The reactions of Israelis to the events in Iran are touching. It has been a long time since we have seen such solidarity with a people groaning under tyranny. The tone was dictated, as always, by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as befits a beacon of justice that illuminates the world: “Israel supports the struggle of the Iranian people for freedom and justice,” he said in the Knesset. “A global battle is taking place in Iran between countries that represent the values of freedom and progress and violent regimes,” said our leader of the enlightened, freedom-loving peoples of the world.
This summer, he addressed the “proud people of Iran” directly. He even shed a tear. The citizens of Iran have no water, the one who supplies Gaza and the West Bank with abundant water has confirmed. “It’s not normal for them to live like this, it’s not fair to their children,” he said. “But I have good news for you. Israel is the first country in the world in desalination… we know exactly what needs to be done.”
The water master Netanyahu said that he had opened a Telegram account in Persian so that Iranians could learn to manage water. “The thirst for water in Iran is equal only to the need for freedom of the Iranian people,” declared our Nelson Mandela in the style of Shimon Peres. “Here is the big news: as soon as your country is free, Israeli experts will reach every city in Iran.” Then he spoke of canals and lakes in Iran that would be filled with water again and of walking hand in hand with the Iranians on their banks. “What repression, what cruelty,” sighed Martin Luther King, Jr., from Balfour Street in Jerusalem.
"I call on you to be brave and daring, to dream freely. Take risks for freedom, for the future, for your families. Take to the streets and demand justice. Know that you are not alone. Israel stands with you... IRAN BARAYE IRANI - Iran belongs to the Iranians. Herzl said: 'If you want something, it is not an unattainable fairy tale,' and I tell you that a free Iran is an achievable goal."
Stop criticizing Netanyahu as a tyrant or the state of Israel for oppressing other people. Today Netanyahu says “Iran to the Iranians” and tomorrow “Palestine to the Palestinians.” And his opinion is not alone. Most Israelis are shocked by the use of live ammunition and the killing of thousands of protesters. What cruelty. The Israeli regime newspaper “Yediot Ahronot” published on its front page the last words of the murdered protester Azita from Iran: “We are fighting for a minimum of dignity, against collective punishment, for our future.” Her words sounded as if they had been written by some Azita from Gaza.
But if it were Azita from Gaza, Yedioth Ahronoth would certainly not have published a single word of her, not even on its last page. "Azita was killed in the street," write those who avoided the word murder for the killing of Palestinian protesters on some other streets.
The struggle for freedom against tyranny is universal. Iranian protesters and freedom fighters in the Gaza Strip share similar goals. At the demonstrations along the Gaza Strip wall, Israeli forces fired without mercy, as the Revolutionary Guards are now doing. The Israeli army killed over 200 protesters, 28 Gazans were injured, 7.400 from sniper fire. Was Netanyahu shocked by this? Did Yedioth Ahronoth publish the will of a Palestinian girl?
There is another peak of hypocrisy: the claim that the left in the world supported the Palestinians but not the Iranian people. If there is any truth to that, we are the last ones who have the right to criticize others for their hypocrisy.
Once upon a time we sang a song about a free Prague*, and now we have a song about Tehran. We will probably never sing a song about a free Gaza.
(Translated from the Hebrew by Alma Ferhat)
____________
* A popular song by Arik Einstein, written on the occasion of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Bonus video:
