International Support for Palestinian Intifada in Tehran

Saturday 1 October 2011

International Support for Palestinian Intifada in Tehran

The Fifth International Conference for Supporting the Palestinian Intifada was held in Tehran Saturday and its slogan was “the Palestinians are not looking for a home… their home is Palestine”.

Parliamentary representatives of over 170 states have joined the conference after receiving invitations from the Islamic Shura Council of Iran.

The parliament speakers of Lebanon, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, and Algeria have joined the first session of the conference that discussed the regional developments, the future of Palestine, and ways for lifting the Israeli siege that has been imposed on Gaza since 2008.

The conference was inaugurated by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, who assured that efforts should be made to liberate all Palestine, not just part of it, and that this requires work rather than just speech.

Head of Hamas political bureau Khaled Masheal delivered a speech after that in which he wondered till when will the Palestinians keep seeking recognition from the UN without making efforts to liberate the occupied territories.

He pointed out: “It is true that Mahmoud Abbas has confronted the US pressure and insisted on going further will his steps… this reveals a courage that we appreciate… but rationality urges us to think that even if we gained UN membership, we will find that the land that we could establish our state on is an occupied one that is planted with settlements. And so, the question that should be asked to all the Palestinian factions is: How could we liberate our land first, and then establish a true state on it.”

Masheal emphasized that “all the facts that took place throughout the conflict with the Zionist project require resistance, for occupation, killings, displacement, abducations, and crimes that the Israelis have been committing for over 60 years require resistance.

Building the settlements and the barriers, stealing the land and the water, as well as the sky, call for resistance. Imposing an oppressive siege on the Gaza strip and continuously attacking it, as well as taking control over the West Bank, all this requires resistance. The Judaization of Al-Quds, changing its demographic structure, and destroying its historical features also require resistance.”

“The Arab’s abandonment years ago to the military option and wagering on what is so called peace without any point of strength require resistance, so does the failing of any settlement process and the International Community, as well as the American efforts for negotiations call for resistance.”

Head of Hamas political bureau assured that “the Arab spring as well as the Iranian people’s strength that ousted the Shah are great signs to the source of power. The source of power is not in the weakness of the leaders and their failing wagers, it is in the people who struggle and resist.”

For his part, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri made a statement during the conference recalling the old and new Israeli crimes and pointing out that the cruel entity seeks through the Arab weakness and the Palestinian division to go on with its crimes and dominate until building settlements in all Palestine.

Speaker Berri indicated that the Israeli settlements have duplicated in the last period, especially in locations that surround Al-Quds and that the number of settlers in these locations have exceeded 500,000, adding that “the Judaization of Al-Quds is the central target of this policy…"

Berri further indicated that Israel follows the policy that says “me or nobody” without being aware that the world has changed, as the Lebanese for example shall never allow anyone to take control over their wealth whether on land or in sea.

“In this context, we highlight that the US is responsible for arming Israel with the most advanced weaponry, the budget of its aid to Israel during this year reached $20 billion, and the right of VITO is always in support of Israel’s benefit,” the Lebanese Speaker added.

“All this assure that Israel does not want peace. However, we are seeing positive developments, as Israel can no longer claim that it is the only democracy in the Middle East, for the great changes in the demographic structure have revealed its ethnicity.”

Berri further pointed out that the developments were also portrayed in Egypt as the people have assured that their demands were not only internal, they were rather external ones that included cancelling the Camp David Accord.
Kuwaiti National Assembly Speaker Jassem Al-Kharafi as well as Iraqi Parliament Speaker Osama Abdul Aziz Al-Nujaifi also made a statement during the conference stressing the importance of Palestine to all the Arabs, and the importance of taking a united stance for supporting it.