Quds Day Rallies Take Back Seat for Iranian Public

In response to the Israeli air force’s bombardment of Palestine Liberation Organization paramilitary bases in southern Lebanon on August 7, 1979, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s head of state, proclaimed the last Friday of the month of Ramadan as “Quds Day,” using the Arabic name for Jerusalem. He also issued a message urging “all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper,” in reference to Israel, “and its supporters” from Muslim lands. Before long, the Islamic Republic fell out with the PLO, which Iran and Israel both desired to evict from southern Lebanon, but the annual Quds Day parade, with its carnival-like anti-Israel rituals and theatrics, remains a red-letter day in Iran’s state calendar. To judge by reader comments in response to recent articles on Quds Day, however, the “liberation” of “Quds” from what Islamic Republic officials depict as “Israeli occupation” is not on top of the priorities of the Iranian public.

• April 14: Reader comments on Tabnak News’ article “Enthusiastic Popular Participation in Glorious Countrywide Quds Day Rallies” exhibited various degrees of sarcasm:
  • “I’m ashamed of going home after work because I can’t even afford to buy bread for my family, and you want me to scream slogans for the sake of Palestine?”
  • “The plight of the Palestinians and the Lebanese is better than us Iranians. They should arrange rallies for our sake here in Iran!”
  • “No more aerial photos?” (referring to the limited public participation in the rallies)
  • “I wish we were authorized to have a rally to express our opinion about the economic conditions in Iran.”
  • “If you people care about Iran, you should be concerned about the price of chicken, which fluctuates between 80,000 and 90,000 toman per kilogram.”
  • “The cost of a Pride” Iranian-produced car “is 400 million toman, the price of rice is 120,000 toman per kilogram, and red meat 500,000 toman. Is this your definition of victory?”
  • “Why should we Iranians be more Palestinian than the Palestinians themselves?”
• April 14: A Young Journalists Club article on Quds Day rallies around the world elicited fewer, but no less critical, comments:
  • “What is the price of the dollar?” (alluding to the collapse of the Iranian currency against the U.S. dollar)
  • “Did you remember to scream ‘Death to Saudi’?” (referring to the recent detente with Saudi Arabia, which has led to a moratorium on the traditional anti-Saudi sloganeering in Quds Day rallies)

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