Chris Lange, FISM News
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander on Friday said that Israel is creating conditions for its own destruction. The remarks were made during state-organized Quds Day rallies on the last Friday of the Muslim Ramadan holiday, during which Iranians chanted “Death to America, death to Israel” at demonstrations amid growing tensions between Tehran and Jerusalem.
“Stop your vicious deeds. You know well that we are people of action and reaction,” Guards commander Hossein Salami threatened Israel in an address to demonstrators in Tehran, Reuters reported.
Iran’s annual Quds Day, translated as “Jerusalem Day,” is a show of support for Palestinians in their quest to retake East Jerusalem, which they have long wanted to claim as a future state capital in territories captured by Israel in 1967. Iran joins Palestine’s position of denying Israel’s right to exist.
“Our responses are painful. You create conditions for your own destruction. We will not leave you alone,” Salami told a crowd of 1,000. “You know better than me what will befall you if you take evil action.”
The threat comes amid ongoing violent clashes between Israel and Palestine over the disputed Gaza strip, considered holy land to the Israelites, and Iran’s continued development of its nuclear weapons program. The Islamic Republic in February unveiled a new “Kheibar Buster” missile that boasts a range of 900 miles. Kheibar is an ancient Jewish oasis in the Hijaz region of the Arabian Peninsula. Tehran has long claimed that its ballistic missile program is a necessary deterrent against its adversaries, particularly the United States and Israel, and has rejected the West’s demands to shutter the program.
Despite this, the Biden administration continues to push for the resuscitation of a 2015 nuclear deal between the U.S. and Iran. Former President Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2019, which he said allowed Tehran to use $100 billion in cash provided by the U.S. “as a slush fund for weapons, terror, and oppression.”
Talks to revive the deal stalled in March when Russia, a key participant in the negotiations, added last-minute demands, and Tehran announced that it was finished negotiating a deal unless Washington drops Iran’s Revolutionary Guards from its list of foreign terrorist organizations.
Iran has one of the largest ballistic missile programs in the Middle East and already possesses the capability to strike Israel, including U.S. bases located in the region.
Tehran isn’t the only threat to the lives of Jewish people. A new report shows a significant increase in antisemitism and hate crimes across the globe.
On the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day Thursday, Tel Aviv University’s Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry published its 28th Annual Report on Antisemitism Worldwide. The authors reported a dramatic rise in antisemitic incidents in countries with large Jewish populations during 2021, The Jerusalem Post reports.
In New York City, 214 anti-Jewish hate crimes were reported by police last year, compared with 126 in 2020, according to the report, while police in Los Angeles recorded 70 hate crimes against Jews last year, up from 40 in 2020. The report also cites over 250 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. that took place during the Israel-Hamas conflict last spring.
Antisemitism isn’t limited to America. The researchers also point to a sharp uptick in hate crimes against Jews in Canada, Britain, Germany, and Australia, among other countries.
The report is based on an analysis of dozens of studies from around the globe, along with information provided by law enforcement, the media, and Jewish organizations throughout the world.