VIENNA–A range of Austrian human rights and foreign policy groups came together in Vienna over the weekend to protest genocidal Iranian anti-Semitism, holding a rally in response to celebrations of Quds Day in Iran under the banner of “No Quds-Day! Together Against Anti-Semitism!”
Quds Day is an official Iranian holiday stretching back to 1979 which is specifically set aside for rallies calling for the eradication of Israel. Veteran NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell described it in the station’s coverage as “Death to Israel Day in Iran.”
The protest rally in Vienna united activists from Jewish groups, organizations supporting gay rights, and even members of the Austrian government. It had already garnered significant press coverage, and all major political parties in Austria had issued releases in response to the Quds Day events.
Speakers at the rally emphasized concerns over Iran’s human rights violations and criticized claims of Iranian moderation. More than one speaker at the protest pointed out that the rate of executions has skyrocketed under current President Hassan Rouhani.
Several speakers and many of the groups present pointedly noted that Iran’s domestic repression and genocidal anti-Semitic calls have not abated, even while ongoing talks occur over Iran’s nuclear program. A deal is widely expected to emerge from the talks, under which Iran would be given billions of dollars – assets that the Iranian military is expected to funnel to its terror and military proxies – and would be on the threshold of nuclear weapons capability in as little as ten years.
Simone Dinah Hartmann, a speaker at the rally and a longtime activist working to oppose Iranian nuclearization, blasted the talks:
While supporters of the Ayatollah regime in Tehran chant “Death to Israel,” even as we speak here, this very regime is being courted by Western countries and offered normal relations. Just a few hundred meters from here, the future of the world is being decided. It is an immense irony of history, that of all places, of all places, the global powers are negotiating the fate of those who are the first line of fire, namely Israel, at the Theodor Herzl Place in Vienna. But this much is clear today, a likely deal with Iran is going to be a bad deal, a very bad deal. Not only will it be insufficient to stop Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, a deal will embolden the Iranian mullahs and further spur their expansive ambitions.
Iran’s Quds Day, which has been called “an annual hate festival,” was established after the Islamic Revolution 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and is held on the last Friday of Ramadan. Chants of “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” can be heard throughout the streets. Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported that millions came out to rally against Israel on Friday. Iran’s leaders use this day as a platform to spew their anti-American and anti-Israel rhetoric. Fars wrote that, in his remarks, Rouhani “underlined that the Iranian nation will shout its hatred for the Zionists on the Quds Day.”
Sohrab Ahmari, an assistant books editor at The Wall Street Journal, reported on the Quds Day events on Friday:
Braving a stifling heat wave, the Quds Day celebrants burned the American flag and displayed a caricature of what appeared to be King Salman of Saudi Arabia—a U.S. ally and detested Middle East rival—with his head morphing into a Star of David, topped by a Stars and Stripes yarmulke. All accompanied by the holiday tradition of chanting “Death to America!”
Quds Day is fun for the whole family. As one father told the semiofficial Fars News Agency in a video interview, “Our children who are less than a year old are tomorrow’s soldiers against Israel.” The infant son he held in his arms was dressed in camouflage gear, with a Yasser Arafat-style kaffiyeh around his neck.
[Photos: The Tower]