Quds Day

An annual anti-Zionist day of protest was first suggested by Ebrahim Yazdi, the first foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, to Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the Iranian Revolution. At the time, its predominant context was related to deepening tensions between Israel and Lebanon. Khomeini adopted Yazdi's idea,{{cite news |date=August 1, 2013 |title=Iran's 'Jerusalem Day': Behind the rallies and rhetoric |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23448932 |publisher=BBC Persian}} and on 7 August 1979, he declared the last Friday of every Ramadan as "Quds Day", in which Muslims worldwide would unite in solidarity against Israel and in support of the Palestinians.{{cite book|title=Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity|url=https://archive.org/details/jerusalemitsrole00reit|url-access=limited|author=Yitzhak Reiter|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2008|isbn=9780230607828|page=[https://archive.org/details/jerusalemitsrole00reit/page/n96 88]}} Khomeini stated that the "liberation" of Jerusalem was a religious duty to all Muslims:

• {{cite book |title=Jihad for Jerusalem: Identity and Strategy in International Relations |last=Khan |first=M.A. Muqtedar |year=2004 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing |location=Google Books |page=157 |isbn=9780275980146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SFcm8Z66kVQC&pg=PA157 |access-date=September 19, 2009}}
• {{cite book |title=To Rule Jerusalem |last=Friedland |first=Roger |author2=Richard Hecht |year=1996 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Google Books |page=370 |isbn=9780520220928 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKRlEPFc038C&pg=PA370}}

{{quote|I invite Muslims all over the globe to consecrate the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as Al-Quds Day and to proclaim the international solidarity of Muslims in support of the legitimate rights of the Muslim people of Palestine.

For many years, I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel which today has intensified its savage attacks against the Palestinian brothers and sisters, and which, in the south of Lebanon in particular, is continually bombing Palestinian homes in the hope of crushing the Palestinian struggle. I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters. I call on all the Muslims of the world to select as Al-Quds Day the last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan—which is itself a determining period and can also be the determiner of the Palestinian people's fate—and through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims worldwide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people. I ask God Almighty for the victory of the Muslims over the infidels.|Ruhollah Khomeini, 1979{{Cite web|url=http://www.irib.ir/occasions/Quds_Day/Quds%20dayEn.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031028225026/http://www.irib.ir/occasions/Quds_Day/Quds%20dayEn.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2003-10-28|title=Qudsday}}}}

There have been recorded incidents of violence on Quds Day, including 28 people killed and 326 wounded by bombs in 1985 during the Iran–Iraq War.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/quds-day-2018-iran-palestinians-israel-donald-trump-jerusalem-ramadan-a8389556.html|title=This is why people are burning effigies of Donald Trump in Iran today|date=June 8, 2018|website=The Independent}} Iran celebrates the event characteristically by putting on public display poster images of the city of Jerusalem, thematic speeches, art exhibitions reflecting the issue, and folkloric events. In Lebanon, Hezbollah marks the occasion by organizing a substantive military parade for the last week of each Ramadan. Since 1989, Jordan has observed the event by hosting academic conferences, whose venue from university to university varies each year. Arab societies generally pay the occasion lip service in order to make a show of solidarity with the cause of Palestinian aspirations for nationhood.Yitzhak Reiter, [https://books.google.com/books?id=bZbFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA142, Jerusalem and Its Role in Islamic Solidarity], Springer, 2008 p.142.

The day is also marked throughout Muslim and Arab countries. In January 1988, during the First Intifada, the Jerusalem Committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference decided that Quds Day should be commemorated in public events throughout the Arab world.{{cite book|title=Jerusalem and its role in Islamic solidarity|url=https://archive.org/details/jerusalemitsrole00reit|url-access=limited|author=Yitzhak Reiter|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2008|isbn=9780230607828|page=[https://archive.org/details/jerusalemitsrole00reit/page/n150 142]}} In countries with significant Shia Muslim populations, particularly Lebanon, where Hezbollah organizes Quds Day observances, there is significant attendance at the day's events. Events are also held in Iraq, the Palestinian Gaza Strip, and Syria. Both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad endorse Quds Day and hold ceremonies. Outside of the Middle East and the wider Arab world, Quds Day protests have taken place in the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Sweden, France, the United States, as well as some Muslim countries in Southeast Asia.{{cite web |title=Jerusalem Day |url=http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_e023.htm |date=September 16, 2009 |publisher=Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center |access-date=September 19, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090923004326/http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/iran_e023.htm |archive-date=September 23, 2009 }} According to the BBC, while the original idea behind Quds Day was to gather all Muslims in opposition to the existence of Israel, the event has not developed beyond an Iranian experience. Apart from rallies, usually funded and organized by Iran itself in various capital cities, the ritual never took root among Muslims at large.

{{Further|List of Quds Day demonstrations}}

In Iran, the day's parades are sponsored and organized by the government.[http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/09/200991875246806121.html Iranians rally on 'al-Quds Day'], aljazeera.net, (September 18, 2009 )[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8263467.stm Iran eyewitness: protest videos], BBC, (September 18, 2009) Events include mass marches and rallies. Senior Iranian leaders give fiery speeches condemning Israel, as well as the U.S. government. The crowds respond with chants of "Death to Israel" and "Death to America". According to Roger Howard, many Iranians under the age of 30 continue to participate in Quds Day events, though proportionately less than those on the streets. He adds that many Iranian students on campus say in private that the Arab–Israeli conflict has "nothing to do with us."Roger Howard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0QUlwOZbUL0C&pg=PA49 Iran in Crisis?: The Future of the Revolutionary Regime and the US Response], Zed Books (2004). {{ISBN|978-1-84277-475-5}}. p. 49.

Quds Day protests have been held in parts of the Middle East and in London and Berlin and the United States. Marches in London have drawn up to 3,000 people, while Berlin saw 1,600 protestors in 2018. Rallies were held in at least 18 cities across the United States in 2017.{{cite web | last=Weinthal | first=Benjamin | title=Heavy turnout at al-Quds rally in Berlin calls for Israel's destruction | website=The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com | date=2018-06-09 | url=https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Heavy-turnout-at-al-Quds-rally-in-Berlin-calls-for-Israels-destruction-559576 | access-date=2018-06-14}}{{cite web | last=Sommerlad | first=Joe | title=This is why people are burning effigies of Donald Trump in Iran today | website=The Independent | date=2018-06-08 | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/quds-day-2018-iran-palestinians-israel-donald-trump-jerusalem-ramadan-a8389556.html | access-date=2018-06-14}}{{cite web | title=ADL Raises Concern About Potential For Hate Speech at Anti-Israel Protests Taking Place in 18 U.S. Cities | website=Anti-Defamation League | date=2017-06-23 | url=https://www.adl.org/news/press-releases/adl-raises-concern-about-potential-for-hate-speech-at-anti-israel-protests | access-date=2018-06-14}}

In 2020, for the first time since the initiation four decades ago, the Quds day event was held virtually in Iran amid the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news |last1=Fassihi |first1=Farnaz |title=Virus Lockdown Forces Iran Into Its First Virtual Quds Day |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/world/middleeast/virus-virtual-quds-day.html |access-date=23 May 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=22 May 2020}}

File:Al-Quds 2014 Berlin 20140725 162233.jpg|Berlin, 2014

File:2018 London Quds day rally-2.jpg|London, 2018

File:روز جهانی قدس در شهر قم- Quds Day In Iran-Qom City 34.jpg|Qom, 2015

File:Shahab Missile in Quds Day 2017 in Tehran01.jpg|Tehran, 2017

File:راهپیمایی روز قدس در تهران - ۶-۲۸.jpg|Tehran, 2016

• Jerusalem Day, in Israel
• Iran–Israel relations
• Jumu'ah-tul-Wida, also on the last Friday in the month of Ramadan
• Quds in Persian literature
• Death to America

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Quds Day}}

• [http://www.qudsday.com/ International Quds Day in Hamasna official website]
• [http://www.irib.ir/worldservice/imam/palestin_E/10.htm Ayotollah Khomeini's pronouncements on al-Quds]
• [https://www.theguardian.com/frontpage/story/0,,1604251,00.html Jihad and jingoism on Iran's streets Guardian Unlimited on Quds Day demonstrations]
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2009/09/090918_og_ugc_quds.shtml Iranian protesters in the 2009 Quds day], shouting slogans against the Iranian government

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Category:Anti-Israeli sentiment

Category:1979 establishments in Iran

Category:Recurring events established in 1979

Category:Anti-Zionism in Iran

Category:Foreign relations of Iran

Category:Iran–Israel relations

Category:Politics of Palestine

Category:Late modern history of Jerusalem

Category:International observances

Category:Observances set by the Islamic calendar

Category:Islamic terminology

Category:August observances