Americans ignore the protests in Iran
Americans ignore the protests in Iran. The Guardian recently reported on the situation of protests in Iran and examined the reasons for the lack of attention from American officials and people to these protests. According to the Guardian, the slogan ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ is considered inspiring by the protesters, but it states that many people in the United States are indifferent to these slogans.
More than two months have passed since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the morality police for improper hijab. The official report declared the cause of Mahsa’s death as heart failure, but eyewitnesses and her family insist that signs of beating were observed on her body and that she suffered brain damage.
Since then, protests have escalated across Iran, but the government has also responded violently to the protesters, resulting in over 400 protesters being killed. Additionally, an unknown number of journalists and demonstrators have been imprisoned or disappeared. Hundreds have been blinded by pellet shots. Iranian national athletes like footballer Voria Ghafouri and climbing champion Elnaz Rekabi have been arrested for criticizing the government.
From the early days of the protests, the Revolutionary Guards targeted children. At least 58 Iranian children and teenagers have been killed, with five of these children killed in the past week. It seems the government aims to keep opponents at home and prevent them from coming out onto the streets by killing its children.
Despite all this, it may be surprising to an American citizen, but the news coverage of the Iranian people’s uprising is scattered, and one must search for news about Iran or watch short clips from the people or follow them on websites like Human Rights Watch.
The Guardian further refers to a report by the New York Times published on November 24 titled ‘The United States Enters a New Era of Direct Confrontation with Iran.’ The New York Times report clearly showed that this confrontation by Americans is more related to Iran’s nuclear program than the protests.
In America, many demonstrations and protests were organized by Iranian artists and activists in exile, while American politicians remained silent.
In his speech on September 21 at the United Nations General Assembly, Joe Biden briefly stated the US position with the headline ‘Brave Citizens and Women Are Currently Protesting to Reclaim Their Basic Rights’ and then continued with a lengthy speech about Ukraine. Putin also chose world hunger and our bold climate plan as the topics of his speech at this assembly.
In fact, this assembly was dedicated to the Ukraine war. These reactions showed that there is little support for the popular protests in Iran, while economic, military, and political support for Ukraine is at the forefront of the news.
Of course, it is unlikely that widespread support for the people of Iran will form. The opinion of Iranians is similar: like the battle of David against Goliath, Ukraine is now a small and brave country fighting foreign aggression, while we Americans should not interfere in the internal affairs of a nation since Iran has not been invaded by a foreign power. However, its military attack on the provinces of Kurdistan is an undeniable aggression.
Perhaps it is also worth considering that America prefers to distance itself from a regime that has called it the Great Satan for decades. Maybe the United States is uncertain about the formation of a new Iran and prefers to continue with an enemy it knows and has learned to play it safe with. Another reason for the silence of Americans might be due to the faint hope of nuclear negotiations with Iran.
It is said that Barack Obama regrets not supporting the 2009 protests in Iran. He cited his lack of support as fear of accusations of CIA backing for the protests because such events and American interference have a historical background in the relations between these two countries. In 1953, the CIA designed a plan to overthrow Iran’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh and replaced his government with the Shah of Iran and his oppressive regime. The consequences of that support and interference can still be seen in the relations between these two countries.
One of the reasons for the muted American response to the Iranian struggle against the oppressive religious government might be partly because these protests are led by women.
Video clips from the early weeks of the protests showed brave women protesting against the mandatory hijab. They burned their scarves and cut their hair.
The protesters’ chant ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ was inspired by the Kurdish independence movement, but perhaps Iranian women overlook the point that when their slogan starts with ‘woman,’ they limit themselves to their gender. For example, Supreme Court judges or representatives in the United States, openly or covertly, believe that women’s rights are a minor subset of human rights.
That’s why President Biden began his speech addressing brave citizens and women. An article in the Washington Post on September 27, written by Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, also had this headline: ‘When Will Western Feminists Help?’
In reality, why should feminists be the first to respond to this struggle when it could involve every Iranian and every human being regardless of their gender? Human rights supporters worldwide should be concerned. Hijab was just a symbol and an excuse, not the sole cause of the protest.
Of course, it should not be left unsaid that we could have a more expressive description of Iran’s conflicts. If this movement were not led by women, perhaps we would be less inclined to call the current situation an uprising, a mass protest, or even a revolution.
Iranians know better than we do what can be done to help themselves. The least we can do is be aware of what is happening and let the people of Iran know they need to resist.