Proliferation of misinformation
Hate is not something "they" have and "we" don't

Nima Kasraie
November 1, 2006
iranian.com

I think hardly anyone nowadays would disagree that The United States does not ever go to war unless the idea of war is successfully sold to the public.

But since when has Journalism become a tool for selling war to the public? Since when has the mainstream media been integrated into a platform for justifying pre-emptive attacks on other countries? What foul stupidity has befallen the infowaves of this great nation of America?

Up until recent times, we had the likes of Daniel Pipes and Amir Taheri constantly trying to demonize Iran and Iranians in every possible way so as to prevent any infinitesimally minute possibility of a diplomatic detente between Tehran and Washington. That was and has been the norm of the day, and I could live with that. For if on one side we had these writers poisoning the wells of hope for any peaceful future in Iran, on the other side, it was hard to feel any sympathy for a system drowned with cronyism that rejects students and university professors merely because of their political beliefs. How can one feel any sympathy for a conservative establishment that continues to nibble away at civil liberties, mercilessly extinguishing any and all opposition under the pretext of religion?

Then on the other front, there were the masses of ill-wishers. Those advocating to "nuke Iran!" (NukeIran.com), or to "invade their countries and convert them to Christianity".[1] The likes of these lunatics were best left to their own devices. For even the stink of ignorance has a limit on how high it can rise.

But now, here we are in 2006, with no weapons of mass destruction found in Iraq, and the Gods of War are once again gearing up to sell yet another war to the American public, this time against Iran.

And how do you exactly do that? By publicizing the most outrageous sack of lies you can come up with against Iran. The bigger the lie, the better. As if we didn't have enough problems of our own dealing with a backward Akhondist regime that does not recognize civil liberties and pluralism, now we have these western cypher "pundits" openly advocating to destroy Iran altogether because "they are against our way of life".

Now I find it appalling that major think tanks such as The Heritage Foundation invite charlatans like Brigitte Gabriel to come and spew out a stinkbomb of lies on CSPAN-2, openly lobbying for the military destruction of Iran. (See video). What repugnant audacity for one to go behind a microphone and tell millions of Americans that "Iran is the biggest danger America now faces", and that "after Israel has been wiped off the map, Iran will follow through and have its eyes on America next". Oh really??!! And how the fuck did you figure that out? What nerve for one to compare Ahmadinejad to Hitler when top Zionist-Americans such as Martin Indyk (Executive Director of Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and former Ambassador of U.S. to Israel) call such comparisons inappropriate. [2]

And speaking of Hitler and Mein Kampf, it seems our Phalangist Lebanese pundit while wishing to categorize all muslims as hatemongers, ignores the fact that Hitler himself was a self proclaimed Christian, and justified his anti-Jewish views with Christianity.[3] This is Hitler in 1922:

"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter."  

Ms. Gabriel dismisses the recent intelligence reports that the war in Iraq has actually increased Islamic radicalism [4] saying that such radicalism was evident in Islam even before modern times. I guess Ms. Gabriel wishes to ignore that her Phalangist party was modeled after fascist organizations in 1936. [5] She is quick to point out atrocities carried out by Islmaic radicalists on her, dumping all the blame of violence in the Middle East entirely on muslims, but never mentions a word about her own kin's murderous actions. The infamous Sabra and Shatilla massacres were in fact carried out by these Christian Phalangists, not by Israel. [6]

Talk about the proliferation of misinformation. In her view, Iran should neither have a nuclear weapon nor a nuclear reactor, as she seems unable to tell the difference between the two. An actual education would go long ways to tell her that one does not necessarily lead to the other. Weapons grade Uranium is not the same as 3.5% enrichment. Not only that, she also seems to be unaware of, or intentionally hiding the differences between standard Shia doctrines and fringe ideologies such as the Hojjatiyeh. And she even openly claims that "Democrats are the allies of those who wish the destruction of America." [7] Seems Ms. Gabriel doesn't know about the cordial business ties between the Bin Laden family and some rather well known GOP leaders. [8] Oops.

It's interesting to note that Phalangism is an anti-Palestinian ideology which focuses on the primacy of preserving the Lebanese nation, but with a "Phoenician" identity, distinct from its Arab, Muslim neighbors [5]. And indeed, Ms. Gabriel, with her thick Arabic accent claims herself not to be Arab, calling Europe "Eurabia" for harboring large populations of immigrants.

If she has a problem with her own identity and heritage, that's fine with me. C'est la vie. But for her to come and openly advocate the destruction of Iran based on some personal enmity? That's crossing the line. Funny thing is, while her book is titled "Because they hate" [9], ironically, her speech invokes NOTHING but hatred and animosity for Arabs, Iranians, Turks, Islam, and muslim people in general, aimed at a Christian audience. And it doesn't matter whether or not some muslims have 100% pacific intentions or not. In her eyes, all are evil.

In our sad world, it is the likes of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Brigitte Gabriel that serve as the agents of polarization toward radicalization and continue to fuel the fire of this ugly war. It is precisely because of people like both Brigitte Gabriel and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that moderates never have a chance to work towards peace and understanding.   

Hate is not something "they" have and "we" don't. It is a universal tumor in the body of humanity, and should be condemned in all its forms and shapes.

References used:

[1]: FAIR: "Media March to War"
[2]: JTA: "Former envoy opposes Ahmadinejad-Hitler parallels"
[3]: EvilBible.com: "Hitler was Christian"
[4]: Herald Tribune: "Iraq war spawns Islamic radicalism, spy agencies say"
[5]: U.S. Department of the Army: "Phalange Parties"
[6]: Jewish Zionist Education: "Sabra & Shatilla, The Kahan Commission And Belgium"
[7]: Brigitte Gabriel, "Your World", 10/13/06
[8]: Oil Empire: "Bush-Bin Laden connections"
[9]: "Because they hate". St. Martin's Press. September 5, 2006