Ahmadinejad And The Stench Of The Meddling Mullahs…
by Gerald A. Honigman
How anyone could give support to Iran’s current rulers–in many ways worse than the autocratic Shah Iranians traded him for in ‘79–is a truly disgusting thought. Yet, Ahmadinejad and the ayatollahs have their fan club…Hamas, Hizbullah, Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, North Korea, and so forth. Notice anything in common here?
It’s a game that others have played too–especially in the Middle East…
Point the finger elsewhere, while your own pot is blacker than the kettle you’re excoriating.
Hypocrisy is its name–and the stench emanating from the mullahs’ Iran is a disgrace to that ancient nation’s once proud past.
Hard to believe these days, but it was Iran of Cyrus the Great which freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity in 539 B.C.E. and allowed their return to the land of Israel (Judah, to be exact). Here’s the account in Iran’s own words from the Kurash (Cyrus) Prism…
“I am Kurash ( Cyrus ), King of the World, Great King, Legitimate King, King of Babilani,King of Kiengir and Akkade, King of the four rims of the earth, Son of Kanbujiya…I returned to these sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which used to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned them to their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled upon the command of Marduk, the great lord, all the gods of Kiengir and Akkade whom Nabonidus had brought into Babilani to the anger of the lord of the gods, unharmed, in their former temples, the places which make them happy.”
Here’s the Jews’ own version of this same account in Ezra 1: 1-8 in the Hebrew Bible…
“In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: ‘Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place he may have dwelt, be assisted by the people of that place with silver, gold, and goods, together with free will offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.'”
Jews were grateful to their powerful Iranian liberators and served in their armies throughout their empire. At the fortress in Elephantine, Egypt, for example ancient documents testifying to this were discovered, along with a synagogue built there for Jewish soldiers serving under the Iranian ruler.
Centuries later, when Judea fought for its freedom and independence against the Roman Empire in the first and second centuries C.E., it was Iran, again–for whatever its reasons–which still came to the Jews’ aid. And centuries later still, close to the eve of the Arab explosion out of the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century C.E., ancient documents record a Jewish army of tens of thousands aligning itself with Iran against the hated Byzantines.
While there were some problems between Iranians and Jews prior to the Arab jihad which brought Islam to both of their nations (as recorded in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible, for example), it was the Arab Islamic conquest which ushered in the intolerance and fragility which exists to this very day between these two ancient peoples with a long prior history of good relations.
While the fate of Jews under both major branches of Islam was tenuous, to say the least, in some ways it was even worse at the hands of the Shi’a which became dominant in Iran.
Thus, as the centuries progressed, Jews would soon find themselves in an awkward position. Their very lives and livelihoods depended upon a powerful, more secular political ruler–the Shah–who could act more on their behalf against the force of the hostile religious establishment, the mullahs. And since Jews were largely dependent on the political power of the Shahs, if the latter were unjust, then the masses, stirred up by the mullahs, frequently took it out on the Jews.
It was thus interesting that, among the signs being held up and slogans being chanted in the current protests against Ahmadinejad and the mullahs, were some stating, according to Shayan Ghajar of insideIran.org, “Not Gaza, not Lebanon, but Tunis, Egypt and Iran.” Years ago I recall similar signs being held up by protesting Iranian students saying such things as no to Palestine, yes to Iran.
Perhaps there is still hope for a better tomorrow…
Keep in mind that the folks who once again took to the streets in Iran over the last few days in large towns all over the country showed an especially amazing brand of courage. Many others had been beaten, slaughtered, and jailed back in 2009 after protesting the stolen election which returned Ahmadinejad to office–even though the ayatollahs will still run the show regardless of who is elected president.
Kurds in the northwest of Iran have increasingly been hung for simply standing up for their rights. Arabs in Ahwaz in Khuzistan aka Arabistan in the southwest have been likewise suppressed… open here to find out why. You’ll love the irony, I promise…
http://www.faithfreedom.org/oped/geraldahonigman60512.htm
Here’s how the British Ahwazi Friendship Society reported the situation back on July 29, 2005…
“The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) released a statement condemning the recent violent repression of ethnic minorities in Iran following the election of right-wing hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad …Pointing to clashes between security forces and Ahwazi Arabs and Kurds, Nicola Dell’Arciprete, UNPO Assistant General Secretary, said: “The UNPO condemns the Government’s repressive policies against all the Iranian citizens. Iran is a multi-ethnic country in which half of the population belongs to ethnic minorities such as Azeri, Gilaki and Mazandarani, Kurds, Arabs, Lurs, Balochis, Turkmen… ”
Things have gotten only worse since those days, and the list of the tortured, murdered, and abused grows daily in the country largely responsible for the Hizbullah and Syrian rape of Lebanon, grossly endangering Israel at the same time by arming both Hizbullah (more so, due to Syria’s collaboration) and Hamas to the teeth.
The list of Iran’s own martyrs for freedom grows daily, all while Ahmadinejad lectures Egypt, Israel, and others, with just average Iranians also bearing the brunt of the mullahs’ oppressive hypocrisy.
Unlike in Tunisia, in Iran there was no question what the response of the ruling elites would be. And when millions poured out onto Egyptian streets, unlike the connections with the Egyptian people which made Egypt’s military cautious in its approach to the will of the people, the murderous hold of Ayatollah Khomeini’s successors over the Islamists of the Revolutionary Guard and the volunteer Basij militia (ten to fourteen million of them) was not in doubt.
The struggle of the people for freedom in Iran will thus be far more complicated because of the stranglehold of those using religion to hold onto and wield power.
Unlike the military which has run the show in Egypt since 1952, Iran’s will have no qualms at slaughtering thousands of its own people if need be. Its cause is sacred–like that of the Ikhwan and its offshoots if ever given a chance in Egypt. Indeed, unlike Iraq, where Sunni routinely blow Shi’a apart, Egypt’s Sunni Muslim Brotherhood loves Iran’s Shi’a ayatollahs. Think about what an alliance of those two would mean…
While it is an admittedly dangerous thought, I have an urge to express it anyway…
If ever there was a case for massive outside help needed for regime change, just follow the stench coming from the land of the meddling mullahs to find out where that should occur.