Alan K. Henderson's Weblog

In 1979, the Ayatollah Khomeini called for a demonstration on the last Friday of Ramadan for the "liberation" of Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and the destruction of the state of Israel. This year the Iranian government together with its radicalised Islamist supporters have called once again to demonstrate in Teheran, Lebanon, Berlin, London, Jakarta, Toronto and worldwide. The Al-Quds Day activities fuel hatred against Jews and strengthen the power of the Islamic dictatorship in Iran and its supporters worldwide. We, the signatories of this call, have different views on the Middle-East conflict, but we are united in our protest against this international day of Islamist propaganda.

Since 1995 an Al-Quds demonstration has taken place every year in Berlin; this year it will most probably take place on October 29th. In the early phase of the Al-Quds movement the slogans like "Death to Israel" were directly calling for the destruction of the Jewish state. After increasingly vocal public protests, the organisers of the Al-Quds manifestations have been trying to use more neutral slogans as a cover for their real intentions. Nevertheless the Al-Quds Day is not a "peaceful demonstration against Israel"! Instead it is the expression of pure hatred, a public manifestation of Antisemitism under the cover of criticism of the State of Israel, as well as an attack on universal values of freedom, equality and emancipation.