The Seeds Of ANTI-Anti-Zionism In Iran

Fathiyeh Naghibzaden and Andreas Benl, founding members of the German chapter of the European coalition Stop the Bomb, write that the secret of Ahmadinejad's success globally does not work quite as well at home:

Iranians living under the mullahs’ dictatorship or in exile are wondering if any insult or threat from the mouths of Ahmadinejad or Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will ever convince the West to abandon its fantasies of a dialogue with the leaders of the Islamic Republic. Israelis might have the same questions. It is time to ask how much the two groups have in common.

Ahmadinejad called the 9/11 attacks a plot to “to save the Zionist regime” and accused Western countries of sacrificing freedom of speech on the “altar of Zionism.”

While it is exactly this anti-Semitism that gains him a global popularity other dictators can only dream of, it does not work in Iran, where he has become the most hated political figure in the country. [emphasis added]

Following Kuds day in September 2009, Iranians countered "Death to American!" and "Death to Israel!" with "No to Gaza, no to Lebanon, my life is for Iran" and slogans against allies of the Iranian regime such as Russia and China and by tearing down banners for Hamas and Hezbollah.

The growing freedom that Iranians feel to openly protest against Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime is also being expressed in other ways:

Iranians do not let themselves become intimidated anymore by the regime’s conspiracy theories. Hassan Dai, a journalist who has consistently exposed the work of the Iranian regime lobby in the United States, has recently published several articles focusing on anti-Zionism as the ideological platform this lobby is acting on. And the political analyst Nima Rashedan urges his readers to compare the camp of the sympathisers of Israel to that of its enemies, concluding that “friendship to and hatred against Israel are the criteria to tell apart civilization from primitiveness.”

In Europe and other parts of the world, hatred of Israel is an intellectual resentment and a tool to gain influence in the Middle East. For democratic Iranians, it is a vital matter of self-interest to renounce the terrorist foreign policy of the regime, which at the end of the day is exerted against them. Iranian society today is questioning everything the Islamic Republic stands for.

While this is a good sign--for Iranians and not just Israel, there is still a long way to go. Unfortunately, news about any progress being made by the Iranian people against Ahmadinejad and the theocracy is hard to come by.

And as long as Ahmadinejad remains the favorite yearly speaker at the UN, the image of a successful Iranian regime remains intact.

Technorati Tag: Iran.