Iran: Under the Western Gun for Half a Century

Iran: Under the Western Gun for Half a Century

Whatever one thinks of Iran's government, with its many well known and endlessly publicized faults, imagine a government and a country that have stood up, basically alone, against the combined might of the entire Western Alliance for close to a half century! 

This is the time (around 47 years) that has elapsed since the Shah's government was ovethrown in 1979.

For much of this time, Iran has also faced, though to a lesser extent, the strong displeasure (and the adverse consequences of that displeasure) of firstly the USSR, and then of Russia and China--though these two have subsequently, perforce, become more supportive of Iran, out of dire necessity.

There was of course also the previous quarter century that had followed the British and US supported military coup against the elected government headed by Mossadegh, after he had attempted to move towards Iran getting a fairer share of its oil export revenues from the Western oil companies.

This was in 1953, resulting in 26 years of rule by the Shah and his Savak, in close alliance with the West and its regional allies, including especially Israel. 

Indonesia's government, led by Sukarno, a leader of the non-aligned movement, met a similar fate during 1965-67, again connected in part with oil and gas, and also part of the merciless drive of the Western Alliance against socialism and communism. 

The immediate toll in deaths from that Western backed military coup, led by General Suharto, was much worse in Indonesia, than the immediate consequences of the earlier military coup had been in Iran.

Around a million Indonesians were killed, mainly those who were part of workers' and peasants' organizations, and/or were socialists, communists, or ethnic Chinese. 

I strongly suspect that the government in India, headed by Indira Gandhi, was also targeted by the West for a takedown, following the Indian army's liberation, in 1971, of what became Bangladesh and consequent to Mrs. Gandhi's move towards nationalizations and her continued reliance on the USSR for political backing at the UN and for armaments.

In addition to the major Western powers, headed by the USA, plus the highly aggressive and subversive regional power, Israel, Iran has had to deal with the regional, Western-allied oil sheiks and the extremist "Islamic" militants supported by them, including those operating out of a ravaged Afghanistan to its east and later a ravaged Iraq to its west. 

These militant groups also often had direct or indirect Western backing, of course before 2001-09-11, but also, in some cases, even after that horror in the US homeland.

That atrocity had been orchrstrated by some of those who had been instrumental on wreaking such horrors (but over a much longer time period and with far more massively lethal and other adverse consequences) on the heads of ordinary Afghans and others. 

Iran also had had to deal, soon after the revolution that threw out the Western-installed Shah, with a lethal six-year war launched by Iraq's Saddam Hussein, with strong Western and other backing (using chemical and allegedly also biological weapons supplied by Germany and other Western governments).

That war alone had killed around a million Iranians and left many others maimed for life, including many who suffered through slow deaths from the effects of chemical weapons.

The extreme economic strangulation, currency manipulation, sabotage, cyber attacks, assassinations of scientists, engineers, and others, and much more have never ceased, only grown even worse over time.

All of this conbined has announted to a crushing and increasingly unbearable weight, creating further misery for Iran's population.

Yet Iran--and its government, for all its faults--had not only survived but had done so without kowtowing.

What is more, over time, the Iranian government had been reduced to the sole ally of the militant groups in West Asia that were still offering some resistance to Israeli, Western, and, for (as in Yemen, most obviously) Arab oil sheikh aggression and oppression. 

Compare this with the responses of most other governments (beginning with the regional Arab ones that were not taken out by the US and its allies, but not ending there) to Western-Alliance manipulation through bribing and bullying (to put it most mildly).

The only government and country that has been able to withthstand such extreme pressures, having done so for even longer, has been North Korea, whose popularion had gone through what can only be called a near-genocidal experience in the 1950s. 

However, North Korea did get direct help during that prolonged horror from the newly liberated People's Republic of China and, to a lesser degree, from the USSR. 

Much of what followed in North Korea, including nstitutionalized (and perhaps justified) paranoia about the intentions of the Western Alliance, extreme authoritarianism, dynastic rule,  and the development and publicization of a strong deterrent military capability (in not just its large standing army but also its missiles and nuclear weapons) can be traced to that collective, near-existential experience and trauma of the 1950s. 

2026 March 1, Sun.

Berkeley, California

Did you know that the first groups classified as terrorists in the Middle East were Zionist militias?

  

Facebook Post by Palestinian Historiographical Research
2026-01-23

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Did you know that the first groups classified as terrorists in the Middle East were Zionist militias?

Contrary to the dominant narrative in the West, which often associates terrorism in the Middle East exclusively with Islamism, this form of organized violence first emerged through Zionist militias that carried out bombings, terror campaigns, and systematic violence in Palestine long before 1948. These militias used terrorism as a primary tool to pressure for the creation of a Jewish state, openly defying British authority and attacking civilians and officials. Organizations such as Irgun Zvai Leumi (Etzel) and Lohamei Herut Israel (Lehi) were indisputably terrorist groups, identified as such by British authorities and confirmed by historians through documentary evidence of their tactics, which included bombings, targeted assassinations, and sabotage. These actions constitute the earliest examples of organized political terrorism in the modern Middle East (Bell, 1977; Hoffman, 1986; Zvada & Lach, 2022).

1. Irgun (Etzel): organization, tactics, and transnational violence

Irgun Zvai Leumi was founded in 1931 as a dissident branch of Revisionist Zionism, with the explicit goal of using terrorist violence against British authorities and any entity perceived as an obstacle. J. Bowyer Bell’s work exhaustively details Irgun’s operations, characterizing it as a clandestine entity that carried out bombings, sabotage, and deliberate attacks on government facilities and civilian populations—methods that clearly fit the definition of urban terrorism (Bell, 1977). These tactics not only destabilized British authority in Palestine but also created a legacy of violence that influenced later conflicts.

Historical studies confirm that Irgun carried out bomb attacks in public areas and against British security installations during the 1930s and 1940s, resulting in numerous civilian and official casualties. Such actions cemented its reputation as a terrorist organization both locally and internationally. In response to policies like the 1939 British White Paper, Irgun intensified its terror campaigns to force the British withdrawal from the Mandate, demonstrating a calculated use of violence for political purposes (Hoffman, 1986; Zvada & Lach, 2022).

2. Lehi (Stern Gang): radicalism and targeted assassinations

Lehi, also known as the Stern Gang, emerged in 1940 as a splinter group from Irgun under the leadership of Avraham Stern. Unlike Irgun, Lehi rejected any alliance with British forces, even during World War II, and identified them as the primary enemy in the struggle for a Jewish state. Academic scholarship positions Lehi as one of the most extreme terrorist organizations of the era, responsible for high-profile political assassinations, such as that of Lord Moyne in Cairo in 1944, exemplifying its commitment to indiscriminate violence (Hoffman, 1986; Zvada & Lach, 2022).

Lehi’s strategy involved calculated terror operations against colonial authorities and public figures, aligning directly with academic definitions of political terrorism: the systematic use of violence against non-combatant targets to achieve ideological objectives (Bell, 1977; Hoffman, 1986). This radicalism not only prolonged the conflict but also set precedents for terrorist tactics in the region.

3. Haganah and the complexity of the phenomenon

Although Haganah, the largest Zionist paramilitary organization, initially presented itself as defensive against attacks on Jewish communities, historical evidence reveals its participation in offensive operations coordinated with Irgun and Lehi, particularly toward the late 1940s, when violence escalated in the Mandate. A constructivist approach highlights how Haganah, alongside Irgun and Lehi, actively contributed to the dynamics of organized political violence, challenging its purely defensive image and emphasizing its role in the establishment of Israel through methods bordering on terrorism (Çelebi, 2025; Zvada & Lach, 2022).

4. Classification as terrorism

The designation of Irgun and Lehi as terrorist groups is not a retrospective interpretation; during the British Mandate, colonial authorities explicitly classified them as such and deployed counterterrorism operations to neutralize them. Bruce R. Hoffman’s dissertation analyzes how these groups systematically undermined British authority through assassinations, sabotage, and attacks on civilians and officials, meeting academic criteria for terrorism (Hoffman, 1986). This classification highlights the hypocrisy in narratives that ignore these Zionist origins of terrorism in the Middle East, instead prioritizing biased perspectives.

5. From Terrorists to Prime Ministers of Israel

One of the most controversial aspects of the history of Irgun and Lehi is that several of their most prominent leaders, directly responsible for assassinations, bombings, and acts of sabotage, went on to occupy the highest offices in the Israeli government after independence. Menachem Begin, leader of Irgun, oversaw operations that included bombings of British administrative buildings and targeted assassinations of officials between 1944 and 1948 (Bell, 1977; Hoffman, 1986). Among his most notorious actions was the attack on the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946, which killed 91 people, including civilians, and injured more than 45 others (Bell, 1977). Despite these acts, Begin was elected Prime Minister in 1977, nearly three decades later, becoming a direct example of how leaders labeled as terrorists could integrate into state power.

Another notable case is Yitzhak Shamir, a former member of Lehi, who participated in political assassinations between 1942 and 1947, including those of British officials and settlers perceived as enemies of the Zionist cause (Hoffman, 1986; Zvada & Lach, 2022). Shamir was part of the team that planned and carried out the assassination of Lord Moyne in Cairo in 1944, a high-profile act aimed at intimidating British authorities and pressuring them for Jewish independence (Hoffman, 1986). Later, Shamir served as Prime Minister in two terms, from 1983 to 1984 and from 1986 to 1992, highlighting the paradox of an individual with a documented history of systematic political violence rising to lead the state.

These cases demonstrate that the transition from violent militants to central political figures was not an exception, but rather a feature of Israel’s state-building process. The reintegration of Begin, Shamir, and other former radical combatants raises uncomfortable questions regarding the legitimacy of the methods employed, the historical reinterpretation of their actions, and the official political memory. Moreover, it illustrates how systematic violence can be rehabilitated—or even celebrated—within a national context, depending on the political objectives achieved (Bell, 1977; Hoffman, 1986; Zvada & Lach, 2022).

Conclusion

Historical examination confirms that Irgun and Lehi were indisputably the first terrorist groups in the Middle Eastern context, employing systematic political violence for strategic purposes during the British Mandate of Palestine. Academic literature, detailing their leaders, tactics, and impacts, firmly situates them in the history of organized terrorism in the 20th century, preceding entities that emerged after the establishment of Israel and challenging myths that minimize their violent legacy (Bell, 1977; Hoffman, 1986; Zvada & Lach, 2022; Çelebi, 2025).

References

Bell, J. B. (1977). Terror out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, Lehi, and the Palestine Underground, 1929–1949. St. Martin’s Press.

Çelebi, E. (2025). A constructivist approach to the roles of Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi in the establishment of Israel. Terörizm ve Güvenlik Araştırmaları Dergisi, 2(1), 1–14.

Hoffman, B. R. (1986). Jewish terrorist activities and the British government in Palestine, 1939–1947 [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Oxford.

Zvada, Ľ., & Lach, J. (2022). Bloody years of the Jewish insurgency in British Mandatory Palestine 1939–1948: From the White Paper to the State of Israel. Vojenské rozhledy, 31(3), 121–136.

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On two years of events in the Gazza Strip, 2023 October to 2025 October

 
On two years of events in the Gazza Strip, Palestine, 2023 October to 2025 October
 

t may be hard to know whether reports of recently released Israeli hostages speaking well of their captors are true or false. Don't expect to find any confirmation of such things currently in Western media. 

 

However, reports have repeatedly appeared, over the past two years, even in Western and Israeli media, that a number of released hostages have noted that their captors treated them humanely and that the main danger they faced was from the Israeli bombardments. 

 

One may also recall how three hostages who escaped and approached Israeli ground troops in the Gazza strip, stripped to the waist, carrying a white flag and calling out in Hebrew, were shot dead by their own soldiers, two on the spot and one after a chase through the rubble. 

 

Released hostages and family members of hostages have appealed repeatedly that the "war" should stop and hostage releases negotiated. 

 

As former Biden officials have admitted, it was the Israelis, led by Netanyahu, who repeatedly walked away from laboriously negotiated agreements, imposing new, unacceptable conditions at the last minute. Each time, the Western media blamed the Palestinians. US government officials, led by the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, played along with this story. The State Department spokesman, Mathew Miller, had repeatedly said this in press conferences, while also defending Israel against charges of multiple atrocities.

 

Later, that same Miller admitted publicly, in at least one aired interview, that Israel had committed multiple war crimes. When asked why he did not say this earlier, he said that in his official role he had to mouth the public opinion of the Biden administration, not his own private one. 

 

The released hostages and the families of hostages have been basically told, publicly, to shut up by those like Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy involved in the greatest security breach in U.S. history. After his release from jail in the USA and completion of parole, he had moved to Israel where he has been active in right wing politics.

 

It is widely recognized in Israel that the Netanyahu government had been purposely delaying and sabotaging release agreements because they wanted to continue the "war" against the people in Gazza, even as lower level but still very lethal campaigns of violence and displacement proceeded in the West Bank. This had started rising to mass murder levels in 2022 and 2023, with hundreds of natives killed and many more injured and/or jailed in 2023 alone before October 7, which may have been sparked in part by that carnage.

The terrorist subjugation and partial or total ethnic cleansing, by expulsion and/or mass murder, of the indigenous population of Palestine had been the stated goal of some of the founders of Israel. This was deliberately and systematically implemented, especially in 1948, but also subsequently. This remains the goal of not just Netanyahu and his right-wing allies, but of many others in Israel. 

 

Protests in Israel against the deliberate extension of the war had been mounting in intensity and scale within Israel over the past two years. These were driven far less by any concern for the Palestinians than from concern for the still remaining hostages, although the former concern had begun finally to also surface and be publicly expressed among a small minority.  

 

What seems to be completely forgotten in all of this has been the plight of the thousands of Palestinians, including women and children, held captive in Israeli jails, in many cases for decades with no end in sight, and in many cases without convictions, trials, or even charges.

 

This, along with the accelerated growth of this number starting in the West Bank in 2022 and 2023, was probably also a major reason for the militants' breakout from Gazza and their attack on southern Israel.

 

This appeared to have certain immediate objectives, including halting the progress of the "Abraham Accords", striking against Israeli military in the vicinity of Gazza, attacking military outposts and bases there, disabling the eyes and ears of Israeli intelligence in southern Israel, disrupting military and intelligence communications networks, capturing digital data, and taking military and civilian hostages to exchange for the release of Palestinians held captive in Israeli jails.

 

The conditions in these jails are typically horrendous, with torture and even rape being densely documented by Israeli human rights groups, reported on in Israeli media and with even leaked prison security videos of gang rapes of prisoners using crude implements being broadcast on Israeli TV. 

 

This last thing finally led to the Israeli military taking some action and detaining the identified abusers in a military facility.  Even this relatively mild action created a storm within Israel, with the Israeli Minister for Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, leading a mob that stormed the facility and secured the release of the detainees.

 

There was a very public debate on Israeli TV about the right to torture and rape prisoners. Certain rabbis opined publicly in favor if this, citing supposed religious justification.

 

There is yet another storm now about Hamas and other militants being unable to find and release the remains of a few of the Israeli hostages killed in Gazza (almost certainly by Israeli military actions) often along with their captors, underground, if they were military hostages, or along with the families they were housed in initially, in houses above ground, if they were civilians. 

All the civilian hostages had been released in stages earlier, beginning with the women, children, and elders, in exchange for Palestinian captives, again starting with those. 

 

Given the heaps of heavy rubble that Gazza has been turned into, this difficulty in finding and retrieving klled hostages should not be surprising. Indeed, the US government, including Trump, had acknowledged this earlier.  Now this is being used to deny aid and renege on other promises made in the recent agreement, which appears to be basically negotiated during the Biden administration, long ago, but delayed until Trump finally put down his foot. 

Whether the US administration is acting in good faith, intending to truly hold Israel to the agreement, may be open to question.  Israel’s past history of violating signed peace accords and cease-fires with impunity, should not be forgotten.

What is more surprising is that so many hostages survived two years of bombardment (probably from being taken underground) and that all these survivors have been released, along with the remains of those who had been killed and could be found.

 

There is no equivalent storm about the tens of thousands of Palestinians still buried under the rubble, or the horrific condition of some of the corpses returned by the Israelis, many burned beyond recognition and still with hands tied behind their backs. 

 

Finally, it should be remembered that even the former Israeli minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, had  confirmed that the "Hannibal directive" was issued in southern Israel on and after 2023 October 7. 

 

The Palestinian militants, who arrived on hang gliders, on foot or on motorbikes, could not carry the heavy firepower needed to incinerate the scores of vehicles, along with their occupants, to the point of melting metal, nor to destroy entire houses in the kibbutzes, killing both the Israelis and the militants there.

 

Israeli military pilots, tank commanders, and others have reported in public interviews how they implemented the Hannibal directive, sacrificing their own nationals in the process, either deliberately, pursuant to that directive, or because they could not distinguish from afar between Israelis and Palestinians, especially if they were within vehicles but even otherwise. 

 

So it is likely that out of the 300+ Israeli soldiers and 700+ Israeli civilians killed on October 7 (during which hundreds of Palestinians were also killed), a large number may have been killed by the Israeli military.

 

This number was added to subsequently during the two years of attacks on Gazza.

These attacks have reduced Gazza to a state resembling Hiroshima and Nagasaki after their bombings, only worse (except for the radioactivity), directly killed at least around 70,000 residents, probably far more, left many more badly burned, maimed or otherwise injured, and buried yet more, deep under the rubble.

Among the last may be the remaining, unretrieved and  unreturned Israeli hostages.

The surviving population in the tiny Gazza strip has been forcibly moved, repeatedly, is packed into around 1/10 of the area, is mostly homeless and forever on the brink of running out of drinking water and food, with “baited traps” set to injure and kill those venturing to the few renaming food aid distribution centers to try to get some desperately needed flour to feed themselves and their families.

 

This horror, building on past decades of other horrors, was not the work of the Israeli military and government acting alone. 

This was enabled in every way by the US government, followed by other Western and Anglo governments, and by the local Arab governments, deeply complicit in this despite their rhetoric.

Every Arab government that had supported the Palestinians in the past (typically secular, semi-socialist ones such as those of Iraq, Libya, and Syria) has been targeted and destroyed, along with their economies, social fabrics and large parts of their populations. 

tions. 
 
2025 October 17, Fri.
Berkeley, California

How a billionaire is helping to destroy free speech

 
How a billionaire is helping to destroy free speech

YouTube Discussion 

https://youtu.be/Nr0LkA7VW7Q

As governments intensify their crackdowns on dissent, we will talk to journalist and researcher Eli Clifton about the role of pro-Israel mega-donor Miriam Adelson in the arrest of Columbia University student leader Mahmoud Khalil.

This is a segment from The Electronic Intifada's livestream on day 531 of the Gaza genocide. Ali Abunimah, Nora Barrows-Friedman, Jon Elmer and Asa Winstanley were joined by human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber, journalist and researcher Eli Clifton and Abubaker Abed live from the Gaza Strip. 

https://youtu.be/Nr0LkA7VW7Q