My Word: Persian protests and Western perversity - opinion

An Internet and telecommunications blackout imposed on Iran last week by the brutal regime makes it difficult to get an accurate picture of what is going on in the Islamic Republic, where protests have been happening for the past three weeks. Anti-regime organizations estimate that anywhere between 3,000 and 12,000 people have been killed by government forces, and that the communications outage was deliberately imposed to prevent footage of the bodies from being shown around the world.

The regime need not have worried. Even when there were open communications, the world was not eager to see what was happening. Images of demonstrators being shot by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Basij paramilitaries, and other Iranian security forces do not fit in well with the narrative many – particularly on the radical Left – want to cling to.

One viral clip showed a blonde, blue-eyed young woman in Germany having a meltdown as she yelled pro-Gaza slogans at protesters proudly carrying the pre-Islamic Revolution flag with its distinctive Lion and Sun emblem.

But more perplexing than the senseless noise of pro-Hamas supporters is the silence of those who demanded unconditional, blind support for Gaza. Greta Thunberg seems to be shipwrecked. Hollywood stars left Iran off the agenda during this week’s Golden Globes awards ceremony. There have been no mass petitions or protest rallies on campuses. Human rights activists are strangely inactive.

In an opinion piece for Spiked titled: “The courage of Iran’s women puts woke Westerners to shame,” Joanna Williams wrote: “The keffiyeh-clad class is utterly indifferent to this genuine struggle for liberty against Islamist oppression.”

“The silence of the Western virtue-signalers reminds us that not all women are equal. Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, revealed that Jewish women do not count. Forget the #MeToo slogan, ‘Believe All Women’ – Jewish rape victims are to be forever doubted. Now we know that Iranian women do not count either. For Western activists, hatred for Israel and support for Islam are all-consuming.”

This is not a new phenomenon. In March 2019, I wrote a column (“My Word: Code Pink crosses a red line in Iran”) noting how a group that proclaims to be feminist supporters of human rights had just returned from Iran, where they had proudly met then-foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Tellingly, not even the requirement that they cover up with a hijab and a long coat or tunic before disembarking from the plane at Tehran’s airport gave the Code Pink visitors pause for thought.

According to their website, the “Peace Delegation” aimed to “give participants a unique chance to understand this much-maligned nation and put a human face on this political struggle.” It apparently did not occur to them that it wasn’t the nation that was much-maligned but rather the mullahs who ruled it – the very regime Code Pink so enthusiastically granted legitimacy.

Where are the human faces of the regime’s victims? According to the Norwegian-based Iran Human Rights NGO, at least 1,500 people were executed in Iran last year. This marks a consistent rise in numbers, particularly since the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests in 2022. These were sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa (Jina) Amini, arrested for not wearing a hijab correctly.

This is a country that hangs homosexuals and executes children. (Girls can be sentenced to death from the age of nine and boys from 15). The Islamic Republic permits child brides to be married off to older men. These wives are then legally raped for the rest of their miserable lives. Hence, it’s not surprising that among those executed for murder were former child brides and women who had killed their abusive husbands.

The death penalty is used disproportionately among Iran’s persecuted minorities – including Christians, Baha’i, Balochis, and Kurds. (Iran also bans owning pet dogs, by the way, another infringement of human rights, in my opinion.)

Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis. Even after “The 12-Day War” (Operation Rising Lion) in June, Iran has not dropped its plans for nuclear weapons and continues to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of delivering them. The economic and human cost of these offensive policies, and Tehran’s support for terrorist proxies, have taken a toll, and are among the reasons Iranians have taken to the streets.

Despite the media blackout, the regime enables footage of rallies it has organized to be broadcast. The anti-US and anti-Israel slogans – the “Great Satan” and “Little Satan” – haven’t changed. Neither has the regime’s desire to wipe the Jewish state off the face of the earth – the true meaning of the much-favored pro-Palestinian mantra: “From the river to the sea.”

“It’s like asking: Why aren’t the mullahs doing more to oppose the mullahs?

“There is another dimension to the dishonesty and moral repugnance of Western academia’s Gaza industry. Iran is the preeminent colonialist, imperial power of the modern Middle East. So where are all the ‘decolonization’ specialists?

“The answer is: They don’t exist… It’s a fake discipline.”

And  the winner is… The Hebrew Language Academy announced its Word of the Year on January 8. Habayta, meaning “homecoming” or “homeward,” won 25% of the votes, followed by Bina melachutit (Artificial Intelligence), with 15.2%, and Tikvah, (hope) in third place with 14.6%.

The first place obviously reflects the relief at the return of all but one of those held in captivity in Gaza. (Israel still awaits the body of fallen police officer Ran Gvili.) In stark contrast, the Word of the Year last year was hatufim (hostages). Habayta is also identified with the return home of most of those Israelis displaced from southern and northern communities.