Posted on 11/03/2023 1:32:13 AM PDT by Cronos
Iran’s clerical establishment has championed the Palestinian cause for decades and refused to recognize Israel.
But there is little public support for the Palestinian struggle for statehood in Iran -- a mainly Shi’a Muslim, Persian-speaking country in the predominately Sunni Arab Middle East.
Instead, many Iranians have criticized the authorities for backing Palestinian armed groups fighting Israel, with some even expressing support for Tehran’s archenemy.
The ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict has provoked pro-Palestinian street protests across the Middle East. But in Iran, public displays of solidarity have been largely limited to state-sponsored rallies.
“At the popular level, there is little connection between Iranians and the Palestinian cause,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Chatham House in London. “This is not because people don’t feel for Palestinians, but because ordinary people are more broadly opposed to the government's regional policy.”
Under the U.S.-backed shah of Iran, Tehran had friendly ties with Israel. But since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Iran has been sworn to Israel’s destruction.
Over the past four decades, Iran has formed the so-called “axis of resistance” against Israel and provided financial and military backing to armed groups, including Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Lebanese militant group Hizballah.
'Nothing But Misery'
In the wake of Hamas’s multipronged attack in Israel on October 7, which left more than 1,400 people dead, Iranian officials were in a celebratory mood. In Tehran, the authorities erected billboards that heralded the beginning of "the great liberation" of the Palestinian territories and the demise of Israel. Iranian officials denied the country had any role in the assault.
On October 13, state-organized protests were held across Iran in support of the Palestinian people and against the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where over 6,000 people have been killed, according to local authorities.
That has been in stark contrast to the reaction of the public in Iran, where many oppose Tehran’s funding of regional proxies fighting Israel.
Many complain that the authorities should be using those funds to address the deepening economic crisis in Iran, which has witnessed soaring inflation, rising unemployment, and growing poverty in recent years.
Iran’s support of militant groups -- some of which have been designated as terrorist groups by the West -- has also made Tehran an international pariah and the target of crippling U.S. sanctions.
“Iranians largely detest the regime's foreign policy for the simple reason that it has brought them nothing but misery, international isolation, and economic difficulty,” said Arash Azizi, author of The Shadow Commander: Soleimani, The U.S., And Iran's Global Ambitions.
“They are also aware that the regime is not supporting the 'Palestinian cause' per se but Islamist terror groups, which makes this even less popular among most Iranians,” added Azizi, who is a senior lecturer at Clemson University in the United States.
During antiestablishment protests in recent years, demonstrators have chanted, “Leave Palestine. Think about us instead,” and, “No to Gaza, no to Lebanon, may my life be sacrificed for Iran.”
“For decades now and especially during protests, when chants are heard on the streets of Iran, Iranians have shown their frustrations with the government's dispersal of funds to foreign causes rather than domestic ones,” said Vakil of Chatham House.
Solidarity With Israel
Some Iranians on social media have expressed support for Israel, which is home to tens of thousands of Jews of Iranian descent. Iran also has the largest population of Jews in the Middle East outside of Israel.
“Many Iranians show solidarity with Israel because they want to show that they don't share the regime's anti-Israel and anti-Semitic line,” said Azizi. “They also see the anti-Israel direction of the regime as being dangerously isolating to the country.”
On October 20, thousands of soccer fans booed during a minute of silence for the people of Gaza before a game at Tehran’s Azadi Stadium, the largest sports stadium in the country.
During an October 8 soccer game at Azadi Stadium, the fans of Persepolis FC protested the presence of Palestinian flags at the venue and chanted, “Stick your Palestinian flag up your a**!”
Meanwhile, prominent Iranian activists and intellectuals have spoken out against the high toll of Tehran’s confrontation with Israel.
Sadegh Zibakalam -- a Tehran-based university professor -- said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Iranian officials and lawmakers have demonstrated “clear and public support for Hamas’s attacks” in Israel.
“How do these attacks serve the interests of the Iranian people?” he asked.
Atena Daemi, a human rights activist and former political prisoner, said on October 8 that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the elite branch of the armed forces, was “responsible for all of the unrest in the region by arming and strengthening militias and terrorist groups.”
The Quds Force, the elite overseas arm of the IRGC, is responsible for Iran's military and clandestine operations abroad and oversees the country’s network of pro-Iranian militant groups in the region.
“How do these attacks serve the interests of the Iranian people?” he asked.
“Especially when we can get somebody to do it for us.”
Does the Iranian leadership GAS about what the "people" think?
Persians think Arabs are dogs!
Iranians have shown their frustrations with the government’s dispersal of funds to foreign causes rather than domestic ones,”
.....
Sounds familiar.
Reads: But there is little public support for the Palestinian struggle for statehood in Iran.
Should read: But there is little public support in Iran for the Palestinian struggle for statehood.
Good news
I believe Iran is hesitant to commit to a war on Israel out of concern for its own domestic security. And does the resistance to the authoritarian regime extend to the military? How real is the possibility of a coup or mutiny? Is the Mossad the only intelligence agency that is assessing the situation? Are we paying attention at all?
The very same is what the US, UK, and EU are doing in Ukraine.
proxy war
“Persians think Arabs are dogs!”
The Iranian born surgeon that did my septoplasty hates being called an Arab. He insists he is Persian. The first time I saw him I asked where his family came from. When he said Iran I said he was Persian. His face lit up. We had a nice chat about the shortcomings of those Arab people.
EXACTLY
People actually think they have a voice. How quaint.
The Hamas debacle is a tremendous strategic defeat for Iran.
The world and especially the Arab countries that matter have not joined the condemnation of Israel. The world has not risen up to support Hamas and “the people of Gaza”. There are no mass demonstrations in Abu Dhabi or Cairo or Riyadh. Egypt is guarding the Gaza border permitting none to leave and carefully controlling what is being allowed to enter.
The usual whining from the Europeans is absent. The Europeans have deserted the Gazans.
The Iranian ambit to destroy the growing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia has failed. President Trump’s Abram accords is prevailing.
Hamas is being obliterated as the world silently applauds.
“For decades now and especially during protests, when chants are heard on the streets of Iran, Iranians have shown their frustrations with the government’s dispersal of funds to foreign causes rather than domestic ones,”
Sounds familiar
The Arabs as a whole, want NOTHING to do with the “palestinians”... they are literally the white trailer trash equivalent in the Arab world.
They are basically good enough to rile up, give weapons to to kill Jews, and be cannon fodder, but that is it. There is a reason no Arab country will take them or wants them.
See post 15.
“Egypt is guarding the Gaza border permitting none to leave and carefully controlling what is being allowed to enter.”
Post 15 explains why they won’t let them leave.
The fact Israel has made it quite clear they will destroy anything coming in, and those that bring it in, is why nothing is being allowed in by Egypt. Egypt does not want open war with Israel... don’t get me wrong, if somehow Iran nuked Israel there is little doubt a decent segment of the Egyptian population would be dancing in the streets, but the government knows full well they have no chance militarily against Israel, and know full well, Israel will make good on its threats.
Egypt is a party to the Abrams accords that is a coalition of Arabs that matter and Israel against Iran
Iranians aren’t Arabs.
what you wrote about “arabs as a whole” is true though
Let’s hope this continues with the fall of the Ayatollahs
Dmm Obama for not standing with the Iranian people in 2009.
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