During an exclusive interview with IRNA about the significance of the World Quds Day march on the last Friday of Ramadan, Fantina said that Quds Day conveys to world governments just where their people stand on this issue.
The full text of the interview is as follows:
1- The new cabinet of the Israeli regime has been in crisis since its formation, and protests and chaos in Tel Aviv continue for many weeks. Following these crises, US President Joe Biden sent a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Relations between Washington and Tel Aviv have not been warm like before, and Netanyahu has not yet been able to visit the United States. How do you evaluate the crisis in Tel Aviv (occupied territories) and its relations with the USA during this period?
Answer: Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to partner with the most racist elements of Israeli society in order to form a government. Following that, he proposed major changes to the Israeli judiciary system that would have stripped it of most of its authority. Part of the reason he wants this change is to protect him from any consequences, should he be found guilty of the corruption he has been accused of.
It must be remembered that the Israeli judiciary only has any semblance of justice for Israelis; non-Israelis living within the ever-changing borders of Israel are without rights or justice.
U.S. government officials are constantly talking about the ‘shared values’ with Israel. Yes, there are many: racism; different levels of justice depending on status; aggressive, war-mongering foreign policy among them. But these same officials talk about ‘democracy’ in both countries, something each country can hardly be accused of practicing. Yet with Netanyahu’s proposed overhaul of the Israeli judiciary, the myth of democracy in Israel can no longer be maintained. Therefore, Biden has been forced to warm Netanyahu.
Despite the warning and the fact that Netanyahu is not, at present, welcome in the United States, there has been no discussion, at least publicly, by U.S. officials of withholding the $4 billion in ‘foreign aid’ that the U.S. gives to the wealthy Zionist entity. Turning off that money tap would immediately bring major changes to Israel's governance.
2- The attacks of the Israeli/Zionist regime have increased since the start of Benjamin Netanyahu's new cabinet. In your opinion, what are the goals of this extremist cabinet by increasing violence in the occupied territories and desecrating Al-Aqsa Mosque?
Answer: These appalling actions serve to excite the most rabidly racist of Israelis. Members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have been vocal about their desire to expand the settlements, and displace and kill Palestinians; they have been doing so in escalated numbers since the formation of this current government. The shocking attacks on people praying in the Al-Aqsa Mosque should horrify everyone, regardless of their religious beliefs; even those without any religious beliefs should be enraged by the blatant, violent disrespect that Israel has demonstrated with these attacks.
Israel has worked hard for decades to demoralize and defeat the Palestinian; its methods have not worked, and will not work. Palestinians have proven their resiliency against staggering odds: a brutal apartheid regime that persecutes them; a willing accomplice in the United States; a traitorous leader of the Palestinian Authority, and the silence of much of the world. Yet Palestinians continue to fight, often giving their lives for their country.
3- Every year during the holy month of Ramadan, Israeli attacks against Palestinians increase. This year also these hostilities against Palestinians increased, coinciding with the religious holidays of the three religions of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. In your opinion, what does Israel try to achieve through these acts?
Answer: Israel is striving to establish its superiority over the sacred sites of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Living according to the principles of Judaism would demonstrate such universal religious principles – part of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism – as tolerance, love, and acceptance. Yet Zionism, firmly entrenched in Israel and certainly in this current, extremely racist government, only sees Jewish superiority, and seeks the subjugation of everyone else. This is obvious by simply reviewing any of the lengthy documents issued in the last year or so that detail Israel as an apartheid regime.
4- Despite the attacks and crimes of the Israeli/Zionist regime, the United States still supports this regime, and even recently prevented the issuance of a statement condemning Israel in the UN Security Council and practically blocked the meetings of this council. Why the international community and the United States, despite the claims of concern about the increase in violence in the West Bank, have not been able to take any effective and serious measures to end this violent trend?
Answer: It is not that they have not been able to, it is that they choose not to. The U.S. government wants instability in the Middle East; this way, its weapons sales will remain robust, the oil will be readily and cheaply available and the U.S.’s Middle East puppet – Israel – will remain a country that does U.S. bidding in that part of the world; Muslims nations are no so pliable.
The U.S., although waning in international influence (demonstrated by China brokering the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between Iran and Saudi Arabia), continues to wield strong, but decreasing influence over its European allies. It was just six years ago that President Donald Trump violated the JCPOA, and threatened the U.S.’s European allies with sanctions if they didn’t do the same. Things have changed in six years, but Europe’s failure to return to the JCPOA indicates that U.S. pressure remains effective.
The International Criminal Court, of which neither the United States nor Israel is a part, for fear of their many international crimes and crimes against humanity being prosecuted, is currently investigating Israel, but those wheels turn slowly. And while any finding by the ICC is not binding on nations, not signatory to it, a verdict of guilty is extremely damaging to the reputation of any country found guilty of international crimes. People seeking justice for the Palestinians must not rely on the U.S. to provide it; democracy, human rights, and international law are not the goals of U.S. foreign or domestic policy. Power and profits are all that matter to U.S. officials.
5- Every year, on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, on the occasion of "Quds Day", Muslims around the world march in support of the oppressed Palestinian people all over the world. What is the impact of this march on the international community to end violence in the occupied territories and stop the occupation of Palestinian territories?
The impact of this march it twofold: 1) it keeps the suffering and oppression of the Palestinian people in front of the world, not allowing it to be forgotten, and 2) it conveys to world governments just where their people stand on this issue. When the so-called ‘Abraham Accords’ were signed, when several mostly Muslim countries normalized relations with the apartheid, Zionist regime, it was those countries’ leaders, not the people, who made these agreements. These new alliances are very unpopular in the countries that have normalized relations with the Zionist entity. The ‘Quds Day’ marches help to remind the leaders of those countries that Palestine is not forgotten and serve notice that the people strongly disapprove of the actions of their government officials.
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