1 00:00:02,190 --> 00:00:08,160 Good afternoon. Welcome, everybody. Welcome to the first meeting of our, uh, uh, new term term. 2 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:17,069 Um, if you may recall, earlier this year we had a lecture on Iran in Israel, 3 00:00:17,070 --> 00:00:26,490 and the promise was that we also will cover the third and side of the triangle of the Iranian Palestinian relationship. 4 00:00:26,490 --> 00:00:31,229 And today we are, uh, happily introducing I'm happy. 5 00:00:31,230 --> 00:00:33,740 I'm very happy and delighted to introduce the speakers. 6 00:00:34,050 --> 00:00:44,760 Dr. Sayed Ali Allawi, who wrote the book, which is now projected Iran and Palestine Past, Present and Future. 7 00:00:45,510 --> 00:00:51,780 Um Ali is a teaching fellow at the Department of Politics and International Studies at US University of London. 8 00:00:52,710 --> 00:01:02,580 He was he holds his Ph.D. from Suez. The book at Hand, which is also the title of The Talk Today, was published by Routledge in last year. 9 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:12,629 Ali, it's important to note also write in comments about contemporary politics in the Middle East and Europe in various media outlets, 10 00:01:12,630 --> 00:01:17,550 and you could easily run into him when you watch the Global News. 11 00:01:18,030 --> 00:01:24,440 Ali, thank you for coming. Thank you very much for having me. Well, thank you, Professor Jaco. 12 00:01:24,810 --> 00:01:34,410 And it's a privilege to be here in Oxford about the topic is Iran and Palestine is a topic, but why did I write this book? 13 00:01:34,530 --> 00:01:41,940 And why we are teaching it now is because there was nothing written in English or Arabic or Hebrew or Farsi. 14 00:01:42,420 --> 00:01:50,700 And the concept of Iran and Palestine, the Palestinian concept always lies within the and within the Arab Israeli conflict. 15 00:01:51,270 --> 00:01:59,100 And since 1979, we hear a lot of news about Iran and Palestinians and Israel. 16 00:02:01,300 --> 00:02:14,790 Why is the reason a Persian Shia state majority supports Palestinians, Arab and Sunni and Iran and Israel don't have even border. 17 00:02:14,790 --> 00:02:20,400 They don't share border and historically good relations. 18 00:02:21,510 --> 00:02:26,160 So the two the topic of discussion here is not about Iran. 19 00:02:26,430 --> 00:02:29,700 Israel, because other colleagues actually covered it. 20 00:02:30,030 --> 00:02:38,280 Professor Jacobo also kindly mentioned, but is mainly immediately looking to the history of Iran's relations with with Palestine. 21 00:02:40,260 --> 00:02:44,540 We start that started with a. 22 00:02:49,390 --> 00:02:52,620 So what we do and what we want to underscore is. 23 00:02:56,390 --> 00:03:00,050 Okay. It's not showing the other side. That's what I'm trying to do. 24 00:03:00,650 --> 00:03:04,220 Let's try again. So it starts. 25 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:09,230 Okay. It goes back. Before we talk about Iran and Palestine. 26 00:03:09,230 --> 00:03:13,790 One thing is important in Iran and Israel sees the creation of state of Israel had 27 00:03:13,790 --> 00:03:20,599 cordial relations between the of his government and Israel regardless to mention 28 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:25,249 that Iran is the only country still in the Middle East that actually house and 29 00:03:25,250 --> 00:03:29,780 the country and the homeland for thousands of Jewish communities as we speak. 30 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:41,750 So but the relations between Iranians and Palestinian cause started from the very beginning, and it goes to two camps. 31 00:03:41,780 --> 00:03:45,050 One of them is Iranian left. Am I talk about this? 32 00:03:45,170 --> 00:03:47,180 And then we go to the Iranian Islamists. 33 00:03:48,110 --> 00:04:01,520 Iranian leftists in 1960s and seventies categorised with Iranian Fattah's M.k.o Mujahideen to their party Group of Palestine and National Front, 34 00:04:03,620 --> 00:04:11,660 1960s and seventies. It was the era of guerrilla movements in the in the developing countries is not only in Iran. 35 00:04:12,470 --> 00:04:20,090 So we had it in Cuba, Algeria and Latin America and more importantly, in Palestine, 36 00:04:20,180 --> 00:04:25,590 in the Palestinian territories, and under the leadership of PLO here, 37 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:42,140 Palestinian liberation organisations, the Iranian leftist anti Shah oppositions were quite motivated by the concept of federalism against imperialism. 38 00:04:43,490 --> 00:04:50,960 It was in 1960s the East established good relations with with the Palestinians. 39 00:04:52,430 --> 00:04:58,190 It was the concept of Palestine for the first time started to go into the leaflets of the Iranian 40 00:04:58,190 --> 00:05:06,350 leftist movements as if they see it as they are fighting together in the same frontline, 41 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:12,860 having the Shah of Shah's government good relations with Israel and United States. 42 00:05:13,610 --> 00:05:24,860 The leftist movements believed that there is a frontline and in one side is the Palestine Liberation Organisation and the Iranian leftists, 43 00:05:25,070 --> 00:05:32,600 and the other side is the Shah's government and Israel and the United States, which they labelled as imperialism. 44 00:05:33,770 --> 00:05:37,310 The history of it. In Chapter one, I discuss it in depth. 45 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:48,580 For example, when for the first time in 1967, two prominent members of Fatah is nicknamed I mean, 46 00:05:48,650 --> 00:05:52,490 they were Ashtiani and Safa Farahani, they nicknamed as Abu Abbas. 47 00:05:52,490 --> 00:05:55,820 And Abu Masood escaped to Iraq through the borders. 48 00:05:56,240 --> 00:06:00,470 They were arrested by the Iraqi government at that time, tortured for a month, 49 00:06:00,890 --> 00:06:07,640 but they managed to contact PLO, their comrades, and the PLO came to save them. 50 00:06:08,060 --> 00:06:12,980 And then they take them to to to Syria and to train them. 51 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:23,840 It was also are the guys that call Iraq slippery that he was nicknamed Abu Saeed al Irani. 52 00:06:24,620 --> 00:06:33,140 And he also joined PLO. He crossed the border from Iran, went to Iraq, and actually he crossed the Iraqi border. 53 00:06:33,650 --> 00:06:41,030 And they are night just hiding during the days and going there the nights, go to Syria and join the PLO camps. 54 00:06:41,450 --> 00:06:50,210 And he was trained and actually he was fighting in Golan Heights with the Palestinians and killed the Mujahideen, 55 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:55,880 which now you may hear them as the opposition today to the Islamic Republic. 56 00:06:56,420 --> 00:07:07,190 Also, they created a contact with the Palestine Liberation Organisation, PLO in 1970 in Dubai when they tried to reach the PLO office. 57 00:07:08,210 --> 00:07:17,750 And the high point, the high point was 1970 when some of the members of MK Mujahideen hijacked a plane from Dubai, 58 00:07:18,980 --> 00:07:25,430 planes supposed to deport them back to Iran, but they hijacked it and the plane landed in Baghdad. 59 00:07:26,690 --> 00:07:36,890 They contact the PLO. PLO picked them up and then training and connections between PLO and Mujahideen or the People's Mujahideen Party. 60 00:07:38,510 --> 00:07:41,030 Many of those people were trained by PLO. 61 00:07:41,210 --> 00:07:50,930 Later on, if you are interested in Iranian politics, they were killed during the so-called forest movement in 1971 and. 62 00:07:51,020 --> 00:08:02,570 And later on by the Shah's government. In other words, the Shah's government also put it in the newspapers in Iran and call them the agents of PLO, 63 00:08:02,780 --> 00:08:11,450 the agents of Arab imperialism against the Persian Empire and against the newly born state of Israel. 64 00:08:11,870 --> 00:08:17,720 So it was the propaganda discussion and [INAUDIBLE] for tat between the Iranian leftists, 65 00:08:18,050 --> 00:08:24,920 which they put themselves as the freedom fighters supporting anti-Zionism anti-imperialist 66 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,690 movements and the Shah's government on the other side call them the agents of Yasser Arafat. 67 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:35,420 Agents of Jamal Abdel-nasser. Agents of Arab nationalism on the other side. 68 00:08:37,620 --> 00:08:41,700 And. So. 69 00:08:44,470 --> 00:08:51,820 I hope I can move that. So this continuation of the relations between two sides. 70 00:08:52,460 --> 00:09:03,380 Also, what is the lesser? Cause it does it down and up. 71 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,690 Every one of you. You need to press. 72 00:09:07,300 --> 00:09:11,530 Which was Jeremy Lee. The liberation. 73 00:09:11,680 --> 00:09:15,910 The National Liberation. Which was not part of the leftist as such. 74 00:09:16,300 --> 00:09:22,990 But also they created a newsletter. I will show you later on called The Battalion Rules Today's East. 75 00:09:23,380 --> 00:09:34,330 And they were actually printed by the Palestinian PFLP Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command in Lebanon in 1971, 76 00:09:34,630 --> 00:09:40,810 projecting the concept of Palestine and then smuggling it and then bringing it back to Iran. 77 00:09:41,020 --> 00:09:49,210 All these leaflets. There was another group in 1970 called the Group of Palestine, and the Group of Palestine was a very small group in Iran, 78 00:09:49,540 --> 00:09:53,920 and they were they were very keen on supporting the Palestinians. 79 00:09:54,190 --> 00:10:02,140 The leader publish when he was arrested, when he wanted to cross the border to Iraq to join the PLO in 1970, 80 00:10:02,410 --> 00:10:07,450 and he was in jail to 1979 and after revolution in Islamic Republic. 81 00:10:08,020 --> 00:10:15,910 Later on he was executed by the Israeli government because of his anti Khomeini also tendencies. 82 00:10:16,870 --> 00:10:28,330 The other one, before we get back to the concept of a post Islamic republic is see I as a new confederation of Iranian Students National Union Abroad. 83 00:10:29,350 --> 00:10:37,630 These are the group of students in the United Kingdom and the United States that actually created a group connected with the Palestinian students. 84 00:10:38,200 --> 00:10:48,069 And one of the interesting thing is connection was made in 1969 and it was one case study was quite interesting that in March 1972, 85 00:10:48,070 --> 00:10:53,040 when the Palestinian students were arrested, they wanted to be arrested, sorry. 86 00:10:53,350 --> 00:10:58,600 And they ran away to the to the embassy of the Arab League in Munich, 1972. 87 00:10:58,990 --> 00:11:02,170 And the German police were waiting outside to deport them. 88 00:11:02,680 --> 00:11:10,329 Iranian members of this Confederation of Iranian Student Union clandestinely entered the embassy, 89 00:11:10,330 --> 00:11:14,739 changed their clothes, and the Palestinians could come out and they they stayed in. 90 00:11:14,740 --> 00:11:18,420 When the German police was waiting for them, they came out that they were not Palestinian. 91 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:29,200 So that kind of connections that the Iranian leftists had with PLO, it had at least 20 years of history before the Iranian revolution. 92 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:33,730 Between all these parties, Islamists. 93 00:11:34,210 --> 00:11:41,980 Before we get back to this, I explain this Islam is not coming back to even older. 94 00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:45,669 Connections are more historical than Iranian leftist. 95 00:11:45,670 --> 00:11:57,160 It goes back to 1948 with Ayatollah Kashani, a prominent Shia cleric in 1948, declared a fatwa and condemned the creation of state of Israel, 96 00:11:57,430 --> 00:12:07,120 condemned the Shah's government, and also declared that all the Iranian Shia muslims should support the Palestinians. 97 00:12:07,930 --> 00:12:12,010 It was another organisation called Islamic Father is now Verbal Safari, 98 00:12:12,430 --> 00:12:19,299 which he actually created the group for the Palestinians travelled to Jerusalem and he travelled to Egypt, 99 00:12:19,300 --> 00:12:29,750 connected with the Muslim Brotherhood and he was collecting donations to support the Palestinians, Yasser Arafat in 1979 when he came to Iran. 100 00:12:29,770 --> 00:12:37,690 I will get back to that point. He mentioned he was a student in Egypt when he met Never Sahrawi and Never Safavi 101 00:12:37,690 --> 00:12:42,160 actually motivated him to create the Palestinian Liberation Organisation. 102 00:12:43,330 --> 00:12:49,600 The others, if you are into Iranian politics, 103 00:12:49,870 --> 00:13:00,280 such as Ayatollah Muntari was also from the 1960s very active in supporting the Palestinian cause and having a proper donations. 104 00:13:00,790 --> 00:13:04,909 It's many times arrested and these are all coming from a book. 105 00:13:04,910 --> 00:13:15,040 He actually delves into the Today documents from the SAVAK during the during the Shah about the connections between the Iranian clerics. 106 00:13:15,820 --> 00:13:25,990 One of the also elements within it was Ali Sharia and he Sharia t an Islamic thinker, but not a cleric. 107 00:13:26,470 --> 00:13:37,720 And he created a line in his speech and his writings between Zionism, imperialism, colonialism, and he denounced it, 108 00:13:38,170 --> 00:13:47,050 actually seeing it as anti-Jewish, anti Semitic from his point of view, the state of Israel and also anti suppressed. 109 00:13:47,470 --> 00:13:55,690 So from Ali Sharia to his point of view, Israel meant the state of Zionism and also goes in the. 110 00:13:55,770 --> 00:14:00,990 Line of imperialism. The other person was General Allen at the West Ification. 111 00:14:01,260 --> 00:14:04,470 It was writing against the West ification or westernisation of Iran. 112 00:14:04,950 --> 00:14:11,010 And he used to be Marxist Communist, but joined with the Islamic oriented thinkers. 113 00:14:11,370 --> 00:14:17,880 He also created a line between that actually put the Israel in the line with imperialism. 114 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:27,180 All these elements. But they didn't have actually coordinated work with the Iranian leftists separately. 115 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:32,460 From the Islamic point of view, they did see Palestine as Islamic cause, 116 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:38,340 which because of the Jerusalem and because of the Al-Aqsa mosque and also because of the concept 117 00:14:38,340 --> 00:14:44,790 of Israel against the Palestinian Muslims from the Israeli left east was not religious, 118 00:14:45,030 --> 00:14:51,630 but it was more about the concept of liberation and about fighting against United States imperialism 119 00:14:51,900 --> 00:15:00,060 and Zionism and all these utopian notions that they put it in their own concept of of manifestos. 120 00:15:02,010 --> 00:15:07,650 But only as we know. So I don't want to make me sick again. 121 00:15:10,830 --> 00:15:14,250 So those organisations, we keep it as is the next one. 122 00:15:15,060 --> 00:15:18,330 Okay, so the revolution happened. 123 00:15:18,780 --> 00:15:27,390 The Islamists, Ayatollah Khomeini actually started supporting the Palestinian cause and be very vocal against Israel in 1960, 124 00:15:28,050 --> 00:15:32,130 1962, 1963, when he talked about Palestine and Israel. 125 00:15:33,260 --> 00:15:36,720 And according to Professor Hamid Dabashi, 126 00:15:37,110 --> 00:15:48,190 Khomeini was more actually talking about Palestine and Israel in 1960 than talking about Iran or talking about the Iranian notion of Iran. 127 00:15:48,210 --> 00:15:52,230 It was not actually the beginning talking against the removal of the Shah. 128 00:15:52,230 --> 00:15:58,500 He was mainly critical about the connections that the Shah had with us and with Israel. 129 00:16:00,030 --> 00:16:03,089 So the revolution was successful. 130 00:16:03,090 --> 00:16:06,690 The Shah's government was removed and revolutionaries came to power. 131 00:16:07,230 --> 00:16:10,350 And of course, in the beginning it was not merely Islamic. 132 00:16:10,350 --> 00:16:17,879 So it was a connection because it was a kind of a coalition of all the forces I mentioned. 133 00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:25,770 But what did it mean for the Palestinians? 24 hours after the revolution, the first person to enter Iran was Yasser Arafat. 134 00:16:26,310 --> 00:16:33,780 Yasser Arafat that I see. You can see this is the 24 hour, 24 hours after the Iranian revolution, he came to Tehran, the Ayatollah Talabani. 135 00:16:34,380 --> 00:16:38,430 And the story of how he came to Iran is also interesting. 136 00:16:38,430 --> 00:16:47,220 In chapter two, I explained that his plane was nearly getting shot down because the Iranian air force is to know that he's on the plane. 137 00:16:47,790 --> 00:16:54,360 But he insisted when he went there, he was actually showing off his Arabic scarf, 138 00:16:55,230 --> 00:16:58,290 which is a Palestinian, trying to show it to the Iranian fighter jets. 139 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:02,460 This is according to his memoir, also out of a memoir that this is out on the plane. 140 00:17:02,940 --> 00:17:07,140 So he managed to land in Tehran and he was received as a hero. 141 00:17:07,410 --> 00:17:11,069 He met with all the revolutionaries, including Ayatollah Talabani. 142 00:17:11,070 --> 00:17:14,460 You can see gave him a Kalashnikov as a gift. 143 00:17:14,850 --> 00:17:21,480 And also Khomeini, we can't see others slides because there are a lot of interesting slides that I will 144 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:27,060 I will show about your work if it comes from the Palestinian leftist Marxists, 145 00:17:27,900 --> 00:17:36,930 about Iran time and a lot of the scene as well. Iran, which in Arabic means there, there the greeting to the Iranian revolutionaries. 146 00:17:36,930 --> 00:17:40,530 That was actually before the Iranian revolution by the Marxists. 147 00:17:40,950 --> 00:17:46,650 This is Arafat when he arrived in Iran, is visiting Nasser Rajavi from the NGO. 148 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:51,870 And then you can see all the guy in the lobby, philistine. 149 00:17:52,200 --> 00:17:58,680 So he says, we are still seeing ourselves Rajavi as the students of the revolutionary PLO. 150 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,230 I want I want to make a mistake again. I'm very cautious. 151 00:18:04,530 --> 00:18:17,270 This is a yes. This is the newspaper that actually was published in 1970, 71 by the and they explains about Petrusma that Glover fell asleep in 97. 152 00:18:17,370 --> 00:18:21,030 Actually, that's my victory to the Palestinian revolution. 153 00:18:21,090 --> 00:18:29,940 This is well before the revolution down. But also these are these are this argument that is before the revolution. 154 00:18:29,940 --> 00:18:33,690 I want to show you this is a again, the same newspaper in 1970. 155 00:18:33,990 --> 00:18:41,610 This is Philistine, a photo newspaper fired by PLO, the 90 also 71 that in Arabic explains about it, 156 00:18:41,610 --> 00:18:47,070 talks about connections with the Iranian revolutionaries. 157 00:18:47,340 --> 00:18:54,030 And this one is about the Marxist Iranians. But he put it in his in his. 158 00:18:55,470 --> 00:19:05,610 Memoir about his connections with Palestine. These two photos that I tried to put it as a cover of the book by the publisher said no for some reason. 159 00:19:05,940 --> 00:19:09,239 Anyway, maybe other things. I don't know. 160 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:15,030 Is it because of the kissing or because of what? But the point is, this is the first day that Arafat arrived in Tehran. 161 00:19:15,490 --> 00:19:20,370 I visited Khomeini, and Khomeini received him as as a hero. 162 00:19:20,670 --> 00:19:28,770 He was actually received by all the Iranian revolutionaries, Islamists and leftists as a hero. 163 00:19:28,770 --> 00:19:41,600 And he was the first person to arrive. Rafsanjani with with with Arafat and also with the temporary government of Iran by position. 164 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:48,510 It was it was a kind of a nationwide carnival of Arafat when he came to Iran, because, as I said, 165 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:55,139 the connections between the Palestinians and Iranian revolutionaries has decades of history. 166 00:19:55,140 --> 00:20:05,550 Before the Iranian revolution, it was not something that does come up. So it was a kind of a connection re union with the Iranian anti-Shia forces. 167 00:20:09,730 --> 00:20:14,709 Symbolically, Arafat was given the key of the Israeli diplomatic mission in Tehran. 168 00:20:14,710 --> 00:20:17,770 By. By these guys. By. 169 00:20:18,730 --> 00:20:20,770 Sorry, I'm just looking at that side because I can't see it here. 170 00:20:21,460 --> 00:20:33,430 So the diplomatic mission of the Israeli government, not the embassy, the diplomatic mission was given to to the to Arafat, according to Arafat. 171 00:20:33,850 --> 00:20:42,399 It was the first piece of I'm just quoting Piece of Palestine was given was taken away from Israel, given to the Palestinians, 172 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:50,020 not by the Arab national is not by Jamal Abdel Nasser, not by Hafez al Assad, but by Iranian revolutionaries. 173 00:20:51,380 --> 00:21:02,590 So if you travel to Tehran, you see the same building still is the Palestinian embassy and controlled by the PLO, not by Hamas, and not by risk. 174 00:21:03,100 --> 00:21:11,050 So it was a very symbolic and emotional gesture that they attended and also with the Iranian Communist Party to their party, 175 00:21:11,590 --> 00:21:19,090 Mujahideen father is and also Khomeini son to give giving the key of the Israeli diplomatic mission, 176 00:21:19,090 --> 00:21:23,320 remove the Israeli flag and put the Palestinian flag. 177 00:21:25,420 --> 00:21:31,630 Khomeini also declared the day of Jerusalem, the last day of the Friday of Ramadan, 178 00:21:31,930 --> 00:21:40,540 as as the as a ruse of the goods which he tried to islamise the concept of the Palestinian conflict. 179 00:21:40,570 --> 00:21:51,010 This is very important, because since then, 1948, 70, 67, 56, 73 conflict all was about Israeli-Arab conflict. 180 00:21:51,670 --> 00:21:58,149 What Khamenei was trying to do was bring it out of the concept of Arab ized conflict and 181 00:21:58,150 --> 00:22:06,010 make it Islamised Islamization of the Palestinian conflict goes beyond the Arab countries, 182 00:22:07,050 --> 00:22:17,380 but to change again. So I shouldn't touch it when I suggested, if you want to read, oh, I don't need it. 183 00:22:17,530 --> 00:22:21,670 I'll just go through it here and you can click and scroll down and select and then you just need. 184 00:22:21,730 --> 00:22:27,760 But the relations between Iran and Arafat, the honeymoon was very short lived. 185 00:22:28,900 --> 00:22:37,870 Yes. How many tried to islamise it? Ayatollah Khomeini tried to move it out from the concept of pan-Arabism to pan Islamism. 186 00:22:38,380 --> 00:22:43,780 The Israeli romantic mission was given to to the Palestinian liberation movement. 187 00:22:44,230 --> 00:22:49,090 But there was something else that actually made this honeymoon to be short lived. 188 00:22:49,750 --> 00:22:58,840 Two episodes of the hostage crisis in Iran and the Iran-Iraq War when the American Embassy was stoned by the students. 189 00:22:59,610 --> 00:23:09,430 Uh, at that point, Yasser Arafat immediately and travelled to Iran and tried to mediate and he contacted the American and 190 00:23:09,730 --> 00:23:17,260 diplomatic missions through Arab mediators and tried to mediate between Khomeini's student followers, 191 00:23:17,470 --> 00:23:25,810 followers and Americans. When he travelled to Iran, he was he didn't go very well. 192 00:23:26,110 --> 00:23:30,280 He didn't go down very well because from the Iranian revolutionaries point of view, 193 00:23:31,410 --> 00:23:36,819 American embassy meant imperialism and PLO meant the fight against imperialism. 194 00:23:36,820 --> 00:23:42,340 And now the leader of PLO is coming to mediate between the revolutionaries and imperialists. 195 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:54,310 From their point of view, what happened is they didn't go down well and Arafat later on backed away. 196 00:23:54,460 --> 00:23:59,640 And and he said that actually he didn't come to Iran to mediate. 197 00:24:00,220 --> 00:24:09,130 But in 1986, in another interview, Yasser Arafat admitted that actually went there for mediation. 198 00:24:14,850 --> 00:24:23,910 So before we get back to this, Iran Iraq war was another episode when Saddam Hussein in 1980 invaded Iran, 199 00:24:24,510 --> 00:24:32,730 and it was an opportunity for Saddam Hussein. Iran was challenging Saddam's Arab nationalism versus Islamic revolutionaries. 200 00:24:32,970 --> 00:24:37,620 But a lot of other elements we're not going to go there now. But it's about Saddam. 201 00:24:37,620 --> 00:24:40,860 Seize the opportunity to fight against Iran. 202 00:24:41,070 --> 00:24:45,750 Arab nationalism, barbarism against the Iranian, Persian, Shia Islamic. 203 00:24:45,750 --> 00:24:49,230 So whatever was was the element of Saddam attacked Iran. 204 00:24:49,590 --> 00:24:54,450 For Yasser Arafat, it was it was a it was a dark day, according to his memoir. 205 00:24:54,960 --> 00:25:04,860 And for him, Iran and the Baathist Arab nationalist Iraq, fighting against each other meant the front line against Israel will be weakened. 206 00:25:05,250 --> 00:25:13,390 So Yasser Arafat again immediately travelled to Iran and travelled to Baghdad and tried to mediate between Iran and Iraq. 207 00:25:14,850 --> 00:25:23,610 Iranian revolutionaries demanded him directly that he needs to denounce Saddam Hussein and needs to stand with Iran against Saddam Hussein. 208 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:33,270 They expected him to do so because they had this kind of perception of anti-imperialism, and they did see Saddam as part of that campaign. 209 00:25:33,780 --> 00:25:36,750 And. But Yasser Arafat was in the corner. 210 00:25:37,050 --> 00:25:48,510 Needs to decide either to be with Iran or to be with his own Arab brothers, which is actually because PLO is a secular Arab nationalist movement. 211 00:25:49,620 --> 00:25:57,490 Inevitably, siding with Iran would be a kind of a political suicide because Yasser Arafat needed Iraq more than needed Iran. 212 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:04,559 And because of the negotiations and coming and going at least he travelled to Iran back and forth to Iraq 12 times, 213 00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:10,410 tried to negotiate, and at the end, actually, Ayatollah Khomeini refused to see him. 214 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:18,240 And one of the meetings, Yasser Arafat returned to Iraq, as we can see, hugging Saddam Hussein. 215 00:26:19,410 --> 00:26:24,750 And he denounced Iran. And the relations between Iran and PLO actually went down. 216 00:26:25,170 --> 00:26:30,450 So it was the end of the honeymoon between Iranian revolutionaries and Yasser Arafat. 217 00:26:30,450 --> 00:26:35,580 And Yasser Arafat directly supported Saddam. But what did it mean for the concept of Palestine? 218 00:26:35,610 --> 00:26:43,620 Did Iranian Islamic Republic changes relations and be cordial with Israel and change its policies? 219 00:26:43,650 --> 00:26:50,610 No, it didn't happen because for them the Israeli government is ideologue and the ideology of anti-Zionism 220 00:26:50,610 --> 00:26:58,200 anti-imperialism and against anti-Israel is embedded in the dictionary of this government in Iran. 221 00:26:58,470 --> 00:27:03,310 As I mentioned, because of the history that I gave you for three or four decades before the Iranian revolutionaries. 222 00:27:03,720 --> 00:27:08,520 This is a part of the concept of the pan Islamism of the regime. 223 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:17,910 So these continued the cold relations with the Palestinians until Iran-Iraq war ended. 224 00:27:19,890 --> 00:27:21,300 Ayatollah Khomeini passed away. 225 00:27:22,350 --> 00:27:31,410 And we have a new concept in Palestinian territories, the emergence of the Islamic movements in Palestinian within Palestinians. 226 00:27:31,830 --> 00:27:35,040 Palestinian Islamic Jihad is the first one. And Hamas. 227 00:27:35,850 --> 00:27:47,190 So Dr. Fathi Shikaki was a marxist communist Palestinian who was living in Egypt in exile, studying medicine. 228 00:27:47,460 --> 00:27:53,700 But he was amazed by the concept of Iranian revolutionary can could remove the Shah's government. 229 00:27:54,090 --> 00:27:59,740 And also disillusioned with the pan-Arabism failure in 1967. 230 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:05,909 He did write a book in the late 1979 about Khomeini, and he praised the revolution. 231 00:28:05,910 --> 00:28:10,680 And he changed the idea of of him of his political ideologies. 232 00:28:10,980 --> 00:28:18,630 And he established something called Palestinian Islamic Jihad with a group, a small group of Marxist communist Palestinians. 233 00:28:22,260 --> 00:28:31,829 Intifada, first Palestinian intifada was done in 1987, when some groups of Palestine Islamic Jihad were arrested by the Israeli government, 234 00:28:31,830 --> 00:28:36,950 the Israeli army and few of them were actually killed when they wanted it. 235 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:45,330 They tried to run away and created a kind of anger, triggered a kind of demonstrations in Israel, Palestine. 236 00:28:45,780 --> 00:28:54,390 And in other words, the intifada triggered and was actually was the moment in the Palestinian conflict. 237 00:28:54,840 --> 00:29:04,230 And PLO was surprised because mainly the conflict was triggered by not necessarily the followers of Yasser Arafat. 238 00:29:06,030 --> 00:29:12,960 So what does it mean the creation of Palestine, Islamic Jihad and Islamization of Palestinian movement? 239 00:29:13,930 --> 00:29:23,830 The other impact was the creation of Hamas. Hamas existed in Palestine, Israel as Muslim Brotherhood, as a Palestinian branch of Muslim Brotherhood. 240 00:29:24,100 --> 00:29:27,700 And in fact, in the beginning, it didn't have a conflict with Israel. 241 00:29:27,940 --> 00:29:35,230 And it was the movement that created social services in Gaza for the for the ghettoised communities. 242 00:29:36,130 --> 00:29:46,300 But under the pressure by its younger members and see the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is actually coming up with the concept of fighting against Israel. 243 00:29:47,290 --> 00:29:58,209 The pressure from the younger generation galvanised the Palestinian Muslim Muslim Brotherhood to create a new force called Hamas Halacha movement, 244 00:29:58,210 --> 00:30:08,410 Islamic and Philistine. And then, of course, they participated in intifada immediately when they realised is actually active. 245 00:30:08,950 --> 00:30:17,349 So it was it it was a moment of the of the of the entrance, the gate of Islamization, of the Palestinian cause. 246 00:30:17,350 --> 00:30:20,080 It started Hamas policy, Islamic Jihad. 247 00:30:20,890 --> 00:30:29,980 But policies of Egypt, as I said, was more emotionally connected during the revolution that Hamas Hamas is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. 248 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:41,950 So this continued and many of the leaders of Hamas, a policy, were arrested later on and sent to exile by the Israeli government to south Lebanon. 249 00:30:42,310 --> 00:30:56,110 That was the point in 1989 and 1990 that Patricia Gangi and the Hamas leaders contacted the Iranian authorities in south Lebanon and Hezbollah. 250 00:30:56,590 --> 00:31:07,060 So it was the moment, in fact, sending them into south Lebanon, allow them to have direct connection with the Iranian government and with Hezbollah. 251 00:31:07,390 --> 00:31:11,830 And, of course, to to create that kind of organic connections for Iran. 252 00:31:12,700 --> 00:31:19,630 When they did see PLO sided with Saddam's regime and turning his back on Iran, 253 00:31:20,500 --> 00:31:30,070 but they insisted of supporting the Palestinians seem to Palestinian Islamic movements was actually a kind of a new wedding day. 254 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,180 It was a time that they found their own organic allies. 255 00:31:34,750 --> 00:31:41,830 So, in fact, they tried to sideline a marginalised PLO at the same time to pressurise Israel. 256 00:31:42,010 --> 00:31:50,909 So the connection was cemented. These photos are all selected. 257 00:31:50,910 --> 00:31:53,920 Not because these guys are good looking or not is because, for example, 258 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:59,370 we can see Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad separately meeting with the Iranian leader. 259 00:32:00,300 --> 00:32:09,750 The concept of Palestine Israel in 1990 between 1980s coincided with Madrid and Oslo treaty between PLO and Israel. 260 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:13,410 PLO recognised the state of Israel and in other words, 261 00:32:13,740 --> 00:32:21,060 PLO is out of the frontline and is not actually standing directly against Israel and and and recognise Israel. 262 00:32:22,860 --> 00:32:29,190 So for the Iranian government, that meant that they need to also create a counterbalance to that element, 263 00:32:29,580 --> 00:32:36,990 which was Tehran Conference was the first conference 24 hours after the Madrid conference inviting Palestine Islamic Jihad, 264 00:32:37,290 --> 00:32:43,770 inviting Hamas and inviting Marxist Palestinian PFLP all together with Hezbollah. 265 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:47,910 And they and they created so-called axis of resistance, 266 00:32:48,270 --> 00:32:53,249 the resistance of those who are going to factions and the forces of Palestinians that do 267 00:32:53,250 --> 00:33:00,120 not recognise Israel and they do not necessarily accept the legitimacy of state of Israel. 268 00:33:00,570 --> 00:33:05,490 So this continued and they became actually important allies. 269 00:33:05,490 --> 00:33:10,600 One of the reason why Iran is so keen Iranian government on the Hamas and policies damage 270 00:33:10,620 --> 00:33:18,899 are beside the concept of Palestinian cause is the element of try to be the leader 271 00:33:18,900 --> 00:33:26,340 of the Islamic Uma and in order to do so supporting in Palestine opens the gate of 272 00:33:26,340 --> 00:33:31,350 Palestine as a one of the most important causes for the Arab and the Sunni world. 273 00:33:32,730 --> 00:33:44,640 So, in other words, introducing Iran as not a sectarian system but is supporting even non-secular is a Sunni Arab cause of Palestine. 274 00:33:44,970 --> 00:33:50,160 In other words, opens the gate for expansion of hegemony and influence in the region. 275 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:58,440 So in other words, the cause of Palestine, Hamas, the Palestinian jihad opened ideological gate, 276 00:33:59,130 --> 00:34:05,660 political and political gates, hegemony, expansion of influence. 277 00:34:05,670 --> 00:34:10,200 At the same time, it serves its ideological, ideological outlook. 278 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:26,670 He has continued to support for Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad until the concept of Iran and Arab Spring. 279 00:34:27,190 --> 00:34:32,390 Syria. The honeymoon between all these organisations I mention to you. 280 00:34:32,870 --> 00:34:40,400 Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, Palestine, Islamic Jihad and the bridge between them and the platform. 281 00:34:40,700 --> 00:34:42,260 Assad's, Syria. 282 00:34:43,190 --> 00:34:51,790 Because all the organisation mentioned they have HQ in Damascus and in other words the connection between between them and Iran was facilitated by, 283 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:59,690 by, by Assad's regime. Therefore they call it axis of resistance within all these states. 284 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:08,450 After the demise of Saddam Hussein and having a Shia dominated government in Baghdad actually cemented that kind of a connection between Iran, 285 00:35:08,990 --> 00:35:14,690 Palestine, Islamic movement, Hamas and and also Hezbollah and Syria. 286 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:24,500 But the concept of uprising in Syria in 2011, it was a big momentum for Iran and it was a litmus test. 287 00:35:25,580 --> 00:35:33,740 Iran, of course, could not see the country that facilitated that support with the Israeli and with the Palestinian and Israeli. 288 00:35:34,100 --> 00:35:40,310 And in states that supported Iran, the Iran-Iraq war was the only country in the world that supported Iran to fall. 289 00:35:41,030 --> 00:35:54,800 So they supported Assad. But here, Hamas, as I mentioned, because of it, has its own Muslim Brotherhood roots, supported anti-Assad forces. 290 00:35:54,980 --> 00:35:58,730 In other words, it was a hiccup in relations between them. 291 00:35:59,210 --> 00:36:07,310 Reminded many Iranians PLO when supported Saddam and that time Hamas is supporting anti Assad forces. 292 00:36:09,410 --> 00:36:13,520 Interestingly, policy Islamic Jihad supported Iran and Hezbollah against Assad. 293 00:36:14,690 --> 00:36:22,340 But what did it mean for Iran to Qatar relations with Hamas to downgrade it or to or to how to see it? 294 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:26,180 It didn't change its relations to Palestine. Again, another litmus test. 295 00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:32,149 PLO It didn't change the relations within the concept of Israeli-Palestinian conflict by changing Iran's relation. 296 00:36:32,150 --> 00:36:42,590 PLO But with Hamas. Iran tried not to criticise Hamas but emphasised on the concept of axis of resistance and support for the Palestinians. 297 00:36:45,020 --> 00:36:50,149 This continued until 2000 and but there were two wars during that time. 298 00:36:50,150 --> 00:36:57,230 Gaza war, Israeli conflict with Gaza in 2012 inches of water and again was a litmus test for Iran. 299 00:36:58,340 --> 00:37:03,500 It was a mobilisation. Iranian media support for four, four, four, Hamas support for Gaza. 300 00:37:03,860 --> 00:37:10,940 And Ismail Haniyeh was invited to Iran. Again, regardless, Hamas behaviour towards Syria. 301 00:37:11,210 --> 00:37:16,580 Iran tried not to allow that to change the relations between two sides. 302 00:37:17,690 --> 00:37:20,900 And Hamas, of course, is not a homogenous party. 303 00:37:21,200 --> 00:37:27,470 It has different factions within it. So the only thing Iran did was downgraded relations with Khalid Mashaal, 304 00:37:28,070 --> 00:37:36,320 but continued relations with the military wings of of Hamas under the name of axis of resistance. 305 00:37:36,350 --> 00:37:39,920 In other words, what brings Israel, Iran and Syria, 306 00:37:40,310 --> 00:37:46,880 a secular pan-Arab Baathist regime of Assad and Islamic Republic of Iran would be 307 00:37:47,180 --> 00:37:53,900 the concept of fighting against state of Israel rather than having a connection, 308 00:37:53,960 --> 00:38:01,640 ideological connection, as a platform between Iran and the Palestinian movement and Hezbollah. 309 00:38:02,060 --> 00:38:12,710 Therefore, Iran tried to implement to to amplify the reason to the Palestinians and to the Lebanese that these are the reasons for supporting Assad. 310 00:38:17,510 --> 00:38:21,980 But how about within the concept of Iran, within the concept of Islamic Republic? 311 00:38:22,010 --> 00:38:29,420 When I say Iran, I'm talking about the Islamic Republic. We have reformers and we have conservatives. 312 00:38:31,570 --> 00:38:38,680 They have a lot of differences in concept of international relations, in concept of the use of language. 313 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:46,870 But these two photos are selected. This is Javad Zarif, 1976, before the revolution in the United States behind him. 314 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:57,730 Long live Palestine. Javad Zarif is actually calling himself a reformer and fighting is a conservative orthodox in the Iranian government. 315 00:38:58,570 --> 00:39:07,090 Down there is Khatami and Yasser Arafat. The relations of Iranian reformers and the Palestinian mobilisations. 316 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:12,550 Mobilising, mobilising forces are as deep and historic as those Iranian conservatives. 317 00:39:13,690 --> 00:39:17,110 They do have unwritten consciences when it comes to Israel and Palestine. 318 00:39:18,100 --> 00:39:21,760 They do have a lot of disagreements when it comes to the internal politics, 319 00:39:22,090 --> 00:39:27,700 dealing with the JCPOA, dealing with the United Kingdom, Europe, so on and so forth. 320 00:39:27,700 --> 00:39:34,150 But when it comes to Israel and Palestine, they do not have much differences. 321 00:39:34,390 --> 00:39:38,080 They only use different language of all caps. 322 00:39:38,890 --> 00:39:47,950 But maybe Ahmadinejad uses a harsher vocab. But both they have these connections with the Palestinian cause, as you can see. 323 00:39:50,410 --> 00:39:58,100 So therefore, for the Iranian revolutionaries, whomever subscribed in himself or herself to the Islamic Republic, 324 00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:06,520 the concept of Palestine is not about the land for them is not about Israel versus Arabs, Israel versus Palestinians. 325 00:40:06,820 --> 00:40:11,170 They see this as a concept, as a concept, a Palestinian cause. 326 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:16,050 This is a cause rather than to be a political concept per se. 327 00:40:19,290 --> 00:40:24,990 So as I come back again to the importance of Palestine, this is the end of my discussion. 328 00:40:25,830 --> 00:40:34,830 How they try to utilise it is Palestinian cause serves Iranian national interests. 329 00:40:36,060 --> 00:40:45,510 Iranian Islamic Republic's national interest allows Iran to have connections with the Islamic world, allows Iran to open the gates to the Sunni world, 330 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:55,950 allows Iran to to counterbalance the propaganda that they have in the Arab countries against Persians or against Iran or against Shias. 331 00:40:55,950 --> 00:41:02,970 Over is that and as we can see the photos this Afghanistan and Iraq and the rest. 332 00:41:03,800 --> 00:41:15,360 In other words, allows Iran to to exercise its its home in Germany and it sees itself as a legitimate leader of the Islamic 333 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:24,480 Ummah because of the the history that I gave you now and also is is also a competition with Saudi Arabia, 334 00:41:24,720 --> 00:41:30,150 because it doesn't see Saudi Arabia as a country, for example, to stand for the Palestinian cause. 335 00:41:30,660 --> 00:41:33,930 So therefore tries to emphasise on it. Yes. 336 00:41:33,930 --> 00:41:39,690 Is 40 years is gone from the revolution, 70 years from the Israel-Palestine conflict even more. 337 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:47,670 But for them is not going to get expired because is the part of the DNA of this state. 338 00:41:51,630 --> 00:41:55,500 How will other communities in Iran, as I mentioned, Iranian Jewish communities, 339 00:41:56,820 --> 00:42:03,990 what the Iranian state tried to do during those years is to not to alienate the Iranian Jewish community at the same time. 340 00:42:04,530 --> 00:42:07,680 So they see this as as you can see, 341 00:42:07,950 --> 00:42:19,290 the rabbis and that this is the Iranian Jewish community in Farsi says we condemn inhuman behaviour of the Zionist government. 342 00:42:19,710 --> 00:42:32,580 And also this is the ceremony of the of the Jewish martyrs and the speaker of the parliament with the with the chief rabbis and all the rest of it. 343 00:42:33,090 --> 00:42:42,480 In other words, they tried to create an umbrella that brings all the Iranians in the concept of fighting, the concept of Zionism. 344 00:42:43,500 --> 00:42:53,820 So in their dictionary and in their propaganda read, they don't use the language of anti-Semitism and Judaism from their point of view. 345 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:58,950 They try to create a line in order not to alienate their Jewish community as well. 346 00:42:59,520 --> 00:43:03,989 So in the Gaza war between 12 and 1214 Iranian Jewish communities, 347 00:43:03,990 --> 00:43:09,390 which they actually designated two hospitals in Iran and they received the Palestinian 348 00:43:10,290 --> 00:43:18,780 injured and also sent supports and donated many Iranian Jewish and medical doctors. 349 00:43:22,500 --> 00:43:30,810 But can we say the pro-Palestinian and Israeli tendency is within everybody in Iran? 350 00:43:31,410 --> 00:43:37,080 The book is not claiming that. So he says yes is part of the Islamic Republic. 351 00:43:37,590 --> 00:43:46,020 And those are subscribe to the Islamic Republic. And many of the regardless reformers are conservatives. 352 00:43:46,470 --> 00:43:50,820 But when it comes back to first, how Palestinians see Iran. 353 00:43:51,090 --> 00:43:55,110 This is a billboard in Gaza, in Hebrew, in Farsi and Arabic. 354 00:43:55,110 --> 00:43:59,370 Old says thank you to Iran for Palestine is also divided. 355 00:44:00,030 --> 00:44:09,960 Some see Iran as expanding the hegemony because especially those Palestinians that actually subscribe to the pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism. 356 00:44:10,590 --> 00:44:17,610 But for some Palestinians, any support or we say every little help in Tesco, so we can say these, 357 00:44:17,610 --> 00:44:25,200 every little help comes and they they receive it, they accept it, they they actually greet that support. 358 00:44:25,560 --> 00:44:33,350 So you can see the Palestinians specifically in Gaza, but in Iran, the child with the concept of Palestine, when it comes to Iran, 359 00:44:33,360 --> 00:44:43,530 you see the emphasis is on Al-Aqsa mosque, on Jerusalem, the Dome of the Rock, rather than Palestine as a as a land, unlike the Arab states. 360 00:44:43,950 --> 00:44:52,440 So it's a concept of seeing it as has been occupied by the imperialism, Zionism and so on and so forth. 361 00:44:53,220 --> 00:44:57,570 But again, within the Iranian nation, we do have other voices. 362 00:44:58,830 --> 00:45:01,410 We do have other voices according to the ideology. 363 00:45:01,860 --> 00:45:09,200 Those are not subscribe to the Islamic Republic's ideology and those are not subscribe to the leftist ideologies. 364 00:45:09,780 --> 00:45:16,800 And they see this as in the book even explains they see this as has nothing to do with Iranian, 365 00:45:16,810 --> 00:45:22,469 some say, or is kind of being more Palestinian, the Palestinians, 366 00:45:22,470 --> 00:45:27,930 or let the Arab states to deal with it because Iran actually faced four decades of sanctions 367 00:45:27,930 --> 00:45:32,940 because of the war camps against Israel and has been punished severely because of that. 368 00:45:33,270 --> 00:45:38,460 So, yes, there are elements that are having a different voices about the concept of Palestine. 369 00:45:38,670 --> 00:45:41,350 They do not see the Palestinian Israeli concern. 370 00:45:41,820 --> 00:45:48,780 They do not actually denounce the Palestine, but they see it as not actually very relevant to day to day life in Iran, 371 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:56,010 which is the other voice that some Iranians actually criticise the Iranian government for being so pro-Palestinian and so anti-Israeli. 372 00:45:56,370 --> 00:45:59,880 But as I mentioned and stripping the Iranian, 373 00:46:00,180 --> 00:46:12,360 the last word of the book or my my speech is stripping Iranian Islamic Republic and divorcing it from the Palestinian cause is 374 00:46:12,540 --> 00:46:23,190 literally not possible because is a part of its DNA is part of its DNA that is actually chromosomes that introduces itself. 375 00:46:23,460 --> 00:46:31,410 It cannot this regime to be passive about this, and it cannot simply change its course. 376 00:46:31,620 --> 00:46:37,169 Another U-turn of relations with Israel. So but how it goes, as I said, 377 00:46:37,170 --> 00:46:42,450 it depends of the ideologies of whomever continues to be as Iran had cordial 378 00:46:42,450 --> 00:46:50,100 relations with Israel during the policies stage has not good relations or as I say, 379 00:46:51,420 --> 00:46:56,340 animosity with the state of Israel after that based on the ideologies they do have. 380 00:46:56,340 --> 00:47:02,190 And those revolutionaries that I and I explained to you about, there are many other things that the book explains much more. 381 00:47:02,760 --> 00:47:04,070 Well, thank you. Thank you so.