International Jerusalem Day

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.

Many demonstrations were staged in various world cities to express complete solidarity with the Palestinian people on the occasion of the International Day of Jerusalem which is annually marked on the last Friday of the Holy month of Ramadan.

” We Will Pray in al-Quds Together” was the title of the  massive rally held  last Friday in Damascus commemorating the International Jerusalem Day. The rally started  at the entrance of al-Hamidiyeh ancient market towards the Umayyad Mosque.

The participants hailed the great sacrifices offered by the Palestinian people in confrontation of the racist oppressive measures taken by the Zionist occupation forces against them. They emphasized that the Palestinian cause will ever remain the central cause as Palestine is the heart of the nation and its compass and the eternal capital of Palestine. They also  expressed appreciation for the stances of the Syrian leadership and people in support of the Palestinian cause, calling for a popular Islamic stand against the puppet regimes to push them to adopt decisions compatible with the aspirations of their peoples. They paid tribute to the Syrian Arab Army and its allied forces which are winning victories in the face of terrorism, restoring hopes of liberating the entire land from the forces of evil and aggression. The participants raised national flags, flags of Palestine and the resistance and shouted slogans condemning US President Donald Trump’s transferring his country’s embassy to the occupied al-Quds.

They 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.

Several Iranian cities witnessed huge rallies in which the participants shouted slogans calling for the death of Israel and America  and end the occupation of the Palestinian Arab territories. They also burned Israeli and American flags expressing complete solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle to restore their inalienable rights to self-determination and the establishment of their independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

The participants renewed their call for the liberation of Palestine from the racist Israeli occupation. They also strongly denounced US President Donald Trump’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, stressing that the liberation of the holy city remains the top priority of the Muslim world. The demonstrators also pledged support for the axis of resistance and intifada”, stressing the need for strong unity among different Palestinian groups to intensify resistance acts. They affirmed that  the only solution to the Palestinian question is  the return of displaced Palestinian refugees to their indigenous homeland.

The demonstrators also condemned the Tel Aviv regime’s attempts to Judaize the occupied territories and destroy Palestine’s national and historical identity, referring that the Zionist regime aims at changing the geographic and demographic status of the occupied Palestinian territories through speeding up the construction of Jewish settlements on confiscated Palestinian lands. They called on international and regional institutions to help foil Israel’s dangerous plot by taking firm and practical measures to curb Israel’s sinister settlement policy.

Similar rallies were also planned in London and Toronto as well as in 800 cities worldwide, in which the participants chanted anti-Israeli slogans and burning the occupying regime’s flags.

Near the Israeli fence separating Gaza from the occupied territories, Palestinians thronged to the site which has become the scene of bloodshed in recent weeks.

This year, Jerusalem Day has become a larger rallying cry as it comes after months of mass protests in Gaza which proved Israel’s inability to stop the Palestinians despite widespread use of deadly force against unarmed protesters.

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.

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.

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.

K.Q.