Why it matters:
Quds Day transcends Iran, symbolizing solidarity among Muslims worldwide in supporting Palestine. It has neutralized the West's decades-long efforts to wipe out the issue of Palestine from the minds of the general public. Iran, leading the initiative, has prominently demonstrated its strong national will and leadership since the designation of the occasion.
Flashback:
International Quds Day is the innovative legacy of the late architecture of the Islamic Revolution Imam Khomeini in 1979 with the victory of the Islamic revolution. He left it for the world of humanity to defend the rights of the oppressed and support them against the world's arrogant powers.
State of play:
In past years, the Israeli regime consistently employed victimization tactics to garner the general public's pity to justify its occupation of Palestine. The U.S. and its allies have always supported Israeli war crimes in the occupation to secure Israel's survival. However, what has unfolded in Gaza since October 2023 has exposed the reality of a regime that represents itself as ethical and democratic.
What they're saying:
Imam Khomeini: "The world's Muslim must consider Quds Day the day of all Muslims but all of the oppressed and from the critical point stand against the arrogant powers and imperialists and never give up until the final liberation of the oppressed from the world's tyrants."
Ayatollah Khamenei: "Quds Day is not merely a day for Palestine; it is a day for the entire Islamic Ummah. It is the resounding cry of Muslims against the deadly cancer of Zionism, which has afflicted the Islamic community through the aggressive hands of occupiers, interferers, and imperialist powers."
Zoom in:
Imam Khomeini emphasized an Islamic faith-based approach as the true path to counter the Israeli regime and liberate Palestine, rejecting Arabism, nationalism, and non-Islamic ideologies as misguided strategies for liberating Palestine.
His views on Palestine and Quds Day reflect:
- Reviving Islamic identity and principles of Islam through unity
- Consistently expositing of Israel's plot of seizing "from the Nile to the Euphrates"
- Highlighting the dangers of Israeli expansionism
- Distinguishing Judaism from Zionism
- Utilizing the capabilities of the Islamic world, Strategic use of oil against the Israeli regime and U.S.
Context:
This year's Quds day is different from the past year due to the developments that occurred during the war on Gaza and in the West Asian region and its spill-over to the U.S. and Europe because:
- The Zionist nature of Israel has been more evident to the world
- It has mingled with trans-faith will against the Israeli regime
- Hatred towards the Israeli regime is growing high and getting deepened
- Zionist regime is struggling with internal social, political, and economic challenges
- Resistance of the Palestinian nation, along with other regional nations, has increased
- The grounds are getting more prepared than ever for the annihilation of the Israeli regime
What we're hearing:
Hezbollah Secretary General, Sheikh Naim Qassem: "The world’s slogan is 'allied with Quds,' as we continue this path, and the Palestinian people will not only not falter but will stand at the forefront to reclaim Quds."
Leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria Ibrahim Zakzaki: "Quds Day in this time is very important for the whole ummah to rise and show the world that they are together with the Palestinian people."
Head of the Union of Resistance Scholars Sheikh Maher Hamoud: "Global Quds Day is not a transient event; it is a milestone for reminding us to resist the Zionist enemy and global arrogance."
Member of Pakistan's National Assembly Sardar Lateef Khosa: "Quds Day is a reminder to all the Muslims to pay tribute to those in the rest of the world who have stood for the Palestinians."
Northern Regional Chief Imam of the Shia Sheikh Abdul Mumeen Dalhu: "Quds Day has its timeless message: 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'"
What they're saying:
Professor Lawrence Davidson of West Chester University said if national societies paid attention to Palestinians' pains by commemorating days like Quds day, Zionists couldn't make people forget them.
Kevin Barrett, a prominent American analyst, said Quds Day reminds the people of the fact that the liberation of Palestine would foster great unity among Muslims worldwide and serves as the key to establishing peace in the world.
Manuel Galia Naros, a Spanish writer, said no doubt Imam Khomeini possessed qualities that drove his pursuit of freedom, truth, and justice, and his establishment of Quds Day affirmed the principles.
Kalid Jaradat of Palestine Islamic Jihad Movement (PIJ) said Imam Khomeini possessed profound political, intellectual, ideological, and strategic insight, which enabled him to warn, years in advance, about the dangers facing Palestine and the region.
State of play:
U.S. President is Donald Trump. The Israeli regime has breached the May 2024 ceasefire with the Hamas Resistance group. Within a single day in March 2025, the Israeli strikes killed over 180 Palestinian children in Gaza, marking the most horrible infanticide in its more than 7 decades of atrocities.
The bottom line:
Quds Day fosters a global opportunity for the people of the world to be the voice of the voiceless either in Palestine or any part of the world, where the international bodies, including the UN, have turned into nothing more than accessories. Those countries that have remained indifferent to what is going on in Gaza and other parts invaded by the Israeli regime must expect to be seized by the regime.
seyed mohammad kazemi
