<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Onward Revolution: Ridding the Region of U.S. and Israeli&nbsp;Influence]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<table border="0" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" width="100%" align="center">
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<td class="normal_text" style="padding-left:15px;" align="right">18:02 02/21/2011</td>
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<td height="15px" valign="top"><img src="https://i2.wp.com/palestinechronicle.com/images/separator.jpg" alt="" width="510px" height="1px" /></td>
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<td class="caption_text" align="center">Corrupt governments must be brought down.</td>
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<td class="normal_text" style="padding-top:10px;"><strong>By Tammy Obeidallah </strong></p>
<p>Two  dictators gone in less than a month. Mass protests from Yemen and  Bahrain to Algeria and Libya. In Lebanon, Hezbollah—due to a broad  coalition of Muslim, Christian and now Druze support—named the country&#8217;s  new Prime Minister. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad hailed these  recent developments as the start of &#8220;a new Middle East free from U.S.  and Israeli interference.&#8221; Somehow I doubt this &#8216;new Middle East&#8217; is  what then Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice envisioned when she was  having her infamous &#8216;birth pangs&#8217; in 2006.</p>
<p>The predictable  hypocrisy contrasting US reactions to the demonstrations in Egypt which  toppled Mubarak as opposed to those that transpired in Iran after  Mahmoud Ahmedinejad’s re-election illustrates that “democracy” is only  to be lauded when the movement is pro-Western. In a Muslim society, that  means it has to be “moderate” and friendly to Israel.</p>
<p>Rather than  focusing on the reforms that will hopefully benefit the beleaguered  citizens of these erstwhile U.S.-backed dictatorships, Western  discussions of the various revolts are dominated by fears of “Islamic  fundamentalist takeovers,” propagated by Israeli paranoia. Precious time  and resources are spent attempting to placate the Jewish State. In  fact, it was this very desire to protect Israeli interests that led to  the establishment of Western puppet despots throughout the Arab World in  the first place.</p>
<p>Of course the Israeli military juggernaut has  nothing to fear, but everything to gain from playing the victim, which  they have done so well for almost sixty-three years. These  quintessential opportunists are indeed capitalizing on this  unprecedented upheaval. Israeli reactions have ranged from trepidation  to outright panic that the new Egyptian government may not uphold the  peace treaty with the Jewish State after “radical Islamists” like the  Muslim Brotherhood take over.</p>
<p>Islamic scholar Imran Hosein  predicted in 2003 that one day Arab dictatorships would be swept away,  leaving the people to think they were going to have a legitimate  representative government.  He stated, “It is in this scenario that  Israel will say ‘we have to do something; if we just sit here and do  nothing, the State of Israel will be destroyed and the Jews will all be  slaughtered,’” precipitating a “pre-emptive strike” of unprecedented  proportions.</p>
<p>If this seems like a doomsday scenario or a little  too far-fetched, one has only to look as far as Jerusalem University  Online.com, which has posted ads on Facebook warning that “Israel could  be gone tomorrow:  join our ‘Without Israel’ campaign to ensure it  doesn’t happen.”</p>
<p>On the contrary, Egyptian officials have been a  little too quick to assert the peace treaty between that nation and the  Jewish State will remain intact. Press TV reported that according to an  Israeli spokeswoman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak talked with Head of  Egypt&#8217;s Higher Military Council Mohamed Hussein Tantawi by telephone two  days after Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power. The Egyptian military  leadership said it would respect all the country&#8217;s international  treaties, including the peace pact with Israel.</p>
<p>Former US  Ambassador to Iraq Edward Peck was quoted on Press TV:  “The Egyptian  government now seems to intend to continue the same path of cooperating  with the blockade of the people in Gaza. This has always been one of the  things that the Egyptian people and the other people in the area did  not like … and perceive as the Egyptian government&#8217;s acquiescence in  supporting what Israel is doing with the Palestinian people.”</p>
<p>As  we have seen this past month, it is ultimately the people who will  effect positive change in the reason. Corrupt governments must be  brought down and bodies such as the United Nations must be discredited  as counterproductive wastes. Where else could some 120 nations  co-sponsor a resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank,  only to have their voices canceled out by one nation, the very one  funding the illegal occupation of Palestine? Such travesties of  international law will no longer be tolerated as momentum gains for  demonstrations against these settlements and the boycott and divestment  campaign of the Zionist State itself.</p>
<p>It is encouraging to see  the preliminary reports that Egypt will allow two Iranian ships to  transit the Suez Canal and open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, at  least for humanitarian purposes. These are hopeful indications of, as  President Ahmedinejad said, “a new Middle East, free from U.S. and  Israeli interference.” Only after that interference disappears for good  can there be hope for justice and peace in the region.</p>
<p><em>&#8211; Tammy Obeidallah contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.</em></td>
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<p><a href="http://palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=16669">Onward Revolution: Ridding the Region of U.S. and Israeli Influence</a>.</p>
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