International Jerusalem Day 2017

 Palestine will remain the compass, and Jerusalem is our soul and identity, and it will remain our inspiration today and tomorrow. The Arabs cannot exist without resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict in a manner that guarantees their dignity and future.

The Israeli enemy is now viciously attempting to blot out the Arab identity of Jerusalem, destroy its sacred sites, and drive out its Arab inhabitants.

Palestinian, Arab and Muslim people mark these days the International Quds (Jerusalem) Day, an annual event held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. The event was first marked in 1979 to express solidarity with the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli occupation entity and its Judaization policy in Jerusalem, especially the construction of Jewish settlements around the city to wipe out the Arab Islamic features of  Jerusalem and replace them with Jewish ones with the aim of perpetuation the Israeli occupation of the city.

Several rallies were held in Arab and Islamic capitals affirming the necessity of standing side by side with the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people to liberate their occupied lands and establish their independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. The demonstrators also expressed complete support for  Syria in its battle against terrorism, because Syria is the last pivot of the Palestinian cause and were it to be destroyed, then Palestine and the entire nation will be gone.

The participants in the event stressed the need to unite the energies of the nation against the Israeli occupation and the United States, pointing out that there is no alternative to the liberation of Palestine, the restoration of all holy sites and the return of Palestinian refugees to their indigenous homeland.

 The participants slammed the international community’s silence in the face of Israel’s attempts to Judaize the occupied Palestinian lands and destroy historical Palestinian identity, calling on regional and global organizations to take serious and practical measures to counter the Zionist regime’s plots.

The participants also paid tribute to the heroic captives in the Israeli occupation prisons and their legitimate resistance by all means, stressing full support for their rights until they are freed from the grip of the occupation.

As we mark this anniversary, we should highlight the important role of the resistance axis in confronting the occupation, this axis will not remain silent in the face of terrorist organizations which have copied the practices of Israeli occupation.

If Syria is lost, then Palestine will be lost as well, and what is happening in Syria and the Takfiri plot both serve Israel. Israeli leaders have expressed satisfaction over the war, destruction, and fighting taking place in Syria. The states that are funding, arming, and smuggling gunmen into Syria and employ media to instigate conflict and prevent Syrians from holding dialogue must cease these actions which stoke the fire in it.

Syria will remain steadfast and resilient along with all those who stood alongside it in confrontation of the Zionist Takfiri project which aims at perpetuating the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories, fragmenting the Arab states and creating religious and sectarian conflicts in a way that enables Israel to invade the Arab region politically, economically and culturally.

The liberation of Jerusalem from the clutches of the Israeli regime is the top priority of the Muslim world. Any scheme meant to distract the Muslims’ public opinion from the Palestinian cause should be denounced.

The International Jerusalem Day sends out the justice-seeking cry of the oppressed Palestinians against the cruelty of the anti-human, criminal and infanticidal regime of Israel.

The Arabs and Muslims should maintain unity and solidarity in the face of their common enemy, the Israeli regime.