I just Googled “Quds Day,” which was yesterday. Though millions of people in dozens of countries rallied for Palestine and against Zionism, I couldn’t find any Western mainstream media stories. Instead, I got a long list of non-Western outlets: Al-Jazeera, CGTN, Xinhua, Al-Mayadin, Press TV…
And speaking of Press TV, here is a rough transcript my interview, alongside Shabbir Rizvi, during rolling coverage of Quds Day protests.
-KB
Welcome to another edition of the News Review. In this edition, people across the world have taken part in the international Quds Day rallies taking to the streets as Israel continues its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. Protesters across Iran waved Palestinian flags and condemned the Israeli regime for its crimes in the besieged territory. The participants also slammed the U.S. over its support for Tel Aviv. Iranians called on the international community to take action and stop the onslaught in Gaza. Protesters also demanded an end to Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestine.
International Quds Day was also observed in the Syrian capital, Damascus, where hundreds of Palestinian refugees attended the ceremony. The attendees also saluted the parading resistance fighters elsewhere in Yemen and Sana'a. They reaffirmed their unwavering support for Palestine in another Million Man March. Pakistan and Bahrain were also among those West Asian countries that held nationwide rallies. Jordanians also staged a massive protest in the city of Erbid, which they called Friday of Anger. They fully rejected the Arab country's normalization agreements with Israel.
Rallies have also been held in several other countries across the world, including in London, Tanzania, India, Malaysia and Nigeria.
International Quds Day was established by the late founder of Iran's Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, in 1979. It aims to maintain and raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinian people and their struggle. It is held on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan in most countries and on the last Sunday of the month in some others.
To discuss the significance of International Quds Day, we have with us Shabir Rizvi, political commentator, who's joining us live from Chicago. We are also joined by Kevin Barrett, political commentator, who is joining us live from Morocco. Thank you very much to both of you gentlemen. Let's begin with Mr. Shabir Rizvi. Tell us about the international Quds Day rallies. When are they going to be held in the U.S.? Is it going to be on Sunday or was it today? And what is the significance of these rallies, particularly at this point in time?
Shabbir Rizvi: That's a great question. The rallies are starting now. As you can see behind me, I am in Chicago. This rally is just getting started. We are actually in front of the Zionist consulate here, which gives us a good opportunity to make our voices heard, to make our discourse heard. Chicago has a large Palestinian community, one of the largest Palestinian communities in the United States. So we will have this demonstration today. Then we have it tomorrow. And then Joe Biden is actually coming here Monday. And so we plan to demonstrate then.
I would say something that's very different about the United States as opposed to more other countries is that there's a heavy police presence here. You can't see it in my camera, but on the other side, there are a lot of cops. To the opposite of me, there are a lot of cops, and there's a line of cops protecting the Zionist consulate, which is over there. And it just really goes to show you how many people are pouring into the streets of the fruits of the Islamic revolution that was started by Imam Khomeini and the cause of Quds Day and how it's become international to the point of even being on American soil attended by thousands of people in the very heart of America, in the very Midwest. It just goes to show how popular the Palestinian cause is.
Thank you very much, Mr. Rizvi. Let's bring in Mr. Kevin Barrett. So in your opinion, considering the Israeli atrocities, the nonstop bombardment despite UN resolutions, several UN resolutions demanding a ceasefire, why the Israeli regime continues these atrocities, and how significant is international Quds State under these circumstances?
Kevin Barrett: It was founded many, many decades ago because the Zionist entity is now in a death spiral. They are unable to accomplish any of their military goals. All they are able to do is mass murder civilians, women, children, and then the aid workers who are trying to feed them. All they can do is try to exterminate a civilian population in the most transparent act of genocide in all of human history. And this is utterly demolishing any legitimacy that they may have enjoyed in the eyes of any substantial portion of the world's population.
So this year, Quds Day is happening under the shadow of this transparent genocide that is taking Israel down. And it's really a testament to the faith of the Palestinians and their supporters around the world, and the courage of the Palestinians who've been standing against this onslaught, not only against Palestine, but the Zionist genocide of Palestine is also an all-out war against the entire world of Islam, and to a lesser extent, the world of Christianity as well.
This Holy Land is holy to all of the major Abrahamic religions, We have 3 billion Christians, 2 billion Muslims. That's a clear majority of the world's population. A tiny handful of Jews, 15 million with an M, who believe that their tribal god gave them this land and they have the right to commit genocide, to come and steal it after thousands of years. It's utterly ludicrous.
And this war of extermination against the Palestinians and this war to desecrate the Holy Land, has gone on long enough. It is the responsibility and the duty of all Muslims and Christians to stand against this genocidal attack on the Holy Land, and Quds Day gets that right.
Quds Day was a brilliant move to put in the foreground the religious duty of all God-fearing people to do the right thing and stand against the forces of the satanic dajjal forces of Zionism.
It is a religious issue, this is a religious war, it's a war of satanic offshoot of the religion of Judaism, that is Zionism, which idolatrously worships themselves. It's a cosmic narcissism, and they have gone into the Holy Land to spill vast amounts of blood in hopes that that will somehow trigger the coming of someone they call their messiah. And the Zionist messiah obviously would be the Antichrist or Dajjal.
This is a religious issue. And Quds Day has put the religious dimension of this conflict front and center, and as the Zionists head towards Armageddon with their utter lunacy, this mass, meaningless mass slaughters of civilians, we're reaching the point where this criterion between good and evil becomes absolutely clear to the entire world.
Thank you very much. And Mr. Rizvi, before I say goodbye, I can see that you're providing us with first-hand footage of this International Quds Day rally, which is going to take place in Chicago. Thank you very much for giving us this opportunity to see what's going on there in Chicago. But could you please also compare this year's rally with previous years and the number of people in terms of the number of people who are taking part in.
Shabbir Rizvi: Yeah, that's a great question. I've been coming to Cook's today at this very location for at least six years now. I've never seen a crowd like this. We are numbering in the thousands. There is a plan to actually march downtown to the city. And I think really this is how all of this is going to be done is—Now there's a police helicopter flying above us. We have never seen a police helicopter. It's the first time we're seeing it. You can take that as a sign of just how popular the Palestinian cause is and just how afraid the ruling class of the United States is. In fact, they're sending all their police mercenaries, they're sending their cops, they're sending Zionists to spy on us and take pictures of us.
They're afraid, and they're afraid of the change that's coming. And the order of events that have started, the cycle of events that started since October 7th is irreversible. The world has changed forever. The plight of the Palestinians has changed forever. And it's looking like from where I'm standing, the Palestinian cause will prevail and Zionism will be eliminated.
HUGE Quds Day Rallies Completely Ignored By MSM