Iran's Ayatollah Khamenei and Arab world respond

One of the things this blog will be trying to do is show as close to original sources as possible. We start today with the statement of the Ayatollah Khamenei, directly from his Ministry of Information's website. Note that in the view of the Supreme Leader of Iran, somehow this is Bush's fault. We have to remember that each act of agression against Islam anywhere in the world is being tied back to those of us who live in the United States.

The statement:

`We belong to Allah, and to Him we return`.
The horrific atrocity of the Zionist regime in Gaza in which hundreds of innocent men, women and children were massacred pushed the curtain of deception from the blood thirsty face of the Zionist wolves and noted the negligent about the presence of this hostile disbeliever in the heart of the lands of Islamic umma.
The horrendous ordeal is very heavy and moving for any Muslim not to say for any free and noble human being in any corner of the world.
However, the larger ordeal is the encouraging silence of some Arab governments which claim to be Muslims.
Which ordeal could be larger than the fact that Muslim governments, otherwise expected to support the innocent Gaza people against the usurping and hostile regime, adopted a mood which encouraged the criminal Zionist authorities to impertinently consider them as in harmony with the large tragedy?
Which answer the heads of those countries have prepared to give to the Messenger of Allah (S A )?
Which answer they have prepared to give to their own nations which are indeed mourning the tragedy?
Indeed today the heart of the Egyptian, Jordanian and the people of other Islamic countries is overwhelmed with sorrow about the bloodshed as well as the protracted food and medicine embargos.
By his complicity in the large crime, the criminal Bush's administration in the last days of his shameful rule more darkened the face of the American regime than ever and added to its dossier of war crimes.
The European governments with their indifference and sometimes their complicity in the large tragedy once more proved that their claims of advocacy for human rights are false and also showed they are present in the front against Islam and Muslims.
Now, I ask the scholars and Alims of the Arab world and the chiefs of the Egyptian al-Azhar center `isn`t it the time to feel the threat facing Islam and Muslims?
` `Isn`t it the time to fulfill the mandatory act of standing against any bullying ruler?
` Is an additional, more divulging scene of complicity between the hostile disbelievers and the hypocrites of umma in repressing the Muslims than the current Gaza and Palestine developments is needed to prompt you to feel responsibility?
I have also a question to ask the media and the intellectuals of the world of Islam and especially the Arab world.
For how long you have decided to remain indifferent regarding your media and intellectual responsibility?
Has there remained any more face for the scandal-hit human rights bodies of the west and the so-called `security` council of the United Nations to lose?
All the Palestinian Mujahid and other faithful of the world of Islam are supposed to defend the defenseless people of Gaza.
Anyone who is killed in the legitimate and holy defense is a martyr and is hoped to be among the ranks of the martyrs of Badr and Ohud battles in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (S A).
The Organization of the Islamic Conference must fulfill its historical responsibility in the sensitive conditions and form a solid front, bereft of inaction and preservations, against the Zionist regime.
The Zionist regime must be punished by the Muslim governments.
The heads of the usurping regime must be tried and punished in person for their crimes and the protracted siege.
The Muslim nations are able to materialize the demands through firm resolve.
The duty of politicians, Alims and intellectuals in this juncture is much heavier than others.
I declare Monday a day of general mourning in commemoration of the Gaza tragedy and instruct the country`s authorities to fulfill their duties regarding the sad incident.
`And those who do wrong shall surely know by what overturning they will he overturned`.
Sayyed Ali Khamenei.
December 28, 2008

(source: http://www.mfa.gov.ir/cms/cms/Tehran/en/index.html )

Other Arab world responses:

Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military branch of Hamas, said through its spokesman, Abu Ubeida, "The Israeli occupation needs to know that it has cast itself into the fire."

Pro-Hamas websites are starting to display photographs of the dead and dying, such as this thread on a site which calls itself the "Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades" Al-Qassam English Forum: Thread Photos of the wild Zionist aggression on Gaza 27/12.

The front page of the Arabic version of Al-Jazeera also leads with a picture of more than a dozen dead uniformed men, in a story headlined in Arabic 282 Martyrs among crowds and military in the Israeli raids. The caption to the picture is "The number of martyrs in Gaza massacre is likely to rise (Reuters)".

The second Al-Jazeera story is Growing number of martyrs and wounded in Gaza - the Arab world responds, which actually contains links to many other stories, including this story:

حماس تدعو الفلسطينيين لانتفاضة ثالثة والعرب لموقف عملي/HAMAS calls on Palestinians to third intifada and for Arabs to provide support, which contains a far more detailed statement by Hamas than what I've seen in Western media. "The deposed government in Gaza, Hamas, still leads, and will not lift the white banner and will renounce the rights of the Palestinian people, no matter how rigorous the Israeli assaults."





3 top Hamas officers among 230 killed during IAF strikes on Gaza - Haaretz