On June 15, 2024, as the Hajj pilgrimage takes place in Mecca, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei published on his X account a post featuring the Iranian regime slogan "Death to Israel" seven times – seven being the number of times pilgrims walk around the Kaaba in Mecca during Hajj.
Khamenei prefaced the repeated "Death to Israel" with the phrase "We answer Your call, Oh Allah, we answer Your call." This is uttered by Hajj pilgrims as an expression of total submission to Allah and His will.
He also hashtagged his post with three anti-Israel hashtags:
#حج_برائت "Hajj_Bara'at" – "Bara'at [lit. disassociation]" is an Islamic ceremony performed during Hajj during which Shiite pilgrims declare their disgust with and disassociation from the enemies of Islam and from idolatrous rituals. The purpose of the ritual is to express the unity of the Muslims and their opposition to the external and internal enemies of Islam. Since Iran's Islamic Revolution, this ritual of disassociation from Satan has been imbued with a political dimension by the revolution's founder Ruhollah Khomeini, who is Khamenei's predecessor, and is aimed against the "Satan" that is identified as the United States in Islamic Revolutionary ideology. On August 10, 2019, Khamenei stated that the ceremony is an opportunity for the oppressed Muslim nations to express "opposition to the tyranny and violence of the oppressive imperialist powers and the front of heresy, headed by the United States."[1] The use of this hashtag reflects a desire on the part of Khamenei to present this year's Hajj rituals and an opportunity to disassociate from and denounce Islam's enemies – Israel and the United States.
برائت_از_جلادان "Bara'at_Az_Jeladan" – Literally "disassociation from the hangmen," this hashtag reflects condemnation and "disassociation" from the regimes and forces described by the Iranian regime and its mouthpieces as "oppressors" and "hangmen" of the Islamic and other nations, as well as from other entities viewed as the enemies of Iran and Islam – namely, the United States and Israel.
#رمی_اسرائیل "Rami_Israel" – Literally "Stone Israel," this hashtag is a reference to the Rami Al-Jamarat ("Stoning of the Devil") ritual performed during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca, involving the throwing of rocks at three stone pillars that represent Satan. The reference to Israel as a Satan echoes the Iranian regime's depictions of Israel as the "Little Satan" – alongside the "Great Satan" that is America – that must be fought against and "stoned," and it aligns with the regime's policy calling for the destruction of Israel.
Below is Khamenei's post on X:
Khamenei's June 15, 2024 post on X. Source: X.com/Khamenei_fa, June 15, 2024.
Khamenei's full tweet reads:
"We are at Your call, O Allah, we are at Your call…
Death to Israel;
Death to Israel;
Death to Israel;
Death to Israel;
Death to Israel;
Death to Israel;
Death to Israel;
#Hajj_Bara'at #Disassociation_From_The_Hangmen #Stone_Israel"
[1] Farsi.khamenei.ir, August 10, 2019.
