Khamenei's speech on occasion of the conference on Palestinian Intifada
Iran-Regional, Politics, 4/24/2001

Following is the full text of a speech delievered by Iran's Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran Tuesday at the International Conference on Palestinian Intifada, according to the official News Agency IRNA.

"Speakers and representatives of the national assemblies of Islamic countries, leaders and representatives of Mujahid groups and combatants of the front line of Islamic defense, honored guests and distinguished audience: "Welcome you all to Iran and pray for the blessings and the guidance of Allah for you.

"The decision to organize this meeting is indeed very auspicious.

With the grace of the Almighty, your meeting will strengthen the commitment and solidarity of Islamic states and peoples for the uprising Palestinian people. Such meetings have practically proven that the question of Palestine is an Islamic issue and belongs to the entire Islamic world. The occupation of Palestine is a part of a satanic design by the world domineering powers, perpetrated by the British in the past and being carried out today by the United States to weaken the solidarity of the Islamic world and to sow the seeds of disunity among us.

"Our enemies have consistently endeavored to prevent the solidarity and unity of Muslims through the policy of divide and rule and promoting ethnic division. In the beginning of the occupation of Palestine, Muslim ulemas, such as Sheikh Azedin Ghassan and Haj Amin al-Hosseini appealed to Muslims to join hands in helping the Palestinian people in their just struggle. The great religious leader, Kashef Al-Gheta, even called for jihad against the Zionist.

But, with much regret, the Islamic color of the Palestinian struggle gradually faded and its ethnic content has become stronger.

"The victory of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, under the able leadership of Imam Khomeini, a courageous and learned descendent of the prophet, was a watershed event in Islamic awakening in the entire world, especially in the countries of our region. The victory of Muslims in south Lebanon, in the apparently unequal encounter with stronger enemy, once more proved the justness of the Islamic struggle and clearly showed that if Muslims put their trust in Allah, their victory will be certain, the astonishing victory of the Islamic resistance in south Lebanon, and the scandalous failure of all the compromising plans proved good lessons for our region.

"The triumph of Muslim combatants in south Lebanon, and the failure of compromising plans encouraged Muslim Palestinian people to resort to Inftifada again. But this time the voices of surrender and compromise inside Palestine and the region will not change the mind of the brave and enduring people of Palestine. They are determined to bring their struggle to victory. The first Intifada was stopped as a result of insinuations by the Zionists and their supporters and pressures from the Americans and the West, promising to meet the demands of Palestine through peaceful means. Passage of 10 years has shown that all efforts by the supporters of the Zionists were aimed at rescuing Israelis from the heavy pressures stemming from the relentless struggle of Muslims.

"Time has also shown that rosy promises given to Palestinian negotiators were nothing but mere illusions.

"The occupation, expansionism and savagery by Israel today were all predictable for those with insight and for the sympathizers of the Palestinian cause in the Islamic nations.

"From the very inception of Israel, this fictitious and usurper has consistently violated inalienable rigths of Palestinian people.

Moreover, some Western governments, especially the Americans have justified and supported these atrocious actions and international bodies have also tried to give legitimacy to the identity and aggressions of this regime by justifying its gross aggression.

"Western powers have always shown territorial ambitions toward Palestine and Beit-Al-Moqadas. Imposition of Crusade Wars on Muslims is a vivid proof of their greedy ambitions toward this sacred land.

Military commanders of the Allied forces, after defeating the Ottoman Empire and marching into Palestine said that, today the Crusade Wars have come to an end.

"The occupation of this land was in accordance with a complex scheme, designed to prevent the unity and solidarity of Muslims and re-establishment of powerful Muslim states.

"There are documents showing close collaboration of the Zionists with the Nazi Germany, and exaggerated numbers relating to the Jewish holocaust were fabricated to solicit sympathy of the world public opinion, lay the ground for the occupation of Palestine and to justify the atrocities of the Zionists.

"There is even evidence on hand that a large number of non-Jewish hooligans and thugs of Eastern Europe were forced to migrate to Palestine as Jews. The purpose was to install in the heart of the Islamic world an anti-Islamic state under the guise of supporting the victims of racism and to create a rift between the East and the West of the Islamic world after 1400 years of unity between those two parts.

"In the beginning the Muslims were caught by suprise, since they were not aware of the depth of the scheme designed by the Zionists and their Western supporters. The Ottoman Empire was defeated and the Sykes-Pico Treaty was secretly concluded to divide the Islamic territories among the victors of war, The League of Nations placed Palestine under the trusteeship of the British. It promised to support the Zionists and brought Jews to Palestine at the expense of displacing and forcing out Muslims from their motherland, in this long war, on one side of which are the West and the Zionists, and on the other side, the newly established Arab states, the enemies of Islam have made use of complicated instruments, including the power of international media and forums.

"One one hand, they invited Muslims to show patience, tolerance and engage in peace talks, and on the other hand, continued to arm Israel. Their strategic goal in these unequal and discriminatory interactions between Muslim countries and Israel has been to preserve the military superiority of Israel over Islamic countries.

They have consistently supported Israel at international bodies, and have justified its atrocities by employing their mass media that keeps telling us victory over Israel is a dream that will never be realized.

"The Israeli regime has carried on its aggressions for more than fifty years with impunity since its formal recognition by the United Nations and no one and nothing has been able to stop her. But the situation has changed; the Lebanon Islamic Resistance, comprising of a few thousands of young combatants, armed with a strong faith, have become a nightmare for this regime and its supporters. These beloved young combatants forced Israeli to retreat from South Lebanon in humiliation. Their victory became a guiding torch for other Muslim combatants and today we are witnessing the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which is akin to the Lebanon Islamic Resistance but in a broader scale.

"Now that you have gathered here to show your commitment to the Intifada, there is a heavy responsibility on your shoulder. You should, above all other things, demonstrate that the Islamic world is determined to revive the good traditions in its glorious history.

"Uppermost among these traditions was the unity of Muslims that brought the victory of Muslims in their decisive battles against the aggressor Crusaders. In those great historic events, Muslims from all corners of the Islamic world joined their defenses in that decisive and long jihad between the belivers and unbelievers.

"Today all Muslims of the world have pinned their eyes on this destiny-making struggle of Palestinian people. They have greater hope for this Intifada. In the first Intifada, ten years ago, the climate of compromise and surrender gradually prevailed in the region. There were those who overly depended on American promises, and there were also those who believed that we cannot resist and would ultimately succumb to international political pressure and there is no way out but acceptance of compromise under American and Israel terms.

"After the events that unfolded at that time in the region, the ground was then more conducive for acceptance of their terms. But, this year as you meet for this conference, the road to humiliating compromise is closed.

"Even those who had put all their hope on the United States openly admit the current impasse.

"In 1991, Arabs and Muslims became disheartened as a result of a series of successive defeats in the course of the Persian Gulf War.

Their internal unity was also exposed to serious threat of collapse.

Conditions have changed now, especially after the great historic Islamic resistance in South Lebanon that put fresh hope in the hearts of Muslims.

"At one time, there were two ways to deal with Israel: military encounter of Arab armies with Israel and compromising approach that would lead to giving in to Israeli demands by peaceful settlements.

"The previous experiences of military encounters proved to be failure for Islamic countries and the so-called 'land for peace' scheme meant continued military weakness of Arab countries. A clear case in point was the Camp David Accord.

"During those days, there was no talk of resistance. Resistance was said to be universally unacceptable. Now we have a successful model of resistance before us that was able to liberate occupied territories without making any concessions to Israel and stopped it from hoisting its flags in the capital of Lebanon.

"With the Camp David Accord, Israel withdrew on the condition that Egypt would not send her army to north of Sinai. In Lebanon, Israel begged Lebanon to send its army to its border with occupied Palestine, fearing the Islamic resistance. The resistance was able to restore full sovereignty to South Lebanon and other occupied territories.

"This Intifada is a popular uprising, Palestinians have lost hope in all schemes aimed at striking a compromise, and have realized that victory is solely dependent on their resistance.

"The people of Palestine suffered much in their previous Intifada and offered many martyrs and casualties for Islam and liberation of Islamic lands.

"The Oslo talks ultimately brought an end to that uprising. What was the outcome of Oslo? Today, even the Palestinian designers and supporters of Oslo Accord have stopped defending it. They have realized that Israel wanted to solve her own problem by freeing herself from facing the stone-throwing fighters and reducing her exposure.

"Little, if any, that was given to the Palestinians, was to extinguish the fire of Intifada, When Israel saw her problem resolved and mistakenly felt that Palestinians do not have the power to resume Intifada, they even stopped the little concession they had made and revealed their true expansionist nature.

"The so-called peace process and the Oslo scheme placed the Palestinians in a situation that made them realize there is no other way but an all-out popular uprising.

"The Al-Aqsa Intifada primarily revolves around Beit-Al-Moqadas.

The spark that ignited the anger of Palestinian people stemmed from gross insult of the Zionists to Al-Aqsa Mosque, by realizing their mission to protect one of the most sacred religious places of Muslims, the people of Palestine, entered the arena of struggle and by their devotion and sacrifices kept the sacred flame of resistance against the Zionist occupiers burning.

"The compromising process, and more specially the Oslo plan, divided the ranks of Palestinians. But this sacred Intifada was able to bring back and restore national Palestinian unity. As you have all seen, all segments of people are present in this struggle and Islamists and nationalists are fighting side by side. Even those whose hearts are at another place have no choice but to go along with this huge wave.

"The Islamic uprising, or in another word Islamic awakening, began in Iran after the victory of Islamic Revolution under the leadership of Imam Khomeini and has appeared with great force in all other Islamic regions.

"Today, this movement predominately revolves around the question of Palestine. The Al-Aqsa Intifada was able to bring all Muslims and Arab nations, even those beyond the immediate borders of Palestine, to the arena of struggle.

"Demonstrations by millions of Muslims from east and west of the Islamic world showed that Palestinian people can count on their support and this issue is pivotal to unity of Muslims.

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