I must have sat down to write about the events in Iran a dozen times, but every time I do so more news keeps pouring out of this disillusioned Middle-Eastern country.
The Supreme Council has announced there will be no recount -- Big surprise there. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered an end to protests, officials have cracked down on international media, and Tehran has been flooded with police and riot troops, along with the motorcycle-riding, civilian-shooting Basij militia. This appears to have deterred large-scale protests over the past three days. Russia has also lent legitimacy to the election by officially recognizing the results (thanks a lot Ruskies).
To say that I am "appalled and outraged" as stated yesterday by President Obama (in admittedly weaker terms than the WSJ might have you believe), would do a great disservice to the men and women risking life and liberty to convey to the international community observing through the technological keyhole of Iran's locked door, that their choice was not the one that led to the reelection (read: selection) of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Indeed, their voices have been largely ignored, marginalized, hidden, jailed, or beaten into, if not capitulation, at least submission.
Neda Agha Sultan, the woman who died on video and has become a symbol and martyr of the protests, has provided a much needed rallying point for the international community and the common person to identify with and get behind -- for those who still needed one. More important, I think it has brought to the forefront of this conflict a demographic which arguably elicits more sympathy, attention, emotion, and support than any other – women. In a country whose women only recently began defying the establishment through carefully planned flashes of hair under their head scarves and brightly painted fingernails, the events of the past week have put defibrillator paddles onto their cause, jolting it into the public eye and giving them the courage to participate as never before seen. Regardless of the outcome, I believe the past week has witnessed Iranian women displaying a level of involvement, courage, passion, and progressiveness that history will look back on as a critical juncture in female participation in Iranian politics beyond simple (and apparently farcical) suffrage.
Something larger has died here, though, and I am conflicted as to whether it is bad thing. Iran's semblance of a democracy was once a source of pride to Iranians, and stood as a beacon of hope in an otherwise autocratic region. When Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, it was viewed as a triumph of the democratic process, bringing a little-known mayor of Tehran to the highest elected post in the country. Now, however, Khamenei and the Establishment has made clear to the Iranian people that they are above this process; That democracy only prevails if they deem it aligned with their interests. This has understandably angered the Iranian people, who are fighting to get their hijacked democratic process back.
The flip side of this is what intrigues me: The Iranian people may be using this opportunity, even if inadvertently, to wake up to the fact that it was a sham all along; that having a council which must vet aspiring presidential candidates and approve election results isn't much of a democracy... that not only are the cards rigged, but so is the entire casino. What this means for their future I can only begin to imagine. I must admit, though, part of me wonders if maybe, just maybe, this experience will bring them one step closer to demanding not only a change of crooked dealers, but the entire casino management.
Now that would be a revolution.
The Supreme Council has announced there will be no recount -- Big surprise there. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has ordered an end to protests, officials have cracked down on international media, and Tehran has been flooded with police and riot troops, along with the motorcycle-riding, civilian-shooting Basij militia. This appears to have deterred large-scale protests over the past three days. Russia has also lent legitimacy to the election by officially recognizing the results (thanks a lot Ruskies).
To say that I am "appalled and outraged" as stated yesterday by President Obama (in admittedly weaker terms than the WSJ might have you believe), would do a great disservice to the men and women risking life and liberty to convey to the international community observing through the technological keyhole of Iran's locked door, that their choice was not the one that led to the reelection (read: selection) of Mr. Ahmadinejad. Indeed, their voices have been largely ignored, marginalized, hidden, jailed, or beaten into, if not capitulation, at least submission.
Neda Agha Sultan, the woman who died on video and has become a symbol and martyr of the protests, has provided a much needed rallying point for the international community and the common person to identify with and get behind -- for those who still needed one. More important, I think it has brought to the forefront of this conflict a demographic which arguably elicits more sympathy, attention, emotion, and support than any other – women. In a country whose women only recently began defying the establishment through carefully planned flashes of hair under their head scarves and brightly painted fingernails, the events of the past week have put defibrillator paddles onto their cause, jolting it into the public eye and giving them the courage to participate as never before seen. Regardless of the outcome, I believe the past week has witnessed Iranian women displaying a level of involvement, courage, passion, and progressiveness that history will look back on as a critical juncture in female participation in Iranian politics beyond simple (and apparently farcical) suffrage.
Something larger has died here, though, and I am conflicted as to whether it is bad thing. Iran's semblance of a democracy was once a source of pride to Iranians, and stood as a beacon of hope in an otherwise autocratic region. When Ahmadinejad was elected in 2005, it was viewed as a triumph of the democratic process, bringing a little-known mayor of Tehran to the highest elected post in the country. Now, however, Khamenei and the Establishment has made clear to the Iranian people that they are above this process; That democracy only prevails if they deem it aligned with their interests. This has understandably angered the Iranian people, who are fighting to get their hijacked democratic process back.
The flip side of this is what intrigues me: The Iranian people may be using this opportunity, even if inadvertently, to wake up to the fact that it was a sham all along; that having a council which must vet aspiring presidential candidates and approve election results isn't much of a democracy... that not only are the cards rigged, but so is the entire casino. What this means for their future I can only begin to imagine. I must admit, though, part of me wonders if maybe, just maybe, this experience will bring them one step closer to demanding not only a change of crooked dealers, but the entire casino management.
Now that would be a revolution.
/eh