Israel’s opposition to Iran deal shows ‘it’s not committed to peace’

Netanyahu’s hostile statements about Iran show the imperialist nature of the Israeli regime, Caleb Maupin, an activist from the International Action Center, told RT.

RT:Netanyahu seemed desperate to prevent this deal [nuclear deal between P5+1 world powers and Iran] from materializing yet when an agreement was reached, what is the next step now?

Caleb Maupin: What we are seeing is Israel playing the role it always played. Israel was created in 1948 after WWII when many countries throughout the Middle East were establishing national liberation and independent economic development. And at the time Israel was created as an outpost to Western colonialism and imperialism to prevent countries in the Middle East from establishing their independence. So their hostility towards Iran is based on the fact that Iran has set out since 1979, since its heroic revolution, has set out on a course of independent economic development, not relying on the Western bankers and imperialists, but really on the path of self-reliance serving the people of Iran and not the bankers on Wall Street. Iran has made clear that they have no desire to make nuclear weapons, but yet this talk coming from Netanyahu is very frightening, it shows to the people of the world that Israeli government is not committed to peace.

RT:Relations between Obama and Netanyahu are strained now. How much trouble will Netanyahu have to convince Washington not to endorse some sort of deal in six month?

CM: The people of the world want peace, they want cooperation between countries, they don’t want hostility and war, and if Netanyahu continues to be committed to this aggression, to this hostility, he is going to be further isolated around the world because what he wants is diametrically opposed to what the people of the world are striving for.

RT:The flip side to this is that Washington is going to lose some of its power when it comes to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and matters of the future. What do you think?

CM: The Israeli government has always represented the most right-wing sections of Western finance capital, of bankers and imperialists and they will continue to do that. And while we are seeing Netanyahu making these statements, he works for the imperialists and he will continue to do that. That is the role the Israeli government has always played, it is an outpost of Western colonialism attacking the people of the Middle East and it sees Iran as a threat because of Iran’s independence economic development and its refusal to follow the orders of Western imperialists.

RT:Netanyahu said that “Israel will defend itself with its own forces.” What does he actually mean by that? Is it actually capable of attacking Iran in a meaningful way?

CM: These words coming from Netanyahu are disgusting. It really flows from the fact that Israeli state bases itself on a racist ideology of Zionism, which views the people of the Middle East as sub-human. This is outrages when Israel has stockpiles of nuclear weapons, yet they are afraid of Iran developing peaceful nuclear energy. It is hypocrisy that flows through everything. It really shows the nature of the Israeli regime. 

RT:How is it going affect its relations with the rest of the world?

CM: There are a whole network of countries around the world with different religions, different ideologies, different economic systems, but they are all pulling together to oppose the will of Wall Street and the domination by financial centers in London and oppose the will of the Western bankers and imperialists, whether it is China, Russian, Iran, Venezuela , Cuba. These countries are coming together and staring together against the power of Western banking. And this is a development, which is very much a threat to the old order of power, where a few super rich countries dominate the world. Things are changing and I think the fact that these negotiations are going on and a deal has been reached is a positive sign. It shows that the old way of doing things is changing and the world is being re-set up in a way.

RT:Your personal thoughts about this Iranian deal?

CM: It is a step in the right direction, it shows the people of the world want peace, they want negotiation, they want trade between countries, they want equality. And if Israel is opposed that shows what Israel is all about.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.