It has been said that truth is stranger than fiction, and indeed it would be hard to imagine scripting the signing of a nuclear deal with the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism on the very day that this regime holds an annual global protest calling for the destruction of the Jewish state. And yet that plot twist is fully set to happen, as Iran's "Death to Israel Day," officially known as Quds Day or Jerusalem Day, will take place this Friday July 10 - bizarrely timed to coincide with the newly re-extended deadline for a final deal on Iran's nuclear program. American officials said Tuesday that the latest extension on the deadline will be the last , indicating that there is a great likelihood that calls to destroy Israel will echo Iranian celebrations of a deal that Israel and other critics see as paving the Islamic regime's path to a nuclear arsenal. Quds Day is held annually on the final Friday of the Muslim fast month of Ramadan. It was instituted on August 7, 1979 by then-Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini just after the Islamic Revolution, as a day of solidarity against the "usurper Israel." Each year the protest - which is held in Tehran and around the world in events that reportedly are largely organized and funded by Iran - is punctuated by shrill calls of "Death to Israel," often accompanied by a refrain of "Death to America." Obama must be aware US President Barack Obama's administration cannot claim to be unaware of the telling coincidence in timing, as the Quds Day rallies are to be held in 19 cities throughout North America on Friday, including a rally in New York City's iconic Times Square. A Facebook page for "International Day of Al-Quds (Jerusalem) - Protest for Palestine" is organizing the New York protest, but so far just over 200 people have RSVP-ed to the invite on Facebook and promised to take part in the event calling for Israel's destruction. "We will rally at Times Square at 3:30 (p.m. - ed.) where our speakers will shed lights on the atrocities being committed by the zionist (sic) state on the oppresed (sic) people of Palestine, Yemen, and the minorities in the US," reads the description of the Facebook page. The Facebook page says the "rally & march" has received the endorsement of "BDSApp.org; Al-Awda NY, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Jafria Association of North America," as well as the radical anti-Zionist Jewish group Neturei Karta. Likewise, it is endorsed by the "International Action Center; Workers World Party; United National Antiwar Coalition; International League of People's Struggles and Fight Imperialism Stand Together; Colectivo Honduras USA Resistencia; Muslimgirl.net; Students for Justice in Palestine - John Jay; Students for Justice in Palestine - Brooklyn College."
