Freedom Comes with Chains

Freedom comes with chains

Freedom comes with chains: expelling Mohsen Namjoo and Mahnaz Afshar from demonstrations, attacking reformists who have aligned with the people’s protest demands, monarchists attacking Hamed Esmaeilion for not speaking out before his family was killed in the Ukrainian plane tragedy, attacking Hamed Esmaeilion’s critics who oppose sanctions, efforts for a collective mobilization to prevent Negar Mortazavi from speaking at a university due to some of her positions that were disliked, threats to Jonib, a social media influencer, and

This misdirected anger

This exclusionary behavior, this dividing into ‘us’ and ‘them’, this failure to recognize differences, this digging into the past to find a dark spot and make a case, this compulsion—isn’t it the very thing protesters are protesting against? Mona Ganjian, in a thread of tweets, pointed to this issue and finally urged everyone to set aside their anger and stand together, writing that the entire timeline has become about insults, accusations, and catching people out.

Anyone who disagrees with them even slightly or tries to think a bit deeper than the surface-level philosophy is labeled as indecisive. Anyone who says control your violence and sexism is called sentimental. If an influencer joins the people, they say it’s out of fear.

Continuing, if someone is living abroad, they say, ‘Who are you to dictate terms from the other side of the world?’ If someone is inside the country but hasn’t been arrested yet, they say they must be in cahoots with the regime. They hate monarchists, they hate reformists, they hate the transition council, they hate the BBC and everything else. They blame people from other countries, they blame people for not striking, they blame those who don’t strike for being worried about their jobs, they blame those sitting at home for not taking to the streets, they curse those who don’t use hashtags. People are either black or white to them, they idolize them and with the slightest mistake, they crush them so that they don’t dare to speak.

Seeking justice, not settling scores

Kiumars Marzban, a satirical writer, also wrote on his Instagram that these days he doesn’t dare to write his honest criticism and opinion about Masih Alinejad, about pressuring celebrities, expelling Mahnaz Afshar and Mohsen Namjoo, the slogan ‘man, homeland, prosperity’, about Mir Hossein, and many other things that as a satirist and writer whose job is to write.

He wrote that in this particular case, his fear is not of the regime, but of a group of people who, instead of helping with unity and supporting the brave youth, are searching for traitors with flashlights in the virtual space and are already issuing heavy sentences for both governmental and non-governmental individuals.

He also referred to a quote from Abdolfattah Soltani, a well-known lawyer with whom he was once imprisoned, who said that in the future of freedom, I am obliged to ensure that the rights of those who imprisoned me for years are upheld and to stand against lawlessness. The essence of this satirist’s message was that we are not looking to settle scores and shouldn’t be; we should be seeking to reclaim our violated rights.

Ahmad Zeidabadi, a journalist, also addressed this issue in an article he wrote on his Telegram channel, mentioning that he had higher expectations from Iranians living abroad. I always imagined that the Iranian community abroad is a great asset for our land because, in addition to their expertise and having capital, they have lived for many years in tolerant and democratic social and political environments and have become bearers of that culture.

He went on to specifically mention the slogan ‘Cannon, Tank, Firecracker’, writing that they appeared disappointing from every angle, as they opted for this slogan instead of civil, original, and effective ones. In Zeidabadi’s opinion, it seems that some non-religious political figures are still breathing the air of Eastern despotism and do not benefit from the culture of tolerance, respect, and democracy.

NAIAC as an insult

Ever since the news came out that Negar Mortazavi is going to speak at the University of Chicago about Iranian women, all the time and energy have been focused on preventing this event. From organizing signatures, campaigns, and petitions, to writing letters to the university and professors, to gathering at the university. Why? Because she is officially or nominally a member of NAIAC or close to them, she has a picture with a headscarf next to Zarif, and in the case of the Ukrainian plane incident, she had wrong positions or positions we didn’t like, so now she has no right to speak as an Iranian woman about the situation of Iranian women.

It seems they already know how and about what she is going to speak, while protesters would have been better off seeking permission for dozens of other women to speak at dozens of universities in America instead of preventing Negar Mortazavi’s speech, instead of silencing a voice they don’t like, they should have been amplifying other voices.

On the other hand, Jonib, a social media influencer, released a video tearfully saying she has been with the people and their voice for a month, but at a gathering, a woman attacked her accusing her of being NAIAC. She says the attacks are so severe that she is worried about her personal safety. After posting this video, Jonib closed her social media account. If revolutionary values use the term ‘liberal’ as an insult and to attack opponents, ‘NAIAC’ has become a catchphrase for some to eliminate others.

A journalism professor living in America wrote about this situation, saying with the way we Iranians abroad are treating each other, it would be better if we didn’t return the day Iran becomes Iran again. With this level of accusations, false news, and insults, we are only wasting the efforts of people who are currently fighting with bullets and beatings, causing embarrassment and shame.

Reformists and Mullah Nasreddin

The issue of dealing with reformists who have recently aligned with the protesting people is similar to the story of Mullah 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 Abdullah Ramezan Zadeh, the spokesperson for Khatami’s government, are among the few reformists who have recently tweeted strongly and protestingly along with the people.

The content of their tweets, relative to their stature and the courage and boldness of other reformists, was noteworthy and commendable, but even they were not safe from attacks. The value-driven and principled accounts, which naturally have clear goals and content when attacking them, but more than being the target of attacks from value-driven people, they are attacked by ordinary accounts.

Some say reformists should remain silent now, others believe they should write more aggressively, and yet others say it doesn’t matter what they say or don’t say today because we will settle accounts with them on the day of overthrow.

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