Quds Day March: Promotion of Hatred and Human Rights Violations
Critics described the Quds Day march with harsh anti-Jewish slogans as promoting hatred and violating human rights.
Quds Day is the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, when the Islamic Republic government and other Islamic countries annually hold marches to support the Palestinian people and oppose Zionism and the State of Israel. This day was established by Ruhollah Khomeini after the 1979 revolution.
In 1979, Ruhollah Khomeini issued a message on the last Friday of Ramadan, calling on people around the world to demonstrate their solidarity and support for the legal rights of the Palestinian people on this day, and named it Quds Day. He said about this day: “Quds Day is not merely a day for Palestine; it is a day of Islam. It is a day of Islamic government, a day when the Islamic Republic should raise its flag across all countries. It is a day to make the superpowers understand that they can no longer advance in Islamic lands. I consider Quds Day a day of Islam and the day of the Prophet Muhammad, and it is a day when we must mobilize all our forces.”
Today, Friday, March 28, corresponding to the 8th of Farvardin 1404 and the last Friday of Ramadan, a march was held in some cities of the country on the occasion of Quds Day with slogans such as “Death to Israel,” “Jerusalem will be free,” and “Palestine is alive,” while people in Gaza on this day chanted slogans against the Quds Force, Hamas, and Qasem Soleimani, crying out: “Qasem Soleimani, where are we now? Where is our home? Soleimani, you caused the destruction of Gaza, shame on you.”
Critics also believe that holding these ceremonies and marches with harsh and sometimes anti-Jewish slogans can lead to the promotion of hatred and human rights violations. Today, on the occasion of Quds Day, the Jewish community also sent its representatives, including members of the board of directors, to represent the community at the Quds Day demonstrations. Jews in Iran, over 90 percent of whom have been forced to emigrate from the country.
Analysts also attribute this forced participation to the security and political pressure from the government, which compels Iranian Jews to attend these ceremonies to demonstrate their loyalty to the Islamic Republic system in order to avoid potential government consequences.
