Iran Opinion: The "Left" and the Non-Aligned Movement --- A Guide for the Perplexed (Postel)

How do we say we are against imposing the privations of sanctions, against subjecting the Iranian people to the violence of US/Israeli bombs, but are willing to take no position when those same people are subjected to violence by the Iranian government? This would make us an anti-war movement disconnected from social justice and life on the ground for ordinary Iranians; it would mean we have lost our moral compass.

We argue for the need to free all political prisoners, from Guantanamo to the Iranian prison Evin; to end the death penalty in the US and in Iran and everywhere; in other words, to build solidarity between our movements here and the movements there.

If we don't support Iranians struggling in Iran for the same things we fight for here, such as labor rights, abolition of the death penalty, and freedom for political prisoners, we risk a politically debilitating form of cultural relativism.

It is not only possible, but imperative, to simultaneously stand against all forms of outside intervention in Iran and against all forms of domestic oppression targeting ordinary Iranian people.

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Iran Feature: Admiring Ahmadinejad and Ignoring Activists? We're Better Than This (Mostofi)

Who have we become as a peace and social justice movement when we accept and repeat as fact Iranian state propaganda dismissing the recent uprisings in Iran and the continued bravery of activists defending their rights? Just as J. Edgar Hoover likened civil rights activists to communists in order to de-legitimize them, so too has the Iranian government used the accusation of western spies to dismiss the relevancy of any resistance. They have thus stated that thousands of people voicing dissent and protest do not have the will to serve as their own actors. It is a grave failure on the part of peace and social justice activists to assume this position and belittle our Iranian counterparts. We must not turn our focus away from the Iranian activists we aim to work in solidarity with.

I believe strongly in the old adage “speak truth to power". I was taught long ago, through the antiwar and peace movement—the very community that was at this dinner—that our job must include speaking up for those who have had their voices suppressed when we have the ability to do so. It also means having the knowledge and experience to have a nuanced conversation about the obstacles we face and not simply taking part in the self-censorship, deference to power, and accepted frameworks that have come to define any discourse in politics and diplomacy.

We have a tremendous task ahead of us. Many people have sacrificed a great deal in both countries to do this important work. Iranians took tremendous risks not only on the streets of Iran, but also with the videos and messages they delivered across the internet so that we would know the truth about their resistance. We believe in their right for self-determination and our voices must demand it. We owe them better than this.

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