Wny an Iranian/Israeli alliance won't happen

Submitted by Fay Voshell (United States), Jul 28, 2009 at 11:46

While I agree a primary characteristic of the Iranian regime is subjection of the people by sheer force of arms and a strict advocacy of a theology which has become resented by the Iranians, I disagree about your basic assumption of the prevailing philosophic/theological views of the Iranian people, at least a far as your thesis that the Iranian people may be ready for an Iranian/Israeli alliance.

Correct me if I am wrong, but your post seems to indicate you believe educated Iranians are largely secularist humanists--sort of like educated Frenchmen? I would dispute that assumption, as I would dispute the possibility that Iranians will not go along with anti-semitism just because they have a unique history not shared by the rest of the Middle East and just because educated people should know better than to embrace the virulence of anti-semitism.

European and some American intellectuals have a tendency to believe reasonable people, once they are educated in the anti-theist branch of the Enlightenment, will tear off the benighted shackles of religion (including the Muslim faith). Devotion to religion is automatically considered backward, and the idea is that progress means embracing the secularist world view which now characterizes most of Western Europe's institutions. Concommitant with this view is that old antagonisms will fade out with proper education and reasoned dialogue.

On the contrary--alas and alack--anti-semitism has been an inerradicable part of human history and eventually appears in every country in which the Jews of the diaspora have resided. Diasporic Jews, no matter how ancient or small the groups have been tolerated only as they have been found useful and persecuted when it was convenient to have a scape goat.

In fact, it has been precisely at those times Jewish communities felt most assimilated and at home in a given host country that they should have been the most wary. Of course, the chief example of this blindness to historicial phenomenon was Western Europe during the 1930s and 1940s. As has so often been noted, Jews were increasingly assimilated into a sophisticated, educated and "enlightened" civilization only to suffer the worst horrors in their long history.

The above are reasons why I do not believe Jews in Persia or in Israel will be regarded very favorably by Iranians even if regime change is accomplished--which I hope and believe it will be.

Best regards,

Fay Voshell

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