Iraqis celebrate Al-Quds Day in solidarity with Palestine and against Israeli normalization
Shafaq News/ On Friday, the Iraqis celebrated International Al-Quds Day, organized by the Popular Mobilization Forces under the slogan "The Resistance is the only way to liberate Palestine."
Hundreds of Iraqis flocked to the streets in solidarity with Palestinians holding banners rejecting the Israeli normalization with "Israel."
Jerusalem Day, also known as Al-Quds Day, is an annual event on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It is an event to show solidarity with the Palestinian people and to protest Israel's occupation of Jerusalem.
The day was initiated by the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in 1979. Since then, it has been marked by rallies, marches, and speeches in countries worldwide, particularly in Muslim-majority countries.
During Jerusalem Day, participants often carry banners and chant slogans to support the Palestinian cause and call for an end to Israel's occupation of Jerusalem and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Demonstrators usually chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America," slogans that have become a tradition in these mass rallies, and set fire to American and Israeli flags.
Iraq and Israel have traditionally been considered enemies due to Iraq's alignment with other Arab states and the wider Muslim world in their opposition to Israel, which they view as an occupying force in Palestine and a threat to regional stability.
In 2022, Iraq's parliament passed a law that makes it a crime to normalize ties with Israel, and law violations can be punishable with a death sentence or life imprisonment.
The law, titled "Criminalising Normalisation and Establishment of Relations with the Zionist Entity," was approved with 275 legislators voting in favor of it in Iraq's 329-seat assembly.
The law was proposed by influential Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr whose party, which opposes close ties with the United States and Israel, won more seats in the Iraqi parliament in the last elections before he withdrew from the political arena.
