Why Iran Supports Palestinian Terror Groups

by Khaled Abu Toameh
July 19, 2018 at 5:00 am

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12729/iran-palestinian-terrorism

Translations of this item:

The Iranian general did not offer to build the Palestinians a hospital or a school. Nor did he offer to provide financial aid to create projects that would give jobs to unemployed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. His message to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: Iran will give you as much money and weapons as you need as long as you are committed to the jihad (holy war) against Israel and the "big Satan," the US.
The same Hamas that is telling UN representatives that it wants to improve the living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is the one that is reaching out its hand to Iran to receive funds and weapons.
Now, someone needs to step in and stop Iran from setting foot in the Gaza Strip and using the Palestinians as cannon fodder in Tehran's campaign against the US and Israel. How might someone do that? It is not so complicated. Any international aid to the Gaza Strip must be conditioned on ending Iran's destructive effort to recruit Palestinians groups as its soldiers. It is that simple.

While the United Nations, Israel and the US are proposing plans to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Iran is pledging to continue its financial and military aid to Palestinian terror groups.

Iran's meddling in the internal affairs of the Palestinians is not new. The Iranians have long been providing Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups with money and weapons. Were it not for Iran's support, the two groups, which do not recognize Israel's right to exist, would not have been able to remain in power in the coastal enclave.

Iran's support for the Palestinian terror groups has a twofold goal: first, to undermine the Palestinian Authority, which is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, and which Tehran sees as a pawn in the hands of the US and Israel; and second, to advance Iran's goal of destroying Israel.

Just this week, we received yet another reminder of Iran's true goal. The leader of Iran's "Islamic Revolution," Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said that the Palestinians will win over their enemies and will "see the day when the fake Zionist regime" vanishes. He said that US President Donald Trump's "evil policy" is doomed to failure.

So, Iran does not care about the harsh conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Instead, its leaders are hoping that the Palestinians will live to see the day Israel is eliminated. This is also why Iran continues to support any Palestinian group that seeks to destroy Israel.

On the same day that Khamenei made his statement in Tehran, one of his senior generals, Gholamhossein Gheybparvar addressed a conference held in the Gaza Strip and Tehran simultaneously. Gheybparavar is a senior officer in Iran's Revolutionary Guards and commander of its Basij forces -- the "Mobilization Resistance Force." This force's main mission is to suppress protests against the regime in Tehran.

Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards General Gholamhossein Gheybparvar. (Image source: Tasnim via Wikimedia Commons)

In his speech via video conference, the Iranian general told representatives of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terror groups that he was "proud" of their "resistance" against Israel. He said that the conference, which was being held under the title, "Wet Gunpowder/Resistance Is Not Terrorism," was an expression of Arab and Islamic unity against the enemies of the Arabs and Muslims. The Iranian general said that Iran and the "axis of resistance" were not afraid of Trump's "threats."

The Palestinian terror groups said after the conference that they were encouraged by the Iranian general's pledge to support them in their fight against Israel and the US.

Khader Habib, a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad official in the Gaza Strip, said that the Iranian-Palestinian conference was both "symbolic and significant." The conference, he said, served as a reminder that Iran continues to support the Palestinian "resistance" and would deter Israel from attacking the Gaza Strip in response to terror attacks on its citizens. The speech by the Iranian general, he added, was aimed at sending a message to the many countries to support the Palestinian "resistance" groups in the Gaza Strip. "Israel is a potential threat to the Arabs and Muslims," Habib said.

Buoyed by the Iranian backing, several speakers at the conference called for the formation of a "unified Arab-Islamic front" against Israel and the US. They also stressed that the terror attacks against Israel would continue and praised Iran for its full support for the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip.

By promising to continue helping the Palestinian terror groups, Iran is offering the two million residents of the Gaza Strip more bloodshed and violence. The Iranian general did not offer to build the Palestinians a hospital or a school. Nor did he offer to provide financial aid to create projects that would give jobs to unemployed Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. His message to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip: Iran will give you as much money and weapons as you need, as long as you are committed to the jihad (holy war) against Israel and the "big Satan," the US.

The Iranian message to the Palestinian terror groups came at a time when several international parties are trying to resolve the "humanitarian and economic" crisis in the Gaza Strip. These efforts are spearheaded by the UN's Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, who in recent weeks has been on a mission to prevent another war in the Gaza Strip.

These efforts are unlikely to succeed, however, as long as Iran continues its support of the Palestinian terror groups. Iran apparently wants to retain control over its Palestinian proxies to prevent any peace and stability between Arabs and Israel. Iran is not helping the terror groups out of love for the Palestinians, but in order to advance its goal of eliminating the "fake Zionist regime."

If anyone is worried about the Iranian meddling in the internal affairs of the Palestinians, it is Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his ruling Fatah faction. "We don't want to become a pawn in the hands of Iran," said Ra'fat Elayan, a senior Fatah official. "Iran is using Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as a maneuvering card against Israel and the US, and this will have a negative impact on the just Palestinian cause. We have repeatedly warned the two groups of the Iranian intervention in Palestinian affairs."

Meanwhile, it appears that Hamas wants to have it both ways. On the one hand, Hamas wants the international community to step in and help the people of the Gaza Strip. On the other hand, Hamas wants Iran to continue funding its terrorism. The same Hamas that is telling UN representatives that it wants to improve the living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is the one that is reaching out its hand to Iran to receive funds and weapons.

We can take a tip from Abbas's and Fatah's anxiety: If they are worried about Iran's ongoing efforts to infiltrate the Palestinian arena, the US and the rest of the world need to find ways to stop Iran from using the Palestinians as a weapon in its battle to extend its control over more and more countries in the Middle East and carry out its deadly schemes.

Iran has brought nothing but disaster to Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon and Syria. Now, someone needs to step in and stop Iran from setting foot in the Gaza Strip and using the Palestinians as cannon fodder in Tehran's campaign against the US and Israel. How might someone do that? It is not so complicated. Any international aid to the Gaza Strip must be conditioned on ending Iran's destructive effort to recruit Palestinians groups as its soldiers. It is that simple.

Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist, is based in Jerusalem.

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Comment on this item

11 Reader Comments

Eliot Schickler • Jul 21, 2018 at 01:06

We need to implement regime change in Iran!

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Ted Crawford

• Jul 22, 2018 at 17:36

"That is about as likely as stating that the only solution is the coming of the Messiah." Based on your statements after THAT whopper . . .

. . . the only solution is the coming of Messiah. Inevitable and imminent! "...[it] is nigh, even at the doors."

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Carl Goldberg • Jul 19, 2018 at 14:32

You ask why Iran supports Palestinian terrorist groups, but you don't answer the question truthfully. The country you are talking about is not "Iran". It is The ISLAMIC Republic of Iran", and it supports the Palestinian terrorist groups precisely because it is ISLAMIC. And, of course, the Palestinian terrorist groups -- including Hamas AND Fatah -- are also ISLAMIC. The bitter fact is that the sacred doctrines of Islam command Moslems to make war on the Jews and subjugate them to Islamic rule -- or, as Muhammad said, to kill them. We are not dealing with a "Palestinian-Israeli" conflict, or even an "Arab-Israeli" conflict as it used to be called. We are dealing with an Islamic sacred jihad against the Jews -- just like the Hamas Charter explicitly says! You should have the courage to say so!

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Carl Goldberg

• Aug 8, 2018 at 14:12

Mr.Stamler,

Your understanding of logic does not go far enough.

First, if it is true that Islam is at war with us, then we must recognize that fact and take appropriate action to defend ourselves.

Second, if the sacred doctrines of Islam are the root of the conflict over Israel, then that conflict is simply not soluble. The best we can hope for is to render the aggressive forces of Islam quiescent. Looking for solutions and devoting our resources and policies towards a non-existent solution is futile and fraught with danger.

Third, the Moslem countries which are apparently putting the Palestinian issue on the back burner because of their fear of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as you rightly point out, have not undergone any change of heart. If and when the Iranian threat recedes, they will resume their quest for the destruction of Israel. Their schools and their media still teach Jew-hatred. And, no, the enemy or my enemy is not my friend. He may be my temporary ally, like Stalinist Soviet Union was our temporary ally in the war against the Nazis, but they were never our friend.

Fourth, acknowledging that the root of the problem is Islam, itself, does not mean that we must make war against all Moslems anymore than we had to make war against all Germans or Japanese 75 years ago.

Fifth, Islamic terrorism is not the biggest threat from Islam, and by focusing on the war on terrorism, we prevent ourselves from defining the true enemy. That is no way to defend ourselves. The biggest threat from Islam is manifested in The Islamic Republic of Iran and The Muslim Brotherhood (which has the full backing of Erdogan's Turkey). Hamas, of course, is the Palestinian branch of The Muslim Brotherhood, but Fatah is also irremediably Islamic. Both of these threats are grounded in Islamic sacred texts.

How we deal publicly with Islam is a very delicate issue, for reasons you mentioned. At the same time, we must never blind ourselves to the truth.

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Clive Stephen Delmonte • Jul 19, 2018 at 11:19

In many ways this article is a timely reminder of why the US, Israel and Australia are right to variously withdraw, reduce and re-allocate funds which directly or indirectly reach the jihad.

Israel cares more about the welfare of Gazans than do Hamas, Iran or the PA.

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Harold Taback • Jul 19, 2018 at 10:40

With Gaza continuing to get Iran's weapons, how ineffective is the Israeli blocade!!

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steve • Jul 19, 2018 at 09:55

so you said in your closing paragraph "Now, someone needs to step in and stop Iran from setting foot in the Gaza Strip and using the Palestinians as cannon fodder in Tehran's campaign against the US and Israel." and asked "How might someone do that?"

The answer is fairly simple because if the Iranian regime love the "Palestinians" so much, take them on and give them what they want. This is called turning the tables: import the population wholesale - lock stock and [loaded gun] barrel - into Iran; accommodate them, feed them, employ them, give them a better life than they claim they have under Hamas who is blaming Fatah and Israel of making their miserable lives even worse.

The benefit of this is twofold,

1: stops the violence emanating from that coastal enclave because those perpetrating it will not be there. Also the west bank.

2: it removes them as occupiers and fake refugees (that farce needs to be ended) in Gaza and the west bank, as the process would vacate them and Israel can reclaim that land. Arial Sharon's withdrawal plan - honourable as the idea was - has proved to be a complete disaster.

They can become genuine citizens and contribute to society as Arab-Israelis or go. This policy must be enacted sooner rather than later, and along with the Oslo accords than must be rescinded so Israel can resume control of the land as it should be and peace will resume because there will be no one to cause the violence.

like I said: fairly simple.

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Ted Crawford • Jul 19, 2018 at 09:33

Putin told Netanyahu that "Iran is a valued ally of Russia", so Russia certainly will NOT reign in Iran's Mideast activities, and now that Trump has grovelled before Putin, neither will the US. The UN? They're on Iran and the Palestinian's side. There's only One left to stop the evil axis of Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, Syria, Islamic Jihad and Hamas. He is going to be horrifying!

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Peter Buckley • Jul 19, 2018 at 09:29

"He said that the conference, which was being held under the title, "Wet Gunpowder/Resistance Is Not Terrorism," was an expression of Arab and Islamic unity against the enemies of the Arabs and Muslims."

Absolutely hilarious. It would be difficult to think of any grouping of people on the face of the earth that are more disunited than the so-called ummah. This clown actually calls on "Arab and muslim unity", whilst at the same time Iran is effectively involved in a proxy war with the "Arabs" of Saudi Arabia.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1346885

As the writer points out,"any international aid to the Gaza Strip must be conditioned on ending Iran's destructive effort to recruit Palestinians groups as its soldiers. It is that simple."

It IS simple. Maybe the US now has a leadership that has some understanding of how Islam works, and is taking SIMPLE steps to dissolve Iran........

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Peter Rotberg • Jul 19, 2018 at 06:52

Bright, as usual ! Mr.Khaled Abu Toameh
But there is another, yet, common denominator between Iran and Palestinian terrorist groups i.e.pan Islamist expansionism to which US & Israel pose a basic obstacle.
All other human or humanitarian goals do not exist in their set of mind, strategy and tactics.
Keep up trying to awake liberal West from its defeatist illusions.
God bless you
Peter Rotberg.

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Menahem Lester • Jul 19, 2018 at 06:23

Caroline Glick does an interesting article - on the efficacy of giving aid to Gaza & on President Trump's new initiative to raise their standard of living.
There's a widespread feeling that, if Hamas were to be overthrown then the Palestinians would suddenly become civilised. This is not so: they voted for Hamas for their platform which offered principally ongoing war against the Jews until they were driven out. Caroline's thesis was that the best thing to do is not to give them international aid - rather let them make do with what they've got; perhaps when they get more desperate they'll forego guns, bombs & missiles and opt for food instead.

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