Ariel Sharon caused a bloodbath in Sabra and Shatilla. It has not ‎forgotten and will not forget the day when the same army pounded by Hezbollah had no ‎choice but to retreat from the borders of Lebanon and beg for a truce after sustaining heavy ‎casualties and admitting defeat. This is what full hands and a position of power means. Now ‎let that European government, which should be eternally ashamed for selling chemical agents ‎to the regime of Saddam Hussein, designate the devoted Hezbollah as illegal. Illegal is a ‎regime like the US that creates Daesh and a regime like that European government whose ‎chemical agents caused the death of thousands in the city of Baneh in Iran and the city of ‎Halabja in Iraq.‎

Palestine belongs to Palestinians ‎

‎7- My final word is that Palestine belongs to the Palestinians; therefore, it should be run as ‎they wish. The referendum - with the participation of all Palestinians of all religions and ‎ethnicities; this is what we have been suggesting for almost two decades - is the only ‎solution for the challenges which Palestine is facing at the present time and in the future. This ‎proposal shows that the western accusations of anti-Semitism which have been repeated ‎time and time again are completely unfounded. On the basis of this proposal, Jewish, ‎Christian and Muslim Palestinians will determine, together, the political system of their ‎country by participating in a referendum. That which should definitely go is the Zionist ‎regime, since Zionism is a bizarre innovation which has been fabricated in the name of ‎Judaism and is totally alien to that religion.‎

I would like to close this speech by remembering the martyrs of al-Quds, including Sheikh ‎Ahmad Yassin, Fathi Shaqaqi, Sayyid Abbas al-Musawi, Martyr Soleymani, the great Muslim ‎commander and the unforgettable face of resistance, and also the great Iraqi Mujahid, ‎Martyr Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. I extend my greetings to the soul of the great Imam ‎Khomeyni who opened the path of dignity and Jihad for us. I also ask God the Exalted to ‎bestow His mercy on our late brother, Hussein Sheikh al-Islam who for years worked hard ‎diligently on this path.‎

May God’s greetings and mercy be upon you.‎

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