A delegation of Palestinian clerics from Gaza, South Lebanon and Syria has been visiting Iraq in the recent days to attend the “Call of Al-Aqsa Procession”, organized by the Iraqi “Call of Al-Aqsa” (Nida Al-Aqsa) organization. The procession is held as part of the “Arba’een Pligrimage” march from Najaf to Karbala, held annually at the end of the 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussein, the Prophet’s grandson, who was assassinated in 680.
The Call of Al-Aqsa organization also erected a booth at the beginning of the Arba’een Pligrimage route displaying portraits of late resistance camp leaders — including Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin, Hizbullah military wing commander Imad Mughniyeh, Al-Hashd Al-Sha’bi deputy commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis and IRGC Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani — in order to highlight the link between the Palestinian resistance factions, the Shi’ite resistance factions and Iran. The tent was visited by passersby and by delegations representing Iraqi tribes and organizations, who met with the Palestinian delegation.
The Palestinian clerics, on their part, visited senior Iraqi clerics, as well as the offices of the Hizbullah Brigades, a pro-Iranian Shi’ite militia in Iraq.
The Call of Al-Aqsa Procession is apparently part of the efforts by Iran and its proxies to appropriate the Palestinian cause. This effort was also manifest in Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah’s May 2021 call for all factions of the resistance axis to commit to action against Israel and to establish an equation whereby any Israeli move against Jerusalem would mean regional war[1] — a call which several Iraqi Shi’ite militias expressed a willingness to implement.[2]
The Palestinian delegation includes clerics from Gaza, but mainly from Lebanon and Syria. Among them are member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, such as Sayyid Hussein Baraka and Sa’id Abu Na’sa. It also includes Sa’id Qassem, chair of the Palestinian Islamic Committee for Care and Guidance; Jihad Al-Sa’di, representative of the Lebanese Muslim Clerics Union in the Hasbaiyyah and Marjayoun area; ‘Adel Al-Turki, member of the Lebanese Al-Wahda Forum, and Muhammad Adib Yasserji, who lives in Syria.
The delegation met with senior Iraqi clerics like Ayatollah Muhammad Al-Y’aqoubi, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Muhammad-Taqi Al-Husayni Al-Modarresi and Sayyid Ammar Al-Hakim. It also visited the offices of the Hizbullah Brigades and met with a representative of this militia. A video produced by the Hizbullah Brigades, posted on the Kyan kF Telegram channel, shows Sa’id Qassem thanking the militia representative, whose figure is blurred to conceal his identity, and expressing hope that Allah will bless the relations with the Hizbullah Brigades “for our sakes and for the sake of Palestine.”[3]
Throughout the visit, delegation members repeatedly drew a connection between the Prophet’s grandson Imam Hussein, who fought oppression and tyranny, and the Palestinian struggle against Israel. ‘Adel Al-Turki said: “We are here in Karbala to stress that Hussein’s revolution and his path are in our minds and in our deeds. In order to free Palestine we must learn from Imam Hussein’s revolution against the tyrants and oppressors.”[4] Sa’id Abu Na’sa said: “We wish to underscore the strong connection between the principles of Hussein’s revolution and our just cause in Palestine, especially since our enemy is trying to sow discord among us.”[5] Delegation members also occasionally chanted slogans against the U.S. and Israel.[6]