Ayatollah Khomeini’s approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and its longstanding ramifications

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article examines the long term efforts made by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to create revolutionary opposition to the rule of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, while exploiting the evolving relations between Iran and Israel as a blueprint for his proclamations. Khomeini’s anti-Israel policies had both anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist components that contributed to mustering different segments of Iran’s opposition to the Shah and Israel. This intersection of the mutual animosities consolidated relations between Khomeini’s supporters and the PLO in Lebanon, despite their major theological differences. The change brought about by the Islamic Revolution led to a restructuring of identities, values, norms and policies, which affected Israel considerably and today still calls for a new framework of analysis. Currently, the Islamic regime continues to utilise the Palestinian narrative as leverage its attempts to achieve regional hegemony and maintain its leadership in the Muslim world.KEYWORDS: Ayatollah KhomeiniIsraelIranPLOMohammed Reza PahlaviIslamic revolutionIslamic RepublicHezbollahPLOanti-Semitism Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1. https://www.bbc.com/persian/articles/cg3rnqn8q28o.2. Bialer, “The Iranian Connection.”3. Jervis, “Cooperation Under the Security Dilemma.” For an overview of Iranian writers publications, see: Velayati, Iran va Tahavolat- e Palestine; Murteza, Diplomasi-ye Penhan; Rad, Hamkari-e Savak va Mussad; Haji Yousefy, Iran va Regime-ye Sahyonisti; and Reza, Ertebat-e Nashenokhte.4. Itzchakov, “Iran’s Quds Day.”5. Taroujani, “Tarikh-e Ma’aser-e Iran az Didgah-e Imam-e Khomeini,” 317–18.6. Mavani, “Ayatullah Khomeini’s Concept of Governance.”7. Chehabi, “Religion and Politics in Iran.”8. Itzchakov, Iran-Israel 1948–1963.9. Mavani, “Ayatullah Khomeini’s Concept of Governance,” 807–8.10. Rahimi, “The Rise of Shi’i Ideology in Pre-Revolutionary Iran.”11. Kohlberg, “From Imamiyya to Ithnä-’ashariyya.”12. Shavit and Winter, “My Enemy, My Mentor.”13. Khomeini, Velayat-e Faqih Hokumat-e Eslami, 70–71.14. Lewis, “Freedom and Justice in the Modern Middle East.”15. Itzchakov, “Iran’s Unwavering Israel-Hatred.”16. Keddie and Richard, Roots of Revolution, 140.17. Chehabi, Iranian Politics, 158–9.18. Zubaida, Islam, The People and the State, 253–9.19. Abrahamian, “The Guerrilla Movement in Iran.”20. Chehabi, Iranian Politics, 156.21. Murteza, Selselhay-e Pahlavi, 104.22. The Islamic Republican Party was founded in 1979 and disbanded in 1987.23. Itzchakov, Iran-Israel 1948–1963, 45–6.24. Taghavi, “Fadaeeyan-i Islam.”25. Rahimi, “Democratic Authority,” 198.26. Moghadam, “Mayhem, Myths, and Martyrdom,” 136.27. Shaery-Eisenlohr and Shaery-Eisenlohr, “Post-Revolutionary Iran and Shi’i Lebanon.”28. Shapira, Hezbollah, 75–6.29. Nasr, The Shi’a Revival, 71–2.30. For an analysis of Shariati’s “Islamic Sociology,” see: Zubaida, Islam, The People and the State, 71–8. About Shariati’s personal life see: Abedi, “Ali Shariati.”31. Arjomand, “The Reform Movement.”32. Moghadam, “Mayhem, Myths, and Martyrdom,” 139.33. Ahouie, “Ali Shariati on the Question of Palestine.”34. Shapira, Hezbollah, 97.35. Abrahamian, “The Guerrilla Movement in Iran,” 8–9.36. Samii, “The Shah’s Lebanon Policy.”37. Shapira, Hezbollah, 81.38. Samii, “The Shah’s Lebanon Policy,” 80.39. Shapira, “Who Was Behind the Killing of Imam Musa Sadr?”40. Shaery-Eisenlohr and Shaery-Eisenlohr, “Post-Revolutionary Iran and Shi’i Lebanon,” 280.41. Ajami, The Vanished Imam, 93.42. Musa al-Sadr disappeared on August 1978 in a journey to Libya.43. Shapira, Hezbollah, 81–2.44. Zisser, Lebanon, 60.45. A decade after its establishment, Amal began losing its status to Hezbollah, which evolved as the most dominant party in Lebanon’s politics.46. Shapira, “Who Was Behind the Killing,” 166.47. Zisser, Lebanon, 76.48. Shaery-Eisenlohr and Shaery-Eisenlohr, “Post-Revolutionary Iran and Shi’i Lebanon,” 273–4.49. Podeh, “From Fahd to Abdallah.”50. See note 4 above.51. Nasr, The Shia Revival, 73–9.52. Hunter, “Iran and the Spread of Revolutionary Islam.”53. Itzchakov, “Iran Must Demonize Its Enemies to Justify Itself.”54. Walt, “Revolution and War.”55. Kaye, Israel and Iran.56. Nye, Soft Power.57. Menashri, “Iran’s Regional Policy.”58. Zisser, Lebanon, 217–18.59. Dekel, The War in Syria.60. Takeyh, “All the Ayatollah’s Men,” 54.61. Litvak, “The Islamization of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict.”62. Shapira, Hezbollah, 93.63. https://www.ynet.co.il/news/article/hyfbdkmz3#autoplay.Additional informationNotes on contributorsDoron ItzhakovDoron Itzhakov is a Senior Research Associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.