During
our travels to Iran in 2005, Penn and Erlich interviewed numerous ordinary
Iranians. People were very friendly towards us as Americans but very
hostile to U.S. policy against their country. We visited Friday prayers
where 10,000 people chanted "Death to America." Afterwards those
same people invited us home for lunch.
That contradiction continues today
as Iran goes through its most significant upheaval since the 1979 revolution.
Iranians are rising up against an authoritarian system but don't want
U.S. intervention.
Many Iranians believe that they
have experienced a coup d'etat, in which the military and intelligence
services have hijacked the presidential election. Through vote buying
and manipulation of the count, Ahmadinejad had guaranteed himself another
four years in office.
In June over a million Iranians
marched in the streets of major cities across the country. The spontaneous
demonstrations included well-to-do supporters of opposition candidates,
but also large numbers of workers, farmers, small business people and
the devoutly religious. They were fed up with 30 years of a system that
used Islam as an excuse for union labor strike breaking, lack of women's
rights and repression.
The Iranian government responded
to these peaceful protests with savagery, killing dozens of people.
Some human rights groups put the number at over 100. The government
admits arresting 2500 people nationwide and continues to hold at least
500. Most are being held without charges or have simply disappeared.
The repression hasn't killed
the movement. On July 17, over 10,000 people came to Friday prayers
in support of the opposition. Instead of chanting "Death to America,"
they chanted "Death to the Dictator," a reference to supreme leader
Khamenei. Police attacked them with clubs and teargas.
Meanwhile in Washington, some
politicians tried to use the crisis for their own ends. Senator John
McCain criticized President Obama for not taking a stronger position
against the Iranian government. It's ironic to hear McCain and other
conservatives proclaim their support for the people of Iran when a few
months ago they wanted to bomb them.
That doesn't exactly build credibility
among Iranians.
President Obama faces tough choices
on Iran. If he speaks out loudly against Ahmadinejad, he is accused
of meddling in Iran's internal affairs. If he says too little, then
right-wingers in the U.S. accuse him of being soft on Ahmadinejad.
In reality, the U.S. has very
little ability to impact what has become a massive, spontaneous movement
for change. And it shouldn't. The CIA overthrew the democratically
elected government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953, bringing
the dictatorial Shah back to power. The Bush Administration attempted
to overthrow the Iranian government by funding and arming ethnic minority
groups opposed to Tehran.
The U.S. government has no moral
or political authority to tell Iranians what they should do. Iranians
are perfectly capable of deciding for themselves.
That's why citizen diplomacy
is so important. Iranian demonstrators welcome the support of ordinary
Americans. Joan Baez recorded a Farsi language version of "We Shall
Overcome" that has shot around the world on You Tube.
Iranian
activists are holding a hunger strike in front of the UN in New York
from July 22-4 demanding that Secretary General Ban Ki-moon send a special
commission to Iran.
We urge you to participate in the
July 25 demonstrations around the U.S. and in Europe. Stand in solidarity
with Iranians and against U.S. intervention in Iran (www.norcal4iran.org).