Tens of thousands of Iranians chanting 'Death to Israel' and proclaiming the 'triumph of Palestine' marched through the centre of Tehran on Friday in Youm Al-Qudis (Jerusalem Day) rally against the Jewish state.
A moving mass of protestors bearing anti-Israeli banners filed through clogged roads to converge on Tehran University from different points in the city to hear a speech marking Jerusalem Day from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"All Muslims, do not let your religion be carried on a coffin in the hands of Zionists!" said a leaflet handed out to participants while demonstrators ritually burned Israeli and US flags.
Another pamphlet described "the Palestinian issue and the story of the Holocaust" and contained excerpts from speeches on the issue by Ahmadinejad -- who had called the Holocaust "a myth" and predicted Israel's demise.
"My wish and my hope is that Palestine will triumph and Israel will be destroyed," said a civil servant, Salman Abbas-Nejad, 51, who brought an effigy of an Israeli soldier, dressed in uniform, to burn on the scene.
"The people of Israel can go back to their own countries," he added.
"This is Israel which has its tentacles on the Palestinian people," said Muharram Ali-Akbari, another civil servant pointing to an effigy of an octopus crowned with a Star of David, which he brought to the protest to be burned.
"The destruction of Israel is my wish and the triumph of the Palestinian people. They can go back to their homes in Europe," he said, recalling Ahmadinejad's own comments that Palestinians should not pay for events in Europe.
"I am here in order to tell the infidels that Palestine will be saved and both Israel and United States will be destroyed," said Batoul, a mother, carrying a placard emblazoned with "Death to Israel."
Thousands of children also attended the rally, brought by their parents or in groups with their teachers.
"I'm here to give moral support to the children of Palestine, so that they can defend themselves", said Mahdi, a 12-year-old schoolboy in the fifth grade, who had come with his class.
Protestors were also able to visit numerous stalls urging them to boycott Western companies with links to Israel. One pamphlet showed bullets with well-known Western brand names being fired at Palestinians.
They were also treated to a display by members of the Iranian roller-blading federation, who chanted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel" in chorus as they performed a choreographed routine.
State television showed similar protests being held all across the country, all punctuated by vociferous yells of death to the twin arch-enemies of the Islamic republic.
An initiative started by Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Jerusalem Day annually draws hordes of Iranians, including many government workers, to call for the holy city to be returned to the Palestinians.
It is also observed across the Islamic world. More than a thousand Iraqi protesters took to the streets of Baghdad and Basra to condemn Israel and demand that Jerusalem be returned to Palestinian control.
"No, no to Israel. No, no to America. Victory to the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine," they chanted, brandishing the banner of the Lebanese Shia militia "the Hizbullah", which fought a astonishing summer war with Israel.
Similar demonstrations were being organised in Beirut by the Iranian-backed Hizbullah, and in the Gaza Strip under the auspices of the three biggest Palestinian militia groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.