Jerusalem (al-Qods) Day marked in Beirut and Damascus
Damascus (AsiaNews) Today, last day of Ramadan is Jerusalem Dayal-Qods Day, an important and strongly felt event throughout the Islamic world dedicated to solidarity with Jerusalem, a city dear to Muslims, home to the al-Aqsa Mosque.
In Many Islamic countries the event involves both religious and civil authorities and points to the privileged place Jerusalem, the City of Peace, holds in their hearts after Israel occupied it and declared it its eternal capital. But this year many Arabs marked the event heavy-heartedly.
In Syria, the grand Mufti of the Syrian Arab Republic Ahmed El Hassoun appealed to tens of thousands of people in the capital's main square attacking the injustices and challenges the country is facing in a delicate moment when the "United States and its allies are trying to trick people with their 'political' accusations." He renewed his appeal for the liberation of Jerusalem from all the enemies of God and Islam, criticising the terrorist acts committed by the Israelis against Syria's allies.
In Lebanon more than 100,000 people gathered in Shiite West Beirut summoned by pro-Iranian Hizbollah or Party of God for a rally in the presence of civil and Christian and Muslim religious authorities.
Hizbollah's secretary general sheikh Hassan Nasrallah delivered a speech full of accusations against the Americans and the international community, the latter guilty in his views, "of being enslaved to the interests of the mighty".
Nasrallah reiterated his full support to Syria, a "sister country", and expressed his conviction Syria was not involved in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
He also denounced the danger of the United Nations reportsone by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis; the other by Norwegian Ters Red-Larssenand called for the "truth about the Hariri assassination, which is not in the Mehlis report but concealed in the hearts of the true accomplices".
Nasrallah thanked the true lovers of peace, not only in Lebanon and in Syria, but also around the world, a world that is still seeking a true, lasting and just peace through a just solution to the Palestinian question.
Finally, the Hizbollah leader said that his group was prepared to meet all components of Lebanon's society and expressed total respect for the common values that bind Christians and Muslims.
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22/07/2008
