Iran’s Supreme Leader Suggests ‘People Of Palestine’ Vote On Fate Of The Land
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Image by Getty Images
(JTA) — Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for a referendum in order to decide the future of the historical lands of Palestine.
In a meeting Sunday with university professors and intellectuals, Khamenei suggested that people who trace their roots to before the creation of the modern State of Israel should be polled, including Muslims, Christians and Jews.
“Today, democracy is a modern method, which is accepted by the entire world. We said that to determine the fate of the historical country of Palestine, they must refer to the people of Palestine and this proposal has been registered at the United Nations as the Islamic Republic’s opinion,” Khamenei was quoted by the official Islamic Republic News Agency as saying.
“A referendum must be conducted among Palestinians, who have lived there for the past 80 or 100 years, including Muslims, Jews and Christians, both inside or outside the occupied territories. Then what they vote for should be done. Is this a bad idea? The European countries refuse to understand this.”
Khamenei also criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for accusing Iran of working toward building a nuclear arsenal in part to destroy Israel while the Israeli leader was visiting several European capitals this month.
“The oppressor child killer goes to other countries playing the victim that Iran wants to destroy several millions of its population,” he said.
“That European audience listens to him, shakes head and does not say that it is the Israelis who are currently committing these crimes in Gaza and al-Quds,” Khamenei said. Al-Quds is another name for Jerusalem.
In a tweet, he also took issue with the idea that Iran is planning Israel’s destruction.
“The Islamic Republic plays rationally in all issues. On the issue of the Zionist regime, Gamal Abdel Nasser would say ‘we will throw the Jews in the sea,’” he said, referring to the late Egyptian leader. “The Islamic Republic has never said anything like that since its inception.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
