Iran refuses Israel's aid

Editorial

When the massive earthquake levelled the town of Bam, in Iran, killing an estimated 30,000 people, the world's aid agencies and governments moved into action to offer what they could of humanitarian aid. A question immediately arose about whether the fundamentalist Islamic government of Iran would welcome assistance from the United States, the "great satan" with whom Iran has had ill relations since 1979. No sweat, came the response, Iran will accept aid from any country – except the "Zionist regime."

Iran's astonishing refusal to accept assistance from Israel is a tangible statement on the contempt with which Israel is detested in that country, a hatred that is commonly held throughout the Muslim world.

The hatred of Israel is so intense that Iran's theocratic rulers will actually sacrifice the lives of its own citizens just to snub the "Zionist entity." We don't need to review the whole history of the region to appreciate the nuance of this refusal. Iran's leaders hate America, but are willing to accept humanitarian support from it. Israel, on the other hand, is considered so utterly contemptible that even potentially life-saving assistance is unwelcome. Others can parse the meaning of this rejection and find complex explanations perhaps, but there is no answer really beyond plain and visceral hatred of Jews and their national state.

This is no issue of mere principle, either. History has made Israel one of the world's top sources of expertise in disaster relief and crisis management. Saving lives – and rehabilitating disabled people who might otherwise die – is an area where Israel, sadly, has been forced to develop state-of-the-art procedures. To reject Israel's assistance is to reject the best expertise in the world. It will no doubt have the effect of allowing Iranian earthquake victims to die unnecessarily.

As disturbing and self-defeating as Iran's choice is, the world's silent reaction to it has been deafening. There was almost a twittering of excitement that American aid workers would be allowed into Iran, as though this symbolized some wonderful new epoch in international relations. Iran's decision should have brought the Islamic regime in Tehran to a new low in international esteem, but North American and European observers and governments have made almost no criticism of Iran's rejection of Israeli help. This is not such a great surprise. Western leaders have been turning a blind eye to Arab and Islamic anti-Semitism for decades.

There are, however, two small silver linings in all this. Israeli aid workers have proven themselves the better humanitarians, seeking ways to "smuggle" Israeli aid in through non-Israeli non-governmental organizations such as the Red Cross. Israeli agencies like Latet will not allow the decency and humanity inherent in relief efforts to be extinguished by anti-Semitism.

More significant in the long term may be the historical impact of major natural disasters on political conditions in a country. Failure to respond adequately or to oversee the fair and equitable distribution of foreign aid has ended more than one regime. The botched response to a massive earthquake several decades ago in Nicaragua is credited as a lynchpin in setting off the conditions for a revolution. The vulnerability or arrogance shown by a government in a time of genuine national emergency can solidify or destroy its hold on public support or tolerance.

Before the earthquake, hopeful observers had suggested that Iran is on the verge of a democratic breakthrough. The arrogance of Iran's refusal to accept Israeli aid reinforces the fundamental fact about Iran's Islamofascist regime: ideological hatred trumps the security of Iranian citizens. Because protecting the safety of its citizens is a government's top priority, the rejection of Israeli assistance goes to the very heart of the legitimacy of Iran's government.

If any good is to come of this disaster, let it be that the base inhumanity of Islamic fundamentalist regimes like Iran's are seen for what they are by foreign observers and, ideally, by Iranians themselves, who are chafing, and dying, under totalitarianism.

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