PRESS RELEASE –

Following the success of last year’s Fly the Flag campaign IHRC is once again calling on supporters of justice everywhere to mark International Al-Quds Day this year in the same way.

With the Covid-19 pandemic posing insurmountable challenges to organising the traditional Al-Quds Day marches and rallies, plans are once again afoot to remember the people of Palestine and their quest for justice by flying the flag of their country.

This year we are calling on people to fly the Palestinian flag anywhere and everywhere for the week running up to Quds Day which is on Friday 7th May 2021, and to then post about it with hashtag #FlyTheFlag.

Regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an opportunity for activists around the world to be intuitive and come up with various activities to mark the occasion in a safe way. We would recommend car rallies, creative arts, social media clips or the usual conventional protests if safe and permitted.

Muslims all around the world set have set aside the last Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to remember Palestine since it was designated by the founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, as International Quds Day over 30 years ago.

Each year, millions of people rally on the day to voice their support for the Palestinian people and repeat their call for an end to the Zionist regime’s atrocities and occupation of Palestine.

The de facto occupation of the West Bank, forced displacement of Palestinians from Jerusalem and the effective siege of the Gaza Strip including regular aerial bombings continue while most of the world turns a blind eye to the abuses and atrocities.

And as the Coronavirus rips through countries everywhere, nowhere is the disease being more keenly felt than in Gaza, where millions of people live cheek by jowl in one of the most crowded places on earth.

While Israel has managed to vaccinate 60% of its population, with 54% fully vaccinated with both doses amounting to over 10 million vaccinations, it has restricted the supply of vaccines to the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip. In March, Unicef announced the arrival of 37,440 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Palestine as part of the COVAX programme. Previously, Israel had agreed to donate just 5000 doses to Palestine.

Notes for Editors

Supporting organisations include:

United Kingdom:
Ahlulbayt Islamic Mission
Fajr Youth
Football Against Apartheid
Imamians UK
Inminds Human Rights Group
Islamic Centre England
Islamic Human Rights Commission
Neturei Karta
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Europe:
Bab-ul-Ilm Society (Ireland)
Den Internationale Quds Dag (Denmark)
Fatemiyun (Denmark)
Imam Ali Moske (Denmark)
Movimiento Alternativo por la Justicia los Derechos y la Inclusión (Portugal)

Asia:
Qods TV (Turkey)
Imamia Students Association ISO (Pakistan)
Majlis-e-Wihdat Muslimeen MWM (Pakistan)
Tehreek e Bedari Ummat Mustafa (Pakistan)
Islamic Pulse (Iran)
Pure Stream (Iran)
Qom TV (Iran)
Resistance Media (India)
Hidayate Ittehad Organisation (India)
Voice of Palestine (Indonesia)

Africa:
Islamic Movement in Nigeria (Nigeria)
Islamic Council of South Africa (South Africa)
Islamic Research Institute (South Africa)
Imam Sadeq Research Institute (South Africa)
Thaqalain Foundation (South Africa)
The Zakzaky Foundation (South Africa)

North America:
Al-Quds Committee Detroit (USA)
Canadian Defenders for Human Rights (Canada)
RISE Houston (USA)

For more information or comment please contact the Press Office on (+44) 7958522196[ENDS]

——————————————————————————————
IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom
Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Email: info@ihrc.org
Web: www.ihrc.org
Twitter: @ihrc