- Middle East is witness to continuous developments these
days. Iran's active diplomacy to attract the indispensable 118-member bloc
of non-aligned countries to support its nuclear program, the growing isolation
of Israel in the European countries and within the academic circles of
the U.S., Arabs' fear of losing the power game in the Persian Gulf region,
the expansion of illegal settlements of Israel in the West Bank and its
unremitting disobedience to UNSC resolutions have turned Middle East into
the center of international attentions. Iran as the Persian Gulf region's
only non-Arab nation, Israel as the world's sole Jewish state and a host
of fragile Arab countries who are being immersed in the waves of West's
economic turmoil find their destiny intertwined with together, each party
trying to surmount the other and survive more powerfully; that makes an
interesting yet worrying rivalry in the Middle East.
-
- In order to investigate the ongoing Israel-Palestine
conflict and explore the prospect of Iran's nuclear standoff, Foreign Policy
Journal has interviewed Antony Loewenstein, an Australian journalist and
political activist who is a co-founder of Independent Australian Jewish
Voices. Loewenstein's articles on Iran, Israel and Middle East current
affairs have appeared on the Guardian, Washington Post, Sydney Morning
Herald and The Australian.
-
- The Israeli aggression against the people of Palestine
is going on incessantly. White House hasn't taken any serious step to signal
its willingness to prevent Israel from expanding the illegal settlements
in the West Bank. What will happen eventually? Will Israel go on with its
expansionistic approach in the occupied lands?
-
- AL - Israeli expansion on Palestinian land has continued
for decades and there is little indication that this will stop anytime
soon. Successive U.S. Presidents have meekly complained about the occupation
of the West Bank and Gaza but continued to fund the Zionist state. Washington
claims to believe in a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians
but the occupation has made this viably impossible. The alternatives are
unpleasant for the Zionist mind to consider, not least a bi-national state
or one-state equation, where soon Jews will be outnumbered by Arabs. But
Israeli Jews should not fear this. Like the whites in South Africa under
apartheid, they have to make a choice, either more years of oppressing
another people and facing global isolation or a nation with equal status
for all its citizens.
-
- President Obama has recently threatened Iran against
a possible nuclear strike. Can we trace the footsteps of Zionist lobby
in the horrible remarks by the U.S. president? Will the U.S. finally stage
a nuclear war in the Middle East to protect its unalienable ally against
an "Iranian threat"?
-
- AL - The chance of Washington launching a nuclear strike
against Iran is very slim, though the current concern is President Obama
allowing Israel to use tactical nuclear weapons or simply a military adventure
against the Islamic Republic in a misguided attempt to stop its supposed
nuclear program. There is no doubt that many members of the U.S. Congress
and the Zionist lobby are encouraging a military strike against Iran. But
the real agenda is largely hidden. This isn't about nuclear weapons or
even meddling in Iraq or Afghanistan but regional rivalry to the Jewish
state, something not to be tolerated. Iran, after the disastrous Iraq war,
has risen in stature and power in the Middle East. The country is a brutal
dictatorship that represses its own people, and last year's sham election
for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad only confirmed this trend, but its oil wealth allows
resistance against American and Israeli interests.
-
- As an honorary citizen of Detroit, the late Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein was once one of the most cordial friends of White House
during the tenure of Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter. He was given enormous
military and political supports by the U.S. during the 8-year war with
Iran. Finally, the United States captured and executed him deplorably once
his mission was over. Is the same tragedy going to happen for Israel and
its leaders?
-
- AL - One of the great challenges for our age is applying
international law equally across the globe, to both Western leaders and
others. Thus far, the Hague's International Court of Justice and other
associated bodies have largely focused on atrocities in places like Rwanda,
Liberia and beyond. These are important cases that should be pursued but
there is a growing movement, especially in the UK and Europe, to hold Israeli
political and military leaders to account. Witness the valiant attempt
to arrest former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in London recently
for her role in the criminal war against Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009.
She canceled her trip before the court order could be executed but more
attempts will be forthcoming.
-
- Having in mind the Jewish background of jurist Richard
Goldstone and his affiliation with the Israeli universities and groups
which exempts him from the allegations of being an anti-Semitist, why did
the United States denounce his elaborate report in which both sides of
the Gaza conflict were held accountable to make impartial investigations
into their possible violations of human rights and conducts of war crime?
-
- AL - Richard Goldstone's UN Gaza report was an important
document that meticulously outlined the crimes of both Hamas and Israel
in Operation Cast Lead. America and some of her allies, including Australia
rejected its findings because they feared its recommendations could be
used against their own military adventures in, say, Iraq or Afghanistan.
Western allies have for years killed scores of civilians in the "war
on terror" and never been held accountable. The Goldstone report,
when directed towards Israel and Hamas, rightly argued that international
law demands that civilians are protected during war. Israel used disproportionate
force against the Palestinian population in an attempt to collectively
punish them for both resisting and backing Hamas.
-
- Referring to the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a fellow Israeli member of the Likud party, the
American journalist Jeff Gates has metaphorically suggested that the American
President Barack Obama may be assassinated by Israel one day. Is it actually
possible that Israel will finally betray its long-time superordinate, akin
to what happened to Iran's former U.S.-backed Shah?
-
- AL - Although there is profound anger within Israel towards
Barack Obama because of his very mild comments against Zionist expansion
in the West Bank, I don't think Israel will be assassinating the American
President anytime soon or leaving its warming embrace. Without Washington's
support, diplomatically, militarily and politically, Israel wouldn't last
a few weeks.
-
- Hitherto, Israel has refused to adhere to the UNSC resolutions
which hold it accountable to its international obligations, including the
Resolution 487 in which Israel has been urgently called to "place
its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards". How is it possible
to hold Israel accountable for what it's doing in the Middle East whereas
the unconditional support of the U.S. doesn't seem to be diminishing?
-
- AL - Aside from using international law for what it is
intended, the growing BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement
is encouraging. Witness the recent great debates at leading American universities,
including Berkeley, on boycotting multinationals that back the Israeli
occupation of Palestine. Palestine is becoming one of the key issues in
the activist community and beyond and is bringing disparate groups together
to fight for a better future for all the citizens of Israel and Palestine.
Furthermore, there is a growing debate within the American military establishment
that Washington's blind support for Israel is harming American interests
in the Middle East. The Zionist lobby furiously rejects this charge but
spend anytime in the Arab or Persian world and Israel's criminality is
a rallying cry for anti-Western sentiment. It's hardly surprising.
-
- White House is seemingly designing the whole framework
of its foreign policy based on the interests of Israel. Its active lobbying
in the Persian Gulf region to persuade Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait to
sell their oil to China at lower prices so as to discourage Beijing from
purchasing oil from Iran and thus, dragging China to the implementation
of new sanctions against Tehran, weakening Iran and preparing it to be
attacked by Israel is one of these examples. What's your take on that?
-
- AL - The great energy game in the Middle East is certainly
focused these days on supposedly isolating Iran, though it seems highly
unlikely that Russia or China would support crippling sanctions against
Tehran in the UN. Washington and Israel are working together to secure
their own energy interests by appealing to the Arab states' supposed fear
of Iran, which is real, though not because of human rights but a loss of
regional supremacy. One should never forget that the U.S.-backed Arab states
are dictatorships largely doing the bidding of another country. They aren't
independent. Sadly, a military strike against Iran would be quietly cheered
across the Arab world. Not by the people, but by the political elites.
It's vital that journalists and policy makers do not make the same mistakes
as before the 2003 Iraq war, when bogus claims and lies were told about
Saddam Hussein and his supposed WMD. Saddam was a brutal autocrat but he
led a weak nation. Iran is an entirely different story. During my time
there and conversations with many Iranians since, the moment a military
strike occurs or sanctions that harm the average people are implemented,
support for the regime will increase. People in Iraq always say that the
West never realize that the sanctions post 1991, that suffocated the country,
were never forgotten when Washington came to bring "democracy"
in 2003.
|
