Table 3 Top-down incitement examples: Ayatollah Khamenei
Date | Comment | Context |
|---|---|---|
9 Mar 2015 | “After negotiations, in Zionist regime they said they had no more concern about Iran for next 25 years; I’d say: Firstly, you will not see next 25 years; God willing, there will be nothing as Zionist regime by next 25 years. Secondly, until then, struggling, heroic and jihadi morale will leave no moment of serenity for Zionists.” [87] | Twitter—quote taken from a speech given earlier that day |
29 Nov 2015 | “The oppressed people of Palestine have experienced the worst kind of terrorism for the last sixty years… it is decades that a Palestinian family is not secure even in its own home from the Zionist regime’s death and destruction machinery. What kind of atrocious violence today is comparable to that of the settlement constructions of the Zionist regime?” [88] | Khamenei in an open letter to Western youth after the Paris terror attacks—Israel more ‘barbaric’ than Paris attackers |
8 Feb 2016 | “They (the US) support the child-killer Zionist regime and regional allies that are not familiar with and do not understand elections at all.” [89] | Khamenei in address to the Air Force and Air Defense commanders and personnel |
14 Dec 2016 | The Zionist regime -- as we have already said -- will cease to exist in the next 25 years if there is a collective and united struggle by the Palestinians and the Muslims against the Zionists.” [90] | Speaking during a meeting with the head of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, Ramadan Abdullah Shalah. |
21 Feb 2017 | Khamenei described the Jewish state is a “fake nation” in a “dirty chapter of history that will be closed, with the grace of God,” a “cancerous tumor” that requires a “step by step” treatment. [91] | Speech at a pro-Palestinian gathering in Tehran. |
7 Jul 2017 | Ramadan terrorist bombings “are the outcome of nurturing terrorists by the security services of the US, the UK and the Zionist regime.” [92] | Speech for Eid-al Fitr at the conclusion of Ramadan |
1 Jul 2014 | “This rabid dog, this rapacious wolf, has attacked innocent people and humanity must show a reaction. This is genocide, a catastrophe of historical scale.” [93] | Khamenei during the Gaza Conflict in the summer of 2014 |
5 Aug 2015 | “...planted this infected cancer gland within Islamic-Arabic territory. Today this gland has grown and become the cause of division among Muslim governments... Where their problems have come from? From this infected gland named “Israel” that was created by the superpowers.” [94] | Excerpt from Khamenei’s book “Palestine”. |