Millions of Iranians attended nationwide rallies Friday in support of the Palestinians, while the country's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel's continued existence was an "insult to human dignity."
Iranian protesters burn an effigy representing Israel and US during an anti-Israel rally on "Al-Quds Day" (Jerusalem Day), in Teheran.
Photo: AP
"The creation, continued existence and unlimited (Western) support for this regime is an insult to human dignity," Ahmadinejad said. "The occupation of Palestine is not limited to one land. The Zionist issue is now a global issue."
Ahmadinejad's remarks came as millions of Iranians held rallies across Iran to protest Israel's continued control of Jerusalem.
The demonstrations for "Al-Quds Day" - Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem - also spilled over into anti-American protests because of US support for Israel.
In the capital Teheran, hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets as they chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." Some protesters also burned American and Israeli flags.
State television reported similar large rallies in all other provincial capitals and smaller towns across Iran.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called to "wipe Israel off the map."
Photo: AP [file]
The Iranian president once again said Palestinians should not pay any price because Europeans committed crimes against Jews in World War II. He said they could give a part of their own land in Europe or Alaska so that the Jews can establish their country.
"I ask European governments supporting Zionists and the American people that will you allow occupation of part of your land under a pretext and then talk about a two-state solution?," Ahmadinejad said after the rallies.
Ahmadinejad said a "free referendum" was the solution to the Palestinian issue, saying Jews, Muslims and Christians as well as five million Palestinian refugees should take part in a vote to determine their own fate.
Ayatollah Mahould Hashemi Shahroudi, Iran's judiciary chief, said Friday's rallies was "a good start for the destruction of the Zionist regime."
Parliamentary speaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel said the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands was a "blatant oppression" and warned that the relationship between the Islamic world and the West won't improve as long as Palestinians are not allowed to determine their fate in a referendum.
Since the Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran has observed the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan as "Al-Quds Day," as a way of expressing support to the Palestinians and emphasizing the importance of Jerusalem to Muslims.
Jerusalem is the third holiest city in Islam after the Saudi Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina.
Meanwhile, thousands of Gazans marched from Beit Lahiya to Jabalya to commemorate "Al-Quds Day." The protesters burned, Israeli, US and British flags.
Also, on Israel's northern border, Hizbullah activists and Lebanese Shi'ites held an anti-Israel protest next to the border fence.
Lebanese troops manned the rally and prevented the protesters from approaching the border.
During anti-Israel rallies in the country, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah gave a televised address to the crowds.
He spoke of the recent IAF raid in Syria saying: "Israel is talking about peace but beating the drums of war."
Nasrallah also claimed that Israel perpetrated the political assassinations in Lebanon.
The Hizbullah leader went on to accuse Jews of killing their "fellow bothers and sisters" in order to further Jewish immigration to Israel.
