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'I saw it with my own eyes' – Iranian analyst astonished by cultural shift in Iran since Oct 7, pivoting toward Israel

 
Sadegh Zibakalam gives a lecture at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar (Photo: Screenshot)

Sadegh Zibakalam, retired professor of political science at Tehran University, has been labeled “the most dangerous man in Iran” by Tablet magazine for his readiness to challenge the Iranian regime.

As a political analyst, Zibakalam is giving voice to the groundswell of Iranians who refuse the regime’s insistence on hating Israel, defiantly praising Netanyahu instead.

In a widely circulated lecture he gave on Jan. 20, at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha entitled, “The Trump presidency and the 46 years of hostility between Iran and the US,” Zibakalam shared his observations of the phenomenon which he says has been taking place particularly since Oct. 7, 2023.

"If someone would have told me that, 'Sadegh, a day would come that Iranian people hate Palestinians and they would praise Netanyahu – of all the people – they would praise Netanyahu as the hero, I would've thought that he or she was out of his mind, he or she was talking nonsense, he or she didn't know anything about Iranian people. But I saw it with my own eyes during the past 15 months."

The IRGC has long held the goal of destroying Israel but Iranian young people are not going along with the plan. Every morning teachers lead their classes to chant, “Death to Israel! Death to America!” School corridors are paved with the Stars and Stripes and Magen David in order to be trampled by students, but now the rebellious youth are flatly refusing to go along with the expectations.

The majority of students are seen carefully avoiding stepping on the flags and shaming those who do. Instead of hating Israel as instructed, resentment is growing toward Palestinians.

"What happened to that sympathy? It's gone – it's evaporated," he said. "Do you think they knew anything about Netanyahu and the Likud party, and the Hamas? No, no. They hate Palestinians because the Islamic leaders – they support Palestinians."

In a case of what Israelis would describe as “davka”, the Iranian youth are taking the diametrically opposite stance to their government. 

Zibakalam has also expressed his amazement at Iranian preoccupation with the U.S. elections, knowing there are many sides of Trump’s character that would typically be rejected by Iranian Muslims. He again said he wouldn’t have ever imagined the scenario:

“The idea that one day Iranian people would dream about the victory of a man called Donald Trump who is anti-woman, who is anti-Arab, who is anti-immigrant, anti-Black, anti this, anti that, I’d think you don’t know Iranian people, you’re wrong, you’re wrong. And I saw it with my own eyes.”

The outspoken academic indicated that he is not unreservedly happy with what he is seeing. In his lecture he said that Iranian society is more fragmented than ever and the younger generation’s dissatisfaction with the government has led to a steep generational divide. 

“More than being worried about Trump and what Trump will do with Iran, I’m worried about the situation in Iran. The sharp contradiction, the sharp conflict between the younger Iranian generation and their love of literally anything that is anti the Iranian Republic Regime. Why do you think they love Netanyahu? Do you think they know anything about Netanyahu and the Likud party and Hamas? No, they hate Palestinians because the Islamic leaders support Palestinians.”

Zibakalam explained that during the 1979 Islamic Revolution there was overwhelming support towards the Palestinian cause, unifying all parts of Iranian society, but that those born after 1979 see things very differently.

He claimed that animosity towards groups like Hezbollah is because they are seen as extensions of the Islamic Republic: “I can tell you why they hate Hassan Nasrallah, why they hate Hamas,” he said: “simply because the Islamic Republic supports them.” 

Now in his 70s, Zibakalam has previously been supportive of the Iranian regime. He was a revolutionary in his student days in the 1960s, even spending time in prison for protesting the Shah. In 2015 he described his former self as, “anti-West, anti-U.S. I was anti-Israel. I was very much what the Islamic regime is at the moment.”

He gained a doctorate in Peace Studies at Bradford University in the UK in 1990, and over the years his outlook has shifted. “Many of us, even those students who took part in seizing the American embassy in 1979, have changed. We have realized after three decades that being anti-West may be important, but political freedom is much more important.”

Even ten years ago he was asking, “Who gave the Islamic Republic of Iran the duty of destroying Israel? Did the Iranian people have a referendum and say they want to destroy Israel? Did the parliament pass a law saying that we should destroy Israel?” 

Zibakalam’s confrontational speech is infuriating the authorities, but when asked if he was concerned about crossing red lines, Zibakalam laughed, saying: “I’ve already crossed them.” 

After the video of Zibakalam’s address in Doha was widely shared, Iran’s judiciary news website, Mizan, published the following statement on Tuesday: "Due to recent baseless statements made by Sadegh Zibakalam, the Tehran Prosecutor's Office has filed charges against him." No further details of the charges have been given.

Read more: IRANIANS

Jo Elizabeth has a great interest in politics and cultural developments, studying Social Policy for her first degree and gaining a Masters in Jewish Philosophy from Haifa University, but she loves to write about the Bible and its primary subject, the God of Israel. As a writer, Jo spends her time between the UK and Jerusalem, Israel.

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