The Arabs Shrink Before Ahmadinejad

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

In 1979 I wrote a book titled The Fall of the King of Kings, in which I said that the Arabs would inevitably go to war against Iran, because its position on Israel was ideological, and the Iranian stance would remain an embarrassment to all Arabs. Indeed, they did fight it, led by Iraq and with very generous support from the United States and the European countries. Of course, the particular self-interests of each Arab regime were not absent, but the Israeli concern stood at the top of the list of priorities. The war dragged on for long years, exhausting both the Arabs and Iran, and Saddam himself did not escape American treachery — they went on to wage their wars against him as well.

Iranian statements are once again affirming Iran’s rejection of Israel, but the tone of Arab war-mongering has not returned. Circumstances have changed: the Americans and the Arabs tried to exploit Iran’s weakness in 1981 and believed that crushing the revolution was within reach. There are now more reasons than there were in 1979 to finish Iran off, but the balance of power on every front has shifted. America stands bewildered in the face of Iran’s nuclear program, and in the face of Iran’s continued support for Hezbollah, some Palestinian forces, and Syria. In the early days of the revolution, Iran constituted a nuisance; now it constitutes a source of power that settles into hearts as fear and awe. It does not possess military capabilities equal to those of the Western states, but it can hold firm, fight, and deliver a painful military response, particularly against Israel.

The observer notices that the Arab rulers maintain silence every time Iran speaks. They pant after peaceful solutions, strain toward normalization with Israel and ushering it into the very chambers of the Arab homeland, and work to coordinate with it on security and military matters in order to fight those they call extremists and terrorists. So what do they do in the face of words of truth spoken by the Iranian president? Better to vanish behind a veil — no seeing, no speaking.

…diplomatically; as for the student, the farmer, and the worker, they will not permit themselves to extend a hand to shake Israel’s. Disgrace comes to us from those of “exalted station,” while goodness will remain in the ordinary people, and the nation will only be victorious through them.

As for the people of the West, they keep repeating their contradictions. They hated the Jews, so they killed them, expelled them, and exported them to Palestine. Then they developed a passion for Israel, distant as it is from them, and for its sake they uproot the Palestinians and insist on hunting them down wherever they are found. Whoever consents to the expulsion of a people from their homeland for the benefit of others cannot have any moral theory or humanitarian pronouncement accepted from him. The Europeans and the Americans are drowning in the blood of Palestinians, Iraqis, Lebanese, Jordanians, Egyptians, Libyans, Iranians, Afghans, and Syrians, and they have no right to hand out certificates of morality. They stand condemned, their face is ugly, and they insist on remaining so every time they speak of Israel’s rights while ignoring the Palestinians’ right to return to their homes and property in the land occupied in [19]48.

What is shameful about the Iranian president’s call to set aside a piece of land for the Jews in Europe? The Europeans adore the Israeli Jews, and it is better to reunite loved ones; as for us, we hate them, and it is better to keep them away from us so that the wars do not continue. The matter requires no genius in political analysis, nor in understanding the harmony of hearts — it is simply part of the everyday business that individuals and communities deal with. Those who love each other come together, and those who hate each other part ways. Europe pays a heavy price for the wars that erupt in the region, and it bears the trouble of travel every time it wants to present its gifts. And it remains important that a lover honor his beloved with what he himself owns, and not with what belongs to others.

Since 1917, the Palestinian people, the people of Bilad al-Sham, and all Arabs and Muslims have been paying steep prices because of Zionism and Israel, and I do not believe that history is about to stop and turn this blood and these tears into flowers we scatter upon the caps of the Children of Israel. And if the Arab rulers continue to ally themselves with the treacherous, then blackness will wrap their historical record in wreaths of humiliation and abasement.

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “انكماش العرب أمام نجاد” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.