A point of Arab and Persian contention: By insisting
on the term
'Persian Gulf' for the above body of water, is the
Tehran regime
demonstrating its adherence to the policies of
the former Shah?
Al Seyassah, Kuwait
Iran and Israel: 'Two Sides of the Same Coin'
"How is this regime an enemy
of Israel, which is working to erase the identity of Al Quds [Jerusalem] and
Palestine, if it exhibits the same behavior with its attempt to undermine the
identity of the Arabian Gulf? Aren’t Iran and Israel two sides of the same coin?"
Shah Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, 1919-1980. He dreamed
of a resurgent Persian empire, and according to some
Arab accounts, after a CIA coup put him on the throne, the U.S. removed him for these ambitions. Gulf Arabs suspect that his dream is shared by the present Iranian regime.
Does the Gulf have a Persian
identity? That old/new question came to mind while I listened to news of how
Iranian authorities fired a Greek airline steward for using the term "Arabian
Gulf" aboard an Iranian aircraft. It seems that the authorities require
the airline to use the term “Persian Gulf.” So let us delve into this: Should
it be called the "Islamic Gulf," in an effort to avoid the nettlesome
issue?
In our search for a realistic,
historically accurate geographic name for the Gulf, we shouldn’t focus on
racial issues, nor should we favor passion over reason or political conflict
over facts.
And it is a fact that the
Gulf was "Arabic" prior to the advent of Islam. It was Arabic before
the Imperial Persianization
movement began in the nineteenth century, and before the coveting of the Shah
that was bequeathed to Tehran, despite the current regime's attempts to
disprove these facts.
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If the British Empire, for
which the sun has set, made an issue of Iranian expansion into the Arabian Gulf coast
in the 19th century, which was followed by Iran's occupation of the Arab Ahwaz in 1925 [now
part of Iran's Khuzestan Province] and then the occupation of three Emirati
islands at the beginning of the 1970s, then no occupier should try to impose its
identity on these occupied lands. This runs counter to all treaties and international
rules, and in addition, runs counter to the very Islam that the Tehran regime
hides behind to achieve its expansionary ambitions.
Yes, the Gulf has an Arab
identity. Not because we want it to be so or because we want to face down
Tehran’s dictatorship, but because all of these historic truths deny that the
Gulf is Persian. Even in Iran, the Persian language isn't the most widely spoken.
The term “Persia” was used in ancient times to describe all Persian-speaking regions,
none of which were ever considered part of today's Arab lands. Even during the
invasions of old, Arab areas maintained an Arabic identity. So how can an
occupier impose his identity? And isn’t that what Iranian authorities are
trying to do by parading their disguised occupation as part of the status quo?
[Editor's Note: According to Wikipedia, on almost all maps printed before 1960, and in most modern international treaties, documents and maps, this body of water is known by the name "Persian Gulf." This reflects traditional usage since the Greek geographers Strabo and Ptolemy, the geopolitical reality of the past and was referred to as such by Arabic Christian writer Agapius in the 10th century. It is historically and most commonly known as the Persian Gulf after the land of Persia (now called Iran). The name Arabian Gulf become predominant in most Arab countries only since the 1960s, due to the rivalry between Persians and Arabs and the emergence of pan-Arabism and Arab nationalism.]
What's most dangerous of all
about this Iranian "occupation" effort is that the term "Persian
Gulf" has entered into use within scientific circles in Tehran, and that
even some Arab voices have been drawn into using it without an understanding of
the grave long term impact.
So let us put the record
straight: Arabs in their natural environment are not a minority to be designated
"Gulf Arabs.” That is a term which applies more to Iranians than
Arabs, because Iranians are the natural minority in the region surrounding the
Arabian Gulf. We can therefore hit the nail on the head without any distortion
of the facts by saying, “Gulf Persians.” We want to tell the Iranian school of ambitious
expansionism: Between you and us, there is history, geography, and social and
economic realities - and even religious realities if you like.
No power, however great, can
impose on us an identity different from our own. Created with the ugly tools of
repression, we cannot accept such an open forgery, abandon our identity and
submit to a greed that is the satanic result of a mentality based on the
suppression of the other.
The Arabian Gulf isn't like a
lake; and the coast overlooking it a land without a people. This is a people
that have existed since ancient times and in terms of civilization, it is a
cultural, political, economic and social movement that consequently wasn't Persian
and will never be Persian just because the Tehran regime wants to complete the Shah's
plans.
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That leads us reconsider everything
leaders of the Tehran regime have said about "good brotherly relations among
neighbors!" This also raises more suspicion about Iran's nuclear project,
which is a continuation of the program of the Shah’s regime - to say nothing of
that country's state of permanent militarization. These are nothing more than tools
for achieving the occupation of the entire region. Therefore, it is the duty of
all Arabs to openly reflect their Arabian-Gulf identity.
Finally, would the leaders of
the Tehran regime answer the following question?: How is this regime an enemy
of Israel, which is working to erase the identity of Al Quds [Jerusalem] and
Palestine, if it exhibits the same behavior with its attempt to undermine the
identity of the Arabian Gulf? Aren’t Iran and Israel two sides of the same
coin?
*Ahmad Abdal Aziz Al Jarallah is the editor-in-chief of
Kuwait's Arab Times and Al-Seyassah
