People mark International Quds Day

As Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials meet in Washington, Iranians alongside other people around the world have marked the International Quds Day on the last Friday of Ramadan.

Iranians across the country, including in the capital Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Mashhad, held rallies in opposition to the continued occupation of Palestinian land by Israel.

The late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini, in August 1979 declared the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as the Quds Day, calling for international rallies in support of Palestinians and against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas held the first round of talks in Washington on Thursday.

The thorniest issues between the negotiating sides are Israel’s refusal to halt its illegal settlement activity in the West Bank and in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

According to Israeli leaders, the 121 existing settlements must expand in order to achieve “natural growth” — an ill-defined term used in Israel for population growth in the settlements.

The settlements and their unrecognized counterparts known as outposts have been characterized by the United Nations Security Council, the International Court of Justice, the European Union, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as built in violation of international law.

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem has called the settlements an attempt by higher echelons in Tel Aviv to change the map of the West Bank in order “to make a viable Palestinian state impossible.”

“Israel forbids Palestinians to enter and use these lands and uses the settlements to justify numerous violations of Palestinian rights, such as the right to housing, to earn a living, and freedom of movement,” the group adds.

Tel Aviv has also shown itself unwilling to compromise on the right of return for Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war and their descendants.

The Palestinians have long asserted that the refugees have a moral and legal right to return to their lands they were forced to abandon during the Israeli-Arab wars in 1948 and 1967.