This coming Friday, September 18, is the “Day of Jerusalem” in Iran. Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in chorus with some other Islamic countries and organizations, declared the last Friday of the month of Ramadan the “Day of Jerusalem” to demonstrate support for Palestinians and their drive to impose their sovereignty over this ancient city. Not that anything important will happen on this day, either in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian lands or Lebanon or Iran. There will be demonstrations in support of the Palestinians and condemnation of Israel. But since they have become a routine, they don’t attract much attention. In Iran, though, this year’s “Day of Jerusalem” has already acquired a special importance. The reformist groups, still alive and active despite brutal suppression, have said that on that day they will launch new demonstrations against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom they accuse of rigging the presidential elections three months ago.
The slogan “Neither Gaza, Nor Lebanon — My Life Is Devoted to Iran” is currently very popular in Iran. Posters are being produced and distributed widely via the Internet. The question that is increasingly raised and discussed is: Why has the Islamic Republic made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict one of its main foreign policy priorities? To be sure, most Iranians probably feel sympathy for the Palestinians, who have to live in camps, in occupied territories, without statehood. But why is the Iranian government going far beyond sympathy, providing millions of dollars every year in weapons and cash to terrorist and semi-terrorist Palestinian groups? Why is the Islamic Republic even, as the Persian proverb goes, “a pot hotter than its soup,” supporting extremist groups such as Hamas, but not the Palestinian Authority that is recognized by Arab countries and the international community?
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