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Beyond the Shadows: Iran’s Toxic Intelligence Tactics and the Forces of Dissent

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with a group of students in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 2, 2022. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

The intelligence landscape of Iran is often a topic of intense scrutiny and debate. Amidst the complex geopolitical chessboard where Iran finds itself, the roles and actions of its intelligence community warrant a closer examination.

Contrary to popular belief, there is a strong consensus among experts that neither Israel nor the United States has lent support to terrorist or separatist groups within Iran. Intelligence agencies in these countries, namely the CIA and Mossad, are acutely aware of the delicate balance required to foster change within Iran. They recognize that any potential shift towards regime change must be predicated on the principles of unity and integrity, rather than fractious separatism. This understanding stems from a recognition of the deeply nationalist sentiment that pervades Iranian society — a sentiment vividly expressed in nationwide protests against the regime, where the youth have notably proclaimed their willingness to sacrifice their lives for the nation.

Nationalism, it appears, stands as the most formidable adversary to the Shiite clerical regime currently in power. This is a regime that has, over the years, shown a propensity to leverage ethnic and sectarian divisions to its advantage. However, the approach taken by external intelligence communities, particularly those of the US and Israel, is markedly different. These agencies have consistently demonstrated a respect for the nationalist and patriotic elements within Iran, cognizant of the fact that supporting separatist factions could inadvertently strengthen the mullahs’ grip on power.

On the flip side, Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) and the intelligence arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) engage in operations that many would deem nefarious.

These organizations have established connections with various Kurdish, Arab, and Baluchi separatist groups, some under the guise of cooperation agreements, others operating as shadow proxies. This strategy of playing “nasty cards,” as it were, is a tactic that seems to be uniquely favored by Iran’s Shiite caliphate, rather than by external actors like the CIA or Mossad.

Iran’s hands stretch literally all across the world, and it is considered one of the leading state sponsors of terrorism. Its intelligence services are involved in the internal affairs of countries all around the world, and reap division, violence, and chaos wherever they go.

Amidst this tangled web of intrigue and alliances, the greatest fear for Iran’s ruling clerics is the burgeoning nationalist fervor among the younger generation in Iran. This demographic shift poses a significant threat to the regime’s legitimacy and longevity. Among the opposition, figures like Prince Reza Pahlavi emerge as beacons of nationalism, in stark contrast to other opposition elements that may have questionable affiliations with separatist or terrorist groups.

In conclusion, the interplay between nationalism and the strategies employed by both internal and external intelligence communities underscores the complex challenges facing Iran today. As the nation grapples with internal dissent and external pressures, the path to stability and reform remains fraught with obstacles. The international community, for its part, must navigate these waters with caution — like it has done so far — ensuring that actions taken do not inadvertently exacerbate the very tensions they aim to alleviate.

If external actors are overtly seen as stirring dissent in Iran, this could undermine the very strong internal forces that are seeking regime change in Tehran.

Erfan Fard is a counter-terrorism analyst and Middle East Studies researcher based in Washington, D.C. He focuses on Middle Eastern regional security affairs, with a particular emphasis on Iran, counter-terrorism, IRGC, MOIS, and ethnic conflicts in MENA. Erfan is a Jewish Kurd of Iran, and he is fluent in Persian, Kurdish, Arabic, and English. Follow him from this twitter account @EQFARD.

The post Beyond the Shadows: Iran’s Toxic Intelligence Tactics and the Forces of Dissent first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Tree of Life Obtains $1 Million in Federal Funding to Develop Antisemitism Curriculum

The facade of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nov. 3, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Alan Freed

The US federal spending bill for fiscal year 2024 that was enacted last week to keep the government open into the fall included the allocation of $1 million to the Tree of Life organization in Pennsylvania to help it develop a school curriculum that will focus on tackling antisemitism and other forms of hate.

The fund gives Tree of Life Inc. “the resources to develop and implement K-12 curriculum to help educators and students to identify and challenge antisemitism and identity-based hate,” according to a news release from US Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), who helped secure the funding. “With in-person and virtual instruction of the curriculum, thousands of students will be provided the tools to disrupt hate.”

Tree of Life Inc. was created following the antisemitic attack in October 2018 at the synagogue located in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, that was home to the three congregations of Tree of Life, Dor Hadash, and New Light. Shooter Robert Bowers killed 11 people in the onslaught, which is considered the deadliest antisemitic attack to take place in US history. Bowers was convicted and sentenced to death last year. 

The federal spending bill includes $250,000 for the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia “to develop education programming and materials to help students better understand the history and present-day impact of antisemitism.” It will also “provide them with the tools to address discrimination online and in their communities.”

The $1.2 trillion spending bill passed the Senate, 74-24, and the House, 286-134, before being signed into law by President Joe Biden on Saturday. Both of Pennsylvania’s senators and four of the five House members from western Pennsylvania, where Pittsburgh is located, voted for the spending bill. The lone exception was Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.).

Demolition began in January on the Tree of Life synagogue in an effort to reconstruct the building and have it honor the 11 people who were killed in the 2018 antisemitic attack. A memorial to the victims will also be constructed outside of the synagogue.

The post Tree of Life Obtains $1 Million in Federal Funding to Develop Antisemitism Curriculum first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Kibbutzism Contain Startling Businesses – and Drive the ‘Start-Up Nation’

The lobby of Tel Aviv’s stock exchange. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

The Israeli economy was booming in 2023. According to International Monetary Fund figures, total GDP had reached $664 billion, and per capita GDP hit $58,270 — the 13th highest in the world.

Hamas’ vicious attack on Israel changed that, as Reuters reported that after months of war, the Israeli economy contracted significantly during the fourth quarter of 2023. However, even with fighting continuing, we can hope for a strong economic rebound, as thousands of reservists return to their normal lives.

The Israeli technology sector accounts for the majority of Israel’s exports, so it was reassuring to see that Teva Pharmaceuticals, the largest generic drug company in the world, reported that the war has not affected manufacturing.

The approximately 270 kibbutzim in Israel comprise only a tiny fraction of the population, but account for 10 percent of industrial production. Kibbutzim in the south bore the brunt of the genocidal Hamas attack, and those in the north are coping with rocket attacks from Hezbollah. So I wondered how another Israeli technology company, this one based on a kibbutz, was making out.

Kibbutz Shamir, founded by Romanian Holocaust survivors in 1944, is located in Upper Galilee at the western edge of the Golan Heights. Shamir Optical began to manufacture eyeglass lenses in 1972, as part of the effort by kibbutzim to diversify from agriculture

Shamir began to manufacture progressive lenses in addition to its existing line of lenses in 1984, and this led to the company’s remarkable innovative success. (Full disclosure, I am a retired professor of Optometry and Vision Science.)

Progressive lenses have been around since the late 1950s and early 1960s. They are used to correct presbyopia, a universal human condition associated with aging, in which the lens inside the eye becomes less flexible and is unable to change shape to enable light rays from near objects, such as reading material, to focus on the retina.

The first bifocals, attributed to Benjamin Franklin, consisted of a split lens, with an upper half for distance vision and the lower half for near. However, in 1959, a French engineer, Bernard Maitenaz, working with a French company, Essilor, produced the first progressive lens, in which the prescription varies continuously and there is no bifocal line.

Progressive lenses have to undergo a process of continual redesign and improvement as the visual demands of modern society change. The ability of Shamir Optical to produce valuable algorithms to optimize the manufacture of progressive lenses led, in 2005, to the company being the first kibbutz enterprise listed on the NASDAQ exchange.

In 2011, when Essilor, the world’s largest producer of ophthalmic lenses, bought a 50 percent share of Shamir for $130 million, the company was delisted. Essilor purchased the remaining 50 percent in 2022 for an amount said to be hundreds of millions of dollars. Shamir Optical remains a separate brand, and research and development continues at Kibbutz Shamir. Today, the company, with 2,500 employees in Israel and abroad, operates 18 laboratories worldwide.

In a 2022 interview in The Jerusalem Post, Shamir’s CEO, Yagen Moshe, described how the COVID pandemic forced everyone to become more dependent on computers for communicating. He mentioned two innovations: a lens with an anti-reflective coating called “Expression,” designed to remove unwanted reflections during video calls, as well as the “Autograph Intelligence” lens, a progressive lens tailored to each patient’s visual needs.

However, an even more exciting innovation, announced in the midst of war with Hamas, concerns a lens designed to prevent myopia in children. In myopia, there is a mismatch between eye size and eye focus ,and light rays that enter the eye focus in front of the retina. The prevalence of myopia is increasing rapidly. Today, more than 40 percent of Americans are myopic, and the numbers in Asian countries, such as China and South Korea can be as high as 90 percent.

Shamir Optical has developed a spectacle lens, the “Shamir Optimee,” where the optics of the outer zone of the lens differs from the center, resulting in myopic defocus at the outer (peripheral) retina. A study published in the American Journal of Ophthalmology showed that this lens significantly reduces myopia progression in young children. Shamir is not the only company making multifocal lenses for myopia control, but the company’s experience in producing progressive lenses gives it an advantage. Given worldwide concern for the myopia epidemic, this lens may end up as Shamir’s most important innovation.

After the United States, Israel is home to the largest number of start-up companies in the world. In fact, the Israeli kibbutz — a blend of Zionism and socialism — can be thought of as Israel’s first start-up.

In recent decades, the kibbutzim have transitioned from being solely agricultural, to also providing industrial goods and services. A majority of kibbutzim, including Shamir, have also shifted to embrace private ownership and differential salaries, while still trying to protect the ideology of equality as much as possible.

Shamir Optical is not the only kibbutz start-up success. There are many others, such as the drip irrigation system developed by the firm Netafim on Kibbutz Hatzerim, and Plasan, a company on Kibbutz Sasa, that produces armor vehicle protection. Nor is Shamir Optical the only enterprise associated with Kibbutz Shamir. The kibbutz, which has a population of about 900, also generates income from the production of toiletries and honey, as well as from tourism.

Far from being a relic of the past, the idealism, and sense of purpose that characterizes the traditional kibbutz still exists, and enables the kibbutzim of today to compete successfully in the development of new and innovative technologies. The example of Kibbutz Shamir suggests that the current war will not reduce the level of Israeli innovation.

Jacob Sivak, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, is a retired professor, who taught at the University of Waterloo.

The post Israeli Kibbutzism Contain Startling Businesses – and Drive the ‘Start-Up Nation’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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