Dearborn, Michigan Islamic Scholar Usama Abdulghani: Israel Is Weaker Than Ever – We Must Finish The Mission; Can Things Ever Go Back To The Way They Were Before October 7? Israel Is A Goat Being Slau
Islamic scholar Usama Abdulghani said in his March 18, 2025 at the Shiite Hadi Institute Youth Community Center in Dearborn, Michigan that escalation by the "empire" in Israel and in the U.S., where people are "being disappeared for protesting," is a sign of weakness not strength. He said that Israel is now weaker than it has ever been, and he asked whether things can ever go back to the way things were in Israel before October 7, adding: "We're going to have to do something, we're going to have to finish the mission." Abdulghani gave an example of a goat kicking its legs up when it is being slaughtered, to demonstrate the perceived strength of Israel and America.
Usama Abdulghani: "The empire that we can see, both on Israel – they're provoking, they're starting – and also, even from our side over here, we see that the empire is doubling down. There are innocent people being disappeared for protesting. What you and I need to keep in mind is this iron fist of the empire is not a sign of strength. This is weakness.
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"Israel is now weaker than they have ever been...
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"Can things ever go back to how they were before October 7 [2023]? We're going to have to do something. We're going to have to finish the mission. When a goat is being slaughtered, a goat kicks its feet. That's not a sign that the goat is powerful."
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Under various historical circumstances over the past 30 years, the leaders of Iran's Islamic revolutionary regime have made tactical concessions when facing a genuine military threat. The regime grants these concessions religious legitimacy based on Shi'ite Islamic history. It should be clarified that the Iranian regime is a religious-messianic regime that bases its activity on a systematic ideology and religious principles that it draws on as needed to justify its actions. According to the regime, such concessions are a tactical way to circumvent serious obstacles so as to achieve its strategic goals. Tactical concessions are essential when under Western pressure, so as to continue to pursue the aims of the Islamic revolution. Iran's nuclear program, which is aimed at acquiring nuclear weapons, is a strategic goal. 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The book justifies Hassan's decision to sign a peace treaty ceding the caliphate, because he was in a much weaker position than the Sunni Mu'awiya and his forces and feared that war with them would endanger his Shi'ite community and religion. The conditions Hassan set for his concession to Mu'awiya were aimed at ensuring that the peace would be temporary. For his translation of the book, Khamenei added to the title "The Peace Treaty of Hassan" the subtitle "The Most Heroic and Glorious Flexibility [narmash-e kaharmananeh, ] in History," underlining Hassan's tactical decision in negotiating with forces much stronger than his. The following are some examples of instances in which Iran's Islamic revolutionary regime made tactical concessions to boost its position when facing a stronger force. 1. During the regime of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Khamenei, when in prison, began collaborating with the shah's security forces. He and his followers called this "heroic flexibility," narmash-e kaharmananeh (see Name Description (Sharh-e Esm) – Biography of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei). 2. In July 1988, the founder of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, agreed to a ceasefire with Iraq (UN Security Council Resolution 598) after eight years of war and economic devastation to Iran.[2] In October 2012, an article by Iranian Assembly of Experts member Ayatollah Mohi Al-Din Haeri Shirazi was published on Khamenei's website; it compared Khomeini's decision to stop the war to the Shi'ite Imam Hassan's decision to cede the caliphate to the Sunni Mu'awiya. In a July 2013 interview on the anniversary of UNSC Resolution 598, Expediency Council chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was also Khomeini's right-hand man and president of Iran, compared Khomeini's decision to the Imam Hassan's decision to sign a peace treaty with the Sunni Mu'awiya. 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