NGO Monitor: Human rights, European money and the ICC wars
The Palestinian campaign to “bring Israel to the dock” at the International Criminal Court (ICC) did not suddenly arise out of “frustration” at the failure of the peace talks, the setback at the UN Security Council, or other recent events.INSS: Legal and Political Observations on the Defeated Palestinian-Jordanian Draft Resolution
Rather, the strategy was explicitly adopted during the negotiations of the Rome Statute that led to the establishment of the ICC, and has been moving steadily since then. In 1997, towards the end of this process, the members of the Arab League pushed through language inventing a new war crime to ostensibly cover Israeli settlements. The purpose was clearly to prepare the grounds for exploiting the ICC for “lawfare” to target Israel.
Since then, this legal war has proceeded step by step, led by a powerful army of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), largely funded by European governments under the façade of human rights and international law. While the exact amounts and NGO allocation processes in the European Union under frameworks such as the EU Instrument Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) are top-secret and exempted from Freedom of Information laws, the annual total for anti-Israel campaigning related to this warfare is estimated at approximately 100 million euros. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
While calling for total withdrawal from all the territories, including East Jerusalem, the Jordanian draft does, however, refer to the possibility of "mutually agreed, limited, equivalent land swaps," a proposal not included in the Arab League initiative.Daniel Gordis: Palestinians Still Don't Want a State
Along with the artificially rigid timetable and the call for total withdrawal, the Jordanian draft proposes that the Arab refugee problem be resolved on the basis of UN General Assembly Resolution 194 (III). Like the Arab League initiative, the Jordanian draft thus indirectly tries to introduce the so-called “right of return” as a condition of negotiations. When Resolution 194 was passed in December 1948, all the Arab states voted against it, and there is no reference to this resolution in UN Security Council Resolution 242, nor in the 1978 Camp David Agreement with Egypt, the 1979 Peace Treaty, the Israel Jordan Peace Treaty, or even in the Oslo agreements with the PLO. It is thus an attempt to introduce an element that is completely unacceptable to Israel and had in fact been quietly abandoned in all the agreements with Israel.
In voting against the draft, the US was not only expressing its political displeasure but was also fulfilling its obligation as part of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, where the US reaffirmed its commitment to "oppose and, if necessary, vote against any initiative in the Security Council to … change Resolutions 242 and 338 in ways which are incompatible with their original purpose."
Abbas was much better off with the proposal dying an ugly death because the defeat enables him to use the ICC to indict Israeli soldiers, a move bound to infuriate Israel and rile up the Arab street rather than lead to negotiations.
Nothing sums up the Palestinian street better than comments made by Mahmoud Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas and still a member of its leadership, this week. “This Palestinian resolution is catastrophic and has no future on the land of Palestine,” he said. “The future belongs to the resistance. We will continue to work to liberate all the land and achieve the right of return for Palestinian refugees. Hamas will not accept anything less than all the lands that were occupied in 1948.”
For decades, the Palestinian leadership has preferred conflict to statehood. When the UN voted on Nov. 29, 1948, in favor of the Partition of Palestine (and thus in favor of the creation of a Jewish State), the land allocated to Israel was home to 500,000 Jews and 450,000 Arabs. It barely had a Jewish majority. With the demographics almost equally balanced, birthrate differentials and the ease of encouraging Arabs from nearby lands to immigrate to this new state, Arabs could quickly have tipped the scales and created an Arab majority. There would have been two Arab States and no Jewish State.
But in 1947, the Arabs attacked Israel instead. The rest is history. If last week’s events are any indication, nothing much has changed.
John Bolton: The UN Vote on ‘Palestine’ Was Just a Prelude for Things to Come
Washington cast the only permanent member’s “no” vote, which is characterized as a veto only when nine or more Security Council members vote in a draft resolution’s favor. Will President Obama now have the stomach to cast a real veto against a U.N. Charter majority backing the Palestinians? Is this the point where the “liberated” Mr. Obama allows a harsh anti-Israel resolution to pass? Happy New Year, Jerusalem.Obama Admin Indirectly Encourages Palestinian Unilateralism
Among the nonpermanent members, the prospects are grim. Three “yes” votes came from Jordan, Chad and Chile, which all remain Security Council members in 2015. Two additional supporters, Argentina and Luxembourg, have been replaced, respectively, by Venezuela (no suspense there) and Spain. Spain narrowly won election in October, defeating Turkey after three ballots. Madrid might be expected to support Washington, but not necessarily, given recent EU hostility to Israel and the appeasers’ argument to soothe wounded Muslim feelings about Turkey’s loss by backing the Palestinians.
Only Australia joined the U.S. in voting “no.” Its successor, New Zealand, would either have abstained or voted affirmatively, according to Foreign Minister Murray McCully.
South Korea abstained, but its replacement, Malaysia, is a certain affirmative vote. Angola, taking Rwanda’s seat, is an abstention at best. While abstainers Lithuania and Nigeria remain, Nigeria’s Boko Haram problem could easily move it to “yes” as an olive branch to the Muslim world. And Lithuania, as a new member of the euro currency union, could well succumb to arguments for EU solidarity, especially if Britain also surrenders.
Finding nine affirmative votes, and likely even more, looks decidedly easy. The Obama administration can only prevent what it dreads by openly embracing a veto strategy, hoping thereby to dissuade pro-Palestinian states from directly confronting the U.S.
Shortly before the American-sponsored talks tanked last year, Obama dropped one of his not-so-subtle hints that Israel better make peace to Jeffrey Goldberg. Goldberg summarized it, “The U.S., though willing to defend an isolated Israel at the United Nations and in other international bodies, might soon be unable to do so effectively.”U.S. Lawmakers Warn Abbas Against Unilateral Palestinian Moves
Predictably, a month later Abbas, according to Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni, torpedoed the talks by refusing to accept an American framework agreement, signing on to fifteen international conventions and then agreeing to a unity government with the terrorist group, Hamas.
There is no way to sugarcoat this. President Obama since he was inaugurated 2009 has made it clear that it is Israel’s responsibility alone to make peace. Palestinians have no obligations. With this free pass from the American government Abbas has done exactly what you would expect. He has doubled down on his unilateral efforts and continued to sabotage the peace process.
A Palestinian gambit that saw Ramallah apply for membership in the International Criminal Court was met with swift criticism from U.S. lawmakers, who threatened repercussions for the Palestinian Authority (PA) following President Mahmoud Abbas’ Wednesday announcement. The bid puts the PA in violation of U.S. legislation that conditions aid – which amounts to some $400 million per year – on the Palestinians meeting long-standing treaty requirements forbidding unilateral moves that upgrade their international status outside of negotiations with Israel.Israel Agrees: Time to Call Abbas’s Bluff
Veteran Associated Press diplomatic correspondent Matt Lee on Friday afternoon quoted a U.S. official saying that “[i]t should come as no surprise that there will be implications” as a result of the Palestinian bid. State Department spokesperson Jeff Rathke on Wednesday released a statement calling the Palestinians’ move “entirely counter-productive” and one that “does nothing to further the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a sovereign and independent state.” Foreign Policy noted that the statement from Foggy Bottom was “likely to pale in comparison to the reaction from Congress, which has long threatened to impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority if it pursues membership in the court.”
It was for those reasons that the Israelis have always sent mixed messages about U.S. aid to the Palestinians. On the one hand, they wanted the Americans to try and hold the Palestinians accountable for their commitments. But whether or not those efforts were successful, they never wanted the plug pulled on the aid for fear of causing the PA to collapse, something that would create a mess that the Israelis would be forced to clean up.US Slams Freeze on PA Tax Revenues
Since all these factors still apply, what could be motivating the Israelis to change their tune?
The key reason is that by blowing up the latest U.S. attempt to negotiate peace with an end run to the UN and its affiliated agencies, the Palestinians have come to believe they can conduct a diplomatic war on Israel with impunity. So long as the PA thinks it can keep receiving the subsidies it gets from the U.S. and the rest of the West without keeping their commitments, there will never be any motivation for them to make peace. Worse than that, if they are not held accountable for a strategy based on perpetual conflict, Abbas and his crew won’t be deterred from further efforts to foment terror against Israelis. Rather than the aid buying a modus vivendi and a low level of violence if not peace, its continuance has had the opposite effect in that the PA thinks it has a blank check to avoid peace and the freedom to carry on the conflict in any manner it chooses.
The United States said Monday it opposes a move by Israel to freeze the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority in retaliation for its bid to join the International Criminal Court, AFP reports Monday.Who Derailed Middle East Peace? Ross and Obama Should Look in the Mirror.
"This step is one that raises tensions as others do," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, referring to the freeze on revenue transfers to the Palestinian Authority.
Ross deserves credit for mentioning some facts that are almost never mentioned in either the news or opinion pages of the Times. Namely, that the Palestinians rejected three clear offers of peace and independence in 2000, 2001, and 2008 that would have given them a state in almost all of the West Bank, a share of Jerusalem, and Gaza. The first two were turned down flat by Yasir Arafat while his successor Mahmoud Abbas fled the negotiating table rather than be forced to give an answer to the third. He might have added that Abbas refused to discuss a U.S. framework along the same lines in 2014 and blew up those talks that had been painstakingly nurtured by Secretary of State John Kerry.Failing Negotiation 101: The United States
But in discussing the Europeans’ foolish insistence on backing a Palestinian diplomatic gambit whose only purpose is to avoid peace negotiations rather than jumpstart them, Ross ought to mention the sorry history of U.S. diplomatic efforts that were based on the same wrongheaded premise.
The process was doomed from the outset because Secretary Kerry deliberately ignored Negotiation Rule 101: negotiations between parties that can deliver. A negotiation between parties without authority is meaningless. A person without authority or control could theoretically promise anything – but deliver nothing. That was precisely what Secretary Kerry insisted upon when he pushed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate with a straw man named Mahmoud Abbas.3 east Jerusalem men convicted of planning terror attack on Jerusalem wedding hall
Abbas has no mandate. Mahmoud Abbas was elected to a four year term as president of the Palestinian Authority in January 2005. After his term expired in January 2009, no new elections were held. He no longer has a mandate.
Abbas has no backing. The reason that no new elections for the PA have been held is that everyone knows that Abbas and his Fatah party would lose. One year after Abbas won the presidency, his Fatah party was trounced in legislative elections. Hamas won 58% of the parliament. Every poll taken since then has shown that Abbas would lose in a presidential election.
Abbas has no control. Gaza, with its population of 1.7 million people, is under complete control of Hamas. Hamas routed all PA forces in 2007 and Abbas has no ability to control any activities from the region. Hamas controls thousands of missiles which it fires at Israeli population centers with or without Abbas approval. Therefore, what “peace” can Abbas deliver?
Anas Ouisat, Basel Abidat and Ahmed Sarur were convicted with not only conspiracy to commit a felony, but conspiracy to commit a felony in aid of an enemy during war.IDF Blog: Airborne Rescue and Evacuation: Unit 669 Celebrates 40 Years
The men had fought the second more serious charge to no avail.
Ouisat and Abidat decided in December, based on nationalistic motivations, that they would carry out an attack against civilians in Jerusalem and in coordination with terrorist groups.
Ouisat suggested a shooting attack on the Nof Yerushalayim hall because there could be many casualties (800 to 1,500 attendees), and because he had worked there.
They planned to enter the hall dressed as ultra-Orthodox Jews, with mini-Uzi guns under their clothes, and they obtained an estimate of NIS 50,000 from a weapons dealer.
Did you know: one of the IDF’s greatest units – Unit 669 – was originally comprised of only 12 soldiers? Back in 1974, soldiers and offices were conscripted into the unit because no one joined it voluntarily. Nowadays it is one of the most difficult units to be a part of and it has successfully completed countless rescue missions. Here is a look back on how it all started.Mortar warning system said to be 3-6 months away
During the very first hours of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, IAF pilot Ishai Ktsiri’s plane was shot down and he was forced to eject. Ishai was wounded, but still very much alive. Soldiers from theArmored Corps reported the location of the pilot so that the Sayeret Matkal, the IDF special forces unit, could find and rescue him. Unfortunately, the Sayeret arrived too late and Ishai was taken captive as a prisoner of war.
Throughout that war, the Israeli Air Force lost more than 100 aircraft during combat and many pilots were taken captive. Reports and analysis later showed that the IDF had only a slim chance of rescuing ejected pilots behind enemy lines during the war. Facing these facts, Benny Peled, a former IAF commander, decided to form a new extraction unit, Unit 669.
An alarm system that will detect incoming mortar fire will be installed in Gaza border communities within three to six months, Channel 10 reported Sunday.Iran’s Plan to Wreak Havoc on Israel With Missiles
The system, which is currently in development, will give residents of southern communities near the coastal enclave a five-second warning, but will not be able to intercept the shells.
During the summer’s 50-day conflict, the Iron Dome system successfully shot down hundreds of projectiles, but it is not equipped to knock down the small, short-range mortar shells.
Mortars proved to be one of the deadliest means of attack, claiming the lives of 10 IDF soldiers in one week, as well as several Israeli civilians, including 4-year-old Daniel Tragerman, during the conflict.
Since the end of the summer war between Hamas and Israel, Iran has openly supplied advanced missiles to its surrogates in the region without a word of condemnation from the West.Jerusalemites stock up on supplies ahead of blizzard
As expressed by Supreme Leader Khamenei during the International Congress on Extremist and Takfiri [apostasy] Orientations, “We have passed through the barrier of denominational discord. We helped Hezbollah (Shia)…in the same way that we helped Sunni groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.” Of course, few things unite disparate Muslims more than hatred of Israel.
Ahmad Bakhsharyesh, a member of the Iranian National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, emphasized the belief that in arming the areas contiguous to Israel, a blow has been struck against Israeli security. He also argued that through encirclement, Iran has forestalled any Israeli effort to attack Iranian nuclear facilities. Khamenei has noted that in bolstering the missile arsenals of Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel’s security will be challenged and “the liberation of Jerusalem – which is the duty of every Muslim” will be achievable.
Moreover, the Fateh-110 Missile, developed in Iran, has sufficient range to strike at every target in Israel – from the north to the south. While Iran has been engaging in nuclear negotiations in Geneva and Vienna, its arms industry has been working overtime to develop advanced offensive rocket capability and has made it part of its military planning to place these upgraded weapons in the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah.
Israel was bracing on Tuesday for a major winter storm, with Jerusalemites making runs to local supermarkets to stock up on dairy products, water, canned goods, oil, and flour. Some supermarkets in the capital saw their supply of water and fresh meat run out on Tuesday.PreOccupied Territory: Israel Bracing For Storm Of “So Much For Global Warming” Remarks (satire)
The Shufersal chain saw a spike in purchases in recent days at its Jerusalem and Safed branches, as did Rami Levy supermarkets in Jerusalem and the Etzion bloc, the Walla news site reported.
“We are talking about a growth of 250 percent percent from an average weekday,” said Rami Levy, head of the eponymous chain. “People are buying everything, but primarily meat for Shabbat, baby products, and drinks, especially mineral water. They are afraid of being stuck without food on Shabbat, and are buying enough to last even till Sunday.”
Levy told Walla that his branches would remain open during the storm.
The Israel Meteorological Service was predicting Tuesday morning that as of Wednesday afternoon, comments questioning global warming would begin to increase, reaching their peak overnight Thursday. A secondary storm of such expressions of scientific ignorance is possible Friday and into Saturday, in which case, says the IMS, the remarks may accumulate to unprecedented levels.Power company prepares to cut supply to PA
To prepare for that eventuality, local officials and representatives of various government ministries have issued warnings advising people to equip themselves with the requisite scientific knowledge to handle the storm of ignorance. Key among the toolkit, say the officials, is actual understanding of the mechanics of global warming. “Climate change does not mean it never gets cold again, or even that it never gets as cold as it ever got,” explained Ministry of the Interior spokesman Itze Gruenhaus. “It means that the median annual temperature for a given area will be higher. As polar icecaps melt and more moisture enters the atmosphere, greater instability will occur, and we’re likely to see more extreme weather, including snaps of even more extreme cold and more frequent snowstorms than we’ve become accustomed to.”
In fact, he added, the occurrence of major snowfall in Israel three winters in a row demonstrates the validity of the climate change prediction model, but preconceived notions governing the issue, which has become primarily political, govern most people’s reaction to the weather.
The Israel Electric Corporation CEO Eli Glickman warned Israel's security chiefs in a letter sent Sunday that the company would have to limit electricity to territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority and the Jerusalem District Energy Company (JEDCO) – which buys electricity from Israel and sells it to various cities in the West Bank – because of a debt totalling NIS 1,700,843,315.Palestinian Authority Arrests Son of Infamous Hamas Bombmaker
The letter was addressed to National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen, Shin Bet Chief Yoram Cohen, Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai, Head of the Operations Directorate of the IDF Maj.-Gen. Yoav Har-Even, and Police Commissioner Maj.-Gen. Yohanan Danino.
Glickman requested that they raise alertness in the forces they led, on both an operational and intelligence level, out of concern that limiting the power supply could lead to various responses by the Palestinian population.
Palestinian Authority security officers arrested Bara Ayyash, the son of the deceased Hamas terrorist Yahya Ayyash, on Sunday evening.Hamas leader Mashaal said deported from Qatar
Bara’s mother claimed her son has been arrested several times on suspicion of incitement against the Palestinian Authority on Facebook.
Bara’s arrest took place a day before the 19th anniversary of his father’s assassination. Yahya Ayyash was one of the founders of Hamas’ military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and was nicknamed “The Engineer” for his ability to produce improvised explosive devices.
Ayyash was assassinated on January 5, 1996 when a booby-trapped cell phone he had been covertly given detonated when he answered it.
Qatar has deported Hamas political leader Khaled Mashaal after hosting him for the past three years, Israel’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.Egypt to expand Gaza buffer zone to up to 2 kilometers
The move, first reported by a Turkish newspaper on Sunday, was swiftly denied by an official from the Islamist group.
According to a report in left-wing Turkish newspaper Aydınlık, Qatar has faced significant pressure from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to deport Mashaal, amid a diplomatic reconciliation process currently underway between the small Gulf state and the Arab world.
According to CNN, citing a Hamas-run news agency, Mashaal and other Muslim Brotherhood members were most likely to head to Turkey.
Egypt has in recent days begun the second stage of creating a buffer zone between the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip.Missing Peace: Egyptian anti-Semitism prevents real peace with Israel
The current zone is being expanded from 500 meters to a kilometer, which means the destruction of some 1,200 homes in Egyptian Rafah. However, The Times of Israel has learned, there will be additional stages, which will ultimately expand the buffer zone to between 1,500 and 2,000 meters. The plan will result in the eviction of hundreds of families from the area, initially to El-Arish and in the future to New Rafah, a suburb of sorts that is to be built next to the current Rafah, and New Ismailiya, which will be built near the existing city on the banks of the Suez Canal.
These buffer zones are meant to help the Egyptian military in its fight against the fundamentalist Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group, which has recently joined the Islamic State, at least symbolically. The army’s operation in the Sinai has been continuous in recent months, with 16-17 Egyptian battalions operating in the peninsula. The forces include commando, armored, and infantry units. (h/t Bob Knot)
Anti-Semitism is a huge problem in Egypt. Journalist Michael Totten who visited Egypt frequently called it the most anti-Semitic country in the world.Hezbollah Deputy Chief Acknowledges ‘Major Infiltrations’ by Israeli Intelligence
Samuel Tadros an Egyptian research fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom who did extensive research on the topic came to the conclusion that one of the rare ideas that bind Egyptians is anti-Semitism.
Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do the rounds in both liberal and Islamist segments of Egyptian society. Some of them are totally illogical and very often these theories contradict other conspiracy theories about Jews
The Islamist terror organization Hezbollah has indirectly admitted that an Israeli spy infiltrated its ranks, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported on Monday.Syrian Army Announces its own Suicide Bomber Platoon
“There is no party in the world as big and sophisticated as Hezbollah that was able to stand with the same steadfastness despite some major infiltrations,” Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem told local Al Nour radio, referring to recent reports of the arrest of a senior member of the group, Mohammed Shawareb, and his trial for allegedly spying for Israel.
“Hezbollah has worked intensely on battling espionage among its ranks and in its entourage. Some cases [of espionage] surfaced, and they are very limited cases,” Qassem said.
As if things weren't bloody enough in Syria's four-year civil war: The Syrian army has announced the formation of a platoon of suicide bombers, to counter the ever-growing threat of Sunni jihadis including ISIS and Al Qaeda's Nusra Front.Lebanon imposes visas on Syrians for first time
A video released at the end of December and translated by MEMRI shows an announcement by half a dozen men calling themselves "the commandos of the Mountain Battalion," declaring their new "martyrdom-seeking platoon."
Strapped with explosives and standing behind a copy of the Koran, a message is read out by one of the masked men who says that their platoon was formed in "response to all the foreigners who have distorted the religion of Islam, and have defiled the soil of our country."
Lebanon is to impose visa restrictions on Syrians for the first time after being overwhelmed by an influx of more than 1.1 million refugees, according to documents published online.Iran General: Our Ultimate Goal Is the Destruction of America And Israel
The new regulations, posted on the website of the General Security agency, come into effect on January 5 and lay out various categories, including for tourism and medical treatment.
This is the first time that Lebanon has required Syrians to apply for visas.
Citizens of both countries have been able to travel freely across their shared border since Lebanon gained independence in 1943.
The commander of Iran’s notorious Basij forces declared Monday that the Islamic Republic’s ultimate goal is the destruction of America and Israel.Iran claims ‘missile-evading’ drone
“Today there is no mandate to end our fight because Iran’s greatness in the region and the repeated losses by the Zionists and America are the proof of our fight up to today,” Gen. Mohammad Naghdi said, according to Fars News Agency. “Our ideal is not [nuclear] centrifuges but the destruction of the White House and the annihilation of Zionism [Israel].”
The regime’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has also called for the continuation of the fight to destroy America, saying: “This battle will only end when the society can get rid of the oppressors’ front with America at the head of it, which has expanded its claws on human mind, body and thought. … This requires a difficult and lengthy struggle and a need for great strides.”
The Sarallah unmanned aerial vehicle weighs around four kilograms and was designed by one Hassan Akbari Layeq, although the report gave no further details on Lyeq’s position or title.Iran Should Confront Its Own Racism
“Given the daily progress of drones as well as the increased missile power to destroy them, a missile-evading drone was designed and built for the first time in the world which can escape thermal and air-to-air missiles and no missile can approach the drone any closer than 250 meters,” Layeq said.
According to Layeq the drone avoids potential threats by speeding up to dodge out of the way, a unique capability for such a small drone.
In recent days, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has taken to his twitter feed to condemn American racism, even using the trending hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter. CNN.com asked me to respond to his tweets, which I did here. In short, there’s something rather hypocritical about the Iranian leader calling the United States—or any other country racist. The Islamic Republic of Iran is today among the world’s most racist and religiously intolerant countries. Culturally, many Iranians look down upon all the other peoples surrounding them (this is a theme explored in my 2005 co-authored book, Eternal Iran). After all, the Middle East is a region of artificial countries, shaped largely by the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and nineteenth and twentieth European colonialism. Iran is an exception, however: it is the successor to great empires and has its own imperial legacy. Iranian racism against and abuse of Afghan refugees and workers is well known.How Iran Kept Its Jews
Whereas Iran once counted Baha’is among its cultural and economic elite, Revolutionary leader Ruhollah Khomeini and Khamenei, his successor, have ushered in an era of state-sanctioned religious discrimination. And while Khamenei has become fond of citing Jesus Christ in his recent tweets, let us not forget all of the Christian pastors whom the Khamenei regime has murdered. Of course, Jews also suffer at the hands of Khamenei’s regime. Sure, it’s not uncommon to hear that Iran has the second largest Jewish community in the Middle East, but it’s just 20 percent of what it was before Khomeini and Khamenei seized power. Anti-Semitism is nothing new in Iran. While former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called international attention to it with his repeated Holocaust denial, it was actually his predecessor, the so-called reformist Mohammad Khatami, who welcomed prominent Holocaust deniers to Iran and gave them a forum at the foreign ministry’s think tank.
Nor has Khamenei showed particular enlightenment toward blacks, either in his own country or abroad. When President Obama won election in November 2008—like Obama or dislike him, it was surely a historic day in American history—the Iranian press (and al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri) both dismissed Obama as a “house slave,” according to the Open Source Center, a U.S. government-run translation service. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ weekly Sobh-e Sadegh editorial discussing Obama’s election was entitled, “A Dark Person Rises to Remove Darkness From America,” but then continued to condemn the president for appointing a Jew as his chief-of-staff. Jomhuri-ye Eslami dismissed Obama as merely “a black immigrant.”
In a region where hostilities against Israel have been steadily growing, in a country that has an official holiday called Qods Day set against Israel’s Independence Day, where people are encouraged to take to the streets and protest Israel’s existence, the Anti-Defamation League’s 2014 Global Index of anti-Semitism places Iran as the least anti-Semitic nation in the Middle East and North Africa region. The suggestion that Iranians reject what their government recommends came in an extensive report by Timothy Garton Ash in the New York Review of Books more than 10 years ago. In his travels to Iran, Ash had found a highly sexualized society, despite the official attempts at modesty and self-control, been invited to an orgy, and, among others, made an unusual observation: “The regime has spent twenty-five years trying to make these young Iranians deeply pro-Islamic, anti-American, anti-Western, and anti-Israeli. As a result, most of them are resentful of Islam (at least in its current, state-imposed form), rather pro-American, and have a friendly curiosity about Israel.”
In 2006, when the war between Hezbollah and Israel broke out and people throughout the Middle East were conducting violent protests against Israel, a New York Times front-page story reported that there were no such protests in Iran. Later, Iranian protesters were heard chanting an unprecedented and politically costly slogan: “Neither Gaza, nor Lebanon. I give my life only for Iran.”
The ADL report confirms this watershed shift of public opinion in Iran. The disenchantment of the nation in its ruling elite translates into choosing the exact opposite of what the official propaganda advises the nation to believe, think, and do. The lower the popularity of the regime plummets, the higher goes the esteem of the people in everything the leadership shuns and is against. This can be a mere reflexive reactionary response and nothing more or deeper. But it’s a start. And at the very least it paves the way for an unprecedented moment for Iranians to hear something other than the usual official propaganda, something resembling the truth.