For decades I have been reading that Iran is a bigger threat for Arabs as compared to Israel. Today, I was completely shocked when I received a message, originating from Pakistan, indicating names of Muslim countries enjoying diplomatic relations with Israel. It included the name of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Initially, I was ready to believe the ignorance of the sender but then realized that the sender has been thoroughly brainwashed or he is part of the group that has been mandated the task of spreading disinformation about Iran. To put the record straight, Iran was the second Muslim majority country to recognize Israel as a sovereign state after Turkey. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran severed all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel, and the government does not recognize the legitimacy of Israel as a state.
As against this many Muslim/Arab countries enjoy cordial relations with Israel. These include Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, and Morocco. Some of these countries ‘normalized’ relations with Israel under ‘Abraham Accords’. All these Muslim countries have been dished out some favors. In return, some of these countries are now stopping United States from rejoining JCPOA and/or imposing fresh sanctions on Iran.
While Arabs and Iranians have a long history of animosity, the recent anti-Iran stance has been drilled into their brains by Israel and western media. The overwhelming impression is that Iran is playing the role of ‘game spoiler’ and resisting the normalization of relationships between Israel and Arab countries.
Israel has also been portraying Iran as a ‘proxy fighter’ in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. The fact of the matter is that Isreal has been occupying a huge landmass belonging to its neighboring Muslim countries since 1967. It has also been constructing settlements on occupied land.
After the reorganization of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by the United States, Israel has accelerated the annexation process. Benjamin Netanyahu has intensified his acts to save his premiership. He believes that evicting Palestinians and bringing in more Jews in Jerusalem could help him in prolonging his tenor. His shortsightedness has also ruined the ‘Two State’ concept.
It seems, Netanyahu believes that two-state policy will weaken Israel, but many Jews believe that if by allocating some land for Palestinians they could buy sustainable peace, it may promote the culture of ‘mutual peaceful coexistence’ rather than living under a ‘constant state of war’.
BY SHABBIR H. KAZMI Economic/ Geopolitical Analyst THE AZB
