Gaza exploited by theocracy

international | anti-war / imperialism | other press Thursday January 22, 2009 17:21 by pat c

Despite their rhetoric the Iranian Mullahs witheld practical support from the Palestinian Resistance. Yassamine Mather reveals the extent of the Mullahs treachery. Full article at link.

There can be no doubts that over the last few weeks Tehran has used the most colourful rhetoric amongst Islamic states to ‘prove’ its support for Gaza’s Palestinian population. However Iran’s actions have, as always, failed miserably in matching its slogans. According to one commentator writing in last week’s Economist, “Iranian support for Hamas was more theatrical than practical.”

As late as December 2008 ayatollah Rafsanjani said: “If tanks enter Gaza, something amazing will happen. Palestinians will use new weapons and hunt [Israelis] from a long distance.” However, three days later, General Mohammad Jafari, head of Iran’s armed forces, stated that “Gaza does not need the logistic and military support of other countries to defend itself.” In early January ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said anyone killed defending Palestinians would be a martyr. Islamic student groups claimed that 70,000 signed up to go to Gaza. But when volunteers staged a sit-in at Tehran’s international airport, demanding to be allowed to travel to Palestine, they were told to go home.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including Mothers for Peace, and students involved in protests outside western embassies were arrested. Then Khamenei went on state television to tell the nation that Iranian hands were tied. In other words, despite all the rhetoric Iran’s Islamic regime was going to do absolutely nothing while over 1,400 Palestinians were being massacred.

Yet the theatrical posturings of the regime, combined with constant revelations about its secret dealings with Israel (eg, the arms trade, as exposed by Irangate, and more recently oil sales), has led many people, including sections of Iranian youth, to conclude that everything it says is lies - which has resulted in a degree of apathy towards the plight of Gaza. The Islamic regime’s religious propaganda, far from gathering support for the Palestinians, has created cynicism towards regional issues on the part of these youngsters. This can only help the imperialists and their allies.