Why the war threat on Iran?

Anti-imperialist Camp Assisi 2012
20/08/2012
Statement in sight of the Anti-imperialist Camp in Assisi
by Paul Larudee*
Israel needs war or the threat of war to justify its value to the United States. Israel recognizes that there is no benefit for Iran to attack Israel. However, the perception of an Iranian threat makes Israel a necessary partner for the U.S. in the region, and U.S. support for Israeli military action assures that both the U.S. and Israel will be considered enemies to the other peoples in the region.

Sooner or later, therefore, Israel will need war for the sake of its credibility, to maintain its influence in the U.S., and to reinforce the siege mentality of its own population. We may also expect that Iran will be engaged in such a war either directly or through proxies, or both. Neither Israel nor the U.S. accepts defiance.

A strategy for peace is necessarily a strategy for the end of Zionism and a Jewish state. However, military strategies are unlikely to succeed, because these confront Israel’s strength. Non-military civil resistance strategies, such as those used in South Africa, Tunisia and Egypt, are likely to be more effective, because they target Israel’s weakness, as Israel itself admits. However, in order to succeed, these strategies need to learn from the successes and failures of other struggles, and to be willing to form sometimes uncomfortable alliances.

* Dr. Paul Larudee is one of the co-founders of the movement to break the siege of Gaza by sea, and is a member of the Executive Committee of the Global March to Jerusalem.

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