hello and welcome to press tv spotlight, i'm marsia hashimi, thanks so much for being with us, well it appears that the western hegemonic front thinks that there is one rule for them and their allies. like the zionist regime and another rule for everyone else. for example, we continually hear that the israeli regime has the right to defend itself, but what about palestinians, the occupied people, do they have the right to defend themselves? well, the western hegemonic front remained silent as the israeli regime assassinated the political bureau leader of hamas, ismail hania in tehran and fuad shokra in beirot, but now that iran has promised retaliation, it is

quite worried and wondering when, where, and how, and telling iran to restrain itself. well, we're going to look at all of this on the spotlight. i'd like to welcome my guests uh to the program. out of glasgow, mcnapia, co-founder scottish palestine solidarity campaign. and richard becker, anti-war activist from answer coalition out of san francisco, thank you both for being with me, i'm going to start it off um with mick, i of mean make your perspective, how hypocritical is it that the european three, the uk, france and germany is now warning iran about retaliating, um, while at the same time it continues to support the zionist genocide and the regimes assassinations, well does, i'll try to add something to what you've said, but

i agree with every word, i guess i would say that of course there's hypocrisy, there's gut-ranging hypocrisy and but there's also a tremendous consistency um in the part of western chancellories, because essentially um if you're allied with with the usa, britain and the eu then you can do no wrong, and any crimes that you commit, any massacers, any exterminations will never..." cross a red line, but if you're opposed, if you're not part of, if you're not signed up to to imperial domination of the region, then you really can do no right, and it comes into the most sharp and and and un unambiguous relief when they say that israel has a right to defend itself, but nobody else has, actually um, international law isn't the highest arbiter, i think there's also basic morality, but israel have a right to defend itself in

the commission of terrible crime and in order to prosecute that crime to a conclusion. so the idea that israel has a right to defend itself really translates in reality into israel has a right to commit genocide. mean i i really have to apologize to iranian viewers that uh uh prime minister starmer from britain had the temerity to phone uh the top either the sorry, the the iranian president or prime minister uh to ask or to demand uh deescalation, at the same time um, this is a man who has supported israeli genocide and still has to pay terrible price in britain for doing so. he officially on air said that israel has a right to deny water to the people of gaza, which is genocidal language, and this man phones tehran to say, we will...

continue to support israel, but iran please don't escalate, it's really like somebody with a with a can of petrol and setting fire to property and asking everybody else to not. it's uh, it's not only um very consistent with the west over time, but it's also an unprecedented level understood by people around the world, and that includes in britain, to be simply disgraceful, to be illogical, to be committed to escalation while asking the victims of that escalation, not escalate. yeah, indeed. i mean, richard, your thoughts. about this, i mean um, do you think that the israeli regime miscalculated in killing hania in tehran, um, or has it been very well calculated, and perhaps they thought that iran would not respond, because it's basically in a uh situation of right

now, just waiting quite nervously to the response, i mean your thoughts about why did they target him in tehran? well, i agree, first of all, thank you for the invitation, and i agree very much with your other guests and what he has said, uh, you know, the this is uh, without any doubt, without any equivocation, an extremely provocative act, and extremely provocative act meaning that it was designed, it was planned, uh, it is, what the israeli government wanted was to try to uh widen the war, the... yahoo government and it's it's the others in the cabinet, the fascists, the semi-fascis and the other extremists are running the show now in israel, unvarnished fascists, i should say, they have, this is designed, the murder of

the two individuals, the assassination of the two individuals within 24 hours was was clearly meant to to be a provocation. i would like to add in talking about the history of germany, france, britain and and iran, the recent history, and that we remember that in 2018 when the jcpo, the joint agreement was ratif was had been ratified few years earlier, and it was abrogated unilaterally by trump by the united states and after. the after the abegation of it and new sanctions being placed against iran, france, germany, britain all made appeals to the iranian government, oh we will help alleviate the situation, don't start up the nuclear, your nuclear program again, don't advance it in

any way, we'll help, they did nothing, they did nothing, and so we have the same three again here, and here they don't even seem to be offering anything except you. 'don't do it, we're warning you, don't do it, and of course this is on behalf of their nato ally, which has positioned massive forces in the region, and they're there permanently, but they've added to those forces, the to the fifth fleet, to the to the aircraft carriers that patrol the region regularly, and and the us has proclaimed that the so-called right to defend itself that israel has means that the us defends'.

after it commits these gross provocations. yeah, it is absolutely mind-boggling. um, mean, mic, mean, the reality is that in the post world war i world, there was one rule for the liberal block order and another one for the rest of the world to abide by, but of course, that seems to be ending as the unilateral world is shattering as we speak, and other powers do no longer will just simply acquies to the west's global. bullying and do you think that that's what we're seeing in the middle of all of this? for example, it uh the regime uh the us's main ally kills uh commander, hezbollah commander in beirot, less than 24 hours later, kills the hania here in tehran, they do not expect

or say we iran should not retaliate, i mean is it that there um basically not uh in the loop of? the reality of what is happening in the world, because there is no way that the uh, actually the resistance front would not respond to such a provocation. very much so, i think it's worth pointing out that uh, you mentioned, since world war ii, the hanging of them, some nazis in germany after the war, and the promulgation of some international uh law and statutes, that really never applied to africa or asia or south america, it was really a shock and horror that this could happen in europe, but "you know, france killed 1 and a half million algerians, britain instituted a reign of terror before

it was driven out of south yemen, um, several million, three million indo-chinese killed, uh, bill clinton apologized at some stage, i think a decade ago, for the fact that america turned central and south america into a into a charnal house where governments were installed, who used germ war. fair against their own people in guatemala and elsewhere, reigns of terror, butchery, you know, the killing of tens of thousands of of of citizens. i mean, the horror goes on and on and on, and international law was never invoked by uh, was never seen as a constraint by the usa, britain or france or whatever. um, i mean, i, i look at their role in the world and i see continuity. the fact that france is now wearing an eu hat, um, and britain was a nato hat, if you look at the history of each of these countries and the

terrible suffering, conquest and despoliate, pillage and robbery that they've visited upon the whole world um in the last couple of centuries, nothing is much changing, what they're doing in the middle east is is a continuity, and what they want now is for everyone in the region to be intimidated and to submit to to imperial domination or suffer terrible. consequences from aircraft carriers, the most most um high-tech means of delivering death. um, and of course israel has has has nuclear weapons in the background, but i would just say one thing, it seems to me that taking the long view, this this really is america trying to prevent the end of the ziners project, and and in the in in trying to protect israel, they seem to be saying that zinanism has failed, because zionism sold. itself to britain and then to america and as as attack dog in the middle east who could be relied upon to chastize any

government that america or britain wanted chastised from 56 in egypt, but now we see not that israel is is able to intimidate and crush all opposition in the region as they as they almost did in 1967, but that in order to attack israel cannot do it its own, but needs a... to supply money an air bridge of bombs and weapons and so on, aircraft carriers, submarines, so it seems that israel is not such an asset any longer um to the collective west and the zionism is is clearly failing in along that line and perhaps this could be the beginning of the end for the horror that israel has visited upon and designers project has visited upon so many people in in across the middle east. right, well richard, uh, for now, panic is the word of the day for the

israeli regime and its settlers, as they are waiting for iran's retaliatory response, and the secretary general of hazbullah said hasan nasulah has said that this is part of the response, having the regime to wait and anticipate when the resistance front will strike and how. your thoughts about this. well, i think that, we're a very pivotal moment uh in regard to the struggle it's going on, it's been going on for uh so many decades now, uh, and i i think that the the dominant group in the israeli leadership now and who netanyahu is dependent upon, they welcome a wider war, they are looking for a wider war, and this goes for uh, and the aspirations..." the israeli government are not limited to those characters, these horrific f fascist characters who now control

the prisons, which in the united states would like be having the uh grand wizard of the cooklux clan uh presiding over a prison system mostly made up of people of color as the as it is in the united states. the uh but what they're doing, even the other side, the so-called moderate side, represented, i mean served to call him that, but represented by the defense so-called defense minister galant, he says today that they have again, he restates this again that... hezballah must be pushed north of the latani river in lebanon. what does that mean? that means that the us leadership and and what what he is aspiring to, is taking over southern lebanon again. the aim of the israeli leadership as a whole is to rid the country, to rid palestine

of palestinians and to annex part of the adjoining adjoining country. lebanon and to use this war as as means to so-called justify that before the world, so that that's what they're really aiming to, they want to, they want to clear the population, and you if you see what's going on in the west bank today, as well as the horrors of the genocide being inflicted on the people in in in gaza, and you listen to the leaders and what they're saying, you cannot... really turn away from the idea, the understanding that what they aim to do is to expand their state, expand their territory and to drive out the palestinians and this can be, the way that the war, the annexation, the before it was annexation, the takeover of the west bank and gaza and golen, east jerusalem and for a

while sini took place was under the conditions of a war. launched by the state of israel, a surprise attack its neighboring countries in 1967 and the way they gained the original 78% of palestine was by a war of terror against the palestinian population in 1948 and 49. those that might seem like oh what are we talking about, that's long ago, it's not long ago, and i think that the the aspiration of the zionist leaders, the leaders of the state of israel is... to be much larger country, to be much larger state. okay, well mick, of course, as richard said, uh, um, that the more extreme elements of the regime would definitely want to have a wider war, however, at the same time, iran says that there's no way that it cannot respond, because it would just create and allow them to uh, increase its aggression uh, on the

palestinian front in general, the resistance front in general, but we have many speculations about... where iran will target um from various military sites to musad that was involved in the assassination um to various airbases um or intelligence uh agencies. i mean your thoughts and just the moving towards that attack that we uh actually we over 10 days right now uh in anticipation or waiting how that affects the regime and the importance in your perspective or not of this retaliatory attack by the resistance front? well, from the comfort of my uh my room here in scotland, i i hesitate to um to make certain key to make certain points, but but i think everyone can accept our guest um opened up with repeating the

word provocation several times, this is a planned provocation. by israel, and i don't see that israel can do very much of this nature in the middle east without american agreement, and america is now moving in very powerful uh military forces in order to defend israel. how the iranians respond, well they don't ask, they don't tell me in advance, but um, i think israel has committed such an egregious crime by assassinating somebody in a foreign capital, following on from their ass nation of people in the in the syrian capital, in the the iranian embassy, that they are trying to give the iranians, very little choice indeed, so i think yes, the iranians have have very little choice, but they have one choice, i they have two choices, either to respond or to allow or to allow israel to carry on like this in the future and commit even greater crimes against

the the people of iran, so how how iran responds, i don't know, but i think they need... to intimidate israel, because israel only responds to force, it responds to absolutely nothing else, and the whole record of of israel has been that there is no limit to their readiness to kill and assassinate people, mean people may not remember, but when israel assassinated some people in in london in palestinians in the streets of london, even margaret thatcher who was pro israel kicked mosad and other israeli officials out. the british capital, starmer now seems to be saying that kind of behavior is okay, as long as it's committed against against the iranian people, so going forward, it looks very dangerous indeed, but... i think israel means war, it's always meant war since it was implanted in the region as a kind of latterday crusader state, 56, 67, 73,

82, the list goes on of israel attacking its neighbors and killing large, large numbers of people, not just palestinians, so now we see a line up in the middle east, the pro-genocide elements on one side, britain, america, israel, anti-genocide elements on the other side. iran, uh, the the the lebanese resistance, the hithis and so on, and i think the whole world is looking at this and seeing despite america's effort, despite britain's effort using all sorts of of means and tactics to portray the west as the good guys, which in a sense they did for their own populations for quite a few years after 1945, it's almost impossible for people to look at the situation now and not see pro-genocy. elements on one side and anti-genocide elements on the other, so however the military situation moves forward, i can only say uh, there's a scandal in my own country, scotland at the moment, an

israeli ambassador came here few days ago, and we only just discovered because he came here in secret, he asked that his visit be kept a secret, and and and it's leaked out that he came, and there's widespread anger that he even dared to come here and that someday in the government covered that up, so i think worldwide public opinion, is very very clear uh that israel is the is the is the criminal element here. all right, let me get richard back in on this conversation, stay with me mic. um, richard, even today, tuesday, uh, the palestinian resistance in gaza, al-qasim uh, brigades fired two missiles at tel aviv, this is after being of course uh, the area being heavily bombed under severe pressure and starved for months, um, but they still were able to to do that. i mean, if the regime can't... defeat the palestinian resistance uh which using homemade weapons and under so much pressure, why does it want to take on hezbollah and

iran in your perspective? well, i think that israel, as j said, has been a warfare state since its beginning, it was originally supported by britain, then by france, which gave israel the atomic bomb. and since 67 overwhelmingly by the united states, and this is something that i think is often left out the picture is that there would be no state of israel without the backing of an imperialist power, and nor can they continue today without the backing of the united states, so they're continuing on on their way, and and and their expansionist way, and they really do represent a a threat not only to the people of the middle. but to bring about a wider war which they are now seeking, so when we look at the when we look at the present situation and look at the the fact

that 4000 people have been killed, and probably it's far far more than that, and and and hundreds of thousands of people have been wounded, have been displaced, are being starved, the the world has seeing what is really going on and seeing that the role of the united states while continuing to talk about you know uh uh israel's right to defend itself as if israel doesn't have the means to do that and do you have the the fact that now here we are 10 months later after october 7th 10 seconds richard sorry 10 seconds go ahead struggle is still going on i don't think anyone would have predicted that the that the palestinian resistance could have sustained self like it has and brought in the support of people of conscience, people who are in solidarity all over the world, and on that note, thank you both for being with me, mcnapier, richard, becker, appreciate you

being with us on the spotlight, and thank you viewers for tuning in to another spotlight, i'm marzia hashimi, hope to see you right here, next time, goodbye. to be anti-immigrant, traditionally in france was to be right-wing. to be anti-muslim, l'islamophobie n'est qu'un masque du racisme, il fonctionne exactement de la même manière, moi je connais pas aucun parti en france qui n'a pas. position à un moment donné contre l'islam, il a aucun parti en france qui va accepter que vous portiez un foulard dans un lieu public, l'islamophobie en france

provient pour la l'écrasante. majorité d'un discours médiatique et politique qui alimente une peur en fait du musulman et de l'islam mais qui ne correspond absolument pas à la réalité. it's not a problem of being racist.