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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iranian president asking for it |
| 2005-10-28 |
| Iran's ultraconservative just like them eeeeeevil Republicans 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 But in an apparent attempt to blunt international outrage over Ahmadinejad's comments, the Iranian Embassy in Moscow issued a statement saying the Iranian leader did not want to "engage in a conflict." Marching alongside the protesters, the 47-year-old former mayor of Tehran and one-time Republican Told ya. 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." It is not uncommon for an Iraqi president to join marches in the capital. Ahmadinejad was accompanied by five bodyguards, but otherwise security was not out of the ordinary for such an event. Despite Ahmadinejad's continued harsh attacks on the West, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani tried to dial back the rhetoric, suggesting that Israelis and Palestinians hold a referendum to decide the future of Israeli-Palestinian relations. "If Muslims and Palestinians agree (to a referendum), it will be a retreat but let's still hold a referendum," Rafsanjani said in his Friday prayer sermon. The Iranian Embassy statement in Moscow said Ahmadinejad "did not have any intention to speak in sharp terms and engage in a conflict." But that was not the message carried by the at least 200,000 Iranians who massed in Tehran to unleashed virulent condemnation against Israel, the United States and the West in general, accusing them of oppressing Palestinians and Iran. 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." Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki defended his president's comments, saying they represented Iran's long-held policy of not recognizing Israel. "Unfortunately the Western countries have remained silent on the increasing inhuman activities of Israel," Mottaki said at the Tehran march. Jerusalem Day protests attracted at least 100,000 in each of Iran's major cities and a total of more than a million nationwide, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. Major rallies also were held in other Middle Eastern countries. In Beirut, the The Shiite group, which supports its Iranian mentors, has sought to strengthen its position in Lebanon after the withdrawal of Syrian troops. At least 30,000 Bahrainis marched in their capital, Manama, burning Israeli and American flags and demanding Iran's seven state-run TV stations devoted coverage Friday to programs condemning the Jewish state and praising the Palestinian 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. |
| Posted by:Jackal |
| #3 Just more evidencia JERUSLAEM may end up being destroyed by the very Muslims allegedly trying to "save" it. They want concession(s), NOT compromise or diplomacy. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2005-10-28 23:16 |
| #2 Wow. I've been randomized, but htis was specific! Oops.... I rememberr now! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-10-28 22:41 |
| #1 He only wants to be attacked to rally the boyz around the flag and supress the dissent. Sort of a distraction from the current, local problems.... |
| Posted by: The Nefarious Boatman 2005-10-28 22:39 |