Islam Under Scrutiny by Ex-Muslims

Iran: Time is Running Out

Each day that goes by, without any concrete action to stop the Iranian nuclear program, brings the Islamist state many steps closer to its goal of “wiping the Jewish state off the map” and at least trying to destroy the “Great Satan” by becoming a nuclear weapon state. Observers have no doubt that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s apocalyptic utterances are not mere rhetoric. His attempts to deny the Holocaust and his support for the terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, demonstrate that there is simply no way for his ambitions to be realized without perpetrating a new genocide. According to Newt Gingrich, “America and Israel have long been bound together as fellow democracies. But what binds us together today is something even stronger: the threat to our survival from fanatics armed with nuclear and biological weapons.”
 
Evidence abound that in the Islamist view the destruction of the United States of America is linked with the destruction of the Jewish state. That’s why they invest a lot of their time, resources and energy to demonize Israel. Wahhabi establishment and Khomeinists have declared at numerous occasions that they will target Israel first. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Rear Admiral Mohammad-Ebrahim Dehqani was quoted recently as saying to Iran’s student news agency ISNA, “We have announced that wherever America does something evil, the first place that we target will be Israel.”
 

Political analysts were not surprised to hear one of Iran’s most influential ruling clerics, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, calling on the Muslim states to use nuclear weapons against Israel, assuring them that while such an attack would annihilate Israel, it would cost them "damages only".  Ayatollah Rafsanjani told the crowd at the traditional Friday prayers in Tehran, "If a day comes when the world of Islam is duly equipped with the arms Israel has in possession, the strategy of colonialism would face a stalemate because application of an atomic bomb would not leave anything in Israel but the same thing would just produce damages in the Muslim world."

In a lengthy speech to mark the so-called "International Qods (Jerusalem) Day" celebrated in Iran only, Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani, who, as the Chairman of the Assembly to Discern the Interests of the State,is the Islamic Republic’s number two man after Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i,said, "Jews shall expect to be once again scattered and wandering around the globe the day when this appendix is extracted from the region and the Muslim world." Mr. Hashemi-Rafsanjani warned, blaming on the United States and Britain the "creation of the fabricated entity" in the heart of Arab and Muslim world.

The fact that the Jewish mind is responsible for the evolution of a democratic sociology that encourages debate, accepts dissension as natural and respects differences of opinion as a way to move forward is anathema for any fascist religion. Iran’s Mullahs, who represent the worst form of fascism, can not accept the Jewish presence anywhere as it represents a mortal threat to their totalitarian way of life. Anyone following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statements has no difficulty in reaching the conclusion that he is the reincarnation of Adolf Hitler and that’s why it will be a great folly to think that only Israel is the target of the Khomienist Reich; the whole Western world that believes in openness is in its crosshairs.  

It is obvious that Iran’s provocative posture is emblematic of a long term Islamist strategy to create an environment of fear in Israel. Aware of the fact that they can’t destroy either the U.S. or Israel militarily, the thrust of global jihad has always been to achieve its goal by weakening the resolve of the West to defend itself by inducing fear, doubt and panic among its citizens. And Iran’s acquisition of nuclear capability will certainly go a long way toward realizing that goal. Analysts are certain that Iran’s success in crossing the nuclear threshold will give the Islamists their biggest victory in their psychological war against Israel and the United Sates of America.
 
There is a widespread perception among the Islamists that Israel’s days are numbered. They are confident that their scare tactics and violent methods are working. And statements like Ehud Olmert’s We are tired of fighting, we are tired of being courageous, we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies” without any doubt serve as a sign of their strategy’s validity.
 
It is clear that whatever Israel has done to achieve peace has worked to consolidate an Islamist sense of victory. Steps like extracting Jews from the West Bank settlements and statements like, “We are ready to compromise, to give up parts of the beloved land of Israeland evacuate, under great pain, Jews living there, in order to create the conditions that will enable you to fulfill your dream and live alongside us” (bbc News, March 29), were considered by a people who only understand the language of power as a sign of weakness. Islamists are sure that their strategy is working.
 
Arabs have always used psychological warfare against Israel; the massacre of the Jews of Hebron in 1929 almost 20 years before the establishment of the Jewish state was aimed at scaring away potential new Jewish immigrants by sowing fear in their hearts; the continuous and persistent homicide bombings are also aimed at scaring the Israeli citizens to lose hope in the future of their homeland and leave. And Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons is only going to broaden the scope of this psychological warfare.
 
Islamist fascism has already found a number of ways to slow bleed the scientifically and technologically advanced and militarily powerful “infidel world” by employing homicide bombers, exploiting left and liberal sentiments that have historically been arrayed themselves against the U.S. considering it the epitome of Imperialism, planting fifth columns within the West which arrange, orchestrate and stage events that lead to the spread of anti-Americanism and resorting to cold war era propaganda tactics that are aimed at generating public opinion against anti-terrorist policies of the civilized world.
 
There are opinions that insist that Iran’s nuclear weapons will not affect the ongoing war on Islamist terrorism as Tehran will not be able to use those weapons. They are wrong. It is not the actual use of the weapons that are in question but the psychological boost they will provide to Islamist fascism; Tehran will use its nuclear status to encourage and back organizations like Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda to launch attacks on American interests in the Middle and South East Asia.
 
One important lesson that the world must learn from Adolf Hitler’s genocide is that the verbal threats emanating from fascist quarters must never be ignored. When Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says things like, “The annihilation of the Zionist regime will come... Israel must be wiped off the map... And God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism,” he must be taken seriously.
 
No sane person can deny that Israel’s destruction is at the heart of each and every Islamist arrangement and Iran, right now, is spearheading that campaign. It is also a fact that Israel’s strength and existence is critical for the survival of democratic values on which the whole human civilization is based today. These democratic values have not come to be easily. Humanity had to make tremendous sacrifices in sweat and blood to create a mind that refuses to be intimidated and overwhelmed by totalitarianism of any kind and shape. Our open societies are the direct result of this mentality. And Islamist fascists led by Iran’s Mullahs are determined to undo these labors.
 
Islamism is very clever. In its pursuit to destroy Israel it is employing a number of weapons. On the one hand it has the services of all the terrorists who believe in waging a violent jihad (Holy War) and on the other hand it has the dedication of numerous Islamist, leftist and liberal organizations who very craftily cast all the anti-terror steps taken by free societies in terms of civil liberty and human right violations. And then on top of all this they are waging a psychological war aimed at creating a sense of hopelessness among the citizens of the free world by creating an impression that Islamists are winning and going to prevail in the end.
 
Media reports suggest that if Iran crosses the nuclear threshold, it will radically alter the region. Emboldened by the bomb, newspaper reports say, Iran could provide Islamic militant movements Hezbollah and Hamas with longer-range and deadlier rockets to fire at Israel than the current stock of Katyushas and Kassams. It could also veto any Palestinian or other Arab effort to make peace with the Jewish state.
 
Even some Israelis have fallen victim to this Islamist psychological warfare; they are ready to throw in the towel. There are signs that the specter of a nuclear-armed Iran has already rattled Israel's self-confidence. There are speculations that many Israelis may decide to leave Israel. A December poll in the newspaper Maariv found that 27% of Israelis would leave or consider leaving if Iran acquired nuclear weapons. Two-thirds of those surveyed said they believed Iran would drop a nuclear weapon on Israel. They think that Israel is alone and will not be able to survive this continuous barrage of attacks on the lives and properties of the Israelis. Iran’s success in arming itself with nuclear weapons will deepen this sense of despondency.
 
Against this backdrop it can safely be concluded that the threat to Israel’s existence has never been so real. According to Newt Gingrich, “In Israel, the threat to that nation's very survival has not been this great since the 1967 war. And the reason for the current danger is this: If our enemies get nuclear weapons, they are going to use them.”
 
Now the question is ARE WE GOING TO LET IRAN HAVE ITS WAY?



Tashbih Sayyed is the Editor in Chief of Pakistan Today and The Muslim World Today, President of Council for Democracy and Tolerance, an adjunct fellow of Hudson Institute, and a regular columnist for newspapers across the world. He is the author of eight books, including: History Of The World, Left Of The Center, Pakistan - An Unfinished Agenda, Mohammad - A secularist's View, Foreign Policy Of Pakistan, and Shadow Warriors - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Taliban.

 
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