"Manhattan Project" Video Explores Consequences of Money War

Tax Exempt Donations to Illegal Settlements in Israel

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/world/middleeast/06settle.html?pagewanted=1&_r=3&hp
pg.2 
"The donors to settlement charities represent a broad mix of Americans — from wealthy people like the hospital magnate Dr. Irving I. Moskowitz and the family behind Haagen-Dazs ice cream…"

Partial List of Items Israel Prohibits from Entering Gaza

As reported by www.gisha.org,
"The following list is approximate and partial, and it changes from time to time. It is based on information from Palestinian traders and businesspersons, international organizations, and the Palestinian Coordination Committee, all of whom "deduce" what is permitted and what is banned based on their experience requesting permission to bring goods into Gaza and the answers they receive from the Israeli authorities (approved or denied). It is not possible to verify this list with the Israeli authorities because they refuse to disclose information regarding the restrictions on transferring goods into Gaza. It should be noted that Israel permits some of the "prohibited" items into Gaza (for example: paper, biscuits, and chocolate), on the condition that they are for the use of international organizations, while requests from private merchants to purchase them are denied. For more information, see: Gisha, Restrictions on the Transfer of Goods into Gaza: Obstruction and Obfuscation, January 2010 (available at: www.gisha.org)."

Partial List of Items Israeli Prohibits from Entering Gaza as of May 2010

Prohibited Items*
sage
cardamom
cumin
coriander
ginger
jam
halva
vinegar
nutmeg
chocolate
fruit preserves
seeds and nuts
biscuits and sweets potato chips
gas for soft drinks
dried fruit
fresh meat
plaster
tar
wood for construction
cement
iron
glucose
industrial salt
plastic/glass/metal containers
industrial margarine
tarpaulin sheets for huts
fabric (for clothing)
flavor and smell enhancers
fishing rods
various fishing nets
buoys
ropes for fishing
nylon nets for greenhouses
hatcheries and spare parts for hatcheries
spare parts for tractors
dairies for cowsheds
irrigation pipe systems
ropes to tie greenhouses
planters for saplings
heaters for chicken farms
musical instruments
size A4 paper
writing implements
notebooks
newspapers
toys
razors
sewing machines and spare parts
heaters
horses
donkeys
goats
cattle
chicks

*Some of these items are permitted if they are for the use of international organizations.

The Free Keys rock "Ships"

by Julie Jigsawnovich

CNN iReport--The Free Keys emerged from Tehran's music underground to international acclaim when they were featured in the Cannes award winning film, No One Knows About the Persian Cats. Not approved by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, The Free Keys fled to Pune, India where they’ve now legally released the track, "Ships."

The unusual time signature, enticing riff and mischievous vocals beckon like some kind of rock siren across the waves in moonlight. Reverberating echoes loop back on themselves, reaching critical mass. Suddenly one feels like the floor is collapsing--and one is falling down, down to the bottom of the sea.

Some enjoy the sensation of falling, skydiving, high diving. But "Ships" does not convey simple thrills. It’s something deeper, more primal, more real—akin to the sinking feeling that something is deeply wrong and terrible events may be about to transpire.

Such keyed-up emotion is not surprising given that the The Free Keys received international exposure just as the regime was about to crack down. But “Ships” could be topical within the larger context. The Islamic Republic debuted its first domestically built destroyer warship earlier this year. More Israeli nuclear submarines have reportedly headed for the Persian Gulf amidst international speculation over potential Iranian blockades of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for increased sanctions and threatened ship inspections. Hundreds of "bunker buster" deep penetration bombs were reportedly shipped to the U.S. base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean south of Iran. And a few days ago Egypt allowed at least one Israeli and 11 American warships to pass through the Suez Canal reportedly headed towards Iran or U.S. ally, Pakistan. After all, just as the U.S. was passing "crushing sanctions", Tehran signed a $7 billion agreement inaugurating the construction of a gas pipeline from Iran to Pakistan.

I asked The Free Keys' lead guitarist, Arya, whether the song is about war ships. He replied, "Ha ha, no. Actually it was merely a coincidence that we noticed too. 'Ships' is the title of our friend Rajan Virdee's poem that we used as lyrics. It's about a brewing love--and how in the abstract love has a strictly narcissistic motive behind it. One line in the poem says:

'But if such love is conjured under one spot-light

it's just as easily lost in despising and spite

like two ships crashing and burning in the night.'"

Ships launched by proud nations with complex, intertwined histories may approach each other soon. Will there be an engagement making The Free Keys' new track eerily prophetic? The music video for “Ships” is reminiscent of torpedoes and explosions.

Currently The Free Keys are offering listeners the opportunity to access this track for free. Arya continued, "The song is available for free download because it's a prototype version. Obviously the album version won't be. You can download it on www.4shared.com/audio/zfRkRRL2/Ships.html "

Iranian and Israeli Filmmakers in close competition

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Farbod Khoshtinat's short film, ATTN: Mr. Democrat, has been selected by judges for the Democracy Video Challenge to represent Iran in the final round of this competition. Khoshtinat's short is competing with videos from Israel and Algeria in the Near East category, one of six geographic divisions. Winners will be decided by "thumbs up" votes cast by signed in YouTube users who view the video via www.youtube.com/democracychallenge. One vote per video may be cast each day through June 15, 2010.

How to vote for ATTN: Mr. Democrat

Sign In to your YouTube account
Go to www.youtube.com/democracychallenge
Click on VOTE, search for ATTN: Mr. Democrat
Click on green thumbs up to vote

YouTube Google analytics maps under the videos reflect the countries from which votes for the videos are cast. Countries grow greener as more votes are cast. The map for Khoshtinat's video (at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI6oOgG-HRg ) shows far broader geographic support. Although some of the votes credited to the US and Canada could be due to proxy servers helping Iranians to access full internet despite the Iranian government's blockade against YouTube, voters in Russia, Scandinavia, Africa and Israel are also showing support for ATTN: Mr. Democrat. Wide support should come as no surprise because it is an exceptionally well written, highly artistic and beautifully scored short film--and because there are people all over the world who support freedom and fair elections.

Thousands of Iranians have risked imprisonment, torture and death for demanding freedom and democracy, especially when they question the outcome that the Islamic Republic proclaimed regarding the June 12, 2009 Iranian presidential election. In a biographical statement submitted with his video, Khoshtinat wrote, "I am an artist, an Iranian film maker and a twenty one year old freedom fighter. I believe that one of the greatest things about art is that it gives us the ability to see, imagine and feel things in a certain way. This belief was the main reason I wanted to participate in this challenge, to give the opportunity to the people around the world to see how democracy is practiced in my country, so I visualized it through art; I wanted them to see it through my certain way of visualizing. As a young student who is studying abroad, this was the least thing I could do for my people since we all are in the quest for democracy."

Khoshtinat is no mere student. He edited the music video sequences for the Cannes award-winning film, No One Knows About the Persian Cats. And the music video Khoshtinat made for Iranian rapper Hichkas' Ye Mosht Sarbaz has received over 200,000 views on YouTube. Khoshtinat was a teenager in Tehran when he made Hichkas' video under the pseudonym "Fred" in hopes of evading arrest for promoting Western music in violation of Iran's strict Islamic laws.

As of June 13, 2010, 3:19am, Khoshtinat's upload of ATTN: Mr. Democrat has received 10,912 views on YouTube. But because several thousand of those views took place before the May 15th beginning of the final round of this competition, many of those views could not be counted as votes. The closest competitor, Democracy Is… video by Israelis Tomer Zemel, Maria Levitin and Orit Englander received 7,042 views as of 3:19am June 13, 2010. But at least 5,000 of these views took place after the video was embedded on Russian websites www.newsru.co.il, www.newsru.com, www.sem40.ru, and was covered by Israeli journalists online and in Israeli newspapers.

The winner of this competition will receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., New York and Hollywood, gala screenings of the winning videos in Hollywood, New York and Washington, exposure to filmmakers and the U.S. film and television industry, and meetings with democracy advocates from government, media and civil society.

How to vote for ATTN: Mr. Democrat

Sign In to your YouTube account
Go to www.youtube.com/democracychallenge
Click on VOTE, search for ATTN: Mr. Democrat
Click on green thumbs up to vote

For additional information about ATTN: Mr. Democrat and about director Farbod Khoshtinat please contact Media Advisor Julie Jigsawnovich at Jigsawnovich1 (at) gmail.com

Iara Lee Releases Footage from Mavi Marmara

http://www.juancole.com/2010/06/gaza-humanitarian-workers-release-video.html

Israel slams 'cultural terrorism' as Pixies cancel gig

It's ironic. There is more freedom of speech in Israel than in, say, Iran--where there are severe restrictions on music and on live performances. But when musicians choose not to speak--not to perform--as a form of protest, they are labeled terrorists by some Israelis. I wonder what the Israelis calling the musicians terrorists would have said if the musicians had appeared on stage, but instead of playing, had used the opportunity to discuss alternatives to current the Israeli policies. For instance, laws could be put into place that guarentee equal rights for persons of all religions, ethnicities--and equal rights for women. --Julie Jigsawnovich

Hazel Ward of AFP reports:

"JERUSALEM — Israel is falling victim to "cultural terrorism," a top music promoter charged on Sunday, after US alternative rock group The Pixies cancelled their first-ever gig in the Jewish state.

"The band was to have performed a single gig on Wednesday as part of a five-day music festival in Tel Aviv, but pulled out just days after a deadly Israeli naval raid on a foreign aid flotilla that left nine activists dead.

"The Pixies' decision to cancel comes three months after the band received an open letter from Israeli human rights activists urging them not to come to the Jewish state.

"'As much as some of us are huge fans and would love to hear your show, we won't cross the international picket line that is growing in numbers steadily nowadays to come and see you,' the group Boycott! wrote in an open letter to the band sent on March 1."

Iran Hardliners Benefit from Israeli Attack

http://the-diplomat.com/2010/06/01/flotilla-fiasco-boon-for-iran/

Israel's nuclear weapons: Time to come clean

• An excerpt from an editorial in The Guardian today:
• 
  
• "Both America and Israel believe that Israel should retain its nuclear weapons while Iran should not be allowed to acquire them. With the Brazilian and Turkish scheme for the transfer of nuclear material spurned and tougher UN sanctions against Iran on the way, this is an unexamined contradiction which undermines much Middle Eastern diplomacy and cannot be for ever skirted. It is impossible to imagine even the first steps towards a true nuclear settlement in the Middle East without Israel abandoning its obfuscations on nuclear weapons and admitting, as other nuclear powers do, that security is a collective as well as an individual matter."

Some background on Israel's nuclear weapons from another site.

My opinion is that Israel/Palestine should join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and be inspected just like everyone else in the treaty. This would calm things down a bit, eroding some of the support for hardliners in Iran and Lebanon who accuse Israel of bullying.

But I also don't want to see the people who are currently governing Iran acquire nuclear weapons--because look what the hardliners are doing to their own people. What would they do to their "enemies" outside Iran? Plus, there is an apocalyptic fringe of Shia that welcomes the end of the world. I don't want extremist religious groups to have access to nuclear weapons--including extreme Christians, who also have an apocalyptic fringe.--Julie Jigsawnovich

• 
  

Israeli scientist calls for nuclear disclosure

APF, via Al Arabiya reports from Occupied Jerusalem:

"Uzi Even, a Tel Aviv University chemistry professor and former worker at Israel's Dimona reactor, said U.S. President Barack Obama's campaign for global nuclear arms reduction is a sign of changing times and Israel must get in step.

" 'The policy of nuclear ambiguity, by which we fool only ourselves and nobody else, is not good for us any more...We could open Dimona to international inspection,' the former member of parliament with the left-wing Meretz party told Israeli army radio on Monday"

(Julie Jigsawnovich thinks to herself, "Nuclear ambiguity didn't help Saddam, did it!? Yep, time for disclosure. And Israel should join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while they're at it!)

Video of Rabin's murder as never seen before

November 4,1995 CNN reported:

Rabin assassinated at peace rally

"TEL AVIV, Israel (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally Saturday night in Tel Aviv's Kings Square, a top aide confirmed. He was reportedly shot in the arm and back by a Jewish man in his mid-20s who is allegedly affiliated with right-wing extremist groups.

"Rabin was walking to his car after the rally when he was shot. The 73-year-old prime minister later died in surgery at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.

"The gunman has been identified as Yigal Amir, a law student at Bar Ilan University who had been involved in right-wing causes, Israel television reported. It said Amir, a resident of the central town of Herzeliya, had connections to the far-right group Eyal. Israeli television said police arrested Amir after the shooting.

"Amir confessed to the assassination and reportedly told investigators, "I acted alone on God's orders and I have no regrets."

Iran's religious minorities free to practice their faith?

by Julie Jigsawnovich

I spoke with some of the American Ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist Jews across the street from the U.N. on Monday. I asked them whether they support human rights, and one of them said they do. I pointed out that Ahmadinejad's administration has a very bad record on human rights. And that although anti-Zionist Jews may like Ahmadinejad for his stance regarding Israel, they could also criticize him for violating human rights. They don't have to support him on every issue.

The American anti-Zionist Jews I spoke with told me that Jews in Iran are treated well, not persecuted. Hopefully he's right. But it might be less out the "goodness" of Ahmadinejad's heart, than the fact that if Iran persecuted Jews, Zionists would benefit politically.

The persecution of Baha'is in Iran is extensively documented.

Muslims who convert to other religions in Iran can be legally executed for this.

Even Sunni muslims are banned from praying in military camps, universities, homes

(This article was originally published as a comment here.)

Poll: Majority of Israel's Jews back gag on rights groups

While we are on the topic of freedom of the press, Or Kashti reports in Haaretz.com, that "More than half of Jewish Israelis think human rights organizations that expose immoral behavior by Israel should not be allowed to operate freely, and think there is too much freedom of expression here, a recent survey found.

"The survey, commissioned by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University, will be presented Wednesday at a conference on the limits of freedom of expression."

What's the next step? Detaining and imprisoning journalists, as in Iran?

A Nuclear-free Middle East Would Include Israel

(Ellen Tauscher is Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security.)

"…QUESTION: Yes, my name is (inaudible) Egyptian newspaper. The American invitation for a non-nuclear Middle East region, what exactly about the Israeli program – Israeli nuclear program. Is there any American push for the Israeli delegation to unveil its nuclear program? Thank you.

"UNDER SECRETARY TAUSCHER: We are working with our friends in Egypt and many members of the non-aligned movement and other Arab states on the 1995 Middle East WMD-free zone resolution. Israeli is a not a party to the NPT, will not be at the NPT. What’s important to see is that we have a very good opportunity to go forward both on balancing the requirements of the 1995 resolution for a opportunity to look to have a free zone in the Middle East and the areas of noncompliance – the countries of noncompliance that are also in the Middle East. So I think –

"QUESTION: But there isn’t any American push on the Israeli state to unveil itself –

"UNDER SECRETARY TAUSCHER: The United States has always stood for universality of the NPT."

Watch the video and read the full text of Press Releases: Briefing on the Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference
 Fri, 30 Apr 2010 20:41:41 -0500 here.

Israel Nukes? Iran Nukes? U.N. Review of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Opens Next Week

Haaretz reports: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will likely be granted a visa to attend the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference that opens in New York next week, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

The "May 3-28 conference at U.N. headquarters…is intended to assess compliance with the landmark arms control pact."

"Egypt and other Arab states are demanding that any final declaration that might come out of the conference include a renewed call for the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East - meaning that Israel, which is assumed to have nuclear weapons - would have to disarm."

Israel is widely believed to have a sizable nuclear arsenal although it has not acknowledged it.

Egypt is also demanding the convening of an international conference next year with Israel's participation to discuss that issue. Diplomats said the United States and Russia are trying to find a way to satisfy Egypt's demands."

Israel, Iran, Hizbullah and the NPT

by Julie Jigsawnovich


I think Sepah (Iran's Revolutionary Guards) and Hizbullah probably do want nuclear weapons simply for the prestige and fear they generate--if nothing else. But Israel having nuclear weapons certainly feeds that desire. And Israel's nuclear threat is used by Iran's regime in their effort to rally support. 


Getting Israel to sign the non-proliferation treaty could erode what popular support remains in Iran for the brutality exhibited by Sepah and military Basij under Supreme Leader Khameini on behalf of alleged President Ahmadinejad.  And since support for them also entails financial support for Hizbollah, Israel should recognize that joining the NPT could help erode financial and popular support for Hizbullah. 


If this could also be explained to low income people in Iran who are benefiting from improvements and handouts from the Ahmadinejad administration, despite his mishandling of the economic issues--which has contributed to unemployment and inflation--and if the general public in Iran could see the Israeli bogeyman reduced so that less money seemed to be needed for defense, they might sigh a collective sigh of relief. Iranians have a lot of economic problems at home that need to be dealt with. Friends in Iran (including Muslims) have told me they would prefer that Iran's wealth benefit the citizens of Iran and their quality of life rather than be spent on Islamic hardline militants.

(I wrote this in response to Reza Aslan's "Stop Talking Down to Iran" in the Daily Beast.)

Missing Iranian nuclear scientist 'resettled' in the US

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/mar/31/iran-nuclear-weapons

Strategies for Green Outreach in Iran

by Julie Jigsawnovich

An Iranian friend asked me, "What do you think is the best method to get the Green Movement's aims across? The outreach is to get less well-off people in Iran to support the movement. If they do, we will succeed". I answered:

1. Give children's shoes to poor people. kafsh-e bachche be mardom faqir dahid.
2. Volunteer to teach people to read. mardom khaandan aamuzesh daad.
3. Volunteer in health clinics. dar darmangah ha nirooye davtalab begirid.
4. Volunteer in shelters for people at risk. dar panaahgah ha baraye mardom nirooye davtalab begirid.
Charity work matters a lot. Some mothers in Iran don't send their children to school because they don't have money to buy shoes for their children. And some mothers enroll their children in religious schools because they don't have enough money for other schools. Basij recruits are often from poor neighborhoods. There seems to be a lot of class snobbery in Iran. Maybe poor people are frustrated, and think the only way they can enjoy a reasonable standard of living is if they work for the security forces. Show them alternatives. Show how the Green Movement would improve their education, etc. for a better life--so they don't have to brutalize their fellow Iranians as their job. Another Iranian friend pointed out that, "Ahmadinejad gave poor people some foods and fruits before the election--then they submited their vote for him".

5. Show a plan for how the Green Movement would manage the resources and economy better. tarhi baraye inke chetor jonbeshe sabz betavanad eghtesad ra edare konad erae dahid.

6.Show people how they could make more money if trade sanctions were removed and normal trade relations established. be mardom neshan dahid ke agar tahrim ha bardashte shavad chegoone mitavanand poole bishtary be dast aavarand.

7. Show that Green Movement is against Israel building on East Jerusalem. That's a big selling point for the regime to attract the attention of Muslims. And they are correct on that point, anyway. It's not a radical position. Israel should not be building on Palestinian land. It's illegal and it must stop--even the chief of the United Nations said that.

8. Show Muslims and secular people working together and respecting each other. neshan dahid ke mardome secular va mardome mosalman mitavanand dar kenare ham zendegi konand va be yekdigar ehteram begzarand. Have secular Green Movement talk about the beauty of mosque architecture. Find Muslims living in secular countries who lead happy lives, do good works and practice their religion--and have them talk about what it is like for them living in a country with no Sharia laws.

9. Show people that the Green Movement is proud of Iranian history, and Eastern culture. be mardom neshan dahid ke jonbeshe sabz eftekhare tarikhe iranian va farhange shargh ast. And bring up the fact that the great Iranian leader Soroush (Cyrus) wrote the first human rights document, allowed people of different religions to practice their religions, and he freed slaves.

10. Show how laws must be reformed so that women's rights increase. neshan dahid ke chegoone ghavanin bayad dobare tadvin shavand agar hoghooghe zanaan bishtar shavad. Show which laws the Green Movement wants to reform so that women have more freedom not only in terms of what they choose to wear, but whether they want their children to live with them after a divorce, how much their testimony counts in court, whether they can be exonerated if they kill someone in self-defense, and whether they have access to abortion and to the morning after pill--at minimum in the case of rape. Address employment discrimination against women. There are more female college graduates than male, but fewer of them are hired. Plus, I've heard there are 100,000 prostitutes in Tehran, maybe more in Qom. Show them how the Green Movement could create opportunities for better jobs.

2nd UPDATE: I've received many responses to the ideas in this article, and will publish more of them soon in an upcoming article. Here's a lengthy response: http://jigsawnovich.blogspot.com/2010/04/basij-green-movement-social-justice-and.html

UPDATE: My friend Dalir said, "I'm all for the aforementioned ideas on how The Green Movement can reach Iranians. I would add: an overhaul of the judicial system, invest in education, technology (non-military), agriculture and medical related issues."

Petraeus on Israel, Iran & Human Rights

Zionist hardliners 
are unhappy with Gen. Petraeus. Perhaps Islamist hardliners are too. The Statement Gen. Petraeus filed with the Senate Armed Services Committee is shockingly frank. 

"The Iranian regime’s domestic activities are also troubling, as its recent violent suppression of opposition groups and popular protests has violated the human rights of the Iranian people and fomented further instability and unrest and increased the role of the security forces in the affairs of the state." pg. 10

"...there are a number of cross-cutting issues that serve as major drivers of instability, inter-state tensions, and conflict. These factors can serve as root causes of instability or as obstacles to security. Insufficient progress toward a comprehensive Middle East peace: The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests in the AOR. Israeli-Palestinian tensions often flare into violence and large-scale armed confrontations. The conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel. Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the AOR and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support. The conflict also gives Iran influence in the Arab world through its clients, Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas." pg.12

"A credible U.S. effort on Arab-Israeli issues that provides regional governments and populations a way to achieve a comprehensive settlement of the disputes would undercut Iran’s policy of militant “resistance,” which the Iranian regime and insurgent groups have been free to exploit. Additionally, progress on the Israel-Syria peace track could disrupt Iran’s lines of support to Hamas and Hizballah." pg.33

All excerpts from STATEMENT OF GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, U.S. ARMY COMMANDER U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND BEFORE THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE ON THE POSTURE OF U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND 16 MAR 2010, found at: http://armed-services.senate.gov/statemnt/2010/03%20March/Petraeus%2003-16-10.pdf

Consider Sanctions Against Israel

Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad compared British to dogs.

by Julie Jigsawnovich

There's a Persian saying that 'the yellow dog is the brother of the jackal.' In other words, the yellow dog cannot be controlled--it is not loyal like other dogs.

As Britain reacts to forged British passports possibly having been used by Israeli agents, Press TV reports: "The expulsion of an Israeli 'diplomat' from Britain over the terrorist murder of a Palestinian leader in Dubai has provoked outrage in the Israeli Knesset, comparing the British to 'dogs'. "I think [the] British are behaving hypocritically and I don't want to offend dogs on this issue, since some dogs are utterly loyal,' said Aryeh Eldad, National Religious Party lawmaker in the Israeli Knesset (parliament), quoted by the Sky News." (I take Iran state media Press TV with a grain of salt--but check the link. This was reported in Sky News.)

So, is Eldad implicitly saying the US are Israel's loyal "dogs"? The US carries the burden/moniker of being 'Israel's closest ally.' US taxpayers are stuck with billions of dollars in military aid to Israel each year. Yet Israel is biting the hand that feeds them in ignoring US demands that Israeli construction in occupied territories stop.

At the same time the US searches for a solution to what it perceives as a potential nuclear threat from the (coup government) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, perhaps the US should consider not only a sharp reduction in aid, but even sanctions --against Israel, not just Iran. The Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians is a major rallying point for the minority in Iran who still support Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Khameini.

"The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests in the AOR. Israeli-Palestinian tensions often flare into violence and large-scale armed confrontations. The conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel. Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the AOR and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support. The conflict also gives Iran influence in the Arab world through its clients, Lebanese Hizbullah and Hamas."--STATEMENT OF GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS, U.S. ARMY COMMANDER U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND BEFORE THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE ON THE POSTURE OF U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND 16 MAR 2010, pg.12 

UPDATE After I posted this article on Iranian.com, the following comment was posted there by Bavafa, "Don't impose sanction on Israel JUST because it is a rallying point for the IRI hardliners--but because it is the right thing to do. Here is a country that has been occupying their neighbors country/land, accused of a number of war crimes, has imprisoned million of people of Gaza because they have elected a government that is not to the liking of Israel, and practices apartheid regime in its own land."