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After the USA bombed Iran, the immediate future for those who oppose US imperialism and Zionism looks extremely bleak. Things are likely to worsen on all fronts before they improve. Israel will be hegemonic in the Middle East. The Arab states will be subservient. Palestinians are unlikely to see justice.
By MOGAMAT REDERWAAN CRAAYENSTEIN
The USA bombed nuclear sites in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow. The idea of anyone bombing nuclear facilities should fill us with horror. From an operational perspective, it appears to have been a spectacular success. It included many firsts for the USA defence forces. Hovering above their hubris and the debris at the Iranian nuclear facilities is a moral and spiritual catastrophe. This carnage taints the image of man. This attack was 33 years in the making. It was built on the lies of Netanyahu. How can the lies of one man be the intelligence brief for this destruction? There must be a special place for him in hell, perhaps next to Herod. Trump, what can I say except that he should be in jail?
Where is the world that meets every day at the United Nations’ offices somewhere in the world? Why do people bother to meet at the United Nations? Why do the Iranians even allow visits by IAEA inspectors whose report triggered the Israeli attack a week ago? The United Nations was formed to stop countries from going to war with one another. Why bother? The UN Secretary General should resign in protest. It would be hard to deny that the United Nations, in its current format, is complicit in the crimes of the USA and Israel. It is almost impossible to counter the view that IAEA is a handmaiden of US and Israeli foreign policy interests. If Iran or the Palestinians were to negotiate, why should they involve the United Nations or the IAEA?
Organisation of Islamic Conference does nothing
At the time that the USA bombed Iranian nuclear facilities, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation was meeting in Istanbul. They had no impact on changing what was going to happen a few hours later. Do they have the means to stop this? Militarily, they had options. However, one can still see their knees shaking out of fear.
After the USA bombed Iran, the immediate future for those who oppose US imperialism and Zionism looks extremely bleak. Things are likely to worsen on all fronts before they improve. Israel will be hegemonic in the Middle East. The Arab states will be subservient. Palestinians are unlikely to see justice. The Hebrew slaves under the Pharaoh will have had a better life. Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain will probably swear allegiance to Israeli regional sub-imperial status.
Qawlan sadida, isegoria and parrhesia
Qawlan sadidan, straight talk, is something to which all these leaders subscribe. In the Athenian experiment in democracy, two key principles were at work. Firstly, isegoria is the right and duty to participate in matters that affect the public. Secondly, parrhesia is to speak truth to power. Fifty-seven Muslim-majority countries met in Turkey and, as they performatively did, they condemned Israel. They urged the USA not to join the bombing of Iran but to restart the diplomatic process. It is breathtaking that qawlan sadida, isegoria and parrhesia are absent from the political practice of these OIC countries. They fail the people in Palestine, and they fail the people in Iran. The double bind is that Palestine and Iran still need them, even though what they will do is utterly uncertain.
The OIC, like many international groupings such as BRICS, NATO, the EU, and the AU, all recognise that there is only one superpower in the world, and that is the USA. The USA is Akbar to the OIC and everyone else. In the medium to long term, it’s an empire in decline. Currently, it continues to pursue its strategic interests through military force and neo-neoliberal economic policies. The Middle East is significant due to its oil and gas resources. The United States still has a strategic interest in controlling the flow of oil from the Middle East, as this influences the economies of many countries worldwide. Therefore, it affects the global economy. None of the oil-producing countries is to be allowed to have any idea that they can exercise sovereignty over the oil in the ground in their countries. Any thinking along these lines is viewed as a threat to the United States’ national security interests. Every country in the region complies except Iran, which refuses to obey the USA’s orders. This is the issue with Iran. They suffer from a disease that cannot be allowed to spread. Iran is a threat because it exists in the middle of some US military bases. The UK also has bases in the same countries. Why could Iran not decide to locate itself somewhere else? A massive array of military power has not persuaded Iran to comply with the United States’ instructions. America hopes that its destruction of the three sites will force Iran to accept its humiliation at the negotiating table. After all, negotiation is for Trump and Netanyahu, war by another means.
The USA and the rule of law
The odd thing about all of this is that the USA promotes itself as a country that respects the law. The reality is that the USA sees itself as being above every law that it expects other countries to obey. The only countries that are allowed to disobey the rule of law are those of the USA’s allies. It also sees itself as a defender of democracy in the world. However, we have seen how, when people make the wrong choice at the ballot box, they will face political and economic sanctions. If that does not work, then a regime change is initiated. If the street cannot change the regime, then that country is bombed, and then regime change is still set in motion.
An establishment and elite consensus position is that the USA is an honest broker. It stands above the fray as a neutral broker. However, we have seen that the USA is not neutral. It provides military, economic and political support to its allies, particularly Israel, which acts as an army base for the USA’s imperialist interests. It is a country that poses a significant threat to world peace due to its unrivalled military might and its economic decline as the world shifts towards Asia.
The 57 Muslim countries that are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are aware of these facts noted above. Some of them are even close allies of the USA. They do know that, despite their money, there is a hierarchy of allyship with the USA. At the top of the heap is Israel. It alone is trusted with enforcing the rules of the Godfather. It alone has the unbridled authority to act on behalf of the Master. Others have seen that their money cannot buy them love from the Godfather. Their relationship with the Boss is transactional. The transactional benefits flow one way.
The same 57 Muslim countries have seen how brutally the USA pursues its interests. The Middle East is in utter ruins despite the glistening buildings in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Some of them have 80 million people or more. Yet, they count for nothing except as janitors in the system of USA power play. It is shameful how big frontline states fear Israel. They can be brutal with their people. When the USA coughs, they must get a cold. When Israel frowns, they get diarrhoea.
The same can be said for the BRICS countries and the African Union (AU). Leaders of the countries concerned can see that something is desperately wrong. They are petrified. They dare not lift their heads above the proverbial parapet. If the USA or Israel notice that they are looking, they will be put on the naughty chair. Some of them believe that the way to Washington is via Tel Aviv. Hence, they invest in the Israeli high-tech sector, including the military-industrial complex. Therefore, the same bombs that are raining down on Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese, Yemenese and now Iranians do come from America. Parts of the Israeli military-industrial complex is funded by members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Whilst the rest of us were calling for BDS when Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians, some of the OIC members were, and still are, continuing to trade with Israel.
Russia and China are bystanders, not allies of iran
Russia and China re interesting. They are both members of BRICS. Iran is a strategic partner to both countries. We see the limits of Russia and China’s commitment to Iran. It is not as if Iran could do without them. Russia is an essential ally of Iran and the Palestinians. However, both Russia and China are also strategic partners of Israel. There are over a million Russian speakers in Israel. This is the most significant concentration of Russian speakers outside Russia. That is what matters to Russia. It will never allow any harm to come to them. As for China, they are primarily interested in oil from Iran and technology from Israel. Both Russia and China will talk the talk, but walking the walk is another matter. They know that the Middle East is part of the USA’s Grand Arena geopolitical backyard. They are there, but they will not spit in the USA soup bowl.
The only allies of Iran are grassroots social movements
That leaves Iran alone. Its only hope lies with social movements that seek to make the world a better place, and a more just world is possible. Social movements do the slow work that helps us to imagine a different world. There is no guarantee of success. There are no off-the-shelf solutions. We can only look back and learn from our mistakes. In the era of the superpower’s decline, social movements will likely experience few gains and many losses. Very few will be prepared even to try to make change possible.
Think globally, organise and act locally
Those social movements have to be conscientious, organise and mobilise people around everyday issues like housing, education, employment, healthcare, criminal justice, social welfare and human rights. Those social movements have to think globally but act locally. People need to see that there is always money for bailing out corrupt corporations that have made reckless and stupid investment decisions. But there is never money for the issues mentioned in this section on social movements. The neoliberal state serves as a manager of corporate and foreign interests. It manages the interests of the capitalists. of capital. The distributive impulse of the state is compromised as state functions like education and healthcare are privatised, and corrupt, well-connected individuals profit from what should be principles of social justice. It has to lower barriers for the free flow of capital but keep the barriers to control the movement of the unemployed, undereducated masses of poor and working-class people. These wars on behalf of the high-tech sector, the military-industrial complex, are a subsidy to these companies. For them, there must be war. Peace anywhere presents a strategic threat to their profit margins. They must instigate wars every day. People must never be allowed to make the political compromises that accompany sensible politics and economics. Wars abroad, or anywhere, are funded by cuts in spending on the needs of the poor and working-class people. The middle class is increasingly stretched. Soon, they too will be wiped out as Artificial Intelligence takes over many middle-class professional jobs. We cannot conscientise, organise and mobilise ordinary people on foreign policy issues like the USA-Israel attack on Iran. We can and must help people see the links between their everyday difficulties and the demands of globalised financial capitalism, with its insatiable demands for wars. As Naomi Klein called it, disaster capitalism. They destroy countries with military power and economic pressure from the IMF, World Bank and the Bank of International Settlements. Then they use their power to get sweetheart deals for their multinational companies to do the reconstruction. The military-industrial complex and other multi-national companies have their bread buttered on both sides. Malcolm X said that we should think globally but act locally.
Build alliances
We cannot end this carnage on our televisions and social media as individuals. It requires collective action. We must build alliances. Here, some of the Muslims will probably have a heart attack. Alliances mean that for many, their preferred bigotries and sectarian impulses will have to be reigned in. They will have to work with people of other faiths and no faith. They must work with people from different classes, genders, ethnicities and religious backgrounds. Heaven forbid they have to work with people that they are inclined to call kafirs (unbelievers). It cannot be done without students, workers, and communities building alliances across class, gender, ethnic, religious, and national origin fault lines. At the heart of the work must be militant, fighting trade unions. Trade unions should be independent of government and business. We can find beauty in the face of the ugliness that we see. Our activism is an immediate response. However, we must engage in intense debates about what a just future looks like. I can be sure that in such a future, both Netanyahu and Trump would face Nuremberg trials.
Find allies within the power structures of the enemy
Our alliances have to study the power structures of our enemies closely. Yes, these establishmentarians are enemies. We must work with individuals within the power structures of the countries that perpetuate the crimes and those who are bystanders when they should take a more active role. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, some are guilty, but all are responsible. We can see the mayhem that Trump and Netanyahu are causing. And we see the mumbling words from the UK, France, Germany and the rest of the EU. Israel always has the right to defend itself, whatever that even means. We might be angry at their populations. However, we must identify individuals within their respective power structures who can effect change in the societies of the global north and in our societies in the global south. In South Africa, we have political parties that repeat the propaganda of the pro-Israel lobby. Some of these peoples, ancestors were slaves and dispossessed black people.
Pro-Israel lobby fights in our institutions
We see the war that Israel fights in the Middle East being fought in our institutions. Donors bring pressure. There are fights in the High Courts to defend Israeli interests. Freedoms of conscience, speech and association are curtailed. Academic freedom at universities is being reshaped in favour of power. We need a broad front that has clear principles. There cannot be justice under the neoliberal project. That is a minimum requirement in the wide front. Any individuals who support the project of justice for all, regardless of differences in class, gender, ethnicity, religion, or national origin, should be welcomed. Capitalists almost always overcome their differences in pursuit of their common interests. On the left, we always want to be purer than pure. We invariably disagree on the issue of how many leftists you can balance on the head of a pin. The religious sectarian looks progressive in the face of left disunity.
Do not lose sight of the humanity of the enemy
We are outraged by what Netanyahu and Trump are doing. When they look at the Middle East, a hierarchy of human worth is evident. The humans are Israeli Jews, and the rest are along a continuum from human animals to animals. This is very hard in political movements to advocate. Do not lose sight of the humanity of the people that you oppose. Trump and Netanyahu can do what they are doing because they do not see the humanity of the others. We must be committed to an inclusive horizon. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. That does not mean that one compromises on principles. No one is firm on principles but hates the sin and leaves room for the redemption of the sinner. That is the tradition of the prophets of the bible and the Quran.
Focus on small gains
Always try to achieve small gains. Being in movements is often soul-challenging. There are more setbacks than wins. Do not try to make impossible gains. Just make small gains every day. Build momentum and keep morale high. Know that some will fall by the wayside as the struggle continues. Life gets complicated and in the way. There must be a small group of people who will keep the candle burning as the night threatens to overwhelm us.
Win over people
We can only support struggles for justice and peace with a solid, growing, and informed base. We must win over people. We cannot talk about Palestine and Iran only amongst ourselves.
Fight the Zionists and imperialists because they are racists and wrong
The road is long. I can remember that when we fought the struggle against Apartheid, we never knew whether or when we would win. We did not see if we could win in our lifetimes. We fought against the racist Apartheid regime not because we could win. We fought them because they were racists. We had to do so.
I recall many people who made significant contributions. They were not the cleverest who knew all the answers; they were not the most courageous, nor were they afraid; they were not the most famous. On the contrary, they learnt which questions to ask in the movement, and they knew to be strong, even if at a demonstration, their knees were shaking. They were just ordinary people who did extraordinary things.
With love in our hearts and a song and prayer on our lips
With love in their hearts, a song and a prayer on their lips, their eyes saw that Apartheid could fall even though the evidence to the contrary was overwhelming. And we hope that the Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese, Yemenis, Iraqis, Libyans and Iranians do better than we did in post-Apartheid. We replaced ethnic Apartheid with class Apartheid mixed with racism and xenophobia.
Another world is possible
Another world is possible. That is one where Netanyahu is held accountable. Some are guilty. All are responsible, said Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Let us fulfil our promises to be accountable. To be human is to live not in isolation from others. To be human is to live with other humans and to love and care, to cry and help. A human being cannot be indifferent to the carnage sown by Trump and Netanyahu. Let us build our movements. Make sure that our governments do not sell us out because they know that they are next on the hitlist for sanctions, regime change and war. This will be a challenging and lonely road. If we want our children and grandchildren to thrive, then we must take a stand today.
This attack against Iran will likely ensure that the potential for nuclear war will take place, climate change will worsen, states will become more fragile as they are hollowed out to serve the interests of the private sector, and the ability to see truth from lies will be harder. We either do this, or our children and grandchildren will not have a future.
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