A Collective Call to Action: Against the Imposed “New Order” on the Middle East
October 22, 2024
„[…] We are a group of Iranians, Middle-Easterners, and global citizens consisting of academics, researchers, social and political activists, and artists declaring our disgust with Israel’s genocidal assault against Palestinians in Gaza, the oppressive apartheid regime in the occupied West Bank, the ground offensive into Lebanon, the bombardments of Yemen and Syria, as well as all actual and potential military acts against Iran under any name. We recognize these acts as the extra-judicial unleashing of mass violence against the collective living conditions of the peoples of the region, a violence enjoying the full material and ideological support of Western governments and global capital flows. Signs and discourses indicate that Iran will be among the next targets of Israeli aggression under the banner of “the new order.” This statement contains an urgent warning against indifference towards systematic crimes upon our geographical, cultural, and historical coexistence in the region. […]“
Source:
Sign the call:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfpxg5YWA4V78HQl4uol-WkM0hZ-4V-vWM4QWR8mZQOWlvV3g/viewform
Persian version:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfS9RjPqVfC9ZzK8JaE3K08PIXqaOEtDviRERc4M7F-op5n8w/viewform
Arabic version:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScNswTFlsa9T0SAFf0CeytmYuJvpk2rcmTaIdBaGmJnPrrJ3w/viewform
- Our age has witnessed an unbelievable genocide and child-slaughter in the past year with seemingly no end in sight. It would be a cruel naivete to assume that the consequences of a catastrophe of such magnitudes would not affect all of us and define the fate of the entire planet. It is not only the dark shadows, or for some the bright light, of war that concerns the writers of this text. The list of issues in the near future include: the mass development of technologies of death and domination in the aftermath of the Palestine laboratory, the increase in state repression within and at borders following the expansion of military violence abroad, the dizzying production of greenhouse gasses from military-industrial complexes and the intensification of global warming from bombardments, the increase in health epidemics, and, in a word, the destruction of all aspects of human, animal, and plant life through the obstruction of indigenous livelihoods. The result of all this is, of course, the endless trauma that renders the repetition of violence nearly inevitable. It is clear that sooner or later the flames of this violence will rise in the politics of other cities, nations, and regions. The ghost of Gaza will haunt us for generations to come.
- We are a group of Iranians, Middle-Easterners, and global citizens consisting of academics, researchers, social and political activists, and artists declaring our disgust with Israel’s genocidal assault against Palestinians in Gaza, the oppressive apartheid regime in the occupied West Bank, the ground offensive into Lebanon, the bombardments of Yemen and Syria, as well as all actual and potential military acts against Iran under any name. We recognize these acts as the extra-judicial unleashing of mass violence against the collective living conditions of the peoples of the region, a violence enjoying the full material and ideological support of Western governments and global capital flows. Signs and discourses indicate that Iran will be among the next targets of Israeli aggression under the banner of “the new order.” This statement contains an urgent warning against indifference towards systematic crimes upon our geographical, cultural, and historical coexistence in the region.
- “New Order,” the name of Israel’s operation in the assassination of Hasan Nasrallah and all peoples and living beings in the residential block surrounding him, is a name that Hitler had chosen to describe the visions of the Nazi party in 1941: A new order that was to make the Nazis the absolute rulers of Europe and to cleanse all European “impurities” (Jews, Slavs, and the Roma) through their expulsion, enslavement, and finally systematic extermination. Perhaps, the only difference that this act of naming contains is that it has taken Israel longer, much longer, than its historical counterpart to acknowledge its fascistic drive. For until now Israel has tried to introduce its racist claims to superiority under the signs of “defense,” “civilization against barbarism,” or “reclaiming the promised land from the British and Arab occupiers.” This “new” order that appears in their political language today is, however, an old order that has been in the making since 1948.
- The fundamentally European movement of Zionism that started years before it benefited from the crises and tensions in the aftermath of the second World War and the German holocaust; just as before it had benefited from the British mandate over Palestine, laying the groundwork for the realization of settler colonialism after the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the arbitrary drawing of national borders in the Levant. In the words of Shlomo Sand, an Israeli historian, European antisemitism “vomited” European Jews on the Middle East and the Zionists convinced themselves that they are the chosen forebearers and guardians of Western civilization in the Orient. The Israeli state was established in 1948 with the Nakba—the expulsion of over 700,000 Palestinians, the destruction of hundreds of villages, and the appropriation of their homes. It was not long before the dream of the “new order” was pursued in reaction to the accomplishments of every popular movement in the region: 1953- the British and American coup against the democratic government of Mosaddeq in Iran; 1956- Israeli, British, and French attacks on Egypt in response to the nationalization of the Suez Canal; 1957- U.S. and British financial support for the King of Jordan; 1958- CIA intervention in the Lebanese democratic elections against the Lebanon’s National Liberation Front; 1967- Israel’s invasion and occupation of parts of Palestine, Syria, and Egypt; 1973- Arab invasion of Israel to liberate the occupied lands; 1975- beginning of the Lebanese civil war with the Phalangist (right-wing Christians supported by Israel) attack on Palestinian refugees; 1978- U.S. support for Sadat in Egypt and the Camp David peace agreement between Egypt and Israel; 1979- Iranian revolution against rule by a U.S. representative ; 1980- Iraq’s invasion of Iran backed by the West; 1982- Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, the massacres of Sabra and Shatila, and the occupation of Southern Lebanon and Beirut; 1991- Saddam’s rocket attacks to Israel and the first Gulf War; 1992- beginning of the detrimental sanctions against Iraq; 2001- invasion of Afghanistan by the U.S. and allies; 2003- invasion of Iraq by the U.S. and allies; 2006- invasion of Lebanon by Israel and the beginning of paralyzing sanctions against Iran; 2013- formation of ISIS from the ruins of Iraq: a group that fought against all peoples of the land except Israel; 2014- military coup in Egypt backed by the U.S.; 2015- U.S. and Saudi intervention in Yemen and Syria; 2020- U.S. act of war against Iran in the assassination of Qassem Soleimani; 2023- Hamas invasion of Israel and the U.S.-Israel launch of genocide in Gaza; 2024- Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, assassination of Ismail Hanieh in Tehran, the bombardments of Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen, and the ground invasion of Lebanon.
- Creating consecutive crises in the region is the success code of the old colonial project. The most significant political consequence of this archaic destructive order is that Zionist Ideology has not only failed to resolve the problems of the Jewish People, but that it expanded the problem to Palestinians and the peoples of the Middle East. Western governments perturbed the regional political balance by persecuting and destroying majority democratic, secular, and leftist forces and strengthening extremist forces instead, through the direct financial and military support of Islamic fundamentalist minorities such as Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Wahabis, and apparently ISIS. The suppression of civil resistance has resulted in the emergence of Islamic resistance models such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, and Hezbollah, which, under the current conditions, form the last defensive barrier against Zionist interventions in the occupied lands and beyond.
- Contrary to the dominant narratives that describe Palestine as a barren land and its people as passive and docile, Palestinians in various segments of society, ranging from journalists to the middle class to laborers and farmers, have tried many forms of resistance, albeit with consecutive defeats and temporary gains. The most important of these, prior to the year of “catastrophe,” was the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 that included a general strike for several months, the largest in the colonial interwar period. Despite their repression by the British and armed Zionist forces, the colonial government was forced to realize one of the main Palestinian demands: to limit Jewish immigration. Their demands for ending land sales, gaining political representation and self-determination were never realized, not in that year nor in the years after. The most recent Palestinian popular movement in 2018-2019 was the peaceful protests of Gazans towards their besieged borders demanding their right to return to their homes. This movement was faced by Israeli sniper attacks, indiscriminately killing and maiming the protesters. October 7th of 2023 must be seen in the context of this long history of resistance and suffering against such blatant violations of the rights of Palestinians. A history of trying various forms of civil resistance, international law, diplomacy, stone-throwing, and finally armed struggle to end the suffocation of Palestinian life. Palestinian literature is the most viable archive testifying to this experience.
- Intertwined with the material wing of this domination in the global war regime is the ideological apparatus that justifies the carnage. We witness today, in continuation of a 76-year old order of aggression, a Zionist propaganda system (“Hasbara,” meaning “explanation”) attacking our faculties of knowledge through inversions of reality. A system that seeks to make our cognitive and affective centers of perception disappear, to devour and appropriate them through alternative narrations, fake news productions, and fact distortions in various Western, Saudi, and Israeli supported media. The Israeli lobby and mainstream corporate media use a wide range of methods in historical manipulation to white-wash their terrifying and arbitrary crimes, including the weaponization of political values such as democracy, the rights of gender and sexual minorities, and ultimately the self-aggrandizing promise of “liberating Iran”. And they propagate such savagery under the code name of “civilization.” Well-known English-language media platforms label the most minute criticisms of the state of Israel as “antisemitic” or “Jewish self-hatred” and have thus become the forebears of intense censorship and repression inside Israel and in Western societies, from the streets to the work-place to university campuses.
- In a common story with the people of Palestine, for us Iranians, peoples of the Middle East, and global citizens it is blatantly impossible to downgrade or look away from these abundant crimes, or from the real possibility of a wider war or any form of economic, political, or military intervention in the region. Crimes that have brought the people of the world, particularly minorities, migrants, and students in Western societies into the streets to protest against Israel and its financial and military supporters. The silence of our intellectuals, academics, and activists will lead to irredeemable historical errors. This silence will occasion an irreversible existential risk–whether it stems from disbelief and amazement at the obscenity of such evil, from taking care not to align with the domestic and foreign policies of the Islamic Republic or other despotic regimes, from a hesitation to confront the “useful idiots” of our time who support the return of an Israeli-American backed monarchy in Iran, or whether it is from a resentful self-destructive wish rooted in desperation. Particularly under conditions where the Iranian opposition’s propaganda machine demanding regime change—often under the direct and indirect support and leadership of foreign governments and corporations—are consistently usurping popular protests against the Islamic Republic. This has not only disoriented parts of Iranian society in understanding Iran’s situation in the region and the world, but it also seeks to appropriate all uprisings and resistance movements against oppression and inequality inside Iran, increasing the risks of domestic repression and violence. A telling example of this distortion is the co-optation of the chant of “woman, life, freedom” by the war and sanctions industries. It is obvious that the grassroots concepts of woman, life, and freedom emerged at the farthest possible distance from such dark terrains of death, abuse, and servitude.
- Today, in the midst of decaying democratic values and institutional discourses claiming the protection of universal rights to life, in their inability to end the genocide, we, decisively and powerfully, say no to this dangerous mis-en-scene. The media charades accompanied by the economic pressure of sanctions might be able to guide the attention of the masses, if only for a second. But it will never captivate the reality of our lives, our historical experiences, and cultural ties. We believe that the bare violence that Israel and its allies are generously producing and distributing, will at the end leave the possibility of life neither for Jewish people, nor for the rest of the people of the region, nor the world. Now, the only possible new order will grow from a popular resistance against this cruel life-killing order.
Signatories
- Amir Houshang Atiabi, Principal Engineer, Reviewer of political/economical affairs, Bergen, Norway
- Sally Skaife, Art Psychotherapist, London
- Reem Shelhi, Group Analyst, London
- Shahrzad Irannejad, Researcher, Tehran
- Adriana Ferdoosi, Teacher, Ahvaz, Iran
- Bahar Noorizadeh, Artist, London
- Shadi Fadaee, Data scientist/researcher/student, New York City
- Rola khayyat, Artist, Doha
- Nataša Prljević, art and cultural worker, Mexico City
- Meena Shaverdi Rezaei, Project Manager, San Francisco, CA
- Dehna Rezaei, Veterinary Technician, San Francisco
- Anela Dumonjić, Student, Sarajevo
- Alan Minor, Community Development/Urban Planning, Lenapehoking („New York City“)
- Hooshang Goodarzi, Retired Teacher, Tehran
- Poupeh Missaghi, writer and translator, assistant professor University of Denver, Denver
- Nafise Nouri, English teacher, Tehran
- Farzad Azimbeik, Writer and translator, London
- Gamze mengi gulmez, Turkey, Istanbul
- Jess Myers, Teacher/researcher, Syracuse, NY
- Daniel Chu, Urban Planner, New York
- Melis Uğurlu, Editor, London
- Elnaz khadivpour, -, Shiraz
- Mahshad Ahmadzadeh, Architect, New York
- Razieh Amin, clinical psychologist, Tehran
- Neda Salamian, Writer, Tehran
- Jules Kzk, Student, Vienne
- Farzin Lotfi-Jam, Professor of Architecture, Ithaca
- Onel Brooks, Psychotherapist, London
- Aida Kaluri, Computer engineer, Tehran
- Zeinab Naghshband, Post doc researcher, Tehran
- Jeiran Jahani, PhD student, Paris
- Hoda Sherif Shehata, Independent Investigative Journalist, Cairo, New York
- Ashlyn Dadkhah, community researcher, artist, organizer, Los Angeles
- Hamid Yousefi, Art, Tehran
- Arman Masoudi, Archeologist, Vancouver
- Hamid Younesi, Playwright, Karaj
- Paris Motevasselzadeh, Student, London
- Pouria Ebrahimi, Painter, Tehran
- Somayyeh Rahimi, Student, London
- Shima lorestani, Student, Tehran
- Jila Golanbar, Freelance Journalist and activist, Oslo, Norway
- Angelika Golz, Psychotherapist, Totnes
- Laleh Khorramian, Artist, Catskill
- Elham Molavizadeh, Urban activist, Tehran/Iran
- Sara Azimi, Activist, New York
- Koosha Eghbal, Researcher/Activist, Manchester
- Andreas Wirsén, Salesman, Linköping
- Sue Helen Montoya, Artist, Mexico City
- Sofie Williamson, Student/artist, Manchester
- Reihane ordouie, Designer, Tehran
- Mania Akbari, Artist- filmmaker, London
- Ramzi Hazboun, Filmmaker, Bethlehem, Palestine
- Saeed Yazdanpanah, Cook, Toronto
- Hamed Hadizadeh, Researcher, Bologna
- Nosratollah Saeedi, Retired, Tehran
- Behzad Kaypour, Retired, Tehran
- Matteo Capasso, Academic, Venice
- Raz Mesinai, Producer, New York City
- Delia Alice Flanagan, Global Business Development, Athens
- Francesca Fornari, Social pedagogue, Novi Sad, Serbia
- Ibis Cerimagic, teacher, Becej
- Isa Saharkhiz, Journalist, Karadj, Iran
- William Crosby, PhD Student / University Lecturer / Artist, Cambridge & London
- Jennifer Frances Maxwell, Teacher, London
- Annie Riga, Artist, London
- Afsaneh Sarvghaddi, Musician, Mashhad
- Alessa Tinne, Civil servant – art gallery, London
- Shams Fatmeh, Actress, Berlin
- Amina Ahmed, Artist, London
- Mohammed Zenia Siddiq Yusef Ibrahim, Poet, New York
- Stephen Reme, Artist, London
- Masoud Sinaeian, Philosophy teacher, Tehran
- Allia Noor, ABA Therapist/Researcher, NYC
- Nazanin Manoucheri, Artist, Tehran
- Ryan Madden, Community Organizer, Brooklyn
- Christelle Shifteh, Watchmaker, Bienne, Switzerland
- Aneesa Sen, Educator, Hull
- Sade Namei, Entertainment industry, NYC
- isalina sanchez, Designer, Bronx
- Yaser Mirdamadi, Researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, UK
- Abdolkarim Soroush, Scholar of Islamic thought, California
- Othaylat Suliman, Broadcast Journalist, London
- Javid David, Retired, Beverly Hills
- Moshé Machover, Professor emeritus, London
- Niloofar Moghbel, Independent researcher, Palo Alto
- Mohammad Golabi, Curator, New York
- Torab S, socialist activist, London
- Yosefa Loshitzky, Professorial research associate SOAS University of London, London
- Omid Mehrgan, Adjunct Assistant Professor, NYU/City Tech, New York
- Cristina Codina Llavina, Support Worker, London
- Fariborz Muzaffari, MLT, Falls Church VA, USA
- Issias Yohanes, Lecturer, London
- Haim Bresheeth-Zabner, Professorial research associate SOAS, London
- Zahra Alzubaidi, Translator/ vocalist, NYC
- Dorsa Djalilzadeh, Writer, Brooklyn
- Ruth Lass, Actor, London
- Arefeh Riahi, Artist/researcher, Tehran/The Hague
- Yael Davids, educator, Amsterdam
- Haanieh Riahi, Executive Director, Biotech Company, Bay Area, California
- Constanza Mendoza, Artist, Berlin
- Taco Sorgdrager, Musician and writer, The Hague
- Maryam Safe, Cultural Strategist, Holistic Designer, London-Isfahan
- Rah Eleh, Artist, Toronto
- Zahra Afsah, Storyteller/ artist, London /Tehran
- Maartje Fliervoet, artist, Amsterdam
- Katla Einarsdóttir, Graphic designer, Reykjavík/Rotterdam
- Grigoris Rizakis, (Fine) Artist/researcher, The Netherlands/Greece
- Jonathan Chaim Reus, Researcher, Artist, Humanist, The Hague
- Lisanne Evine Hoogerwerf, Artist, The Hague
- Zaal Chaduneli, Business owner, Tbilisi
- Anastasia Durilina, Teacher, Tbilisi
- Babak Salek, Documentary filmmaker, London
- Rana Ghavami, Teacher, Amsterdam
- Pierfrancesco Gava, Teacher/ artist, Amsterdam
- Aïda Vosoughi, Artist, Montréal
- Pim Piët, Visual Artist / art curator, the Hague
- Mahnoor Ansari, Artist, Vancouver
- Marleen Sleeuwits, artist, The Hague
- Catarina Gonçalves Azevedo Santos, Archivist, Lisbon
- Regien van der Sijp, retired director of SMK, The Hague
- Golchehr Hamidi Manesh, community educator & trainee psychoanalyst, London
Amir Mortasawi (alias Afsane Bahar) (امیر مرتضوی (افسانه بهار 