In a micro-blogging world, caution needed on macro of #iranelection

In a world when technology allows information to spread as a global wildfire and when our attentions are turned to the TinyURL, it becomes easy to miss the macro politics that may be playing out within a given political situation.

Among the calls for reform in Iran, there is great opposition and dissent amongst the reformists themselves. We need to be cautious when we are told to believe it is a case of black and white, without shades of grey, a case of Ahmadinejad vs Mousavi.

The dominant force in the opposition is the one that wishes to bring reforms to the ruling regime in Iran for the purpose of strengthening and sustaining this very regime. This is the movement that has been -- and may still be -- led by Rafsanjani and Khatemi, two past presidents who remain among the strongest pillars of the Iranian regime. To argue that this began as the platform for a ‘revolution’ is as sound as arguing that I am a brunette and therefore need a nap, thank you and good night.

The brutally violent response to the demonstrators may prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and which takes us into the beginnings of a full-blown revolution, one focused on doing away with Ahmadinejad, but not necessarily the regime itself. Some astute observers have noted that what’s happening is more like a civil rights movement [1] than a pre-revolutionary situation.

What is not up for discussion here is whether Iran needs a revolution, as this is a call not to be made by you or I, but rather only by the citizenry of the country itself. Also not up for discussion is that we must always stand in solidarity with brutalized demonstrators of any country (regardless if they are representative of the minority or majority).

Slowly surfacing is that there are many other groups participating in these opposition rallies (both inside and outside of Iran), who do not share the same objectives as the dominant forces in the opposition. In many instances, the variances are quite large and range from a complete reformation yet protection of the existing political system, to the fantastical demand of the return of the Shah, to the hope of overthrowing the entire regime, to the simple demand of replacing one leader by another, to completely shedding the veil of a theocracy etc., ad infinitum.

Should the current political situation become the foundation of an actual revolution, then the possible absence of cohesion among the reformists may cause chaos, instability and great civil unrest within Iran for years to come. Chaos, instability and great civil unrest are not the intent of the reformist movement; anyone who would argue that does indeed require a snooze.

Some might consider it a conspiracy theory the claim that many of the alleged Twitter feeds from Iran were in fact all opened on the same day and from inside of the State of Israel [2], the argument being that the Mossad has been partly responsible for fanning the flames that may lead to the instability of Iran. If this is in fact true, then there are two main possible explanations for this interference: (1) this is being done in order to divert attention away from Israel’s criminal actions and oppression of the Palestinian people, of which we saw even more horrible images [3] than what we are currently witnessing in Iran; and/or (2) The destabilization of Iran, and the subsequent possibly immediate affects on Syria and Lebanon. [Editor's note: The link to images has been changed, as the earlier image was incorrectly dated.]

Some might consider it a conspiracy theory the claim that the misrepresentation of that which is being hailed as a ‘revolution,’ does in fact serve, to the greatest interest, the political machinations of the American neo-conservative movement. But before calling it a conspiracy theory, consider the reality that as I type, the pressure on Obama -- from the conservative right -- to render null his campaign promise to engage in a dialogue with Iran persists, increases and may soon become the rallying call of well-meaning everyday folk. Our cries for ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’ in Iran are the same rhetoric utilized by the American right power elite when they demand that Obama “stand for democracy” and “be on the right side of history” taking a stronger stand against Iran.

Stronger stand, how? Tossing a missile or two at ‘targeted’ regime-only locations (no civilians will die, we promise) within Iran, free Iran? (we heart Google Earth); advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in the Middle East begins with ensuring the success of a free Iran?

My apologies, there. Forgive that minor lapse of memory and the fact that I have just misquoted; it appears I am in fact brunette and therefore require a nap. Because actually, the transcript of the speech reads “advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in the Middle East begins with ensuring the success of a free Iraq [4]”.

Conspiracy theory indeed. As conspiratorial as the idea of war-for-profit; as conspiratorial as the idea that torture is institutionalized behavior within the US military; and as conspiratorial as the notion that America’s is a rogue state.

The Empire always conspires, and no less so when people are taking to the streets with great courage to express legitimate grievances. But this doesn’t mean those of us opposed to the machinations of the U.S and Israeli right should be silent.

We can support the call for civil liberties and civil rights in Iran: the right to organize, to assemble, dissent, and to vote for whomever they choose. And, yes, even the right to tweet, so long as we remain vigilant about the macro geo politics as well.

Maha Zimmo is a political analyst whose areas of concentration are the Middle East, Islam and the international legal system. She received her Master of Arts from the Department of Law at Carleton University.

rabble.ca is a member supported non-profit media site -- please become a member today [5] and get some great 'thank you' gifts, including a signed book by your choice of leading Canadian authors.

Comments

Submitted by howardbeale on June 29, 2009 - 1:57am.

This article is embarassingly sloppy. More because no time was taken to check sources by your editors than because of the poor writing of the article itself:

even more horrible images This footage has been debunked, most notably by it's originating network:

Quote:

French TV apologises over footage mix-up

PARIS: France's public broadcaster was forced to apologise to viewers yesterday after it mistakenly used amateur footage shot in 2005 to illustrate a report on the current Gaza conflict.
France 2 television on Monday broadcast part of an amateur video presented in a voiceover commentary as showing the fallout from an Israeli air strike on a civilian area in Gaza on January 1.
Dating from September 2005, the video, which has been widely circulated on the Internet, actually shows civilians wounded in the accidental explosion of a pick-up truck loaded with Hamas rockets at a rally in Jabaliya refugee camp.

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=265031&version=1&template_id=39&parent_id=21 [10]

Y'know how I knew about that? From your own Gaza discussion on Babble where the faked dating of the footage was discussed at length.

Furthermore, the author's other link, contending that almost all twitter traffic within Iran was the product of Israelis, links to an article which has no author's name attributed, which originates at another webpage, "Charting Stocks" which lists no names of any of its authors anywhere.

Has Rabble forgotten how Dan Rather got snookered by an obviously faked document about W. dodging the draft? Failing to have any standard whatsoever in either the content or editing of the articles you post serves only to trivialize the struggles of the Palestinian and Iranian peoples and bring disrepute upon your otherwise fine website.

Perhaps before Ms. Zimmo makes flip remarks about needing to "take a nap" she should first make sure she has done the work.

Submitted by therrienamanda on June 29, 2009 - 2:06pm.

That's your response to her post?

Ok then, the reports are that the video are from Jenin in 2005 not Gaza 2009. Does that make a difference? Israel's recent bombing campaign instead (since clearly your agenda is all about Israel and you couldn't give a shit about Iran): how about here and then again here [12] and here [13] and here [14] and some more here [15]. Want more? What are you going to say - that these are all false and inflicted by Hamas? Are we arguing about whether Israel is good or bad?

Whatever your beef is, it's not enough to detract from her argument and that's to pay attention to the bigger issues at stake. And let's also assume that that thread throughout to Israel isn't dead on - are you going to further suggest that the perspective presented doesn't stand? That Israel doesn't have to gain from the destabalization of Iran when Bibi Netanyahu recently made it crystal clear in his speech that the number one threat to Israel is Iran? Come on!

If rabble wants to write a little update to this and show that one of the links was pointed at the wrong item, then that's fine but her argument holds, sorry mate.

By the way I like that you who uses "y'know" is telling the rabble folks that this article isn't written well!

Submitted by therrienamanda on June 29, 2009 - 3:05pm.

mistake

Submitted by therrienamanda on June 29, 2009 - 3:29pm.

Howardbeal, your claim that the link to the Israeli link is that you're wrong to misrepresent them this way or you're doing it on purpose to get people's attention away from the story. Take a look at the link itself and all of the contributors and also their other news information. This isn't some shit site that is a black hole, like your post tries to make it out to be.

So apart from a little correction about the wrong link to the video, calling this sloppy is way off base but it's an awesome distraction put out by you because it does take the attention away from the original intent, doesn't it?

;o)

I appreciate this article greatly, by the way. It's nice to listen to a voice of calm and balance amidst all of the crazyness that doesn't let you stop for a moment to focus.

Submitted by therrienamanda on June 29, 2009 - 3:20pm.

Howardbeale you've just given me an hour's worth of delight. I've been reading your posts in the babble courts and you do the same thing over and over again. You focus on one small thing. You detract from the bigger aim of the conversation. You are an apologist for the US and Israel. You also insult people all the time. When they react in kind you tell them that they misunderstood you and you apologise. You are a fascinating study in misinformation and passive aggression and know-it-all.

Clearly it's what you tried to do here. But you get a FAIL on your efforts, mate.

Hey rabble: Thanks for updating the link! :O)

Submitted by graham_2004_ste on July 1, 2009 - 3:16pm.

read this!!

Submitted by howardbeale on June 29, 2009 - 6:43pm.

It contains one citation which is unattributed, and one which is erroneous.

This is dismal scholarship.

Since you've been probing my posts, find a passage where I apologize for Israel, or indicate that I'm a fan of the warmonger Netanyahu.

You wont, because it isn't there, but you're welcome to try.

I've already been accused of minimizing the Holocaust on this site, so I guess I was due to be accused of minimizing the Nakba.

Such dismal scholarship brings the most noble causes into disrepute, as do your baseless allegations.

Have a nice day.

Submitted by Aalya on June 29, 2009 - 11:13pm.

howardbeale, you are in dire need of some writing assistance to fix your posts attacking Ms. Zimmo's article. I note that you spell "embarrassingly" wrong and are clueless about apostrophes. "It's" is not the possessive. The apostrophe is missing from your "wont". In other words, you are wont to write dismally and in a sloppy fashion when you troll. Do run along and find yourself an editor, there's a good boy.

Now, about the article. I am so sick of seeing these rah-rah "Where's My Vote" posts and greenified avatars from my progressive friends. Social media has made it even easier to indulge in these facile sorts of "solidarities" when what we really need is the coverage and the context necessary to make informed decisions about meaningful actions to support Iranians. We need to stop knee-jerking and exercise caution, as Ms. Zimmo points out, when such momentous political events arise because the stakes are huge.

The twittering and debate ensuing from the electronic equivalent of armchairs everywhere in the West has sorely lacked educated context, nuance and respect. I am glad to see commentators such as Ms. Zimmo urge caution and restraint upon enthusiastic and well-meaning, yet ignorant spectators as the citizens of Iran struggle.

As for the "conspiracy theory" about Israel using Twitter - it was identified as just that in the article. It is certainly important to point out who might benefit from a chaotic and collapsed Iran. It is equally important to challenge the machinations of Empire at every opportunity.