by Khaled Abu Toameh. Members of the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly should take into consideration the high probability that Iran and its proxies might one day take control over the future Palestinian state — unless the international community wakes up and starts taking more seriously the threats coming from Tehran.
One week after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application for membership of a Palestinian state in the UN, Iran’s leaders hosted a five-day conference in Tehran to call for the “liberation of all of Palestine” through an armed struggle.
The annual conference serves as a reminder why Abbas’s statehood bid will not end the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Iran and its allies in the Arab and Islamic countries are determined, more than ever, to thwart any attempt to reach a peaceful settlement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
By calling for a new intifada against Israel, they are hoping to ignite a jihad [holy war] not only against the Jewish state, but also against the Western countries that support it — first and foremost the US.
Unlike the recent UN General Assembly meeting in New York, the Tehran conference did not receive much coverage in the Western media. This is why many Westerners are unaware of the fact that through such conferences, the Iranians are declaring jihad against Israel, the West and all those who do not share their radical ideology.
Entitled “International Conference on Palestinian Intifada,” the Iranian-sponsored gathering was attended by parliamentary delegations from more than 70 countries and “scholars” from 100 countries.
As in previous years, the conference served as a platform for those who seek the destruction of Israel. Moreover, it served as a podium for strong condemnations of Arabs and Muslims who believe in the two-state solution and the peace process with Israel.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech before the conference that the establishment of Israel was the “most heinous historical crime.”
Iran’s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, rejected Abbas’s statehood bid, saying any deal that accepts the existence of Israel would leave a “cancerous tumor” forever that threatens the security of the Middle East.
He accused Abbas and the Palestinian Authority leadership of “succumbing to the demands of the Zionists to recognize the Zionist regime on Palestinian land.”
As the UN Security Council continues to study Abbas’s application for full membership in the UN, its members must also pay attention to the voices and messages coming out of Tehran. These are messages of hate and violence that illustrate the grave threats facing Israel and the Western democracies.
There is no underestimating the significance of such messages, especially given the fact that the conference was attended by representatives of dozens of countries. The Palestinian Authority and its supporters would never be able to hold such a big conference: They would not find many people in the Arab and Islamic world who shared their views and were ready to accept Israel’s existence.
October 4, 2011 at 5:00 am
http://www.hudson-ny.org/2475/
