This article is a response to the comments (A Few Thoughts On “Israel and the Shia Threat”) written by Hadi Gholami Nohouji to the analysis “Israel and the Shia Threat”
Israeli soldiers walk next to their APCs after coming back into Israel from the Gaza Strip July 25, 2014. AMIR COHEN/REUTERS
Written by Dennis M. Nilsen exclusively for SouthFront
I am grateful to my South Front colleague Mr. Nohouji for responding to my latest piece on Israeli attitudes towards its Shia neighbors. I am in complete agreeance that we carry our prejudices into whatever we write, no matter the effort to contain them.
To speak in a general vein, with the points which he makes about Israeli and Iranian behavior and about the residue of foreign interference in the Middle East, chiefly by the British, I am in complete agreement. Allow me to address each point in turn.
That there have been no concretely-proven Iranian actions against Israel is true, and despite the widely-held opinion that the Sepah were behind the bombing in Buenos Aires, no proof has ever been presented to give a guilty verdict beyond a reasonable doubt. To reiterate my point, the Iranians lack the military capabilities of the Israelis (and their seemingly permanent backers, the United States) and so, if they intend to strike a blow it will be done via hybrid methods. Also, the Iranians possess centuries of foreign policy experience and, well practiced as they are in the art of statecraft, only act in the open when such a move will be in their best interest. Such a modus operandi is common to all wise counsellors who would rather see their plans inch forward year after year than see them laid waste by an act which gives short-term success but long-term failure.
On the contrary, Israel has conducted overt military strikes against Iraq and Syria, and, if the emails given out by Wikileaks about a joint Israeli/Kurdish special operations mission to destroy the Iranian nuclear program tell the truth, then the Zionist State has indeed attacked Iran.
His thinking about Iranian non-use of a nuclear weapon is also correct. If Iran did launch, what could their leadership possibly expect save a massive retaliation that would all but destroy the country? What could they possibly have to gain by such a move? It is actually a measure of great trust on the part of the Iranians that, despite Israel’s denial of their nuclear arsenal and refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty, they were willing to limit their program and to have it inspected by an international IGO.
Mr. Nohouji’s mention of the relatively peaceful coexistence of the Muslims and Jews in Palestine until the end of the 19th century is also correct. I did not think to mention this because it was too far off topic, but, yes, a policy of passive acceptance of the ruling power was held by all but a few Jews until the advent of Zionism in the 1880s, which very quickly got the backing of the British Government, who then made the fateful Balfour Declaration in 1916, sowing the fate of the territory. That the Zionists had undue influence within the British Government is well known, and one only needs to investigate who paid Winston Churchill’s bills in the 1930s to find this out. It has also been argued that the United States came into World War I on the side of the Allies because Zionist leaders, in thanks for Britain’s declaration of its commitment to a Jewish homeland, lobbied the American Government with such force and persuasion as to make Wilson believe that continued non-action would be morally untenable.
The reception of the Balfour Declaration prompted not a few far-sighted individuals to say that such a move would ensure everlasting enmity between the Muslims and the Jews. But when the US and Britain entered on Israel’s behalf from 1948 on, especially in the 1967 War, this state of affairs became permanent.
Certainly all Iranians are taught about the joint American/British coup against Mohammad Mossadegh in 1953, and I agree that its memory, coupled with British support for the Israelis, is an added element to the distrust of the Israeli government. The British Empire is by this time gone, but an unseen financial empire still remains, headquartered largely in London and New York, and it is this empire which the Ayatollah Khamenei often preaches against. The opposition of the resistance economy of Iran and the individualist-capitalist empire headed by the UK and Britain is one of the central subjects of Jean-Michel Vernochet’s book Iran: la destruction necessaire, an excellent read for a wider appreciation of this conflict.
I have not been able to verify Mr. Nohouji’s point on the jurist Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid’s scholarship on the limited guardianship of the jurist but did verify that he was a Shiite jurist in the 11th century.
In response to the point on Ayatollah Khamenei, yes, the Assembly of Experts can restrict and even depose him, but only candidates approved by the Guardian Assembly can stand for election to this body; further, members of the Guardian Assembly are chosen by the Ayatollah himself. So, while the 88 jurists who sit on it are not mere spectators, it can reasonably be argued that the thinking of its members is largely in line with that of Khamenei.
Lastly, I agree that Iran’s rhetoric would deescalate considerably should the Israelis withdraw from the occupied territories. Still, the control of Jerusalem by a Jewish state will always be anathema to the regime (if not to a majority of Iranians) and a source of irritation to the entire Muslim world. Such a move by the Israelis – again, all but impossible due to the disproportionate influence of the settler movement within their politics – would certainly calm the flames, but not put them out entirely. Conversely, the politics of Greater Israel has a not insignificant following in Israel, whose members see the settler movement as a plan to consolidate and eventually annex the West Bank. As long as the Zionist State exists as is, Palestine occupied or no, there will exist enmity between the two countries.
The Iranians are not myopic idealists, but they do realize that continued pressure on Israeli will hopefully lead to the pulling out of a wearied American state. They are also convinced – and I invite Mr. Nohouji to correct me – that the Western bloc is bent upon a regime change in Tehran, just as happened in Iraq. They are fearful that the Americans, in order to ensure a certain and inexpensive petrochemical lifeline, will continually pressure Iran in this fashion, hoping to undo the vela-ye fa qih either directly or indirectly through interior subversion; hence the efforts of the IRGC to counter cyber cultural warfare. Israel, which continues to have an extraordinary influence on American politics – due largely to American Evangelical Protestants and not American Jews, whose support has been waning in the last decade – is the other reason why the Americans are so tied to it.
A FEW THOUGHTS ON “ISRAEL AND THE SHIA THREAT”
The text below is Hadi Gholami Nohouji’s response to the analysis “Israel and the Shia Threat” written by Dennis M. Nilsen. It originally appeared at SouthFront on September 6, 2017.
A military truck carrying a missile and a picture of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen during a parade marking the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), in Tehran September 22, 2015. Raheb Homavandi/Reuters
Upon reading this piece which has as its main objective identify the rationale behind the increasing hostility of the Israeli leadership towards the Shia in comparison with the Sunni, I think it is necessary to make a few points about some of the issues in this article.
As an Iranian national and journalist I try to be as unbiased as possible and, to be honest, I did find the overall majority of the points in this article to be true and the analyst’s insight and information about the issues engaged are superb and nearly complete. Still, we all tend to be a little biased when expressing ourselves and in this case I believe this has also happened (I invite the author to challenge this thought if believes that I am in the wrong).
The first point is that although the Iranian is overtly hostile to Israel its hostility has not been translated directly into action and there haven’t been any direct actions on behalf of Iran against Israel. Many could point to the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires but it is important to remind them of the fact that the allegations are many and the concrete evidence of Iran having a hand in that are none.
Nevertheless Israeli hostility towards Iran has been translated into action as there are evidences pointing that Mossad was involved in the assassination of Iranian scientists from 2010 to 2012 while Tel Aviv Wikileaks confirmed in 2012 that part of Iran’s nuclear installations were destroyed or sabotaged by Israel and kurds.
Another thing to remember is that the Israeli leadership probably is aware of the fact that Iran, even if it were to attain nuclear weapons (which the JCPOA now ensures it won’t), will never launch a unilateral nuclear strike against Israel or any other country the simple reason being that in doing so Tehran would ensure its own destruction, which renders much of the rationale in favor of the isolation of Iran unsustainable (also it is important to take into account that Tel Aviv itself has an ample nuclear arsenal and doesn’t even allow inspections of its sites).
Surprisingly many analysts still have the mentality that acquiring a nuke is synonym to using it while they ignore that the use of a single nuke by Iran would assure international response against Tehran and would pave the way for the use of the same kind of weaponry on Iranian soil.
Another one of the important facts ignored in the text is the fact that the Muslims and Jews were living in harmony and without much problems in Jerusalem and the land of Palestine or Israel until late 1880s when the Jewish population of Europe and to some degree Middle East began to more actively discuss the prospects of a possible return to the land of Palestine which was largely as a solution to the widespread persecution of Jews, and anti-Semitism in Russia and Europe.
This and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 (with ample British support) and the subsequent annexes of territories were the major reasons for which we are facing this Arab-Israeli crisis of today (for sure the Palestinians and the neighboring Arab states themselves aren’t any less innocent in this issue).
That is why I think that Iran, itself victim of the Great Britain’s interventions in its own political issues (the Coup against the first democratically elected prime minister of Iran in 1953 in favor of a later on dictatorial dynasty), is much more sensitive to what identifies (correctly or mistakenly) as British plans to take over Middle East and control its resources which would explain the hostility towards Israel.
Also one should not forget that Israel was one of the major backers of the Pahlavi Dynasty that deprived the Iranian population of the much needed political and individual freedoms following the coup in 1953 and ended the country’s short lived first experience of a democratic system.
Still, it is true that religion plays a big part in the hostility of the Iranian leadership towards Israel but ignoring the other facts and variables that influence this attitude is a mistake that limits and does not show the big complete picture.
The last point that I do think that needs to be addressed is the fact that there has been talk about the vela-ye faqih at least since the 10th century CE, when Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid first talked about the “Limited Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist”, a limited version of what is actually being implemented in Iran.
Also, I have to remind the fact that the actual Vali-ye-faqih in Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, is supervised by the Assembly of Experts which means that the Vali-ye-faqih’s power is regulated through this council.
I do believe that even with all the problems and hostile rhetoric among Iran and Israel in the long run and if Tel Aviv ceases its occupation of the Palestinian land and ends discrimination against the Palestinians, then Tehran will have little reason to keep up its hostile rhetoric and there could be a de-escalation of tensions.
Dear Benjamin Netanyahu:
Bashar Assad is NOT his father. He wasn’t threatening you anywhere except in COURT for the golan heights! Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is NO LONGER president of iran… The vitriol of bombing israel from iran has dropped to the point that you RARELY hear about it(besides, they would rather go for saudi arabia first)…
That means Iran and Syria are both NO LONGER your enemies(or at the very least, a lesser threat)!
GROW UP!
The British and Americans working in conjuction got rid of the moderate and democratically elected President Mohammed Moussadeq in the 1950”s in a CIA engineered coup headed by Kermit Rooseveldt. The reason for this was Mossadeq’s plan to nationalise Anglo Iranian Oil Ltd (read BP) with its strangle hold over Iranian oil industry including the country’s largest oil refinery. This was also achieved with Zionist support from the City of London and from Israel (Chaim Weizmann, Golda Meir, Menachim Begin and David Ben – Gurion – all key members of Avriham Sterns infamous terrorist organisation “The Stern Gang”). Their choice sucessor, who would do what Britain and Israel wanted, was the Shah Reza Pahlavi. As they say the rest is history!
It is an illegal entity, it was settled by Jews that Europe did not want. There will never come a time when the Arab and Islamic world will embrace this European implant.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei:
♦ The great powers have dominated the destiny of the Islamic countries for years and… installed the Zionist cancerous tumour in the heart of the Islamic world. Many of the problems facing the Muslim world are due to the existence of the Zionist regime.
♦ Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei: The great powers have dominated the destiny of the Islamic countries for years and… installed the Zionist cancerous tumour in the heart of the Islamic world. Many of the problems facing the Muslim world are due to the existence of the Zionist regime.
♦ Today, America poses a threat to peace and security in the world. Therefore, the slogan “Death to America” is no longer used only by our people. Today, you see throughout the world people setting fire to the effigy of the American president and chanting the slogan “Death to America.” This is because of the American regime’s exaggerated demands, its arrogance, its vanity, and its desire to control, and because it is a pawn in the hands of the Zionists.
♦ Israel Is A Hideous Entity In the Middle East Which Will Undoubtedly Be Annihilated.
♦ Today, the Muslim world is injured and corrupt people who are the enemies of all Muslims are trying to cause disunity in the Islamic world by intensifying ethnic difference and separating people under names such as ‘Shia and Sunni’, ‘Arabs and non Arabs’.
♦ Western countries allow no freedom of expression, which they claim to advocate, with regard to the myth of the massacre of Jews known as the holocaust, and nobody in the West enjoys the freedom of expression to deny it or raise doubts about it. But affronting the sanctities of about 1.5 billion Muslims is permissible in the West.
♦ Iran’s stance has always been clear on this ugly phenomenon (Israel). We have repeatedly said that this cancerous tumor of a state should be removed from the region… No one will allow a bunch of thugs, lechers and outcasts from London, America and Moscow to rule over the Palestinians.
♦ [There is only one possible solution to unrest in the Middle East], “namely the annihilation and destruction of the Zionist state.
♦ From now on, in any place, if any nation or any group confronts the Zionist regime, we will endorse and we will help. We have no fear expressing this… The Zionist regime is a cancerous tumor that must be removed, and God willing it will be.
♦ The fake Zionist regime will disappear from the landscape of geography.
♦ The people who control America today make decisions like drunkards. They do not understand what they are doing at all.
♦ The only logical solution to solve the Palestinian issue is to hold free elections with the participation of Palestinians inside and outside the occupied territories and a recognition of the nation’s legitimacy.
♦ The great powers have dominated the destiny of the Islamic countries for years and… installed the Zionist cancerous tumor in the heart of the Islamic world… Many of the problems facing the Muslim world are due to the existence of the Zionist regime.
♦ The purchase of any item which helps strengthen Zionism is not permissible.
Thats pretty good, however there is nothing that says “Iran will attack israel”… And that is key to the rhetoric…
Nice try thou…
And to expand: north korea is about the only country that openly says they will attack someone, somewhere, somehow, almost daily…
The Zionist state is supported by America and its survival is totally dependent on America.
Yea, ok. Just about everyone already knows that scam? They have nukes… Anyways…. They want billions of dollars every year for fighting palestine. But yet can’t handle a few terrorists on their border with syria? >_>
Ken O’Keefe: ISIS = Israeli Intelligence Security Service
Partial transcript of the video – Ken O’keef speaking
If you really want to know what is happening with the Middle Eastern policy you must read Oded Yinon’s Strategy for Israel in the 1980’s”. In that document, which is pretty much being played out to a T right now and has been for many years. There were serious objectives for Israel and Israel’s main objectives were to expand and grow in line with the Greater-Israel project and in order for it to do that there would need to be an excuse to justify the expansion of Israel and in order to do that we would have to sow the seeds of sectarian hatred and violence in the region. The number one target of this plan was Iraq. We have achieved that, that is not a failure, that is actually a success. Iraq is a failed state, it is an absolute basket case, sectarian hatred is absolutely insane. It is all part of the plan to break up Iraq into three different states. When we look at Syria, we also find that the goal is once again the same thing: sow the seeds of sectarian hatred and basically turn that nation into a basket case. This is happening according to plan as well.
ISIS could stand for the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service. Many people are seeing big benefits to the “State of Israel”, the so-called “Jewish State of Israel” by the break up and the balkanization of the surrounding states,
Why has ISIS or Al-Nusra -Front or Al-Quaeda not once have they eve attacked Israel? In fact, ISIS militants are getting medical attention in the Golan Heights and in Israel itself. What does that tell you?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReOSGFyGWJI
Imam gave a speech in 2015
When ISIS attacks non-Muslims, they immediately blame Islam for it. I have no doubt that ISIS is motivated by an agenda run by the enemies of Islam – by the enemies of Islam. And I want to bring this to your attention: ISIS has targeted people:
• in Lebanon, • in Syria, • in Iraq, • in Kuwait, • in Saudi Arabia, • in Pakistan, • in Afghanistan, • in Yemen, • in Algeria.
The only place – the only place that has been completely safe and has never been threatened by ISIS nor has it been targeted is Israel. What does that tell you? It speaks out, it speaks volumes, that ISIS somehow is connected to Israel. And ISIS is playing the role of the arm of the Zionist in the Muslim world to kill more Muslims and non-Muslims so it can defame the name of Islam. So people can blame Islam for its atrocities so people will be alienated from this religion, a peaceful religion, our religion. Otherwise, who is benefiting from these atrocities? Are Muslims benefiting? When they are jeopardizing the fate of 6 millions in the United States. 20 million Muslims live in Europe. Their fate, their well being, their livelihood is being jeopardized by ISIS. Has Islam benefited? No! The number 1 beneficiary of all these atrocities – I tell you – is the Zionist. It is the Zionist regime. And unfortunately this is the fact that we need … we have not been able to make people understand. This is the fact that we need to tell the world that ISIS – no matter how they look, with long beards and robes, and Islamic slogans, shouting “Allah- Wa-Akbar” after every atrocity, after every crime they commit, that does not mean they are Muslims at all. These are the enemies of Islam and the enemies of the Muslim Umma who are bent on destroying the reputation of Islam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTvbEy3UnpM
ISIS attacked and killed thousands of Muslims. ISIS attacked and killed thousands of Christians. ISIS never attacked Jews – not even once! Is 2 + 2 still = 4?
Why some of us, writes the way we do is simple, is to cut thru the massive wall of bullshit and propaganda, and I hate nobody, racism is for me so far out mentally that I dont believe this narrative at all, but, what I do know, is that all this, can end tomorrow.
Why it dont end or isnt even an option, is clear, its an empire crunching everything in its paths, empires do that, and have done that since time immemorial, they crash by the same reason since time immemorial, humans never learn do we. When I have no problems with differentiate between whom is been f…. or not, by whom, just look around you, groups from all directions is somehow in union when it comes to wars, decades of wars, millions killed and more millions displaced, and yet, not an single word, other than an massive barrage of bullshit to have an bloody cause, like the war on terror, if there ever was an narrative we could agree upon is downright false, this is the one, and whom, again, is running the show.
The ugly truth is, someone have to give in, and Israel is the problem, and of course, the solution.
To then drag in consensuses is to me just that, air with no more substance than an bras fart. I dont even let my self be bothered with this accusations, when I know its They whom keeps the propaganda alive, why do people hate Islam when Islam is an peace full religion with crystal clear lines,
On top of it, nobody reads it, in fact nobody reads anything this days, and to then debate it, is downright meaningless, since the propaganda is their goal, not telling anything even remotely connected to truth. Empires create the reality, we have to follow, until that chain is broken we will never have peace.
Our problem begins and ends with the Joojos, we all know it, everything is an consequence of this.
I hope that even the dumbed down Hebrews awake, to the reality we all face, economic downturns, and so on to social unrest, poverty is rampant and inflation sky rocketing, welcome to the real world, and slowly Israel will die, by their own hands, wars never pay, no nation have ever benefited from prolonged war fares never have, an truth that have stood for eons, and when the uISISa finally implodes, then what Israel. Your present Gov. is an enemy of man, an mortal enemy of Jews, the certain death to Israel, all done by you, and the enemy within. No Palestinian, since they are alone, the cowardliness of humanity is so f…. obvious, where I measure everything they have said and intends to regarding the scam hey call humanism and justice, against what they actually and de facto is doing to help the Palestinian people, the thin red line few have crossed, and those few are hunted down this days, yeah, they are cumming after us, and I know they fully knows whom I am, I have beaten the shit out of them for decades, this “Norse” Breivik is one of the scums, an full blown “friend of Israel”.
That Nationalism bullshit was to camouflage the reason, the Palestinian state hood was on the agenda, and His friends run off to an Kibbutz in Israel.
But, no matter what, right now the world rests their future on the shoulders of an f….. idiot, the Trump, an thing I believed was an Man, ended up like an inflatable sex doll, used by everybody in or passing thru, the WH. Yeah, so nothing other than more wars is whats coming.
I dont say that to be pessimistic, and I hate dooms day sayers from the bottom of my hart, aka AGW, but the present yankikes leaves no room for other than more wars, the uISISa feeds on never ending wars, the sole reason for it all, Greed.
peace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQ1gHm8v3ek
What kind of gibberish is this….
Israel is in great denger and has to survive. I will explain why the Shiites are dengerous neighbours it’s because they have an obsession called Israel and in order to bring forth their Messiah they must attack Israel while Hizbullah and Khoemenine are planing to storm Israel in the next 10-years or so when they have developed and modernized their weapons.
Israel won’t be able to defend itself in 2030 technology wise nor have advantage over them considering how quick technology is developing. Their tanks don’t have superiority so for them there is no ground superiority. Only Air superiority and I don’t think they will have air superiority by that time.
In My opinion if Israel don’t act now it will be to late and they will one day find themselves completely invaded by Hezbullah who have surprisingly managed to gather ridiculously large militias from around the world in Syria and Lebanon.
Very good commentary. The great intriguer and architect of the mess we are now all facing in the Middle East is, without all doubt, the United Kingdom; otherwise known as Great Britain. The UK’s main objectives have always been the contnuance of its geopolitical control and the accumulation of economic power, despite the fall of the Empire. All the power in the UK rests in the City of London with the financial sector dominated by a few key players such as the Rothschilds, Barings, Hambro’s etc. These people call all the shots in the UK and the elected politicians are mere puppets doing what they’re told to do. The financial sector is dominated by British Zionists and other major family controlled international corporations based out of the UK. Britain is a major meddler in international affairs and is a major player in international conflicts. It’s sole aim is to retain its place as a major power and influence broker controlliing international events to its own advantage and especially those of its key power and financial players such as the Rothschilds.
Yes (((those))) city of london families need a one way ticket to israel from where they would be forever forbidden to travel anywhere else – they could all then together recieve their karmic debt in one blow.
You may ask yourself why the Jewish diaspora do not chose to live in Israel but prefer to concentratee themselves in the corridors of power in London, New York and Frankfurt. They’ve had their “promised land” since 1948 but interestingly do not choose to live there. The answers are of course obvious: they seek to control the planet at the power centres and influence politics, the economy and most of all financial markets. This they have done to everyone elses immense diasdvantage. The historic method of control has always been usery. They are the undoubted “Kings of Credit” and in my own view a scourge on the planet.
if Israel has WMDs then everyone gets WMDs if dont like it then disarm!
France, gave Israel the atomic bomb to spite the Anglo – Americans after the loss of their former colonies Syria and Lebanon. They posses their own arsenal of new and up to date nuclear weapons created at their Dimona nuclear complex. Rumour has it that they posses more than 200 bombs.
Rumor has it they have many ICBMs supplied by the US and nuclear bombs in all their embassies.
I don’t know; but I would not be at all suprised!
Iraq tries to build a Nuclear reactor (with help of the French) Israel bombs it! Why is Israel allowed to have these weapons and no other country can?
Iran is doing the right thing!
Fuck these Jews!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUZaR3op1qw&index=40&list=FL5a7exFGzl7wd0XBpwu7t_Q
Arab land was used to remove Europe’s hated Jewry. That was what it was all about.
The author mixes true and false information, just like his previous (the first one which Mr. Nohuji responded to). For instance, regarding the Guardian Council.which the author conveniently wrote false information about who chooses them: The Guardian Council has 12 member, 6 jurists selected by the leader and 6 lawyers who are elected from the list of lawyers that the head of Justice branch of the government offers to the parliament and the parliament members vote to elect. Not all of them are selected by one man.
Ashkenazi-Jews have been at the forefront of exterminating indiginoue tribal peoples for 800 years in mass. They decend from Northern-Turkey. They comitted the Holodomor and comitted another genocide of 27-million indigienous European tribal Japetic peoples between 1914-1952. That is where all of this comes from, and addressing this out in the open is how this will end.
https://i.imgur.com/9rbae8F.png
https://i.imgur.com/eNCw0eC.png
The Ashkenazi did not descend from Turkey but from Poland, Hungary, Ukraine,,,