Ahmadi-nejad called Israel an “insult to all humanity” and a tumor in the Middle East. He termed it “a corrupt, anti-human, organized minority group standing up to all divine values.”
Speaking to thousands at congregational prayers held on the campus of Tehran University Friday, Ahmadi-nejad said, “In the new Middle East,Ö there will be no trace of the American presence or the Zionists.”
After Friday prayers, thousands marched through the streets shouting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” in support of the Palestinian cause.
Protests were held in 550 towns across Iran and 70 countries worldwide in support of the cause, reported the Iranian Labor News Agency (ILNA), although those figures could not be independently verified and no large demonstrations beyond Iran and Shiite parts of Lebanon were reported.
Usually the day—the final Friday of Ramadan—goes with little note outside Iran. But this year’s inflammatory rhetoric was too much for many abroad. France, the United States and the European Union all condemned Ahmadi-nejad’s rhetoric, which surprised no one. But Albania’s Muslim prime minister compared Ahmadi-nejad to Hitler.
And UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also spoke out, irritated by the blatant calls for the elimination of a member state of the United Nations.
Two days after Ahmadi-nejad’s speech, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenehi used his sermon at the Eid-e Fetr services to echo Ahmadi-nejad, albeit with less fiery rhetoric.
Israel is an “artificial outgrowth” that “will disappear,” said the Supreme Leader, adding that the “star of hope” that shined on Iran during the Islamic revolution and the Iran-Iraq war “will also shine for Palestine and its Islamic land will definitely be returned to the Palestinian nation.”
“The bogus and fake Zionist outgrowth will disappear from the face of the land,” the Supreme Leader told the crowd of worshippers that chanted “Death to America.”
There were scattered Qods Day rallies abroad. Among them was one by a small group of Saudi Shiites who carried pictures of Ayatollah Khomeini and chanted anti-Israel slogans as they marched in Qatif, which has also seen Shiite demonstrations against the Saudi government in the past.
In Gaza, ruled by Iran’s ally, Hamas, only a few hundred protestors were reported taking to the streets by Agence France Presse.
In Berlin, people took part in what the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) called the city’s “biggest-ever” Qods Day protest. It reported that “thousands” turned out. But no other news agency reported anything.
In the United States, there were small rallies reported in New York, Washington, Chicago and Detroit, among other cities. In Washington, Imam Abdul Alim Musa of the Masjid Al-Islam was quoted by the Investigative Project on Terrorism as saying, “If you love America, you love lying, you love rape, you love murder, you love killing.”
In 1979, Ayatollah Kho-meini decreed that Qods Day be held throughout the world on the last Friday of the Islamic month of Ramadan in support of a Palestinian state. But it has become largely a Shiite event and gets little notice even in Palestine.
This year, hoowever, with Ahmadi-nejad’s soaring rhetoric, it got more notice than usual..
EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton called Ahmadi-nejad’s comments “outrageous and hateful.” Ashton “strongly condemned” the statements and added that “Israel’s right to exist must not be called into question.”
France sounded its displeasure at Ahmadi-nejad’s comments. “We firmly condemn these outrageous and totally unacceptable statements and we remind [Iran] that we would never allow the right of Israel to live in peace to be called into question,” said deputy Foreign Ministry spokesman Vincent Floreani.
But it was UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s condemnatory statement that got the most attention. “The Secretary-General is dismayed by the remarks threatening Israel’s existence attributed over the last two days to the Supreme Leader and President of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the UN Press Office said. “The Secretary-General condemns these offensive and inflammatory statements.”
It was notable that Ban condemned the statements of Kha-menehi along with those of Ahmadi-nejad. Most international reaction focused on the flaming rhetoric of Ahmadi-nejad and ignored the less inflammatory words of Khamenehi. But Ban specifically condemned both.
Ban’s condemnation came just a few days after he had said he would fly to Tehran next week to attend the summit of the Non-Aligned Movement. His critical words sparked fears and rumors in Tehran that Ban might change his mind and decline to come to Tehran.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrollah issued several threatening comments aimed at Israel, vowing to turn the lives of thousands of Israelis “to real hell” in case of an Israeli attack on Lebanon.
“During any stage of an attack on our country, if we are forced to use or target this type of target, to protect our people and country, we will not hesitate,” he said.
But what was most notable about Nasrollah speech was what he did not say. He did not threaten to do anything to Israel if Israel should attacked Iran.