In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The Honorable Yasir `Arafat,
Head of the Executive Committee
Palestine Liberation Organization
Thank you for your esteemed letter and for the sentiments expressed therein. These sorrowful events are trivial as compared to the calamities that are being visited upon Islam and the Muslims.
Owing to the influence of foreign powers, the sacred religion of Islam has, for centuries, been faced with deviations and misconceptions. With the malicious propaganda of their lackeys, the foreigners have portrayed the unique, divinely-inspired, combative doctrine of Islam in a different light. They have presented in another way the Holy Qur'an which is the command of God to fight the polytheists and the hedonists, and is the only heavenly Book that is the motivator against hegemony and oppression. The radiant and soul-saving tenets of the sublime religion of Islam are being violated one after another by the schemes of hegemonic powers carried out by their evil agents." Islam the Great", the bulwark against foreigners, is being wrecked by knaves who have sold their souls so as to pave the way for their masters to plunder and pillage. The negligence of the heads of Islamic states and the discord and divisions among them have led to the ever-increasing control of the imperialists over the sanctities and destiny of the Muslims. In the course of the fifty-year rule of the illegitimate and disgraceful Pahlavi dynasty that- according to the present Shah's own admission- has been the direct agent of foreigners, we have been beset by adversities in comparison to which our grief pales into insignificance. During the era of the previous Shah, we witnessed the killings, plunder and intolerable repression. We were witness to the massacre in the Gauhar Shad Mosque; adjacent to the sacred mausoleum of the Eight Imam (`a). We witnessed the imprisonment of the leading `ulama' of Khorasan and Azerbaijan and the killing of some of them. We witnessed certain things that will be recorded in detail in the future.
Also, in the reign of the incumbent Shah, we have witnessed and are witnessing atrocities being perpetrated that have made Genghis «1» appear honorable. We saw the outrageous, inhuman massacre of Khordad 15 [Muharram 12] the number of those killed being 15,000 according to what is said, and the number of wounded being God alone knows how many! We witnessed the assault on the theological centers and the universities where there was much slaughter and destruction, as also the irreverence shown to the Holy Qur'an and holy Islamic books; dishonoring and beating up the seminarians and burning their books, while in the universities we saw the young men and girls being beaten up. We saw the prisons full of `ulama', scholars and those yearning for freedom, and where tortures of medieval times were, and are, an ordinary occurrence.We witnessed that at the time the Muslims were engaged in a war with the Israeli infidels, the government of Iran, on the order of the Shah, granted official recognition to the Israeli government amid the `ulama's opposition. We witnessed the assistance rendered to Israel by this black-hearted man while they were turning the Muslims into refugees and killing them. He would put oil, weapons and other forms of assistance, the funds for which would be provided by the wages earned by the toiling, suffering Iranians, at the disposal of Israel. We witnessed the so-called `land reforms' that ruined the agriculture of Iran and created a market for America, pulling the country to the edge of the precipice. We witnessed and are witnessing, all these calamities, deviations and treacheries in the face of which we must overlook our personal tragedies.
As I attach importance to the problems of Lebanon, I am apprehensive that just as he has turned Iran into an American colony, the same scene will be re-enacted in Lebanon as well by means of the trickery of the vile operatives in the embassy in Lebanon allowing Israel to conveniently implement its designs in the region. You must, with all vigilance, keep a watch on the operatives of the Iranian embassy and foil their ruses.
I have said whatever needs to be said, in Iran as well as in exile. Whatever I say constitutes part of the Muslims' adversities. However, I am obliged to repeat for the umpteenth time that my extreme regret is over the discord of the heads of Islamic states, particularly the Arab governments. As soon as the murmurings of unity and harmony arise, the agents of imperialism sow discord and differences by means of their peculiar machinations. Seven hundred million or more Muslims and a hundred million or more Arabs have not been able to achieve real independence. They have not been able to free themselves from the clutches of imperialism. They have not been able to push back the handful of usurping Israeli Jews- who pose a danger to the people's lands and to our history and heritage- and retake their territories. For nearly fifteen years, I have spoken and written about these and many other matters.
It is your Islamic and national duty, in addition to your revolutionary one of liberating Palestine, to strive earnestly and devotedly for the unity and unanimity of Arab governments. We will not forget your sacrifices and holy crusade. We solicit God Almighty to make you successful and triumphant for the greatness of Islam and the Muslims, and hope that the hands of the imperialists and the wicked elements be cut off. Our wish is to see Palestine and the Al-Aqsa Mosque cleansed of the Zionist presence, and the Palestinians' return to their land.
May peace be upon those who follow the guidance.
Rouhullah al-Mousawi al-Khomeini
Dhou'l-Qa`dah al-Haram 21,1397 AH