In the Orwellian World the IRGC Is Called a ‘Terrorist’ Organization, But the U.S. Military and the IDF Are Not

The Hypocrisy of B’nai Brith

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shakes hands in a recent meeting with Iran's Foreign Affairs Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. Credit: Twitter

The Canadian B'nai Brith organization has sued the Canadian government to force it to comply with a 2018 motion by the House of Commons to list the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

According to its website, B’nai Brith “…is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish people and the State of Israel and combating anti-Semitism and bigotry.” Very pleasant words indeed, but upon closer look, they lose all meaning.

The ‘State’ of Israel last year declared itself the nation-state of the Jewish people and only the Jewish people. That means that approximately 25% of people living in Israel, many of the ‘Semites’ (Arabs are Semites), are now second-class citizens. If B’nai Brith is committed to combating anti-Semitism and bigotry, fighting this racist and wholly unjust law looks like an excellent place to start.

In announcing their lawsuit against the government of Canada, the organization made some very bizarre claims:

* “The IRGC poses a very serious security threat to Canadians. Listing it as a terrorist entity in this country is necessary to deter this threat and reduce its ability to do harm”.

What, one might reasonably ask, is that ‘very serious security threat’? Iran has not invaded another nation since 1798, and it is very unlikely that, if it should decide to start invading nations, Canada will not be its first choice. The people at B’nai Brith can rest assured that the IRGC poses no threat to them whatsoever.

* “The IRGC was responsible for last month's downingof a civilian airplane in Tehran, killing 57 Canadians and another 81 people who were travelling to Canada.” Yes, that is a sad and tragic fact, but a little context helps to explain this situation. The United States had just assassinated Commander Qassem Soleimani, in violation of both U.S. and international law, and the civilian airplane that was so tragically shot down was mistaken for enemy aircraft when Iran was on high alert. This was not some random decision by government officials to arbitrarily destroy a passenger plane, but a tragic error.

* The IRGC “…is tasked with protecting Iran's brutal Islamist dictatorship.” The people at B’nai Brith seem to forget that the Iranian people overthrew a brutal dictator and installed a government of their own choosing. It is far from a ‘brutal’ Islamist dictatorship.

If the organization wants to oppose a brutal regime, it could start closer to home. The Israeli government is one of the most brutal and criminal on the planet, oppressing the Palestinians in the most unspeakably cruel ways, and supporting terrorists in Syria and neighboring countries.

• The IRGC supports “…its international terrorist proxies.” No, B’nai Brith, that is what Israel and the United States do. The IRGC supports its allies, such as Syria, where foreign-financed and foreign-trained terrorists are attempting to overthrow the government. As a country allied with Syria, Iran is obligated to come to its aid, and has done so.
• “Its principle objective is to fuel and fund terrorism.” No, its principle objective is to protect the nation from outside aggression. It is the United States military whose ‘principle objective is to fuel and fund terrorism’. That was even recognized, at least to a limited extent, by Democratic presidential-candidate hopeful, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, who recently pointed out just a few of the peaceful nations whose governments the U.S. didn’t like and overthrew, introducing poverty, oppression and chaos to them.
• “The IRGC has been responsible for sponsoring, orchestrating and carrying out many deadly terror attacks on foreign soil”. Is there any proof of this? Or are the people at B’nai Brith so blinded by hatred of a nation that supports the human rights struggles of the Palestinian people that they will make any outlandish statement that comes to mind? Again, it is the United States that ‘has been responsible for sponsoring, orchestrating and carrying out many deadly terror attacks on foreign soil’, not Iran.

One might ask why it is that B’nai Brith wants to influence Canada to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. There are a few possible reasons:

1. The organization will do anything to distract the public from the international crimes and crimes against humanity committed on a daily basis by Israel;
2. It seeks to weaken Iran, the only major power in the Middle East that threatens Israeli hegemony;
3. It wants to play up to the United States, which has always given Israel just about everything it wants, despite its dismal human-rights record, and which, with the election of Donald Trump, has become an even more ‘generous’ flowing tap of money, privilege and protection from accountability on the world stage.

Canada has not acted since the House of Commons voted to name the IRGC a terrorist organization. Perhaps that is because, for all his faults, and heaven knows they are numerous, Canadian Premier Justin Trudeau does not see Iran in quite the same light as criminal Zionist organizations do. Perhaps he, and others in the Canadian government, recognize that in their role on the world stage, and know that diplomacy is better than threats, and talking is better than bringing the world closer to war. These vitally important facts seem to have escaped the people at B’nai Brith.

What Canada will do with this motion by the House of Commons remains to be seen. That the government has not moved quickly to act is a good sign, and we must all hope that this unjust motion never becomes law.

The IRGC is a major component of Iranian strength in Iran and is vital to protecting Iranians from the criminal actions of Israel and the United States. It is an Orwellian world indeed when the IRGC is called a ‘terrorist’ organization, but the U.S. military and the IDF are not.

 Canada Iran Relations