Ian Linden: Israel & Iran - religious extremism & the threat of war

Dr Ian Linden. Image rcdow

How are Israel and Iran to avoid war? Israel is an ally of the USA. Iran is now an ally of Russia. Iran is a theocracy with a regime-controlled press, all serious opposition candidates barred from elections. Israel is a democracy with a free press and hotly contested elections. Iran is in civil turmoil. Israel and Palestine are in perennial conflict. The enmity between Iran and Israel means that for years they have been on the brink of war.

Whilst the political dynamics in each are, of course, very different the influence of religious extremism displays an odd recent convergence. The well-known Shi'a extremism of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and Basij volunteers remains the force sustaining Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's theocratic tyranny in Iran against a persistent popular revolt. But now in Israel the Prime Minister-elect, Benjamin Netanyahu is also beholden to Right-wing and Ultra-Orthodox extremists. After the recent election he is head of a governing coalition holding only 64 out of 120 seats in the Knesset.

In both Iran and Israel, domestic politics and internal pressures encourage belligerent rhetoric so easily a prelude to military action.

In both countries, recent developments are pushing religious and political extremists to the fore as powerful arbiters of their countries' future. Religion in Iran, resting on the Qur'an, is the mainstay of unaccountable tyranny. Religion in Israel, resting on the Hebrew Scriptures, the Torah, is used by some Jewish settlers to justify the dispossession of Palestinians. Control of women or possession of land: both purposes considered divinely mandated. And the problem with divine injunctions is that they brook no negotiation or compromise.

In Britain, there has been extensive coverage of the situation in Iran. Israel has been receiving far less attention. For that reason the focus here will be...
to read on see:www.ianlinden.com/latest-blogs/israel-iran-religious-extremism-the-threat-of-war

Professor Ian Linden is Visiting Professor at St Mary's University, Strawberry Hill, London. A past director of the Catholic Institute for International Relations, he was awarded a CMG for his work for human rights in 2000. He has also been an adviser on Europe and Justice and Peace issues to the Department of International Affairs of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales. Ian chairs a new charity for After-school schooling in Beirut for Syrian refugees and Lebanese kids in danger of dropping out partnering with CARITAS Lebanon and work on board of Las Casas Institute in Oxford with Richard Finn OP. His latest book was Global Catholicism published by Hurst in 2009.

LINKS

Professor Ian Linden website: www.ianlinden.com/

Professor Ian Linden blog: www.ianlinden.com/blogs.html