Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept.2 / Trend, T. Jafarov /
Politically motivated Zionists not Jews are guilty of events taking place in Occupied Palestine Territories (State of Palestine), the Iranian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mohammad Baghir Bahrami has claimed.
"The Palestinians were driven away from their native lands by Zionists not by Jews. The Jews have a world religion, but Zionism is a political movement," Bahrami told Trend ahead of the last Friday of Ramadan.
The last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan was designated International al-Quds Day (Day of Jerusalem) in 1979 by the Islamic Revolutionary government of Iran as a sign of solidarity with the Palestinian people. Some Muslims hold rallies on this day each year to protest against Zionism.
According to Bahrami, politically motivated Zionists have left the Palestinian people without a homeland and for more than 60 years have continued to "commit a crime" in the territory.
"The attack on the 'Freedom Flotilla' delivering humanitarian aid to the population of the Gaza Strip could be called their latest crime. There were Muslims and non-Muslims from all over the world [taking part in the flotilla]," the ambassador said.
According to Bahrami, the Islamic community, Muslims from Islamic and non-Islamic countries, as well as people who are not Muslim, demonstrate their solidarity with the Palestinian people on Quds Day.
"By demonstrating their solidarity with the Palestinian people, they support the Palestinian people in the continuation of the struggle. I hope that Jerusalem, which is the First Qiblah [direction of prayer] for Muslims, will be freed from occupation by the Zionist regime and that the population of Palestine, consisting of Jews, Christians and Muslims, will return to their land, hold democratic elections and assume self-determination," Bahrami said.
East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel in 1967 and the final status of the city remains disputed between Israelis and Palestinians.