http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/06/07/thanks-iran-but-no-thanks/
<http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2010/06/07/thanks-iran-but-no-thanks/>Thanks, Iran! But NO Thanks! (Even Hamas wonders about the political convenience of the IRG escorts for Aid to Gaza) by HAITHAM SABBAH <http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/author/haitham-2/> on JUNE 7, 2010 As you might have heard now, Iran has volunteered<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/06/gaza-blockade-iran-aid-convoy> to send aid ships to Gaza. As stated in Tehran, "The Iranian Red Crescent has decided<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5giuBx4p4O64F0McNQgLqi8HJUKuQ> to send two aid ships to Gaza this week and has called for volunteers to act as relief workers and accompany the vessels, the state IRNA news agency reported." On top of this, "Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards are ready to escort aid flotillas to Gaza<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMRvO-fjy8lVpAcOQCe-ZapYbo_A> if the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders this, a Khamenei aide said on Sunday. "The Revolutionary Guards' naval forces are fully prepared to escort freedom and peace flotillas carrying humanitarian aid from all over the world to the oppressed people of Gaza," Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's naval representative, told the Mehr news agency. "If the respected leader of the revolution (Khamenei) gives an order in this regard to the Revolutionary Guards' naval forces, it will take a practical step using its capability and equipment to escort flotillas to Gaza," he said. As Iran always did in the case of Palestinian conflict, they try to make use of the plight of Palestinians for their benefit. The "liberation of Palestine" was always part of the "Iranian Islamic Revolution" propaganda. But when you look in realities on the ground, they have never done anything good for Palestine or Palestinians except talk and raising Palestinian flags in their in-home demonstrations every now and then. Apart from that, they supported Hamas and still do so with little or no money to keep them alive in front of the other Palestinian parties. Whether this is good or not is debatable, but in general, non-Hamas supporters see no good in this relationship, but on the contrary it was always a reason for those who don’t support Hamas to stay away from it so that they will not be considered as Iran supporters. Now let's be clear here. We are not against Iran’s legitimate rights. Like all nations on earth, we respect and accept any government that is the voice of its people, that is, a democratically elected government, but this is not the case. On the other hand, we are absolutely not against any help offered to Palestinians, but we should always ask ourselves a question about anything that has to do with our struggle: at what cost? Iran is at the centre of international pressure on account of its nuclear program issue, so the Gaza Freedom Flotilla issue and all the positive reaction the Palestinians are getting as a result of Israeli stupidity is going to be a goldmine for the Iran propaganda machine at a time when they need it. But who will buy it? Apparently, even Hamas has realised that underneath the surface, it would only exacerbate tensions if they accepted the offer. According to *Stratfor*<http://www.stratfor.com/memberships/164300/analysis/20100607_brief_hamas_rejects_iranian_aid_escorts> sources: June 7, 2010 Hamas rejected the request of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to escort vessels to break the siege imposed on Gaza, saying they do not want further tensions in the region, *Al Sharq Al Awsat* reported<http://www.aawsat.com/details.asp?section=1&issueno=11514&article=572788>June 7. Hamas lawmaker Jamal al Khzri said the organization does not want any military intervention that could lead to further tension in the region or involve civil authorities to come to Gaza via military activities. And this is how it appeared on *Al Sharq Al Awsat* website<http://www.aawsat.com/details.asp?section=1&issueno=11514&article=572788> : <http://sabbah.biz/mt/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/hamas-reject-iran-aid-gaza.jpg> Translation: *The Iranian Revolutionary Guards offer to escort "Gaza ships" and Hamas rejects* While the Iranian Revolutionary Guards offered to escort "Gaza ships", the Hamas Movement has rejected any military interference regarding the subject of ships that are trying to break the siege on Gaza. Hamas lawmaker Jamal al Khodari told "Al Sharq Al Awsat" that Hamas does not want any military intervention. [...] Let's look at it, who wants this siege on Gaza to end? Everyone but the Zionists! But if Iran enters this global wave of support to end the siege, who will have a stronger reason to make the siege all that more of a stranglehold and attempt to justify it? Of course, Israel! They always claimed that Iran is supplying Hamas with rockets (which no one has ever seen directly or indirectly), but what better reason can we give to Israel to oppose ending the siege? It would play straight into their propaganda. Palestine was never of interest to Iran. The conflict has been going on for decades now, how many times did Iran shoot a single bullet towards the Israeli occupation (literally or hypothetically)? Never! All they want is attention for themselves and to provoke so they think they look like heroes. Unfortunately, it's lack of the Arab states’ positive action that gives Iran a space to play this game. But being late is better than never arriving. We Arabs all hope that our leaders take one positive action for Palestine, just once at least, maybe! But it should be a real, worthy and sustainable positive action, just for a change, not sounds and echoes. We all should keep in our minds that the global movement isn't about Iran! It's about Palestine. Iran escalation is not needed as long as we have the world behind us. We certainly know that the world is not behind Iranian propaganda to send their Republican Guards to break the siege. In fact deep inside each one of us knows that Iran will never do it. But we also should be clear. It should be clear that we absolutely do not support war on Iran or interference with their internal affairs, and official Iranians should understand that pro-peace and global support to Iran in this case does not mean that activists will support their cheap and selfish propaganda. Anti-war activists are not ignorant to buy this free media bubble. We support FREE Iranians, the Iranian people as a whole, not any specific Iranian government or the "Islamic Revolutionists" (although they have their own supporters around the world). We are anti-war and will always be because we love and support Iranians, not the "Iranian Islamic Revolution." In fact official Iranians should understand that this game might cost them a lot of support, globally. So, thank you Iran, but we don't need your humanitarian aid. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
