Mick Hartley

An interesting view from Syrian opposition activist and writer Issam Zeitoun, in a debate about Israel on Al-Jazeera. It's not just the Saudis who are saying that the real threat to the Arab world is not Israel, but Iran:

Host: Who is more dangerous for the region?

Issam Zeitoun: Iran without a doubt! Israel is surrounding itself with walls. It just wants to be left alone. It stays within the land allocated to it in the Partition Plan. Pan-Arab ideology is a cancer that is eating away at our nation and that is keeping us fragmented. We are going through a dangerous phase. We are on the verge of annihilation because of these ideas. The claim about Israel wanting to expand “from the Euphrates to the Nile”… Every Arab and Muslim in history has believed this. There is no mention of this in any religious or political book. Nobody has ever said this. I have been to Israel more than once. I asked them: “Where in the Knesset is the banner that says: ‘Israel from the Euphrates to the Nile’?” Nobody has ever heard of it. The Assad regime and our media have told us that Sadat spoke in the Knesset under a banner saying: “Israel’s borders from the Euphrates to the Nile.” There is no such banner. Nobody has ever heard of it.

Host: So it is better to ally with [Israel]?

Issam Zeitoun: Absolutely, from any point of view! Ask any Arab citizen where he wants to live, and then come back to me. […]

In all our wars against Israel, Israel was waging a defensive war. Had we not attacked [Israel], it would not have attacked us, despite its capabilities. If Iran had a nuclear bomb, would it drop it on Tel Aviv? It would drop it on Riyadh or any other Arab capital. [Iran] exploits the issue [of Jerusalem] only in order to win the Arabs over, by constantly talking about Jerusalem. Who demonized Israel and exaggerated the Palestinian cause? The Syrian issue is a thousand times more important than the Palestinian cause.