March 20, 2012
The Israel / Iran Love Affair on Facebook
From CNN:
It is not possible to dial an Iranian number from an Israeli telephone. It will simply not go through. That lack of communication stems from the government level, where there is no dialogue between the two countries aside from public speeches meant to carry weighty threats of war to each camp.
That is why it was so difficult for Ronny Edry, an Israeli graphic designer based in Tel Aviv, to get his message across to the people of Iran.
"My idea was simple, I was trying to reach the other side. There are all these talks about war, Iran is coming to bomb us and we bomb them back, we are sitting and waiting. I wanted to say the simple words that this war is crazy," said Edry.
Using his graphic design skills and his wife's help (she is also a graphic designer), he plastered memes over pictures of himself, his wife, his friends and his neighbors. He then posted them on the Facebook page of Pushpin Mehina, his small design school, with a resounding message:
IRANIANS, we will never bomb your country, We *Heart* You.
The response, said Edry, was overwhelming. "In a few hours, I had hundreds of shares and thousands of likes and it was like something was happening.
More here. And the Iranian response: "Israel, we love you too!":
“My Israeli friends, I do not hate you; I do not want war. love, Peace,” read many Iranian posters that were posted by Iranians to the new group page. Most of the Iranians, who posted messages to the Facebook group, did so with their faces partially veiled, probably out of fear from the Iranian authorities. On Saturday, Edry said that Iranian group members explained that they could be arrested if recognized in the photos.
“Dear Israeli Friends and World! Iranians love peace and we hate hate!...and we don't need any Nuclear Power to show it!” one poster caption stated.
“I’m from Iran and love your idea and your efforts against war and for peace. I am really happy to get to know you and people like you, and hope to find more people like you. Here in Iran the situation is complicated and many people hate the governments and their bullshit,” another anonymous Iranian wrote in a poster he published.
More here.
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 10:41 AM | Permalink
Comments
This is absolutely wonderful.
Posted by: Patrick S. O'Donnell | Mar 20, 2012 11:42:10 AM
Jewish-Persian friendship goes back thousands of years, and it would be tragic for hostilities to take place. Even after the Islamic Revolution, Israel sold Iran vital spares for its war with Iraq (which has been Iran's historic rival since ancient times, for geographic reasons).
Posted by: aguy109 | Mar 21, 2012 7:06:03 AM
"“Dear Israeli Friends and World! Iranians love peace and we hate hate!...and we don't need any Nuclear Power to show it!” one poster caption stated."
Unlike Israelis, who, um, have plenty of nuclear power.
This doesn't capture the prevalent feeling in Iran, whose large majority of citizens consider developing nuclear power a right, just like most people of Western countries do. Any country, anywhere, HAS all the right to develop nuclear power with pacific aims, and those who already have nuclear power (and have even used it as a weapon against civilians) are not exactly in possession of the higher moral ground in this matter.
Posted by: Pepito | Mar 21, 2012 10:17:25 AM
"Kony 2012" demonstrated how facebook's apparent transnationalism can lead users to be seduced into promoting an essentially nationalistic program (naive interventionism). So forgive me for being concerned about the efficacy—and ideological allegiences—of a facebook group that imagines international peace in such sentimental terms.
Posted by: Achitophel | Mar 21, 2012 2:32:35 PM
So Pepito, do you really believe that the Iranian nuclear program is non-military. No, of course you don't. Their arguably legitimate demand to have nuclear electricity generation is covered by the plant at Bushere, which gets its fuel from Russia. Thats not what the thousands of centrifuges are about. You are in favour of the Islamic Republic's nuclear weapons program because you want it to threaten my country, Israel. So come out and say so.
The real irony, of course, is that Iran's nuclear program was originally intended to meet the very real threat from Iraq, which has been the traditional ennemy of Iran for millenia and which killed many hundreds of thousands of Iranians in the 1980-88 war. Israel has never been a threat to Iran and was a close ally and trading partner until 79. Their present enmity against Israel is a clerical fabrication based on ideological hostility to the US. I
I believe that the anti-Israel stance is partly a cover to distract attention from the ongoing war with the Sunnis of Iraq, where Iranian bombs are going off every day.
Posted by: aguy109 | Mar 21, 2012 3:55:57 PM
No matter whether this has any effect on the real political situation, I was quite touched by the Israeli gesture (and also heartened by the Irani response).
What is so wrong with someone trying to make people-to-people contact when the governments are as bad as they are in both these countries? It is only possible with our new technologies, so we don't really know whether it will make any difference, but it's worth a try, and in any case, it is a good expression of fellow-feeling and love, and an experiment worth doing to see where it leads, no?
Cynics, try to get into the spirit! :-)
Posted by: Abbas Raza | Mar 21, 2012 4:30:48 PM
Aguy:
I don't want Iran to threaten your country, in the same measure that I don't want your country's 200 nuclear weapons to threaten Iran or antsy other country. As for your question, I don't know the answer, but if I were the president of Iran I'd probably look for nuclear weapons for a simple reason: it's the best way to have the big bullies with weapons (your country and its staunch supporter the US) to stop threatening to bomb Iran.
In the event that all Iran really wants is nuclear technology for peaceful uses, it has all the right to develop its OWN technology and not depend on third parties. You, a citizen of a country with nuclear weapons, really have a lot of nerve to tell another nation that they don't have the right to develop their own nuclear technology. Your hypocrisy is breathtaking.
Posted by: Pepito | Mar 22, 2012 12:00:48 AM
Abbas:
The person for the Iranian side in that FB group is saying that her country does not need nuclear power. Don't you see the asymmetry here? Also, as I said before, it is well known that most Iranian look at their quest for nuclear technology with a feeling of national pride. While the feelings expressed might be beautiful, one important part of what is expressed does not represent the feelings of the common Iranian in general.
About your exhortation to the cynics to be a little more in step with all these manifestations of love for our shared humanity, I can't but remind you that I was always a cynic about Obama, and you can see
how that has turned out. :-)
Posted by: Pepito | Mar 22, 2012 12:13:10 AM
All typos and Even the grammatical errors in my comments are the result of using an IPad.
Posted by: Pepito | Mar 22, 2012 12:18:29 AM
Pepito, I didn't say that Iran doesn't have the "right" to develop nuclear weapons - it was Iran that voluntarily gave up that "right" by signing the NPT - which Israel did not.
I happen to live in the real world where individuals and countries do what they want and are able to. But being free to do anything doesn't mean being free from the consequences of what you choose to do.
Posted by: aguy109 | Mar 22, 2012 2:08:06 AM
The issue of national pride concerns nuclear technology generally. We can be proud of our nuclear technology and still think nuclear weapons are a bad idea. Most of the conservative segment of the population probably takes Khamenei's fatwa against nuclear weapons seriously. The more progressive segment of the population is less inclined to trust the government with anything, least of all nuclear weapons. The only ones I'd worry about are the guys in charge for now.
Posted by: Zara | Mar 22, 2012 2:10:56 AM
And I support Abbas's optimism 100%. I'm amazed and thrilled at the effects of social media right now--look at Komen, the Trayvon Martin case just today. There's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear...
Posted by: Zara | Mar 22, 2012 2:18:49 AM
Here is a link to a Persian song from Rita Kleinstein, Israel's top singer, who was born in Iran (like many thousands of Israelis who have warm memories of Iran)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1NsQciknPE
Every year at Purim, Israelis dress up as Persian kings and princesses to commemorate King Xerxes suppression of an anti Jewish plot. The Persians indeed became the world's first Zionists, when King Darius freed the Jews from captivity in Babylon in 539 BCE and allowed them to return to rebuild Jerusalem.
So an Israeli preemptive attack on Iran would be a horrible tragedy on a historic scale.
Posted by: aguy109 | Mar 22, 2012 3:43:15 AM
Aguy: the 'right' I'm referring to is to create nuclear technology with pacific aims. I don't believe anybody should have the right to create nuclear weapons. Neither Iran nor Israel nor the US.
Your pointing out that Israel didn't sign to the NPT is only a legalistic excuse. It might protect you from violating international laws but it clearly tells a lot about the intentions of Israel to the rest of the international community. It turns you into a 'rogue' nation. Of course, nobody will call your country that while you have the support of the big bully nation, the US, that singlehandedly decides who's 'rogue' and who's not.
Posted by: Pepito | Mar 22, 2012 7:25:44 AM
Although the two situations are very different, this outreach reminds me of humanitarian efforts that occurred during the 'the troubles' in the north of Ireland. Well meaning people cut across the politics, the propaganda and the legacy of hate in the name of basic humanity... basic decency.
You have to admire the sentiment, even though "third ways" no matter how high minded and idealistic rarely win out over forces that polarize. It's a sad comment, but without the provisional IRA and the hell the north of Ireland went through, it's highly unlikely a peace accord would ever have been brokered.
Yeah for sure the cross-border signals of goodwill between Israelis and Iranians are a touching gesture... but will do little to alter the underlying dynamics. That's usually the case when profound injustices are at the root of a dispute.
Israel could go a long way toward changing its relationship with Iran by doing the right thing with respect to the Palestinian issue and addressing the injustices that impact the lives of its Arab citizens.
Posted by: j_93 | Mar 22, 2012 9:07:43 PM
Frankly, I don't think the Iranians or for that matter any of the Arab countries (people or govt) give a hoot about the Palestinians. It is all political rhetoric. Statecraft requires there be enemies and enemies require there be causes to fight over. Ultimately it is every people for themselves. The Iran problem is really a standoff between Iran and US with Iran wanting recognition for it's revolution and now fears regime change and US wanting hegemony in the region for energy resources and to contain Russia and China. Both Iran and Israel are acting out of insecurity for their own justifiable reasons.
Posted by: Raza | Mar 22, 2012 10:53:18 PM
I'm aware of the polling that would support the view that Arabs care less but in some ways it is a simplistic narrative.
Obviously it's a bigger game now. It's also true that the views of Arab nations have been influenced by new regional dynamics and priorities. Opinions of the Palestinian situation will ebb and flow though depending on regional tensions.
There isn't a direct correlation between a peace settlement and Iranian nuclear ambitions. But the cause remains a lightning rod that in a visceral, symbolic sense plays itself out in a number of different arenas. It would be rash to underestimate its importance in the context of regional security.
Posted by: j_93 | Mar 23, 2012 3:05:48 AM
these posters are fake,
Posted by: peace | Mar 24, 2012 2:37:34 AM
Hi, I'm an Iranian living in the US. I hate my government , they don't represent me!! I like Israel and it has the right to exist, many people In iran believe this. We are tired of our oil money going to help Arabs of Palestine, It's not fair, we in Iran are very Poor, most live with poverty and joblessness, yet when we see Ahmedinjad on TV he talks about the Palestinain people!!! He is the IRANIAN president not their president if he loves them soo much , she should go there and live there!! It makes me soo frustrated!!! We in Iran want to get rid of the Islamic Republic and bring democracy in iran.
Posted by: Nadia | Aug 13, 2012 4:03:49 PM
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