"Gaza - Dr. Atef Odwan, the PA minister of refugees' affairs, has urged Ayatollah Ali Khameni, the spiritual guide of the Islamic republic of Iran, to use his good offices and end the suffering of Palestinian refugees in Iraq, who are the daily targets of murder, torture, abduction, harassment and detention.
Odwan, in an urgent message to Khameni on Friday, asked the Iranian government to immediately intervene to end the oppression befalling Palestinians in Iraq, affirming that they were experiencing their worst nightmares as a result of the systematic assaults on the part of a number of "suspicious groups".
The minister asked Khameni to address an urgent appeal and to send emissaries to concerned parties in Iraq to end the Palestinians' ordeals and to spare them the ongoing differences and rivalries.
"We hope that you would use your influence over the Shiites in Iraq to end the oppression against Palestinians, to spare them the daily persecutions and to allow them to live in dignity as respectable guests," Odwan's message read.
He recalled that Palestinians did not choose to live in Iraq by their own free will but rather were driven out of their homeland by force at the hands of "Zionist occupation" and were living in Iraq on temporary basis until they could return to their homes in Palestine. He said that Palestinians in Iraq contributed in building and developing that country and never backed any party against another.
The minister said that the ill-practices against Palestinians in Iraq ran contrary to Islamic teachings, adding that the Palestinian people who suffered and still are suffering from occupation's repression in Palestine should not suffer oppression at the hands of their brethren in the Arab and Islamic countries.
The Palestinian people are looking forward to Arab and Muslim backing to lift the oppression befalling them wherever they may be, Odwan underlined."
***
To me the role of Iran in this human tragedy is very revealing about the regime's hypocrisy and double dealing. The Shiite death squads that are killing and terrorizing the Palestinians in Iraq are directly supported and controlled by Tehran. If Iran tells them to stop persecuting the Palestinians, they (death squads) would comply. Iran never fails to exploit Palestine and Jerusalem as a rallying cry for its own political ends. Tehran talks of preparing Al-Quds brigades to "liberate Jerusalem;" why not start by liberating the Palestinians next door in Iraq? Why not afford them a minimum humanitarian treatment? Forget that most of them are Muslims.
Iran likes to show off by appearing to champion Hamas and the Palestinians, but when deeds, not words, are in order such as in this case, Iran is totally silent. Do you see why I am cynical?
No comments:
Post a Comment