The war against Iran goes beyond merely being a struggle for regional influence or nuclear issues; it is a battle where economic gains intertwine with religious beliefs. In this context, ancient texts are invoked to justify the destruction occurring today, transforming the political adversary into an 'absolute evil' with whom negotiation is deemed impossible.
This idea was emphasized by Tunisian academic Dr. Fawzi Al-Badawi, a specialist in Jewish studies and comparative religions, during an episode of the program 'Diwan Atheer', where he discussed the nature of the American-Israeli alliance and its religious and economic role in targeting Iran.
Details of the Event
Al-Badawi began with a fundamental observation that religion is inherent in all human wars, but what distinguishes the current phase is the structural intertwining of capitalism and warfare. According to him, capitalism only survives by resolving its internal contradictions through conflicts. This intertwining explains why the United States, despite its relatively short history of just over 200 years, is the most warlike nation in human history.
He added to this economic structure what he termed the 'military-industrial complex', which not only produces tools of war but also contributes to their manufacturing and shaping.
Background & Context
Regarding Iran, Al-Badawi pointed out that it occupies a dual position in Israeli and American imagination; it is 'Cyrus's Iran', beloved and referred to in the Torah as the 'Messiah of the Lord' for allowing the return of Jews to Palestine, and 'Haman's Iran', detested and to be eliminated according to the narrative of the 'Book of Esther'. Historically, American presidents have competed for the title of 'Cyrus the Great' from Harry Truman to Donald Trump.
Al-Badawi reviewed what he called the 'killer cocktail' that emerged after 1967, when the nationalist right 'Jabotinsky' met with the religious Zionist right stemming from the ideas of Rabbi Abraham Kook, leading to an ideological mix where Israeli elites can no longer separate national motivations from religious references.
Impact & Consequences
Al-Badawi noted that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wanted by the International Criminal Court, although not a religious person in his daily behavior, saturates his political discourse with religious references and sees himself as the 'Messianic King' who precedes the return of the awaited Messiah, relying on the guidance of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, leader of the Chabad Hasidic movement.
Concerning the concept of 'Amalek' applied to both Palestinians and Iranians, Al-Badawi explained that the danger lies in the fact that this description implies not just enmity but an existential threat that Jewish law requires to be completely eradicated, which explains the war's departure from any moral or legal dimension.
Regional Significance
According to Al-Badawi, confronting this project requires a genuine Arab educational revolution, based on three integrated approaches. The first approach is to reform history teaching to build a true historical awareness that understands the nature and roots of the conflict. The second approach emphasizes the reinstatement of philosophy education as an 'antibiotic' to all closed thinking and a tool for building critical thought. The third approach involves reorganizing the relationship with religion through a scientific historical methodology that does not oppose religion but reinterprets it with awareness and intellectual courage.
Al-Badawi pointed out that the Arab world still faces Israel with medieval rhetorical tools, while modern Israel is a product of Eastern European history and a result of Hasidic movements and Jewish Enlightenment. This makes the confrontation unequal at its deepest intellectual levels, unless a new Arab citizen is built based on the values of justice and freedom.