Freedom comes with chains
Freedom comes with chains. Expelling Mohsen Namjoo and Mahnaz Afshar from protests, attacking reformists who have aligned with the people’s demands, attacking monarchists against Hamed Esmaeilion for not speaking out before his family was killed in the Ukrainian plane tragedy, attacking critics of Hamed Esmaeilion who oppose sanctions, efforts to mobilize against Negar Mortazavi’s speech at a university due to some of her positions we disliked, threatening the life of Nabat, a social media influencer, and
this misplaced anger
this exclusionary behavior, this division into ‘us’ and ‘them’, this refusal to recognize differences, this digging into the past to find a dark spot and create a case, this compulsion—isn’t this exactly what the protesters are protesting against? Mona Ganjian in a thread on Twitter pointed to this very issue and finally urged everyone to put aside their anger and stand together. She wrote that the entire timeline has become a place for insults, accusations, and catching people out.
Anyone who has even a slight difference of opinion with them or wants to think a bit deeper than the usual philosophies is labeled as a fence-sitter. Anyone who says control your violence and sexism becomes sentimental. Any influencer who sides with the people is said to do so out of fear.
She continued to write that if someone is abroad, they say you have no right to dictate from the other side of the world. If you’re inside the country but haven’t been arrested yet, they say you must be one of them. They hate monarchists, they hate reformists, they hate the Transition Council, they hate the BBC and everything. They demand from people in other countries, they demand from people why don’t they strike, they demand from those who don’t strike why are they worried about their jobs, they demand from those sitting at home why don’t they take to the streets, they curse those who don’t hashtag. People are either white or black to them; they idolize them and with the slightest mistake, they crush them so they don’t dare to speak.
Justice, not settling scores
Kiumars Marzban, a satirist, also wrote on his Instagram that these days I don’t dare to honestly critique or express my opinion about Masih Alinejad, about pressuring celebrities, expelling Mahnaz Afshar and Mohsen Namjoo, the slogan of ‘Man, Homeland, Prosperity’ about Mir-Hossein, and many things that as a satirist and writer whose job is to write.
He wrote that in this particular case, my fear is not from the government but from a group of people who, instead of helping to unite and support the brave young people, are searching with flashlights in the virtual space to forcibly find traitors and are already issuing heavy sentences for government and non-government individuals.
He then referred to a quote from Abdolfattah Soltani, a well-known lawyer with whom he was once imprisoned, saying that in the future of freedom, I am obligated to ensure the rights of those who imprisoned me for years and to stand against lawlessness. The essence of this satirist’s message was that we are not seeking to settle scores, nor should we be; we should be seeking to reclaim our trampled rights.
Ahmad Zeidabadi, a journalist, also mentioned this issue in an article on his Telegram channel, stating that his expectations from Iranians living outside Iran were higher. I always thought that the Iranian community abroad is a great asset for our country because, in addition to their expertise and investment, they have lived for many years in tolerant and democratic social and political environments and have carried that culture.
He further specifically mentioned the slogan ‘Cannon, Tank, Firecracker’ and wrote that it appeared disappointing from every angle because instead of opting for civil, genuine, and effective slogans, they chose this one. According to Zeidabadi, it seems that some non-religious politicians are still breathing the air of Eastern despotism and have not benefited from the culture of tolerance, respect, and democracy.
NIAC as an insult
Ever since the news came that Negar Mortazavi is supposed to speak at the University of Chicago about Iranian women, all time and energy have been directed at her to prevent this event from happening, from organizing signatures, campaigns, petitions, and writing letters to the university and professors to gathering at the university. Why? Because she is officially or nominally a member of NIAC or close to them, she has a photo with a headscarf next to Zarif, and in the case of the Ukrainian plane shooting, she had wrong positions or positions we didn’t like, so now she has no right to speak about the situation of Iranian women as an Iranian woman.
It seems they already know how and about what she will speak, while it would have been better for the protesters instead of preventing Negar Mortazavi’s speech to seek permission for speeches by dozens of other women at dozens of universities in America, instead of silencing a voice they don’t like, they should have sought to amplify other voices.
On the other hand, Nabat, an influencer in social media, released a video tearfully saying she has been alongside the people and their voice for a month, but at a gathering, a woman attacked her accusing her of being NIAC. She says the attacks are so intense that she is worried about her own safety. After sending this video, Nabat closed her social media account. If revolutionary values use the term liberal as an insult and to attack opponents, NIAC has become some people’s new go-to insult these days, eliminating others.
A journalism professor living in America wrote about this very situation, saying with the way we Iranians abroad treat each other, it would be better if we don’t return the day Iran becomes Iran again. With this level of accusations, false news, and insults, we are just wasting the efforts of people who are now fighting with bullets and beatings, causing embarrassment and shame.
Reformists and Mulla Nasreddin
The issue of dealing with reformists who have recently aligned themselves with the protesting people is similar to the story of Mulla Nasreddin and the donkey and the boy, where every action or inaction from them is criticized. Mahmoud Sadeghi, a reformist member of the tenth parliament, and Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, the spokesperson of Khatami’s government, were among the few reformists who posted strong and protest tweets in recent days.
The content of their tweets was noteworthy and commendable relative to their stature and the courage of other reformists, but even they were not spared from attacks. Value-driven and principled accounts, which are naturally clear about their goals and content, attack them, but more than being targeted by value-driven attacks, they are attacked by ordinary accounts.
Some say reformists should remain silent now, others believe they should write more aggressively, and others say it doesn’t matter what they say or don’t say today because we will settle accounts with them after the overthrow.
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