Kesher Talk

Another "Support for the Palestinian Intifada" conference was held in Tehran on 2-3 June, with earlier ones being held in April 2001 and in December 1990. Representatives of Hamas, Hizballah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- General Command (PFLP-GC) participated in this most recent event, just as they did in the earlier conferences. Also in attendance were over 160 officials from Iran and 23 other countries, according to IRNA.

The conference had three aspects: the intifada, "the recent crimes committed by the Zionist regime and American support for such crimes," and Zionism and the Islamic world, Tehran television reported on 2 June. PIJ Secretary-General Ramadan Abdallah Shallah, Hizballah Deputy General-Secretary Sheikh Naim Qasim, and PFLP-GC General-Secretary Ahmad Jibril heard a warning from conference Secretary Hojatoleslam Ali-Akbar Mohtashami-Pur: "Dissension, discord, and despondency among Islamic governments will contribute to the growth of that cancerous tumor, Israel."

PIJ's Ramadan Abdallah claimed that America has declared war on Islam and the freedom-loving people of the world, according to Tehran TV. He said, furthermore, "Contrary to popular perceptions, America is trying to annihilate the ideal, as well as the land, of Palestine." He also said that "martyrdom operations" (a euphemism for suicide bombings) would continue, saying "We have the right to sacrifice our bodies for something that is more sacred than our own lives and America does not have the right to oppose this."

PFLP-GC's Ahmad Jibril warned of a plot to end the Palestinian uprising. Jibril said, according to Tehran TV, that the only way to liberate Palestinian lands is to "act on the basis of the ideas of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

A message from Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned against negotiating with Israel, IRNA reported. "Failures of the Zionist regime and its accomplice, the United States, have forced these criminals to resort to new tactics in order to save themselves from plunging further into the current quagmire. The new strategy of bringing the Palestinians back to the negotiation table is only intended to divide the Palestinian groups, thus quelling the flames of intifada."

Iran's parliament speaker, Hojatoleslam Mehdi Karrubi, told the conference, IRNA reported on 2 June, that Islamic states should support the intifada. Karrubi also called on oil exporting countries to cut their oil supplies to Israel and its allies. "Oil-rich countries are called upon to use oil or other means in their hands as weapons against Israel by refusing to sell it to those governments which assist the Zionist regime." (Bill Samii)

posted by Howard @ 6/04/2002 02:41:23 PM