A top statesman said the political chaos in the Middle East has diverted Muslims' attention from the Palestinian issue. Chairman of the Expediency Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani made the statement in a meeting with Secretary-General of Palestinian Islamic Jihad Ramadan Abdullah Shalah in Tehran on Monday, IRNA reported.
Rafsanjani said the Muslim world is facing worst conditions, as political divisions have caused Muslims to be at each other's throats and terrorism has spread in the region. "Palestine has never been so alone, which is what the Zionists have always sought," he said. The saenior cleric lamented that some Arab countries are spending immense amounts of money to ruin people's lives in other Muslim countries, including Syria and Yemen.
"If this money was spent on fighting the occupiers of Al-Quds [Jerusalem], the Muslim world would never see miserable conditions of displaced Palestinians in camps," he said.
"We hope [certain countries in] the Muslim world will wake up, stop killing their brothers and do not serve the Zionists anymore with [fueling] divisions [among Muslims]."
Shalah said no Arab country is currently backing the popular intifada (uprising) in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"The Islamic Republic is the only country that supports the intifada and families of oppressed martyrs," he said. The occupied territories have been the scene of heightened tensions since August 2015, which has been regarded as the third Palestinian intifada, in response to the cruel actions of Israeli regime. Hundreds of Palestinians have lost their lives at the hands of the Israeli forces since the beginning of the uprising.
