Sisters and brothers! Today the struggle of the Palestinian people has anchored on its axis; the axis which is believing in the victory of the path they've taken; that is to say, the nation has taken to the stage.

Israel is a fabricated, illegal, and usurper regime. They usurped a people's land by means of force, oppression, and deception. Thus, any negotiations, based on acknowledging the regime, are illicit and unsound. Of course, the Palestinian nation has properly understood the reality of the situation, and they realize that the language of aggression is the only language that usurpers of Palestinian lands will speak. The Palestinian nation knows that any means of negotiation or contract would bring them loss; therefore, they have taken to the battlefields.

 The fight that the Palestinian nation has now begun is not a fight between two armies, so that we can list how many tanks each [army] has or which has more tanks: it is a battle consisting of bodies and souls of individuals who do not fear death. Any sacrificing young man who stands against the usurper regime threatens them like an army. No tanks, no missiles, no jets and no Apache helicopters can threaten this man any longer. When a human being—even if just one person—does not fear death and prepares themselves for self-sacrifice, on the path of God and for the sake of their duty, he or she will become the greatest danger for the unjust powers. So, you saw that the most high-ranking American authorities openly took stances against the martyrdom-seeking young men. I say these stances do not work. This martyrdom seeking is not out of heated emotion; it is out of belief in Islam, the Hereafter and faith in a life after death. Wherever Islam is realized, in its true sense, there exists such a threat against the arrogant front. The arrogant front will thus have to fight against Islam in order to dominate over Palestine. Confronting Islam means fighting against the world of Islam, and this will not get them anywhere.

Ayatollah Khamenei, June 4, 2002