Al-Quds Day rally in Toronto took place on June 1, 2019. The speakers at the event were Suzanne Weiss, Ken Stone, Zafar Bangash, Ali Mallah, Nasim Askari, Robert Massoud, Dmitri Lascaris, Ted Schmidt, Leary Charles, Yves Engler and Stephen Ellis who read a statement written by Rabbi Stern from Neturei Karta. Hussein Mojtahedy led the slogans between speakers.
During Al-Quds Day rally, Hussein Mojtahedy was interviewed for darstv YouTube channel. Here is the transcript of the interview:
Question: I’m here with brother Hussein Mojtahedy and I’m gonna ask him a couple of questions. Do you mind just introducing yourself?
Hussein Mojtahedy: My name is Hussein Mojtahedy. I’m 18 years old. I’m currently studying in the hawza [Islamic seminary] in Qom [the capital of Qom Province in Iran]. I’ve been attending these [Al-Quds Day] rallies since childhood. We’re here for ‘free Palestine.’ We’re here for justice and peace around the world. Of course keep in mind that peace can never be achieved until justice is.
[* The Qom Seminary (Persian: حوزه قم) is the largest Islamic seminary (hawza) in Iran, established in 1922 by Grand Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Haeri Yazdi in Qom.]
Question: So now that Palestine has been occupied for nearly a century, 71 years, what do you think needs to happen?
Hussein Mojtahedy: We’re not going to get anywhere until, number one, the people of Palestine themselves realized that peace can never be achieved until their resistance is fortified in the sense that the Palestinians and the Arab people must rise up and not be complacent and not be passive. Of course this does not mean that we sit at the table with the enemy and try to progress through talks and dialogue, because you cannot have peace and you cannot have peaceful talks with the enemy that will betray and stab us in the back, and we’ve seen this too many times. The Palestinian and Arab people must realize that fighting for their rights is not something to be taken lightly. We have seen in the past few decades how children have brought up the courage and bravery to start throwing stones at tanks, start throwing stones at the enemy soldiers and as a result have been locked up. This is the resistance that we’re going to continue to see and as a result neighbouring countries and those who are fighting in solidarity all around the world will also rise with the Palestinians and we will see in the next 20 to 25 years the decline and the ultimate destruction of the illegal Zionist state. This is for certain. This is not a conspiracy theory. The Zionist regime cannot continue this path as injustice and all oppressors are doomed.
Question: So now that the Deal of the Century [American peace plan] has been drafted and it could potentially be the end of Palestine what do you think needs to happen?
Hussein Mojtahedy: This will not be the end of Palestine. This deal of the century will not follow through. This in fact will be the resistance of the century. This is where we will see not only the Muslim people are not only the Arab people but all people of conscience will come together as we have here today in Toronto and many other cities around the world, we will rise up against Israeli illegal state and we will show that no other foreign power will be able to intervene and take away the rights of the indigenous Palestinian people. This deal essentially won’t go through.
Question: Finally is there anything you would like to say to the Canadian government or the Canadian people?
Hussein Mojtahedy: The Canadian government doesn’t deserve us to address them. The Canadian government is only a puppet government of America and Israel. They should know that those who side with the oppressors will not get anywhere except further towards ultimate demise. However the Canadian people should know that being apathetic and passive will not be sustainable. It is high time that the common folk of this country realize that number one, we are ourselves on occupied lands, and number two, just going after one’s own living and seeking one’s own material possessions and only ensuring the safety of one’s own family is not the way to go. Why? Because we are one human body and as a human body it is not sustainable for separate factions only to take care of themselves we must take care of one another so the Canadian people must know that it is high time that we rise up together in solidarity with all oppressed people. And we don’t let this go under the rug, because next it’ll be our turn. It’ll be our turn to be oppressed. It’ll be our turn to be suppressed and our rights will be taken. Our land and family will be taken. Then who will stand for us?