He warned that the revolution raised military threats to it from both the northern and eastern fronts, and that the presence of the Islamic system would inevitably support Palestinian organizations, which would harm Tel Aviv (Jaffa). At the time, few people recognized that this revolution would have a major impact on the future of local events. The farthest understanding of the Western and Israeli security centres was that the revolution did not remain confined to the Iranian border, but would affect the political culture of other countries in the region, particularly in the region.
The West believed that Iran’s Islamic revolution not only affected the region’s states, but also contained dangerous concepts that threatened the interests and security of the Zionist regime, particularly the Zionist regime.
They were well aware that there was strong leadership at the helm, beyond these concepts and their origins. There was no one other than Imam Khomeini. He had a clear vision of the direction and process of continuing his struggle and managing political activity. He was the focus of the Iranian people.
Imam Khomeini institutionalized the inherited charisma of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which was particularly present among Shiite religious scholars in the form of religious authority. He established the concept of an independent religious leader who ensured that he was not influenced by external or even internal pressure within the religious institution itself.
This independence played an important role in Imam Khomeini’s rejection of east or west dependence. In theory, the imam was comprehensive. This means that we were able to integrate a variety of intellectual disciplines, such as mysticism, ethics, politics, and jurisprudence. Therefore, when these principles are implemented in society, there is no need to rely on external ideology.
Imam believed there was no reason to embrace Russian socialism or American capitalism. Meanwhile, the Western world, along with this revolution and the thoughts of Imam Khomeini, has raised awareness of the Islamic world about Palestinian rights, resulting in the conclusion that it threatens the interests and existence of Zionist groups.
In this connection, they pointed to Imam Khomeini’s declaration as the international Quds day on the last Friday of Ramadan. He emphasized his religious obligation to free Jerusalem and Palestine, and Muslims are the organisations he removed from the map at the moment when the Palestinians remained imprisoned within an entity called “Israel.”
Even before overthrowing the Shah regime, Imam Khomeini demonstrated through practical life that, as freedom imagined, was in stark contrast to the concepts of occupation, imprisonment, and seizing. The form of freedom promoted by the late Imams was the most dangerous concept for the Zionist regime and its guardians. It was the biggest threat. It is a vision of a world shaped by free humans.
Imam Khomeini’s concerns were not limited to the oppression and occupation of the Palestinian lands and people. He saw another important dimension to this issue: the struggle of oppressed people all over the world against their oppressors. To provide practical global entities to the oppressed, Imam Khomeini introduced a set of concepts related to freedom and resistance, tied them to the Palestinian cause and outlined a roadmap for them. One of the most important elements of this roadmap was QUDS Day.
Imam Khomeini argued that the day of the Quds should be for all the oppressed people in the world, not just for the oppressed people in Jerusalem. He, along with servants such as Israel, sought the eradication of American rule, arrogance, and capitalist powers in other colonies. He argued for the expulsion of the history of symbols and figures of America and the West’s hegemony and rog arrogance, emphasizing that these forces cling to history and maintain their influence, that justice never wins in the world, and that colonial currents continue to rule over various parts of the earth.
By transcending geographical boundaries, Imam Khomeini sent a special message to the Islamic state. The revival of QUDS Day serves as a source of awakening for them.
Imam Khomeini’s vision rekindled Ummah’s hopes for reclaiming Jerusalem, even after he died when the Palestinian cause was ignored in a regularization agreement with Zionism. His establishment of International QUDS Day and strong support of the Islamic Republic for Palestinian resistance have significantly changed the balance of power in the latest missile wars, shifting the equation in favour of releasing Palestine from the river to the sea.
This was exactly what the late South African president, Nelson Mandela, admitted when he said:
“From the beginning of his revolution, Imam Khomeini was devoted to Palestine and Jerusalem. Even in a word, the global agenda could not shake him. The issue of Palestine was not the subject of negotiation or fragmentation, nor was the subject of belief.
Similarly, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, paid tribute to Imam Khomeini:
“He thought beyond time, and space couldn’t contain him. He could have had a huge impact on the history of the world.”
By: Najah Mohammed Ali