Many people, even Iranians, have assumed that Palestinians sold out their lands to Israelis, representative of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Tehran said on Tuesday.

In a conference, dubbed “It’s Time for Quds”, held at the University of Tehran, Naser Abu Shareef stressed his objective as an envoy of the organization to Iran is to “describe” the issue of Palestine for Iranians.

“With widespread propaganda, the Zionist regime has succeeded at diverting public opinion from the Palestinian issues to an extent that even some Iranians wrongly believe that it was Palestinians who sold their own lands to Jews, and the false information was publicized from the Israeli embassy in Tehran [in Shah’s time.]”
Organized by the university’s Basij students to bring awareness of the latest Palestinian crises to college students, the conference came in the wake of the U.S. president’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

On December 6, Donald Trump declared al-Quds as the capital of Israel and ordered relocation of the U.S. embassy to there. His unprecedented move triggered unrest in the Islamic world and invited immediate reactions and condemnation.

Trump’s decision, upending seven decades of U.S. foreign policy, has unsettled the prospects for peace in the occupied territories.

Abu Shareef said that that none of the former U.S. presidents had dared to make such a move as they were “fearful” of the Islamic world and Palestinians’ reactions.
He blamed Arab rulers for Trump’s decision. “They had convinced him [Trump] the world’s reaction is bound to die down after a week or two.”

The representative of the Islamic Jihad Movement called on all Muslims and freedom loving people around the world to continue to voice out their opinions and stand against the decision by the U.S., as he reasoned the intention of the Zionist regime is to “gain complete control of al-Quds”, which is home to Muslim and even Christian shrines.

Abu Shareef regretted that regional Arab states have taken no action to raise public awareness on the Palestinians’ struggle, saying it is “a clear proof of their intention.”
He concluded that the Palestinian youths are prepared for another “intifada”, with the backing of Islamic and Arab world.

Known in the West as simply Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Islamic Jihad Movement is fighting to gain back the lost land of Palestine and its sovereignty.