Iranian reactions to the Gaza War (2008–2009)![]() The Gaza War (2008–2009) was accompanied by the stance of many countries and organizations in the world. In Iran, the war were accompanied by the reaction of the people and government officials. The most important of these reactions are the Fatwa of Jihad[1] by Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, and the sit-in and attack on foreign embassies. The reaction of the clergy
The reaction of political officials
Attempt to relocate the United NationsIran's fundamentalist government and parliament, which previously wanted to change the location of the United Nations from the United States, announced that they will pay for the relocation of the United Nations in order to prevent (according to them) the influence of the United States and Israel on this organization.[12] Sending representatives to countriesMahmoud Ahmadinejad sent representatives to different countries. Although, in the meantime, his parliamentary deputy, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who was sent to Morocco, was not accepted by the king of that country.[13] Formation of the headquarters for the reconstruction of GazaOn the order of Ahmadinejad, the headquarters for the reconstruction of Gaza was formed after the end of the Gaza war. From the approvals of this headquarters: "At the first opportunity, this headquarters should construct and equip a thousand residential units, 10 schools, five mosques, renovate 500 commercial and service units, renovate and equip a hospital unit, and renovate and equip a university unit. It was also decided to make an arrangement to treat four thousand people injured in this brutal attack. Helping all the families of the martyrs of the 22-day war and its veterans, covering the orphans and the injured, and helping to rebuild urban infrastructure are among the other programs of the Gaza Reconstruction Headquarters."[14] Reconstruction of the Gaza parliament buildingAli Larijani, Speaker of the 8th Parliament, also announced that the building of the Gaza Parliament will be renovated with the funds of the Iranian Parliament.[15] The reaction of the parties
The reaction of the military authorities
The reactions of the students
Public reactions
The statement of the Office of Consolidation of Unity and the Seizure of Kargozaran NewspaperOn December 30, 2008, the illegal Office of Consolidation of Unity issued a statement in which, while condemning the killing of the people of Gaza by Israel, it also strongly criticized the Islamic Republic of Iran and Hamas:
Kargozaran newspaper was the only media that reflected parts of this statement. The publication of this statement and its publication in the newspaper Kargozaran met with a strong reaction from the state media and the newspaper Kayhan, which is run by Ali Khamenei's representative, and the newspaper Kargozaran was banned a day later. After the arrest, the editor-in-chief of Kargozaran newspaper stated that the published content was not accepted by this organization and that it had only the aspect of publishing news. Kargozaran newspaper was considered as the organ of Executives of Construction Party.[33][34] The second statement of the Office of Consolidation of UnityIn its second statement, the Office of Consolidation of Unity emphasized the government's treatment of human rights activists, students and the press, and emphasized that the government intends to exploit the conflicts in Gaza:
Attack and warning to companiesBenetton CoAfter the attack on the central branch of Benetton Company in Tehran and setting it on fire, all the branches of this store were sealed by the Iranian police. In response to the protests, the police force claimed that the company was closed due to its affiliation with the Zionists. Earlier, Iran newspaper affiliated with Ahmadinejad government had attacked this company and the mayor of Tehran (Ghalibaf) for hosting its manager.[36][37] Khoshgovar companyThe Minister of Industries (Ali Akbar Mehrabian) on behalf of the government warned the Khoshgovar company to terminate its contract with Coca-Cola, which is Zionist.[38] Attacks on human rights activists and partiesShirin EbadiAhmadinejad's government took full advantage of the conflicts in Gaza to threaten human rights activists, civil institutions and critics.[39][40] Government authorities first sealed the office of Shirin Ebadi's Human Rights Defenders Center and then some Basiji forces raided her house.[41] Ebadi was among those who condemned Israel's attack on Gaza in Iran, but Basij forces took down her lawyer's sign with the slogan "Israel commits crimes - Ebadi supports" and attacked her house without any hindrance from the police.[42][43][44][45][46] Dissolution of the Office of Consolidation of Unity due to criticism of HamasAfter the publication of the statement of the Office of Consolidation of Unity criticizing the Israeli government for killing civilians and Hamas for using civilian areas to attack Israel and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran for its interest in spreading war and conflict in the region, the Ministry of Science dissolved the Office of Consolidation of Unity in a statement. The Office of Consolidation of Unity is the largest and oldest student union in Iran, which has been under severe pressure for criticizing the regime since a decade ago, and hundreds of its members have been arrested and imprisoned. This confrontation took place after the newspaper Kayhan, which is run by Hossein Shariatmadari, the representative of Ali Khamenei, published an article entitled "We dealt with the Kargozaran, why don't you deal with the Office of Consolidation of Unity?", demanded to deal with this organization. Also, the members of the Office of Consolidation of Unity were threatened with death. The secretary of the Office of Consolidation of Unity said that the Iranian government has made Gaza an excuse for political settlements.[47][48] Attack on the gathering of civil activistsThe forces with the Basij outfit attacked a group of women and social activists in Palestine Square with the slogans "Death to the peace seeker" and "Death to the compromiser", "God is great, Khamenei is the leader" and obscenities, and after beating them, forced them to leave Palestine Square.[49][50] Preventing the gathering of the Freedom MovementAhmadinejad's government did not allow Freedom Movement of Iran to hold demonstrations to defend the people of Gaza.[51] Iranian TVRadio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran had a wide activity to defend the people of Gaza and condemn the attacks of Israel. Part of the performance of the radio and television, including showing the blood-soaked images of the dead bodies of the war dead in the children's program, caused criticism from some newspapers.[52] Investigation of newspapersBy publishing the incomplete interviews it had conducted with the managers of Etemad, Etemad Melli and Iran newspapers, Radio and Television of the Islamic Republic of Iran began to investigate and accuse them of not covering the news of the Gaza war, which met with a strong reaction from the media and was called a scandal.[53][54][55] Sit-ins and attacks on embassies in TehranSimultaneously with Israel's attack on Gaza, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the country's police to prevent possible attacks on embassies in Tehran. Because according to the 1961 Vienna Convention, host governments are responsible for the protection and security of foreign embassies in their country.[56] Nevertheless, some Basiji students sat in front of the embassies of some Arab governments and the British embassy in Tehran and demanded the evacuation of these embassies. A group sat in front of the embassy and threatened that if Egypt does not open its border crossings on the Gaza border by noon on December 31, 2008, the Egypt's ambassador will have to leave Iran.[57] On the fourth day of airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, some Basij students demonstrated in front of the Egyptian Interest Protection Office in Tehran and then attacked the summer garden of the United Kingdom Embassy in Gholhak. Some demonstrators managed to enter the embassy and put up the Palestinian flag there. The diplomatic police of Tehran, which is in charge of protecting the embassy, fired aerial shots to prevent the demonstrators from entering the garden of the British embassy.[58] While it was possible for students to enter several embassies and even occupy them, such as the office of the protector of Egyptian interests in Tehran, the Jordanian embassy, and the British embassy, Mir Ahmadi, as a representative of the leadership representative body in universities, among the students who are members of the martyrdom groups "Labbaik Ya Khamenei" appeared and stated: "While attending the stage and continuing the protests, especially in front of the embassies, due to international agreements, students are not allowed to enter the offices and buildings, but they can express their protests as much as they can." After these talks, considering that the movement of the students was to follow Khamenei, the probability of entering the embassies decreased.[59] Determining the reward for assassinating MubarakOn the last night of the sit-in at Mehrabad airport, the student movement for justice organized a program to set a one million dollar reward for the assassination of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak with the cooperation of some non-governmental organizations, which was later increased to 1.5 million dollars. The determination of this award was followed by the reactions of the Egyptian authorities.[60][61][62] This student organization had previously offered million-dollar rewards for the assassination of Israeli officials.[63] Register for the dispatch of troopsStudent Basij, Union of Independent Islamic Associations, Islamic Society of Students, Student Justice Movement, and the Shiraz (minority) branch of Tahkeem Vahdat Office launched the website "Students Group for Martyrdom" to register Iranian volunteers to be sent to Gaza and fight against Israeli forces.[64] Forcing non-governmental organizations to condemn IsraelThe National Youth Organization ordered all non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of Iran to sign the text prepared by this organization and send representatives to gather in front of the United Nations office and the embassies of Arab countries. This organization prepared a statement condemning Israel with 30 different texts and sent it to the organization's offices in 30 provinces of the country. Non-governmental organizations were obliged to sign this declarations. Representatives of non-governmental organizations are sent to Tehran by government buses accompanied by Basiji forces who are members of the Ashura battalions. The National Youth Organization threatened NGOs across the country that they will be dissolved if they do not comply with this order.[65] IRGC propaganda political instructionsThe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which from the very beginning considers itself bound to intervene in Arab-Israeli conflicts with the establishment of the Quds Force, explained Iran's propaganda in a briefing to the so-called "political leaders": "In the media movement, the things mentioned in the leader's message should be emphasized, and it should be changed from the form of news to extensive media operations including analysis, incitement, criticism, and encouraging people to support and demonstrate, and therefore from Muslim scholars, heads of Al-Azhar, intellectuals and... several interviews should be taken and reflected... The priority of all efforts in the external environment should be on the internal environment of Palestine, the peripheral environment of the Zionist regime and then other areas, and the evolution in the West Bank and the Palestinians of 1948 can put a heavy pressure on the Zionist regime." It is also mentioned in this instruction "Making Egypt's domestic environment more active and managing propaganda, political, media and religious pressures in Egypt" should be taken into consideration.[66] The hacking of the Balatarin websiteThe website of Balatarin, which was launched as the first collaborative website to collect and link to Persian-language websites, was hacked shortly after the Gaza crisis. The government media stated that the reason for hacking this website was the lack of support for the regime's positions during the Gaza war.[67][68] Deduction of aid to Gaza from taxpayers' taxesAccording to the approval of the government of Iran, all funds paid by individuals for the purpose of reconstruction of Gaza are considered as acceptable tax expenses of the taxpayer's performance year.[69] See also
References
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