Iranian Press Blames Israel For Eygptian Terror Blasts Killing 20 and Wounding 80 Others

This fits into Iran's longstanding pattern of blaming Israel for all that ails the Middle East.

The explosion at a church in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, which left 21 people killed and another 80 Muslims and Christians wounded, raises one question: Who was behind the blast?


Although, at first glance, the finger is pointed at extremist Wahabi or Salafi groups, it goes without saying that no Muslim, whatever their political leanings may be, will ever commit such an inhumane act.

Attacks on churches in Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Tunisia can be analyzed in the context of a Zionist scenario aimed at driving a wedge between Muslims and Arab Christians.

Let's just ignore that suicide bombings of Christian and non-Islamists is a tactic of al Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups like Hamas and Hizbullah (or their spiritual forebearers like the Muslim Brotherhood). Let's ignore that Muslim-Christian violence has existed long before Israel became a state in 1948. Ignore the pogroms and sectarian violence that spills onto the streets from time to time throughout the region - not only Muslim v. Christian, but Sunni v. Shi'ite.

Iran would rather that people blame Israel when Israel has nothing to gain from such a situation as Israel gains a significant portion of its revenues from international tourism, and ongoing violence affects its tourism potential.

No, the real problem is that in the Iranian regime's worldview, the existence of Israel is an anathema that must be eliminated - destroyed to its very core and Israel becomes the convenient scapegoat for all that ails the Middle East and its dysfunctional Arab polity and societies. Arab leaders routinely scapegoat Israel - blaming them for everything and anything under the sun, including terror attacks, blood libels, and other assorted actions large and small. Iran's media outlets are engaging in nothing more than propaganda to attack Israel on yet another front.

It infantilizes the non-Israeli Middle East because it absolves Arabs - predominantly Muslim of their failings. Blame Israel is a whole lot easier than blaming madmen like Ahmadinejad for pushing for nuclear weapons or funding Hizbullah in trying to destroy Lebanon via its proxies in Syria and Lebanon. It ignores the rampant corruption and failure to assimilate Palestinians who live in squalor throughout the Middle East because it is a convenient bogeyman. Arab leaders refuse to accept Palestinians living in their countries for decades as their citizens because it is used as a club to deal with Israel - and a diversion for Islamists who use disatisfied Arabs as a recruitment tool for terror groups.