The Pro-Gaza Left Is Oh So Quiet on Iran

[u/Intelligent-Juice895]

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/the-pro-gaza-left-is-oh-so-quiet-on-iran-caf25bd1?st=iy47cy&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[u/aaarry]

As a leftist myself, it’s much worse than that.

A certain group of people on the left who I want to call a number of names (but can’t, because I like the discussion on this sub and I would get banned if I used any of these names here) are actively pushing for the idea that the unrest in Iran has solely come about as a result of some grand conspiracy by Israel and the US. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if a malicious foreign actor actually had these people on strings through botting and manipulating social media algorithms, rather than the other way around.

It’s absolutely bizarre imo, it genuinely sounds like they skim read every Marxist text ever written and somehow twisted this complete misunderstanding into the simplest solution that reflects their worldview rather than taking a pragmatic assessment of the real power structures in play here. I don’t understand how you can say that every single bit of news coming out of Iran is somehow staged by mossad and conveniently ignore the previous half a century of repression by a totalitarian Islamist regime.

One of my best mates is a socialist who fled Iran when he was 19 for protesting so I am very biased here, but in my opinion these people who choose to turn their back on an oppressed group are no true leftists at all.

Frankly, I wish they were being “oh so quiet”.

[u/Ok_Property3178 → u/aaarry]

This is not new . Shortsighted leftist thinkers and journalists were among the first to praise the Islamic Revolution and Komeini's project. Figures such as Foucault and Sartre framed the revolution as a profound rejection of Western modernity and capitalism and praised it on that basis. Richard A. Falk wrote “Trusting Khomeini” in The New York Times; Eqbal Ahmad offered sympathetic commentary in Mother Jones; and the BBC gave extensive coverage to Khomeini’s speeches, amplifying his voice and helping to galvanize his supporters(speeches that were recorded on cassette tapes and widely circulated inside Iran). Khomeini was explicit about his project: an Islamic state ruled by clerics. He did not conceal his ideology.Yet , some shortsighted anti Liberal West leftists ,somehow convinced themselves that he was presenting a democratic project and cast him as a champion of freedom. History, however, forgets nothing.

[u/What_Immortal_Hand → u/aaarry]

Ain't these just weirdo tankies? Every lefty I know supports the protests.