The campaign that the Palestinian nation has begun, recently, is not a fight of an army against another army; so that one can say this army has this number of tanks; the other has that number of tanks; this one has more or the other does. It is a resistance made up of bodies and lives belonging to individuals who do not fear death. Any self-sacrificing young individual who stands against the Zionist regime threatens them like an army.
Answering this individual cannot be accomplished through tanks and missiles, aircrafts and helicopters! When a human--just one--is not afraid of death and is prepared to sacrifice himself for God and for his cause, he is the biggest threat for the unjust materialists. So you see, Americans at the highest level openly took stances against the young people who seek martyrdom. I say these deployments are ineffective. This eagerness for martyrdom is not based on feelings. But it is based on the belief in Islam: the Last Day and faith in life after death. Wherever Islam in its true form is present, there is a danger against the front of arrogance. The arrogant front would have to fight against Islam to dominate Palestine. Fighting against Islam is fighting against the Islamic world: this fight will not succeed!
Ayatollah Khamenei, June 4, 2002
