Hussein Sheikholeslam, a foreign affairs adviser to parliament speaker Ali Larijani, told Iranian media
that contrary to remarks by British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond,
“Our positions against the usurper Zionist regime have not changed at
all; Israel should be annihilated and this is our ultimate slogan.”
Hammond was in Iran on Monday for the
reopening of the UK embassy in Tehran, and said that Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani had indicated a “more nuanced approach” to Israel’s
existence. Hammond said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s
“revolutionary sloganizing” should be distinguished from “what Iran
actually does in the conduct of its foreign policy.”
...
Sheikholeslam told a Hamas news outlet earlier
this month that Iran has resisted pressure exerted by the P5+1 world
powers during the nuclear negotiations to halt its political involvement
in Gaza, Syria and Yemen.
“These powers admitted that the reason for
their pressure on us is our position on Israel,” he said. “We told them
that we reject the existence of any Israeli on this earth.”
Even Jeffrey Goldberg noticed the statement, but I doubt that the former IDF officer has figured out yet why that might be personally connected to him.
The Mavi Marmara, the ship on which Turkish terrorists attacked IDF commandos in May, returned home to Istanbul on Sunday (Hat Tip: Joshua I).
A welcoming ceremony was held by the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (İHH) for Mavi Marmara ship at the port.
Many people across Turkey, peace activists from 50 countries and representatives from non-governmental organizations attended the ceremony.
Let's go to the videotape.
Unsurprisingly, there was an ugly side to Sunday's goings on. In case you missed it in the video....
The crowds waved Palestinian and Turkish flags and chanted "Allah is great!" at Istanbul's Sarayburu port. Some activists boarded boats to greet the ship as it arrived.
Religious Islamic chants were heard, some of them identifying with Hamas. One of the event organizers spoke out and said: "We're returning the Marmara without nine shahids (martyrs)".
He added: "I ask God to return Jerusalem to us and fight for the shahids." He also asked that God "take revenge on the killers" and called for "death to Israel," saying they will fight till their last breath until they take over Jerusalem.
The artist and former Israeli Dror Feiler, who participated in the Gaza-bound flotilla, also spoke. "I come from Sweden but I was born in Israel," he began. "What the Israeli government is doing isn't only against Palestinians, but against the Jews as well. We stand here together, Christians, Muslims, Jews and those who don't believe – because we're all supporting human rights and enforcing the international law. We believe every person has rights, regardless of origin or faith."
Feiler expressed his support of the flotilla to Gaza and called to put the Israeli leadership on trial. He said that "when the politicians talk about human rights and the importance of international law but do nothing, it's our mission to make them do so for peace and freedom in Gaza, just like the nine shahids that died."
Meanwhile, another flotilla is on its way to the Gaza Strip, which is currently under a partial Israeli blockade. The Gaza-bound humanitarian aid convoy ‘Asia 1′ reached Lebanon on Saturday.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
