The End of the Holy Month

Rallies are held as part of annual al-Quds Day protests.



Iranian school boys shoot toy guns at an Israeli flag during an anti-Israeli rally.


This is how some Muslims celebrated the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Millions of the faithful spilled into the streets, united by their hate for Israel.

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's ultraconservative president — spurning international outrage over his remarks about Israel — joined more than a million demonstrators who flooded the streets of the capital and other major cities Friday to back his call for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stood fast behind his assertion that Israel should be wiped off the map and repeated the call during the nationwide protests Friday, the Muslim day of prayer.

...Marching alongside the protesters, the 47-year-old former mayor of Tehran and one-time Republican Guard commander renewed his criticism of the West.

"They become upset when they hear any voice of truth-seeking. They think they are the absolute rulers of the world," he said during the al-Quds — or Jerusalem — Day protest, which was among the largest since they were first held in 1979 after Shiite Muslim clerics took power in Iran.

His fellow marchers carried placards reading "Death to Israel, death to America."

...Some demonstrators chanted "Israel is approaching its death" and wore white shrouds in a symbolic gesture expressing readiness to die for their cause.

A resolution was read at the end of the rallies backing "the position declared by the president that the Zionist regime must be wiped out."

...Protests attracted at least 100,000 in each of Iran's eight largest cities, according to AP reporters. State television said millions of people assembled throughout the country. Major rallies also were held in other Middle Eastern countries.

...Iran's seven state-run TV stations devoted coverage Friday to programs condemning the Jewish state and praising the Palestinian resistance since the 1948 creation of Israel.

...After Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini toppled the pro-Western Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi in 1979, he declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as an international day of struggle against Israel and for the liberation of Jerusalem. The founder of the Islamic regime had also called for Israel's destruction.

The last day of the "holy" month of Ramadan is devoted to rallies calling for the annihilation of Israel.

How holy!

What a message!

Love and Peace!

Hundreds of thousands gathered with placards saying "Death to Israel, death to America."

Very nice.

From the BBC:

Tens of thousands of Iranians took part in the rally in Tehran which Iran organises every year on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan to show solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.

Shouting "Death to Israel, death to the Zionists", the protesters dragged Israeli flags along the ground and then set them on fire.

Many carried posters and placards sporting the slogan "Israel should be wiped off the map".

Joining the protest, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "My words were the Iranian nation's words.

"Westerners are free to comment, but their reactions are invalid," Mr Ahmadinejad told the official Irna news agency.

..."Ahmadinejad talks on behalf of all Iranians. We are ready to die for Palestine," Mohammad Mirzayi, a member of a volunteer Shia militia group, told the Reuters news agency.

So, Ahmadinejad is the voice of Iran; and Iran wants to crush Israel and the United States.

This guy is talking right out of his axis of evil.

He disregards the admonishment he has received from around the world by saying Western condemnation is invalid.

How should world leaders deal with someone like Ahmadinejad?

FIRST, there should be unconditional denouncement of Ahmadinejad's remarks. No wishy-washy, Dr. Phil-type analysis. None of that "Let's understand what makes them hate Israel and the U.S." stuff.

Ahmadinejad is a thug. Those buying into his philosophy are thugs. There should be zero-tolerance for Ahmadinejad's comments.

ZERO.

SECOND, any world leader or group who sympathizes with Ahmadinejad is as dangerous as he is.

The civilized world cannot look the other way while the ideology of hate and war that Ahmadinejad and like-minded thugs promote gains momentum.

They are evil. There should be no hesitation to designate them as such.

THIRD, absolutely no nukes can be allowed to get in the hands of unstable warmongers like Ahmadinejad.

The photo of the little Iranian boys pointing guns at the Israeli flag breaks my heart.

Children have to be taught to hate. Ahmadinejad, with his intolerance for Israel, is blackening the hearts of the children of Iran.

What a horrible lesson they are learning!

Peace-loving Muslims must be outraged by these displays from the radical fundamentalist groups. If I were a Muslim, I would be telling anyone willing to listen that these thugs do not represent me or my beliefs.

I don't understand the Iranians. I would never go along with a religion that concludes its holiest month with rallies calling for murder.

But hey, that's just me.