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Upset

Palestine, Palestine, Palestine...
Palestinians did not fix my friend's car and told me off. Why should I worry about their cause?


January 14, 2006
iranian.com

TEHRAN -- ... Whenever I hear this word I quiver with anger and hatred -- and I have good reasons for it. Unfortunately there is no way to get rid of hearing or reading this name during the day. If you live in Iran you have to pass at least 20 city facilities a day with this name. Palestine street, Palestine square, Palestine high school, Palestine hospital, Palestine highway, Palestine this, Palestine that. Not only in Tehran but in all the 350 cities and hundreds of villages  across the country. Then comes the places named after Ghods [Jerusalem]. God knows how many buildings, streets, roads, schools, clinics, ... down to the farthest villages and backwoods in Iran is called by this name.

If you have enough nerves to watch or listen to the Iranian TV or radio, you will hear these names at least a hundred times a day. Some stupid Palestinian blew himself up and his family are celebrating or another Palestinian bastard threw some stones and now it is a good reason for the rest of Iranians to follow the news enthusiastically.

There is a particular day dedicated to Palestine in this country. The regime expects the rest of us to forget about the poverty and misery of our own people and  take to the streets and chant slogans in support of a bunch of terrorists. It is no secret to anybody that Iranian government give hundreds of millions of dollars to these Arab terrorist just to throw stones and explode bombs in market places. Just last week I took a relative to a hospital and witnessed the misery of people who could not pay for the galaxical fees of surgical operations. God knows how many people would get out of suffering with a million dollars.

Have you ever thought why there is not a single blind alley named after Iran in Gaza city after all these years of moral and financial support? Simply because PALESTIANS HATE IRAN AND IRANIANS.

Problem is that most Iranians have never met any Palestinian in their whole lives and cannot understand the depth of their contempt against Iran. I had to live in the United Arab Emirates for a few years and  It was quite a precious experience for me since I learnt where our country stands among other nations in the region and beyond.  I had always been curious to know the degree of Iranians' popularity among Palestinians regarding all these years of uncalled for support.

The very first encounter I had with a Palestinian in Dubai was with a young guy who came to the same cafe that I used to frequent. I don't know what happened but one day he sat at my table and we started to chat. The subject I don't remember but as soon as he understood that I am Iranian, his smile vanished, he said something in Arabic and left the place in a jiffy. I asked my co-worker about this behavior and recieved a smirk. " You are new here baby but you will learn things little by little. Palestinians hate Iranians."

I couldn't believe this but in a few weeks I heard many many stories like the one I had experienced and much worse. An Iranian gentleman told me he was treated so harshly by a Palestinian taxi driver when he asked to be taken to the Iranian hospital. I also heard about the persecution of Iranian businesses by the municipality of Sharjah whose municipality was in the hands of a Sheikh with Palestinian origin.

At first I thought the Palestinian grudge against our country is something related to financial things and social class. If you have lived in the Emirates you would probably know that a vast majority of Palestinians living there resort to inferior jobs such as cleaning and mopping the floor and at their best they would become taxi drivers and mechanics. You would rarely see a Palestinian businessman or importer. They have no place among the booming generation of educated technocrats in the fast growing industries and business there either.

As for the Iranians this is vice versa. A high percentage of lucrative businesses belong to successful Iranian business people. They possess a good number of multi-million dollar facilities in the UAE and specially in Dubai, ranging from shopping malls to five star hotels and even newspapers. Iranians are exclusive sales representative of the most important international companies like Mercedes Benz and BMW. Iranian professors are attracted to the growing education industry in Dubai and hundreds of Iranian computer wizards are competing with their Indian counterparts in cyberspace related jobs.

But social class was not the case for this hatred. After five years of living among Arabs now I know they feel no grudge against Iranians and their  feeling is pure enmity. You just have to meet Palestinians, try to be nice to them, at first hide your nationality and buy them a drink and then tell them you are from Iran. Then see for yourslef how their jaws are dropped and focus on their reactions.

My last encounter with a Palestinian was with a mechanic. My friend's car had problems starting so I went to the nearest garage whose workers were Palestinians. I went forward and asked for help and offered an extra fifty Dirhams if the guy came a hundred meters away to see the car. He shrugged and said he did not have time.

I reminded that he was just daydreaming before I came and he had no other car to attend to. He said he would not come and that was the end of it. I told him I was from Iran and we are brothers, and that was when he shouted back and said "FUCK IRAN... why do you think I am not coming with you. It's just because you are from Iran. You are no brothers to us and we don't need your God-damned support for our cause." These words still ring in my ears as if uttered a few moments ago.

A few weeks ago Iran's president travelled to Damscus and upon his arrival called Palestine "the center of Islam".  He spoke of the importance of the Palestinian cause and stressed the cause will not be materialized if occupiers continue to occupy even a tiny part of Palestine's territories. He stressed that unity, coordination and sympathy among resistance groups for the Palestinian cause is the only guarantee for Palestine's liberation. The Islamic Republic of Iran supports the Palestinian cause of statehood and liberation of Islamic territories from occupiers, he added.

I just imagined when Palestinians in their traditional tea houses gather and hear about this and tried to visualize their reactions and the words they would say afterwards. As an Iranian who has experienced the hostility of Palestinians I would never give a hoot for their ordeal or struggle. As far as I am concerned they can all go to hell.

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