Let them solve their own problem
Let Arabs and Israelis resolve a conflict which has had little to do with Iran’s interests

Azita Pakravan
May 31, 2006
iranian.com

In recent conversations with Iranians, often highly educated, I have noticed a newly developed high level of sympathy for Palestinians and their suffering under Israeli occupation.  However, their empathy rarely extends to other cases of massive suffering, and I have yet to hear one Iranian mention the Darfur massacre, where 200,000 innocents have been killed and millions driven from their land by government-supported Moslem militias; or the killings of Moslems by Moslems in Iraq.  Neither did I hear any discussion in Iranian circles in the 1990s about the ethnic cleansing of the Bosnian Moslems by the Christian Serbs. 

Even closer to home, very few actually condemn the continual brutality of the Islamic regime against its own people, particularly students, intellectuals and journalist, such as the murder of  the Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi,  and the arrest of the husband  of human rights activist Mehrangiz Kar or more recently Prof. Jahanbegloo.

More disturbingly, I hear some praising the Palestinian suicide bombers without regard to the fact that most of their victims are innocent civilians, like the woman and her child who happened to be at a falafel stand at the wrong time.  At the same time, you don’t hear any condemnation of the killing of innocents bystanders (that could be any of us or our children) in the Madrid or Bali, or even the civilian deaths in Iraq at the hands of American military. 

Moreover, it is easy and hypocritical to support the Palestinians from afar, while clearly any Palestinian suicide bombing results in heavy Israeli retaliation and furthers Palestinian suffering. So ultimately, this cult of death and martyrdom is self-defeating.

The Palestinian problem has been around for many decades, and their suffering at the hand of Israelis, as well as Arab leaders such as the late King Hussein of Jordan, is well-documented.  So, where does the sudden interest come from?  Obviously, Ahmadinejad is exploiting the issue to the fullest to appeal to Arab and Islamic countries. However the Palestinian problem was never a priority for Iranians.

Let Arabs and Israelis resolve a conflict which has had little to do with Iran’s interests. If my fellow Iranians did some soul searching, I am sure that they would realize that their concern is plain hypocrisy, and in fact it most often masks their anti-Semitism and the hatred of Jewish people.  Listening to them talk about Israel and the Jews makes one think that they have been brainwashed by the likes of Ahmadinejad.

Any self-respecting human being cannot avoid condemning the Israeli government for its brutal treatment of Palestinians and the denial of their human and national rights. Moreover, the power of Israel and the Jewish lobby on American policy in the Middle East (with its disastrous consequences for the region) is also well-documented.  However, as Iranians and human beings, we have to condemn violence and hatred in any form shape or place.

We are proud of being Iranian, with a history of tolerance, and we should maintain that proud tradition. After all, the great Iranian prophet Zoroaster taught us to be good in deeds, words and thought. For the sake of or children and grand children, we should follow the precepts of Mahatma Gandhi, who said that “an eye for an eye makes the world blind.” 

Gandhi and Martin Luther King achieved their goals not through hatred, but through peace and non-violence.  There are already enough blind people in the world, we should not add to them with our inconsiderate words or deeds. In particular, we should not support or understand, or sympathize with any kind of violence, especially any that is directed at innocent civilians.