It is widely recognized that while Israel's immediate enemy in Gaza is the Sunni terrorist group Hamas, which has governed the strip since 2006, the larger enemy lurking behind the veil is the Islamic Republic of Iran, which sponsors not only Hamas in Gaza, but also Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and a variety of militias in Iraq and Syria, as well as its own formidable military that is perpetually months away from a nuclear weapon.
The Iranian people, however, are known to be the national population in the Middle East with by far the greatest support for Israel, despite the views of their Islamic fundamentalist government.
As protests have erupted across the world in response to the war in Gaza, members of the Iranian Diaspora have been increasingly recognized for their representation in demonstrations supporting the Jewish State. In several Western cities, Iranian dissidents have been among the main speakers in pro-Israel rallies, and Iranian flags (with some modifications from that of the Islamic Republic) have flown alongside Israel's.
Iranian dissident addresses pro-Israel crowd in London
In a video taken in London's Parliament Square last week, an Iranian dissident named Lily Moo stands in front of a poster depicting Reza Pahlavi, the oldest son of the Iranian leader Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, who was deposed by the Islamic Revolution in 1979, with the title "King of Iran." She addresses a crowd holding 'kidnapped' posters with the faces of Israeli hostages in Gaza, and declares that "the antisemitic behavior we are witnessing in London is appalling. The celebration of terrorism we are witnessing here is appalling. For freedom, for life, and for woman, I will stay with you," she says. "The people of Iran are on your side, they are on my side, and they are on the side of humanity, and not terror."
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In Paris, another scene of Israeli-Iranian unity was captured, which has now racked up more than two and a half million views on social media. Iranian flags (of the variety flown before the Islamic revolution) fly side by side with Israeli flags as the crowd chants "Solidarity!" And in another video, from Brussels, Israeli flags are outnumbered by Iranian ones, as a modest crowd sings Israel's national anthem at a demonstration's close. Recent videos from the UK show anti-Israel demonstrators assaulting an Iranian monarchist with a placard reading "October 7th genocide, Hamas ISIS."
Within Iran, too, shows of solidarity
"It would be a mistake to make too much of these pro-Israel rallies," wrote Anthony Grant of the New York Daily Sun last week. "Vast numbers of Iranians are protesting in favor of Hamas." But even within Iran, the reaction to the war has been far more mixed than in other Muslim-majority countries. In the early days of the war, when a message of support for Hamas's attack was broadcast at a soccer game in Iran, the crowd chanted a vulgar slogan about where to put the Palestinian flag.
Amazing, heartwarming scenes from Paris as the Iranian people showed up to protest against Hamas and show support for the people of Israel after the devastating attack that took the lives of more than 900 people at the hands of Palestinian terrorist, funded and supported by the… pic.twitter.com/FM3eTrCKdO
— Emily Schrader - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) October 9, 2023
Videos shared on social media more recently show Iranian university students jumping over or walking around Israeli flags painted on the ground, intended to be stepped on in disrespect. And in the last few days, videos have spread of a stamp that Iranian dissidents have put on currency notes with a Star of David that reads "Death to Kahmenei" in Hebrew and, according to those sharing the images, "Death to Hamas" in Farsi.
To date, an estimated 1,185 Israelis, including 361 soldiers, have been killed since the outbreak of war on October 7. Hamas-governed health authorities in Gaza say that more than 10,000 Palestinians have been killed. An estimated 239 people who were kidnapped from Israel on October 7 are currently held captive by terrorists in Gaza.