Four thousand people chanting “death to the dictator” is not a sign of regime stability. As Iran boasts of another nuclear achievement, communal pride in the country’s scientific prowess translate into political stability.
The state controlled media presnts the parade commemorating the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution as a walk of unity with a “final” message for the opposition. But with Persian2English reporting plainclothes police targetting anti-government demonstrators with paintballs, the government’s posture is aggressive and defensive.
For the incumbent powers, the problem is where to crack down? The political fissures go right tot the top.
Meanwhile in Israel, a common view is that attacking Iran is less risky than letting it obtain nuclear weapons. From this perspective, the Iran’s democratic movement isn’t a factor. Its an IDF target too.
That American journalists are averse to reading the Goldstone report documenting Israeli and Palestinian war crimes during the Gaza war of 2008 goes without saying. David Kenner of Foreign Policy makes that plain. He reads the Goldstone report (and Israel’s less than convincing response) “so that you don’t have to.”
Thus heavy moral burdens of the Washington reporter are eased. You don’t have to get familiar with the question of justice in Israel and Palestine. Just get your talking points and move on. On four key points, Kenner compares the South African jurist’s scathing report on Israeli Defense Forces actions during the Gaza war with Israel’s stout defense.
“Netanyahu is preparing for war against Iran and Hezbollah in the coming spring, when the snows melt and the clouds clear. Evidence of this is the additional defense budget and the home front’s preparations for a confrontation. And even if in the end Netanyahu doesn’t strike, he must be ready. It is better for Israel to fight on fewer fronts and neutralize enemies through diplomacy.”
In the Palestinian press, Abbas’s intervention to persuade the UN to put off its response has been greeted with fury, even in papers normally loyal to the president’s Fatah faction.
“This was a humiliating capitulation in the face of US and Israeli pressure”, Hani al-Masri fumed in the pro-Fatah daily al-Ayyam.”
“Paradoxically, as Israel gets stronger, its legitimacy is melting away. A national movement that began as ‘legitimacy without an entity’ is becoming ‘an entity without legitimacy before our very eyes.”–Ari Shavit in Haaretz
The Israeli Defense Forces say this video, taken by an unmanned drone, shows Hezbollah removing smuggled weapons from the home of a Hezbollah official in south Lebanon where a mysterious explosion took place earlier this week.
The WOS blog is written and edited by Jefferson Morley from Washington.
The WOS tools find the best English-language opinion journalism all over the planet. From Africa to the Americas to Asia to Europe and the Middle East, WOS is programmed for diversity and excellence.
Mission
“There are some things Americans can only learn from foreigners.”--Alexis de Toqueville
