Every year, in a tradition introduced by the late Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomenei, Iran marks World Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan to show its solidarity with the Palestinian people. Former Iranian president and "Expediency Council" Chairman Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani gave the Al-Quds Day sermon on December 14, 2001 at Tehran University, which was attended by thousands of worshippers. In the sermon, he addressed solving the problem of Israel with nuclear weapons.
Following are core elements of the speech, as reported in Iran's English, Farsi and Arabic newspapers.[1] As none of these sources provided a direct transcript of Rafsanjani's speech, all style problems can be attributed to the original Iranian English version which we adhered to:
On Colonialism and Zionism
Rafsanjani said that "global arrogance, led by the U.S. and U.K.," is responsible for the crimes that the "artificial" state of Israel has been committing worldwide over the past half-century. The UN and other segments of the arrogant world have been supporting Israeli crimes, he said, and, cautioning against what he called "global arrogance arms buildup [by the U.S.]" in an attempt to revive the colonialist era, he asked nations and governments to prevent colonialism from attaining its goals.
Rafsanjani added: "International Zionism has been the driving force of this ugly phenomenon; Zionism is divisive; a century has passed since the onset of Zionism, but not every Jew is a Zionist, and not all members of the Zionist party are Jews."
He noted that the Zionist party is still highly active worldwide, and it is the driving force of important events taking place in the world in connection with Israel. He called the disasters that have occurred in the half-century-old state of Israel an encyclopedia of colonial crimes. Palestinians are not the only ones to have suffered from the plan to establish this "forged" Israeli state; the Jews too are paying the price, he added.
Rafsanjani claimed that the Jews had a place in various parts of the world, living rather well in each country. But this phenomenon [Zionism] caused them to take a stance regarding their religious state and leave their homes, under pressure and in the name of migration [to Israel]. Jews should wait for a day when this "extraneous matter" would be removed from the region and the world of Islam, and those who have gathered together in Israel would one day be dispersed again.
Rafsanjani stated that the establishment of Israel has inflicted hundreds of billions of dollars in damage on states in the region. However, since the essence of the phenomenon of Israel is colonialist - colonialism benefits from this fabricated government. Rafsanjani added that following the end of the official colonialist [era], the perpetrators of colonialism set out to replace it, examined various means, and [found that] the most important means was to create states that were connected by the umbilicus to colonialism in sensitive areas.
The formation of the Zionist state in the land of Palestine was a multi-faceted base for colonialism. By this means, the West rid itself of Zionism, while establishing it in Palestine. Meanwhile, the colonialists affiliated themselves with Zionism and the state of Israel so as to keep them like a tool in their service, even though, for its own survival, colonialism is itself dependent on Zionism.
Rafsanjani added that with the formation of Israel, colonialists created insecurity in the region, exposing states to threats so as to bring them under the dominion of colonialism. The survival of Israel depends on the interests of global arrogance and colonialism, and as long as this base is beneficial to them, they will preserve it.
Nuclear Weapons Can Solve the Israel Problem
Rafsanjani said that Muslims must surround colonialism and force them [the colonialists] to see whether Israel is beneficial to them or not. If one day, he said, the world of Islam comes to possess the weapons currently in Israel's possession [meaning nuclear weapons] - on that day this method of global arrogance would come to a dead end. This, he said, is because the use of a nuclear bomb in Israel will leave nothing on the ground, whereas it will only damage the world of Islam.
Israel, Islamic Jihad, and Liberation of Palestine
Rafsanjani said that it is unlikely that the Palestinian Jihad will weaken. He explained that the Palestinians have come to the conclusion that talks [with Israel] are effective only along with struggle and self-sacrifice – the two key elements that gave way to the second Intifada. The Palestinian Jihad is the mother of many Islamic movements, ranging from the [1979] Islamic Revolution in Iran to Islamic movements in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Central Asia, and many other Muslim states. All these Islamic movements support the Palestinian Jihad and have not forgotten it. The Palestinian Jihad has its roots in the homelessness of five million people. Undoubtedly, [this Jihad's] culmination will be the liberation of Palestine.
Colonialism and the Threat of a Third World War
Rafsanjani added that in its propaganda campaign against the Palestinian Jihad, colonialism used four tools: propaganda, violence, deception, and the instrumental application of the Palestinian Authority. He warned the agents of world arrogance of the day when they would pay dearly for the pressure they were applying on the Palestinian people, as one day these exhausted, pious, and martyrdom-seeking people would decide to strike at the vital interests of [global] arrogance everywhere, and they will do this – it is possible. Rafsanjani advised Western states "not to let the situation reach this [point] and not to pin their hopes on Israeli violence [to serve Western goals] - because it will be very dangerous. We are not willing to see the security of the world disrupted."
Rafsanjani warned of the outbreak of World War III: "The confrontation of pious and martyrdom-seeking forces with the highest forces of colonialism is extremely dangerous, and might inflame a third world war."
"In the present circumstance," concluded Rafsanjani, "the world and the region need sobriety on the part of nations and states, on the one hand, and realism and fairness on the part of 'arrogant' powers. We hope that problems will be solved on the side of right, justice, and truth."
[1] Iran News (English), Kayhan (Farsi), and Al-Wifaq (Arabic), December 15, 2001
