Iranians commemorate 'Al-Quds Day' by burning Israeli, US flags

Asher Zeiger - Aug 17, 2012
Times of Israel

Escorted by his bodyguards, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, attends an annual nation-wide pro-Palestinian rally known as Quds Day, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Aug. 26, 2011 (photo credit: AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Millions of people took to the streets at more than 500 demonstrations across Iran on Friday morning to commemorate International al-Quds Day, Iranian state television reported.
Waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Death to Israel”, Iranians participated in the annual show of solidarity with the Palestinians protesting Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, whose Arabic name is al-Quds. Iranian state television showed footage of Iranians burning Israeli and American flags.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the event to call for the elimination of the “insult to all humanity,” that is Israel and said that confronting it is an effort to “protect the dignity of all human beings,” according to Army Radio.
Ahmadinejad reportedly went on to say that the very existence of the state of Israel is a crime against humanity, that “the Zionist regime is a tool to dominate the Middle East” and that the world powers are “thirsty for Iranian blood.”
The Iranian president further stated that International Quds Day is the day of unity among all human beings to remove the “Zionist black stain” from human society.
The annual event was initiated in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and takes place on the last Friday of Ramadan, organized by the Iranian government.