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Essential things Israelis and Iranians should know about each other
By Trita Parsi and Roi Ben-Yehuda
Tags: Iran, Zionism, Roi Ben-Yehuda 

The looming Iran-Israel confrontation has a seemingly deterministic quality to it. Listening to the politicians, one gets a sense that powers beyond our control are pulling us toward a 21st-century disaster. Yet a great deal of the force propelling us into confrontation is fueled by ignorance and dehumanization. Israel is demonized as "Little Satan," while Iranians are portrayed as irrational Muslim extremists.

Indeed, mutual ignorance of our respective societies plays into the hands of the hard-line leaders who are calling for blood and destruction. They manipulate and distort; above all, they do everything to prevent us from recognizing that the enemy has a face.

Not that either of us is naive enough to believe that mere knowledge of one another will offer a miraculous solution. We do believe, however, that mutual understanding will go a long way toward allowing us to feel empathy and compassion for each other, and to sound off at those calling for bloodshed and war.
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Here are some essential things Iranians and Israelis should know about each other:

1. Israel is a vibrant yet incomplete democracy

On his visit to the United States last fall, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad famously stated that there are no homosexuals in Iran. Well, in Israel there are plenty of homosexuals, and they are the only ones in the Middle East who have an annual gay pride parade in their capital city.

Democracy in Israel means that every citizen and group (Jewish or otherwise) has the right to express him/herself and assemble in public. Also, that every citizen is equal under the law, has voting rights, religious freedom, access to education, health care and economic opportunity.

Undoubtedly, Israel's democracy is still a work in progress. The fusion of religion and state has limited people's rights and freedoms (for example, Israelis of different faiths cannot legally marry one another in the country), and the de-facto secondary status of Israeli Arabs is an affront to the country's democratic ideals. Fortunately, many people in Israel are assiduously working to change the system from within.

2. Iran is a vibrant quasi-democracy

It is far from a full democracy, but neither is it a complete dictatorship. Its severe limitations notwithstanding, Iran has a lively civil society and possesses most of the building blocks for a successful democracy down the road. Iranians' struggle for democracy dates back to the 1906 Constitutional Revolution. Since then, Iranians have learned two important lessons.

First, war and democratization don't mix. As tensions between Iran and the outside world increase, the first to pay are Iran's pro-democracy and human rights activists. For Iran to move toward a democratic system, it needs peace and tranquility; bombs and surgical strikes will achieve the opposite.

Second, when you carry out a revolution, you know against whom you are revolting, but not necessarily for whom you are waging the revolution. Iranians have little appetite for another revolution. As unpopular as their current government is, they prefer gradual and manageable change.

3. Streets are named for poets

Just like Iran, Israel puts great value on the written word. In Israel, streets are named for poets - writers who have revived a people and its ancient language. It is the pen and imagination, more than the sword and muscle, that have been responsible for the creation of this nation. Israel's historical roots are traced in a book; its people are called the "People of the Book"; and its founding father, Theodor Herzl, a playwright, liked to write books. It is no surprise then that Israel leads the world in new book titles per capita, per year.

As in Iran, everyday conversations in Israel are as likely to be peppered with literary references as with practical concerns.

4. Iranians are lonely and distrustful

Much like Israelis, Iranians feel painfully isolated in the Middle East. They are surrounded by people with whom they share neither language nor religion. Iran is majority Persian and Shi'ite; its neighbors are majority Arab and Sunni.

Nor does Iran have many friends beyond the Middle East. If anything, the international community has never treated them fairly, Iranians believe. In the last century alone, Iranians have contended with colonization and decades of foreign intervention, not to mention an eight-year war against Saddam Hussein, in which the entire world sided with Iraq.

The United Nations didn't consider Saddam's invasion a threat to international peace and security; it took the Security Council more than two years to call for a withdrawal. Another five years passed before it addressed Saddam's use of chemical weapons. For the Iranians, the lesson was clear: When in danger, Iran can rely on neither the Geneva Conventions nor the UN Charter for protection. Just like Israel, Iran has concluded that it can rely only on itself.

5. Zionism is not a dirty word

In a show of disrespect, many leaders in Iran refer to Israel as the "Zionist regime." While being called a "regime" may not be flattering, for most Israelis, Zionism is not a dirty word.

From within, Zionism is a national liberation movement, whose aim it is to create a safe haven for Jewish people, culture and national identity. Zionism is the Jewish people's answer to the centuries-old impulse to erase them from history. When Ahmadinejad and his ilk speak of Zionism's imminent doom, they are in fact strengthening the very movement they seek to eliminate.

Israelis joke that Israel is the only country in the world where the words "dirty Jew" mean a Jew who has not taken a shower. In a way, this joke encapsulates the essence of Zionism. Everything else is commentary.

6. Sympathy with Palestinians, but no desire for conflict with Israel

Ahmadinejad's venomous rhetoric notwithstanding, Iranians don't spend much time thinking about Israel. They are far more concerned about Iran's crippled economy and rampant corruption. While the sympathies of most Iranians fall squarely with the Palestinians, this is not an issue they feel their country must be actively involved in.

Iranians will fiercely defend their independence and territory, yet they have no desire for conflict with Israel. Iranians remember Alexander's sacking of Persia, the Arab conquest in the seventh century C.E., the Mongol invasion, and the 1953 CIA coup against Iran's democratically elected prime minister. But there is no recollection of any conflict with the Jewish people because there hasn't been one. Most Iranians would like to keep it that way.

Roi Ben-Yehuda is an Israeli-American writer living in Spain. He is a
regular contributer to Jewcy and France 24. His blog can be read at
Roi's Word Weblog

Dr. Trita Parsi is the author of "Treacherous Alliance - The Secret
Dealings of Israel, Iran and the US" (Yale University Press, 2007), a
Silver Medal Recipient of the Council on Foreign Relations' Arthur
Ross Book Award, the most significant award for a book on foreign
affairs.
www.tritaparsi.com


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    A Model Zionist
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      1.   All of that is true but sadly irelevant 16:55  |  Leo 19/07/08
      2.   All are the facts about Iran, 17:25  |  Persian Hero 19/07/08
      3.   Left leaning meanderings that sadly say little .. 17:44  |  redmike 19/07/08
      4.   What a beautiful article 17:52  |  John Dziak 19/07/08
      5.   Oh REALLY! 18:17  |  DesMnsDave 19/07/08
      6.   Excellent Article! 18:25  |  Tony J 19/07/08
      7.   #4 "what a beautiful article" see post #3 18:41  |  redmike 19/07/08
      8.   Well, It is a good start, Leo (#1) 18:47  |  Iranian-american 19/07/08
      9.   The most published book in Iran 18:49  |  Iranian-american 19/07/08
      10.   Great Article 18:56  |  Avi 19/07/08
      11.   No innocent parties 18:56  |  Kian 19/07/08
      12.   wonderful 19:05  |  RW 19/07/08
      13.   iran&isreal 19:10  |  salman makki 19/07/08
      14.   ..no desire for conflict with Israel. HUh? 19:21  |  Jay 19/07/08
      15.   Thank you for your fair assessment of the situation 19:23  |  Mohammad Kahvand 19/07/08
      16.   Kudos to the writer 19:30  |  David 19/07/08
      17.   It`s the same between Israel and the Palestinians 19:37  |  Walter 19/07/08
      18.   Very Original point of view 19:37  |  Eric 19/07/08
      19.   very naie and poetic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111 19:59  |  unknown 19/07/08
      20.   That`s nice ... but nukes are the prob 20:11  |  Jason 19/07/08
      21.   #4. John, the Iranians and Jews do get along. 20:18  |  ManintheMiddle 19/07/08
      22.   Salaam Alekum 20:33  |  Yosemite 19/07/08
      23.   Such a nice article... 20:38  |  JonathanInTelAviv 19/07/08
      24.   So what: Iranians don`t control their own government! 20:39  |  McQueen 19/07/08
      25.   War and democracy don`t mix: Which is why Mullahs want war! 20:42  |  McQueen 19/07/08
      26.   Iran vs. Israel 20:45  |  Proud Jew 19/07/08
      27.   Essential things Israelis already know about Iran 20:46  |  Future1 19/07/08
      28.   # 5 DesMnsDave Oh REALLY! 20:51  |  Traude 19/07/08
      29.   Translate it to Hebrew 21:15  |  Ami 19/07/08
      30.   Jay, turn your "Huh" into information retrieval 21:20  |  Mark B. 19/07/08
      31.   Re: Oh Really! 21:21  |  Farshad 19/07/08
      32.   Iranian menace won`t be tamed through `understanding.` 21:26  |  Nathaniel 19/07/08
      33.   Marx, Mahler..and Jon Stewart! 21:27  |  Cyrus the Great 19/07/08
      34.   #3 Mike 21:31  |  Jabotinsky 19/07/08
      35.   To those who PooPoo this article 21:36  |  Raad 19/07/08
      36.   Dude, with a name like Ben Yahuda, I`d expect more from you, I`m 21:45  |  applachy 19/07/08
      37.   Essential Things.... 21:49  |  mkam 19/07/08
      38.   Do I smell pork chops? 22:11  |  John McHussein 19/07/08
      39.   A few words from the 13th century Persian poet Rumi 22:15  |  Bijan 19/07/08
      40.   To Proud Jew: Israeli Democracy? 22:17  |  Gabriel 19/07/08
      41.   They are constructing a bomb to throw at Israel regarless 22:22  |  ScotGuy 19/07/08
      42.   Change `Iran` with `Germany` in article and sounds the same 22:39  |  Dhimmi 19/07/08
      43.   #34 - thank you - I am always pleased to learn! 23:34  |  redmike 19/07/08
      44.   Israel/Iran 23:51  |  Brian Fink 19/07/08
      45.   At last SOME SENSE! 00:02  |  Cy 20/07/08
      46.   This is not about Iranians or Israelis 00:11  |  Ben Livson 20/07/08
      47.   refreshing article 00:11  |  anthony 20/07/08
      48.   Need Balance of Powers in ME 00:17  |  Amjad 20/07/08
      49.   #28 EXACTLY! Which is why we have different US Presidents 00:19  |  DesMnsDave 20/07/08
      50.   #31 Farshad, the problem are those dictating Iran 00:25  |  DesMnsDave 20/07/08
      51.   desmnsdave 4 00:26  |  potobac 20/07/08
      52.   jason in la 00:32  |  potobac 20/07/08
      53.   Being Fair 00:54  |  bystander 20/07/08
      54.   Response to Oh Really! 01:05  |  bystander 20/07/08
      55.   Iranian Jews, Past Iranian/Israeli Relationship 01:17  |  Sophia 20/07/08
      56.   Meaning of war and democracy dont mix 01:20  |  kia 20/07/08
      57.   What an irreleant piece of California-style naivetë. 02:19  |  Fortuna Benmayor 20/07/08
      58.   Purim festival is about Persian-Jewish conflicts 02:47  |  Iron Felix 20/07/08
      59.   Don`t forget what happened in Argentina 02:50  |  Ed Kneler 20/07/08
      60.   give me a break 03:00  |  Aviva 20/07/08
      61.   Should be looked at as a Joke? 03:10  |  Sharif Hafez 20/07/08
      62.   Perhaps a Persian-Israeli poetry slam.. 03:24  |  Aphemia 20/07/08
      63.   Regardless of the actual content of the article 04:19  |  Walter 20/07/08
      64.   lovely sweet irradiated iranians 04:38  |  jmm 20/07/08
      65.   Let`s Hold Hands? Use the neutron bomb already! 04:48  |  Ethan 20/07/08
      66.   democracy and morals? 05:03  |  VIPER 20/07/08
      67.   The best article I read for a while 05:03  |  Jeff 20/07/08
      68.