by Abu Dharr (Guest Editorial, Crescent International Vol. 36, No. 5, Jumada' al-Akhirah, 1428)
OVERVIEWThe Islamic Uprising in Iran a quarter of a century ago is too important and too special for Muslims to simply watch it wander from its original and true course. We remember all too clearly the impact this breakthrough had on Muslims everywhere. For the first time in modern history, Muslims had risen against a corrupt government and its imperialist and zionist sponsors, and were able to take control of their own country, and begin to show the rest of us how things should be done. Of course, the road forward was not likely to be smooth. The sponsors of the Pahlavi regime could not be expected to sit and watch a people shape their own future on the basis of their Islamic faith and commitment. Throughout the last 25 years, America and Israel have been working to bring the Islamic government in Iran to its knees, with the support of their Western allies, Iran’s pro-Western neighbours and even supporters within Iran. Iran’s borders amount to some 8,000 kilometers; American troops are now based across six thousand kilometers of this border. This grim scenario has been gradually built over 25 years, and has passed almost unnoticed by most Muslims, and even most Iranians. There has never been any cessation of hostilities between the followers of the line of Imam Khomeini (r.a.), who refuse to compromise when it comes to the independence and sovereignty of the Islamic state, and the numerous other interests wanting to shape the state on their terms. Part of our object in this new column is to look at some of the gaps that have developed since the passing of Imam Khomeini (r.a.), many of which are rooted in earlier events, and how these gaps have caused serious problems about which we can no longer remain silent. But before we walk into this sensitive area, one point needs to be made absolutely clear. This is that none of the points we make are intended to express any criticism of Imam Sayyid Ali Khamenei, the successor to Imam Khomeini (r.a.) as Rahbar of the Islamic State. Many of the points we make will be highlighting natural processes in the evolution of post-Revolutionary state and society. Others will indeed involve criticism of errors and failures in Iran, mainly on the part of those who have been responsible for aspects of Iranian government and policy at the executive level. It was inevitable that such errors and failures should emerge over a quarter of a century in an unprecedented and highly-pressured historical situation; unfortunately they have contributed greatly to what many now see as the Islamic experiment’s current stagnation. Sometimes frank statements of truth can be bitter pills to swallow; we hope no-one will consider this column to be too bitter a pill. We say what we say only to express our honest understanding of the issues. If we are correct, we appeal earnestly to Allah to accept our humble words to our humble readers. If not, we request Allah’s forgiveness and correction from anyone able to do so; without, we hope, descending into personal issues or hidden agendas. Ameen. |
It would be wise to infer that the latest visit of Ehud Olmert, the prime minister of Israel, to Washington is meant to fuse zionist and imperialist objectives even further vis a vis Islamic Iran. We can read what the mainstream media, ever the servants of the imperial-zionist nexus, have left out of their reports; i.e., the top echelons of both the political and military establishments in Tel Aviv and Washington are finalising their plans for the only government in the world that is close enough to Israel to defy its expansionist schemes.
Bush, as obedient as any of his White House predecessor, is more than ready to foot the zionist bill and fight the zionist war. In his words: “I’m sure that we [Olmert and I] will find some time, also, to discuss other measures, such as the danger of Iran and the threats that come from the president of Iran, who talks time and again about the liquidation of the state of Israel, something that is totally intolerable and unacceptable... And we have to continue the measures taken in order to stop the Iranian efforts to establish unconventional weapons.”
In his talks to reporters the loyal zionist in the White House has said this about military strikes against Iran: “I will tell you this, that my position hasn’t changed, and that is all options are on the table.”
For the American Muslims who voted for “Bush 43” (i.e. for Bush as the 43rd president of the US) and for all Muslims who think that working with a taghut is the best way forward (politically or otherwise), for all the politically naive people who get their signals from the beach-front states of the Persian Gulf and their big brother Saudi Arabia, who are known to constitute a political family, to all these and the rest of the simple Muslims who are having difficulty in figuring out what to say and what to do when the American elections are upon them next year, to all these let us quote the president of the United States: “And I fully understand the concerns of any Israeli when they hear the voice of the man in Iran saying, on the one hand, we want to acquire the technologies and know-how to build a – enrich uranium, which could then be converted into a nuclear weapon, and on the other hand, we want to destroy Israel... Look, if I [president Bush] were an Israeli citizen I would view that as a serious threat to my security. And as a strong ally of Israel, I view that as a serious threat to its security — not only the security of Israel, but the security of the Middle East.”
Not to be outdone by her Republican rival, Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi showed her hand when dealing with the supremo from Tel Aviv: this is what she said in a verbal delivery of the whole US Congress to the visiting Israeli czar: “With the Republican and Democratic leaders gathered here, you [Olmert] see how strong the bipartisanship is for a great U.S. -Israelrelationship.”
It is nothing new to see how American “elected” officials fall over themselves to welcome and reassure the Israeli premier. No doubt Olmert basked in this official American confinement to the priorities and interests of the Israeli state.
Meanwhile, on the Islamic side of the issue is the Islamic State of Iran and the Islamic movement throughout the world. They do not have a superpower patron to run to in times of trouble. They do not have a “Washington” or “London” to turn to when a threat looms on the horizon. They do, however, have the Almighty to turn to, and that is precisely what committed Muslims have done by pursuing their programmes of confrontation with the zionist tumor that has grown within the heartland of Islam. Hizbullah and Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Islamic Resistance are on the immediate frontlines against the malignancy in Palestine. Islamic Iran’s programme to develop and acquire nuclear technology has to be regarded as a form of reaching for the help available from Him.
And why can’t the Muslims of the world go on the intellectual offensive and with one voice demand the de-nuclearization ofIsrael? Islamic Iran does not have a fraction of what zionist Israel has of nuclear technology. So why do we Muslims have to put up with Iran as a target and not Israel as a target? We have to step up to the plate and demand that there should be no nuclear weapons in an Israel that has been conceived by warfare, baptised by aggression, nurtured by chemical warfare, and bar-mitzvah’d with nuclear weapons of destruction. We can expect nothing from a UN that is spineless; nor await action from a Security Council that is set up and financed by Uncle Sam and his uncle Moshe. Whatever we want done we have to do ourselves.
The officials in Washington and Tel Aviv pay scant attention to statements such as the following one made by Agha Javad Zarif, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, in a letter to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon last month, in which he said: “I wish to inform you that, emboldened by the absence of any action by the Security Council, various Israeli officials have unabatedly continued to publicly and contemptuously make unlawful and dangerous threats of resorting to force against the Islamic Republic of Iran...” It is a good try, Agha Javad, but the crosshairs of the West’s weapons are set on Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Lebanon and Occupied Palestine. It is said more frequently now than before, that the US and Israel are finalising an “Iran strike plan”. A third USsuper-carrier taskforce is headed towards the Persian Gulf. The talking chambers of the UN are becoming irrelevant; the real action is about to unfold on battlefields all over the Middle East. The glories of the wars of al-Yarmuk, Hittin and ‘Ayn Jalut aresoon going to repeat themselves, insha’Allah.
Hizbullah and Hamas are showing us the way. True, there are some “Islamic” types who have sold their souls to the political devil, but this is not going to obstruct us in our duty. The acts of terror that have flooded Algeria in the name of Islam, and the acts of terror that are flooding Iraq today in the name of Islam, will not prevent us from pursuing our life-long and historical mission of beating out and overcoming the twin evils of zionism and imperialism.
In a way, ironic as it is to admit it, we should be grateful to zionism and imperialism for beginning the task of militarising the Muslims as nothing else we know of could have. The universal aversion and hostility to these two satanic forces would not have been possible without the usurpation and occupation of Palestine and the hundreds of American and European military bases and diplomatic missions that have been imposed upon 1.8 billion Muslims.
It is impossible to reason with the forces of exploitation, aggression, occupation and genocide. This elementary lesson seems to be too much for politicians and diplomats to learn. That is why our object-lessons and deterrent examples now come from Hizbullah and Hamas, and not from Baghdad or Islamabad.
This may turn out to be a very hot summer. Already there are signs of a possible escalation of combat in Ghazzah and probably in other areas of Palestine. For the zionists and their imperialist guards this is a lose-lose situation. The more the zionists fight the Muslims the more committed Muslims are recruited into the ranks for this impending war. The less the zionists fight the committed Muslims the more the zionist ranks are disillusioned and willing to abandon ‘their’ land of ‘Aliyah (i.e. Greater Israel).
Let history take its course. After it, humanity will find out whether God is tribal and prejudiced in favour of one race, or whether He is universal, all-merciful and just.
Abu Dharr.
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