“No to the Deal of the Century”

The International Jerusalem Day is commemorated this year amid the unceasing US-Zionist plots against Arab people, especially after the US President’s acknowledgment of Jerusalem as capital of the Zionist entity and the declaration of annexing Golan to the occupying entity.

Many rallies were held yesterday in Syrian, Iranian cities and other parts of the world to  mark the International Jerusalem Day and express solidarity with the Palestinian people to support Palestinians who are facing the dangerous prospect of a sellout of their rights through a notorious US plan called the “deal of the century”.

The rallies were an opportunity to reject US President Donald Trump’s ill-famed plan and a summit  due to be held in Bahrain later this month to market the US project. In Damascus, a huge rally was held in Souk al-Hamidiyeh with the participation of  scores of intellectuals and representatives of Palestinian resistance movements. The participants  affirmed that Palestinians, Arab and Muslim people will not sell Jerusalem and will work for the liberation of  the city  soon.

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

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.

The demonstrators stressed that the  US-devised “deal of century” will definitely end in failure   and the so-called Manamah economic conference will not make the Palestinians sell out their inalienable rights. The Trump administration seeks to use the Bahrain meeting to bring Arab states traditionally opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestinians lands into line.

The  holy occupied city of Jerusalem  belongs to Palestine and the Palestinians. Neither the United States nor the Israeli regime can make decisions about it. Jerusalem is neither America’s to give away nor Israel’s to take. This city belongs to Palestine & Palestinians. History shows that whoever ignores this is condemned to humiliating failure.

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.

International Jerusalem Day 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 Zionist occupation and the US colonialist plans.

The liberation of Jerusalem from the clutches of the Israeli regime is the top priority of the Arab and Muslim people. 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 inhuman, criminal and infanticidal regime of Israel.

K.Q.