{"id":855,"date":"2018-01-05T13:42:07","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T17:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/?p=855"},"modified":"2018-01-05T13:42:07","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T17:42:07","slug":"viva-arabistan-what-youre-not-hearing-but-should-be-about-the-iranian-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/05\/viva-arabistan-what-youre-not-hearing-but-should-be-about-the-iranian-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Viva Arabistan!…What You’re Not Hearing (but should be) About The Iranian Protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Viva Arabistan <\/sub><\/em>!<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 by Gerald A. Honigman<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to reports coming out of the Middle East regarding\u00a0demonstrations against the ayatollahs in Iran, among chants being uttered by college students and others protesting rising prices, ongoing repression, and other\u00a0issues was, according to\u00a0Ebin Sandler for World Israel News\u00a0on December 30, 2017,\u00a0“never mind Palestine, think about us.” Over the years, this was not the first time the Iranian people expressed such feelings. Indeed, despite the mullahs’ attempts to deflect criticism by blaming the Christian West’s and the Muslim East’s favorite scapegoat–the Jews and\/or the Jew of the Nations–for all the region’s problems, the Iranian Street has increasingly seen through this.\u00a0Ahmadinejad’s stolen election and mass repression of 2009 now especially come\u00a0to mind.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0The mullahs have tried all sorts of deception\u00a0to protect their derrieres. Take their alleged devotion to “Palestine” and the annual “Jerusalem (Quds)\u00a0Day” celebration for examples. Please\u00a0allow me to elaborate.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0As the lion\u2019s share of the original<\/em> 1920 Mandate of Palestine was handed over by the Brits to Arab nationalism in 1922 with the creation of what would later be renamed Jordan, a more than just partition of the land favoring Arabs had thus already been completed between the two nationalisms competing for it. Indeed, before possibly obtaining, in the future, a second <\/em>state for themselves, Arabs wound up with some 80% of the total area…Okay, so, what does this have to do with Iran?<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/sub>You see, the real place where justice for Arabs has not yet been addressed is in\u2013now hold onto your seats\u2013Iran itself. When’s the last time you heard anyone talk about that?<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>During the 7th century CE, Muhammad’s successor Arab Caliphal armies burst out of the Arabian Peninsula and colonized, settled, forcibly Arabized, and spread the Dar ul-Islam<\/em> by a conquering sword in all directions. Judaea\u2013renamed Syria Palaestina<\/em> (for the Jews\u2019 historic enemies, non-Arab Philistines<\/em> from Crete) by conquering Romans after the Jews\u2019 second revolt for freedom in 135 CE\u2013became occupied by Arabs at this time…And so did Iran. <\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/sub>Using southern Iraq as a springboard, southwestern Iran\u2013Khuzestan province in particular\u2013traded back and forth between Arab and Iranian rulers. While it became subsequently linked to Iran despite repeated Arab invasions over the centuries, Khuzestan became so extensively Arabized that, in Safavid times (16th-18th centuries CE), the province was commonly known as \u201cArabistan.\u201d In modern times, not until Iran\u2019s Reza Shah Pahlavi defeated him in 1924, the Arab Sheikh of Muhammarah ruled much of the area.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/sub>\u00a0Arabs remembered all of this very well. Indeed, latter-day, Iraqi-based Arabs, under Saddam Hussein\u2019s banner, launched the long and bloody Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s. It was fought largely over this oil-rich and strategically important area\u2026Khuzestan for Iranians, Arabistan for Arabs.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>To deal with\u00a0its own \u201cArab problem,\u201d Iran has ruthlessly suppressed\u00a0 Arab nationalism by all means necessary. By the early 20th century, a proposal had been put forward to even outlaw the Arabic language (Israel has made Arabic the second official national language). Here are some excerpts as to how the British Ahwazi Friendship Society reported the situation on July 29, 2005:<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) released a statement condemning the recent violent repression of ethnic minorities in Iran following the election of right-wing hardliner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. \u2026Pointing to clashes between security forces and Ahwazi Arabs and Kurds, Nicola Dell\u2019Arciprete, UNPO Assistant General Secretary, said: \u201cThe UNPO condemns the Government\u2019s 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\u2026.<\/sub><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>An April \u00a02011 account of this can be found here <\/sub>http:\/\/gulfnews.com\/opinions\/columnists\/al-ahwaz-will-always-be-arab-1.786524<\/sub><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0.<\/sub><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>I’m curious…How many times have you students of the Middle East heard your professors–who typically place Israel under the high power lens of moral scrutiny regarding Arabs–ever mention any of the above? Throughout my own undergrad and graduate work, not a word was mentioned nor a book offered on the subject.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>Recall how the Islamic Republic of Iran likes to sit on\u00a0its moral high horse lecturing Israel about such things.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u201cPalestine\u201d underwent partition, as did the Indian subcontinent (with the creation of predominantly Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan, and later Bangladesh as well). Since the\u00a0mullahs are quick to point fingers elsewhere, please tell me why the human and political rights and aspirations of other peoples should not also be addressed in Iran as well?<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>Had Arabs accepted the additional, <\/em>post-1922, <\/em>1947 partition plan, they would have wound up with about 90% of the total territory of the original 1920 Palestine Mandate. <\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>Like the Arabs,\u00a0Iran’s mullahs refuse to acknowledge any of the above, claim all Israel’s Jews were from Europe (tell that to Israel\u2019s former Iranian-born President and chief of staff) and the like; yet, they answer the political aspirations of tens of millions of non-<\/em>Iranians living on\u00a0their own soil only with massacre and repression.\u00a0 Hypocrisy at its worst.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Turning again to the Arabs of Khuzestan\/Arabistan, at any hint of unrest, Iran has been quick to act in its own national interests. Arabs have been ethnically cleansed and replaced by Aryans. As just one of many examples, when Arabs of the Nahda (Renaissance) movement bombed Iranian targets years back in Ahwaz and elsewhere, Iran arrested thousands and set out to \u201cfix\u201d the problem by any means necessary. Iranians continuously do likewise\u00a0with Kurds, Baluchis and others who dare to assert their own political rights. Thousands have been killed as a result over the years in the name of Iranian nationalism. Kurds and others are hung for\u00a0merely demanding basic rights.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>Since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, the ayatollahs have held\u00a0an\u00a0International Quds (Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of Ramadan. The reality is that they do this so that there won’t be an Al-Ahwaz Day.<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/sub>So, this all begs the question…<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Why does justice supposedly demand that the sole, resurrected Jewish State\u2013half of which consists of\u00a0Jewish refugees from Muslim\u00a0lands (including 140,000 of Iranian ancestry)\u2013consent to national suicide so Arabs can have their 22nd<\/em> state, and second<\/em>, not first, in Palestine, but some eight million Arabs in Khuzestan\/Arabistan should not gain independence from Iran?<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sub><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/sub><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/sub><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geraldahonigman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}