Post by celawson on Jan 3, 2018 12:38:08 GMT -5
This is fascinating and exhilarating and tragic and so sad all at the same time, mostly because I don't see how these poor people can change their existence in any meaningful way. Will the theocracy change?
Here's a good, short opinion piece:
www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/01/03/575276110/dont-oversimplify-the-protests-in-iran
And here's a fascinating look at life in Iran before the 1979 revolution, complete with lots of pictures:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5103795/Fascinating-photos-Iran-1979-revolution.html
As I have read news stories on the protests, I was struck by the difference between for example, Fox, which early on covered them more and gave more depth to the reasons for the unrest, compared with CNN which didn't have much coverage initially and for days kept the explanations about the discontent limited to shallow economic reasons . (Oh, CNN, you never cease to amaze me lately with your lameness. When the people chant "Death to the The Dictator" (meaning the ayatollah) and a young woman tears off her hijab in public, I think the reasons are more than economic.)
I think anyone who has spent some time in recent years learning about the citizens of Iran - the average folk not the government or theocratic folk - would know that there is a dynamic force of young adults who are desperate for the freedoms we in the West take for granted. The internet and social media fuel their knowledge of what could be. As do memories of their own recent past.
My husband's parents vacationed in Iran a year ago, and of course no one chanted "death to America" to them (snark). Quite the opposite. Everywhere they went, they were greeted by people who were literally overjoyed to meet Americans. But there are very strict rules in place for how my in-laws were allowed to interact with the people there -- for example always with an official "guide" present, and I realized those rules are probably in place more for repression of their own people, shielding them from Westerners, rather than for protection of the tourists. It's just so extremely sad. And of course we don't know the extent of the crackdown on these courageous people who are protesting. But I would bet it's far more brutal than we are being told.
So, will anything good come out of these?
How should the U.S. and other democracies officially respond?
And how about Trump's tweets?
Here's a good, short opinion piece:
www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/01/03/575276110/dont-oversimplify-the-protests-in-iran
And here's a fascinating look at life in Iran before the 1979 revolution, complete with lots of pictures:
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5103795/Fascinating-photos-Iran-1979-revolution.html
As I have read news stories on the protests, I was struck by the difference between for example, Fox, which early on covered them more and gave more depth to the reasons for the unrest, compared with CNN which didn't have much coverage initially and for days kept the explanations about the discontent limited to shallow economic reasons . (Oh, CNN, you never cease to amaze me lately with your lameness. When the people chant "Death to the The Dictator" (meaning the ayatollah) and a young woman tears off her hijab in public, I think the reasons are more than economic.)
I think anyone who has spent some time in recent years learning about the citizens of Iran - the average folk not the government or theocratic folk - would know that there is a dynamic force of young adults who are desperate for the freedoms we in the West take for granted. The internet and social media fuel their knowledge of what could be. As do memories of their own recent past.
My husband's parents vacationed in Iran a year ago, and of course no one chanted "death to America" to them (snark). Quite the opposite. Everywhere they went, they were greeted by people who were literally overjoyed to meet Americans. But there are very strict rules in place for how my in-laws were allowed to interact with the people there -- for example always with an official "guide" present, and I realized those rules are probably in place more for repression of their own people, shielding them from Westerners, rather than for protection of the tourists. It's just so extremely sad. And of course we don't know the extent of the crackdown on these courageous people who are protesting. But I would bet it's far more brutal than we are being told.
So, will anything good come out of these?
How should the U.S. and other democracies officially respond?
And how about Trump's tweets?
