U.S. Complicit in Zionist Crimes: Leader
The Leader said that the Zionist regime, backed by the U.S. administration, was engaged in creating one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes in the history of mankind inside occupied Palestine and encouraged Arab and Islamic countries to launch an oil embargo against Israel and its allies and supporters.
Ayatollah Khamenei said that his proposed oil embargo, which would be similar to the United States' use of wheat as a strategic weapon, did not necessarily have to last forever, and could be implemented "symbolically" and for only one month.
The Leader further pointed to the stances taken by world and Western leaders in recent days and said the United States had adopted the worst position and fully supported the Zionist crimes.
Referring to the Thursday night speech of U.S. President George W. Bush, the Leader said, "This man, while supporting Zionist crimes, has simply called for a halt in construction of settlements. But all know that the beasts who run the Zionist regime never listen to such recommendations," he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei went on to say that stances taken by Bush on different issues and his withdrawal from important international treaties has shown that the U.S. position was diametrically opposed to world peace and asked who was running the U.S. administration behind the scenes.
On Bush's calling the Palestinians "terrorist" the Leader asked, "Can a nation which has been a victim of Israeli suppression and crimes for years and sends its young people out to defend them be called terrorist? Or is the regime which destroys houses and topples them onto their residents terrorist?
Referring to the failure of Adolph Hitler's Nazism and the U.S. defeat in Vietnam, the Leader said that the U.S. logic of the bully was doomed to failure too.
The Iranian Leader also praised Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's decision not to yield to the Zionist pressure, and to resist until probable martyrdom.
During the first sermon of Tehran's Friary prayers at the central campus of Tehran University, attended by thousands of worshippers, the Leader said that the intensity and depth of the ongoing Israeli crimes are unprecedented and asked the Islamic world's nations to support the oppressed Palestinian nation financially.
The Leader stated: "The Zionist regime, as the symbol of blood-thirstiness, barbarianism, and indifference to all the rules of ethics and human rights, is standing on one side (of the Middle East crisis) and the desperate, brave and oppressed Palestinian nation, on the other side."
Ayatollah Khamenei said that the reality of the ongoing crisis in occupied Palestine is that a well-arrayed nation (the Palestinians) is bravely defending itself against the usurpers of its motherland.
Inviting the global community and the world's collective conscience to make an unbiased judgment about the ongoing realities in Palestine, the ayatollah said, "Although the Zionists have exerted their hegemony over most of the world news media, even the limited and censored image of the ongoing crisis there, which shows only bits and pieces of the horrendous reality in Palestine today, can help the global conscience reach a just judgment on the issue."
Inviting the world's Christians to voice their collective objection towards the Zionist military incursion into the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem during which a priest was killed, Ayatollah Khamenei added, "The Palestine issue is not only an Islamic issue, but one with global dimensions in which the humanity of all mankind is at stake. Therefore, every human being is entitled to judge it and react to it, using human ethics and values."
He added that freedom-seeking Palestinian groups had found out that the enemy was unable to withstand martyrdom-seeking actions. He called Yasser Arafat's voicing readiness for martyrdom a good stance and said, "The Palestinian people have chosen the path of martyrdom and we hope Palestinian leaders stand by their positions, too."
He also said that talks and negotiations with the Zionist regime would bear no fruit, since the regime did not respect any international or UN resolutions.
The Leader repeated Iran's proposal for solving the Palestinian crisis, saying that all Palestinian refugees should be allowed to return home and all Palestine's residents should participate in a referendum to decide on the government of the country.
He said that the proposal was in line with democratic and humanitarian values and seemed to be the only logical and feasible solution, which other Arab and Muslim states should support.
He also called on the United Nations and other human rights organizations to more actively defend the Palestinians and to support them financially and materially.
In the meantime, the Iranian nation held rallies in several cities across the country after Friday prayers.
In Tehran, the demonstrators voiced their solidarity with the Palestinian nation until the Holy Qods is liberated.
In their resolution at the end of the rally, the demonstrators announced their revulsion with the brutalities of the Zionist regime, saying the Iranian nation would support their Palestinian brothers until their land is freed of the Israeli occupation.
Chanting anti-U.S. and anti-Israeli slogans, the demonstrators said that the U.S. is complicit in the Israeli crimes and denounced all U.S. support of the Israeli regime.