David Menashri studies the history and politics of Iran at Tel Aviv University.
Sidebars
May 01, 2008
To David Menashri, a specialist on the history and politics of Iran at Tel Aviv University, the possibility of an Iranian nuclear weapon “is not just an Israeli concern.”
Combine what he calls the Iranian rulers’ “radical ideology,” President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s threats to wipe Israel off the map, and the Iranian potential for weapons of mass destruction, and he says the global threat becomes clear.
“It should be a world concern,” said Menashri. “The very possession of nuclear weapons would change the geostrategic map of the Middle East. Iran will not be the last country in the Middle East with nuclear capabilities, and you have Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Turkey and Israel. This unstable and tough neighborhood would be impossible to live with, with so many countries having nuclear weapons.”
Menashri’s grim assessment came during a preview of a speech he is scheduled to deliver at 7 p.m. May 4 at the Alex Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus in Whippany.
He will discuss “Iran: Insights into its Religion, Politics, and Power” in a program sponsored by the Community Relations Committee of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.
The Iranian-born professor, who was raised in Israel from the age of four, spoke with NJ Jewish News by cell phone from Tel Aviv just hours before leaving for an American speaking tour.
Menashri is the author of six books on Iran, most recently Post-revolutionary Politics in Iran: Religion, Society and Power (Routledge).
He says he understands why Ahmadinejad, who reports to Iran’s ruling Shi’ite Muslim clerics, makes his extremist statements about Israel.
“He gets prestige and power in the Iranian government by his radicalism,” said Menashri. “The main question is not why Ahmadinejad is making such statements but why he is allowed to make such statements — possibly because the other leaders of Iran, the real powers, think more or less like him. They don’t want confrontation, but he is not acting against their interests. He makes all the other conservatives in Iran look good.
“He would not have the power to order a nuclear attack on Israel, and even if he could, he would not, in my view,” said the professor.
Menashri considers his native land to be a country without close allies.
“Iran is Persian and not Arab,” he said. “It is Shi’ite and not Sunni. There is a great tension between them. Iran has 10 or 11 neighbors. It doesn’t have good relations with any of its neighbors.”
In some ways, he noted, Israel and moderate Arab countries share a common enemy in Iran.
“If you ask Saudi Arabia or Jordan or Egypt which is your main enemy in the region, I am not sure they would say ‘Israel.’”
Nor, in some ways, is Israel the main target of the Iranians.
“Western culture, Western civilization is,” said Menashri. “Not every problem in the Middle East should have a solution with the trademark ‘Made in Israel,’” he said.
Common interests
Despite its intransigence and hostility to Israel and the West, Menashri believes there are a lot of common interests between Iran and the United States.
“Basically, the Iranians are honest with themselves. They ask themselves, ‘Which country has made the greatest services to Iran’s interests in the last 20 years?’ This country is the United States. You crushed the military power of their Enemy Number One, Saddam Hussein, in 1991. You removed the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2002. You removed Saddam Hussein in 2003. From east and west, you removed the two big enemies of Iran,” he said.
Essentially, Menashri believes the American invasion of Iraq has helped beef up the Iranian power base in the Middle East.
“Clearly the disintegration of the Saddam Hussein state allowed Iran much more benefits and much more power to involve itself in Iraq,” he said. “There is for the first time a Shi’ite Arab government in Iraq. Of course the war strengthened Iran. Iran did not create the problem in Iraq. Iran is benefiting from a vacuum created by the war.”
In terms of coping with Iran as a nuclear nation, Menashri suggests “an American solution that can be either by pressure or dialogue. I think pressure helps — on their banks, on their politicians, on human rights. This is a rational government. They are considering the price they have to pay. They are open to reason.”
Event details
What: Iran: Insights into its Religion, Politics, and Power
When: Sunday, May 4, 7 p.m.
Where: Alex Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus, Whippany
Cost: Free
Contact: Community Relations Committee of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ or 973-929-3064
A game plan on Iran
DAVID MENASHRI’S speech in Whippany is part of a renewed effort by United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ and its Community Relations Committee to heighten awareness of the Iranian government’s threat to the world, based on its aggressive pursuit of nuclear weapons capability, its funding of terrorism, and its poor human rights record.
Under the CRC banner, the community has launched the “Stop Iran Now Campaign: A MetroWest Action Strategy.”
“It is not a major issue in the presidential campaign,” observed CRC director Lori Price Abrams. “Our goal is to have this in discourse so we can activate other leverage points, whether diplomatic or economic. We are trying to understand how much clout [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad has in his own country.”
Building upon the example set by the boards of the MetroWest federation and the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest, the CRC is pressing a campaign for individuals to divest stock holdings from targeted corporations doing business in Iran.
The campaign will urge Jews and non-Jews alike to advocate legislation that calls for tough sanctions on Iran and support of targeted divestment. The series featuring speakers on Iran will continue.
In the fall, to a broader audience, the CRC will partner with the Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict at Drew University to bring together policy-makers, academics, and experts to create a policy platform related to Iran.
“What we hope to do is raise awareness and energize a base of community members to help make it an issue in this campaign season and ultimately to pressure Iran to change course,” said Price Abrams.
For further information on the Stop Iran Now Campaign, contact the CRC or call 973-929-3064.
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