i made many mistakes, most of which did not hurt me, so i forgot them, but i did not, even after 57 years, and i was very sad to the extent tears rolled down my cheeks when i heard jamal abdel nasser announced his resignation from the leadership, after his involvement in the disastrous defeat of 1967, and how naive i was, hoped that he would remain in that position.
i also historically admired the jewish people, and i still do, i formed friendships with a number of them, in america and britain, as professionals, consultants, and friends, and they were extremely kind, intelligent, and honest in their dealings, and that admiration was reflected or extended to israel, which i believed was founded on values worthy of respect. (with my belief in the right of the palestinian people to their land, and my denunciation of all the injustice and crime inflicted on them at the hands of the zionists).
the gaza crime showed me how naive and wrong i was, and that the principles of zionism, which emanate from an extremist political doctrine for which there is no room for others or mercy and blind fanaticism are the norm, and this made me look at things differently.
i am not a fan of the iranian regime, or any religious political regime, which is extremist in nature, and i was almost imprisoned, in a “state security” case, after i criticized the symbol of the islamic republic, but this should not affect my opinion of the recent military confrontation between iran and israel.
a friend says that israel has gained from the iranian attack, as it has revealed the limited capabilities of iran, compared to israel, the west, and america!
this is naive talk, as 90% of the countries in the world have limited capabilities compared to those countries, and iran is no exception.
global interest in the tragedy of the people of gaza also declined, and israel now became the victim and the aggressor, and this reduced global pressure on it. the iranian attack gave israel the right to retaliate, at the appropriate time!
a friend also believes that the iranian missile attack erased the effects of israel’s intelligence and military failure on october 7, and restored its confidence. their success in shooting down 99% of ballistic and cruise missiles and 60% of drones is evidence of that, but he forgets that his comparison is unfair! american, british, european, and even arab forces contributed to shooting down iranian missiles, knowing that iran remains a third world country, and its capabilities should not be compared to the capabilities of those who shot down its missiles. the iranian attack also demonstrated, in the friend’s opinion, that iran poses an existential threat to israel, and that it will not hesitate to annihilate it if it possesses nuclear power!
what the friend did not notice is that iran, for the first time since 1979, succeeded, from its territory, in challenging israel, and made it stand on its tiptoes, worried about what would come next. these were real hours of panic that the world witnessed in the appearances of displaced people in schools, running for shelters, and storing medicines and food; even leaving the country, all of which are new matters, with their momentum, in israeli society.
iran’s missiles, let’s call them dilapidated, have proven that harming israel and forcing it to live in a state of ambush is not difficult. it is a country heavily armed to its ears, but it is fragile and in constant need of american support.
this is no longer guaranteed to continue forever, and without it, it will not be able to withstand for long or be happy. with peace, even its arsenal of nuclear weapons cannot be used except in the case of “against me and my enemies,” due to the small area of the country. the terror iran has spread in the hearts of the israelis is something that only an ignorant person would deny. had major countries not raced to protect it, the extent of the destruction would have been great.
i repeat and repeat, i am not a fan of the iranian regime, and i do not agree with hamas, and i do not think that it is any different or less extremist than the extremist israelis, and there will be no peace with it. but at the same time, i do not believe in the demise of israel. rather, i believe that its victory over hamas, and every palestinian or arab extremist, cannot be achieved without the two-state solution.
note: the majority of zionists do not believe in the existence of a god, but they believe that he promised them the land of palestine! -- israeli historian pappe.