irshaddering thoughts

“Hear my plea or deliver my death”

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 23, 2009

Jila Baniyaghoob (Courtesy: IWMF)

Every year, the International Women’s Media Foundation selects four journalists from around the world who exemplify moral courage — speaking truth to power in their own societies for a  greater good.  And every year, the foundation organizes a gala to celebrate these death-defying reporters.  Most of them are able to attend, and some of the biggest names in American media serve as the award presenters.

So it came as something of a shock, and a distinctly high honor, to have been asked to present a Courage in Journalism Award at this year’s gathering. But the woman to whom I’d be giving the statue — an Iranian dynamo named Jila Baniyaghoob — couldn’t leave her country.  Which meant that I was also asked to accept on her behalf.

Here’s how I paid tribute to Jila:

“Jila Baniyaghoob found her voice as a journalist in the late 1970s at the dawn of Iran’s fundamentalist revolution, when she published a short story in a major Tehran daily — a story about children living in poverty.  Jila was 11 years old.

In June 2006, when she was arrested and taken to Evin prison while covering a women’s rights protest, Jila was scolded by interrogators for story that she’d written as a pre-teen so many years before.  Clearly, the authorities had been watching her closely. They scrutinize her every move to this day.

But their surveillance has not stopped her from revealing details about the lives of the Iranian people.  Recently, for example, she wrote about Nasimah, an unmarried 20-year-old woman whom Jila met while waiting in a Tehran medical clinic. Under her black chador, Nasimah was trying to feed her infant son, who had no name thanks to the ‘shame’ of his birth. He was wrapped in old, thin, dirty clothes. Nearby, Nasimah’s male relatives shunned her as they waited for a paternity test to verify who the baby’s father was.

‘I realized by no one in her family was interested in buying clothes for the baby,’ Jila wrote. ‘To people living in the countryside, there is nothing more intolerable than for a girl have an illegitimate child.  Nobody was willing to tolerate this disgrace to their family.’

But Nasimah told Jila that she didn’t worry.  After all, her family had promised a judge that they wouldn’t harm her.

Later in the article, Jila reported what happened to Nasimah after she left the clinic. ‘When Nasimah’s brothers and cousins returned home from Tehran, they tried to hang Nasimah, but she escaped. Finally, they poured petrol and set her alight. The following day, Nasimah’s son was fatally poisoned. The only sound in my mind was Nasimah’s voice saying that her family would not harm her or the baby because they had promised the judge.’

When Jila heard that she had received the IWMF Courage in Journalism Award, she pledged to be here with us to accept it. That was before June. Before Iranians spilled into the streets to demonstrate against the election results. Before, that is, Jila was arrested — again — and sent back to Evin prison.

We don’t know what happened to Jila inside jail this time round.  But in 2007, she wrote movingly about being locked up for reporting on a women’s rights protest. Jila says that her she and her cellmates killed time by chanting songs composed to defy discrimination against women. They wrote lyrics, put them to music and sang them together. Don’t worry; I’ll spare you a performance. Let me simply recite the words:

Whoever is in love
Has no fear of death
Since love has no fear
Of fetters and prison

Authorities blindfolded her outside her cell. She underwent grueling interrogations. The foul water she ingested caused toxic shock. But always – always – Jila created excuses to extract joy, even from the jaws of solitary confinement.  She tells us that ‘for several hours I walked the cell’s width and length. Supposedly, it was exercise and what a pleasant exercise for solitary confinement!  I walked and said out loud all the poems I knew. When I forgot a part, I would stop moving and keep thinking until I remembered. As soon as I remembered, I would jump up and down with excitement and then start with new poems.’

She also memorized messages scrawled on prison walls by previous inmates, alternating between moods of darkness and moments of dawn. ‘Dear God,’ read one  message, ‘hear my plea for deliver my death.’ Then this message: ‘With a little patience, spring is near.’

Jila has been sprung from Evin.  But her husband, journalist Bahman Ahmadi Amoyee, remains behind its walls. She recently posted an open letter to him on her website. Jila tells him that she comes often to stand outside Evin, since the powers-that-be won’t let her inside. ‘By the walls of Evin, I feel that I breathe the same air that you breathe,’ Jila conveys, adding: ‘What a senseless comparison. The air in the hot cells of Evin prison has nothing in common with the fresh air of Evin’s hilltops.’

She closes her love letter to her husband this way: ‘Do you remember that you always used to remind me of the Asian motto: Let us turn our sorrow into strength? I promise to turn all the sorrows that we face into strength.’

Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to witness that strength. And it is my profound privilege to accept this Courage in Journalism Award for Jila Baniyaghoob, with the hope, prayer and deep belief that one day soon, she’ll be able to accept our gratitude for her unrelenting pursuit of truth. May Allah bless her, her husband, and all those whose unheard voices find solace in Jila’s.”

If you’d like to send a message to Jila, contact me and I’ll share your thoughts with her through a confidential address used by the International Women’s Media Foundation. This is a unique opportunity to strengthen the resolve of someone who inspires many us, yet could do with inspiration from us, too.

And to learn more about moral courage — how you can exhibit it in your own community, and why you should — get to know the Moral Courage Project.

Islam’s reformers are such punks

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Oct 18, 2009

Now in theaters…

This weekend, an intriguing documentary opened on the big screen in Toronto — and it takes the movement for Muslim reform another step forward.

“Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam” is based on the book by Michael Muhammad Knight and directed by the award-winning Omar Majeed, who happens serve on the board of my charitable foundation, Project Ijtihad.

Rock on, I say.

Because, at rock bottom, Islamic punk is about more than smashing guitars and stereotypes; it’s about internal spiritual reform. Reading a recent New York Times story about the Islamic punk scene, here’s the quote that leaps out at me:

“‘As Muslims, we’re not being honest if we criticize the United States without first criticizing ourselves,’ said Mr. Kamel, 23, who grew up in a Syrian family in Chicago. He is lead singer of the band al-Thawra, ‘the Revolution’ in Arabic.”

Am I allowed to blurt, “Rock on!” twice in one blog entry? Wait. It’s my blog, dammit. I’ll do what befits my character — as long as it respects the dignity of my fellow human beings. And I won’t let anyone tell me I’m less Muslim for insisting on everyone’s freedom of expression. That’s the message of Islamic punk.

Check out this video trailer. You’ll love what you see. But what you’ll hear is at least as compelling — and I don’t just mean lyrics or drum beats. I mean the words spoken by Michael Mohammad Knight, author of The Taqwacores. His poignant narration lends the video a philosophical edge:

“I stopped trying to define punk at around the same time I stopped trying to define Islam. They aren’t so far removed, if you think that both began in tremendous bursts of truth and vitality, and seem to have lost something along the way…”

I saw a previous version of the trailer, too.  In it, Knight added that both Islam and punk music “have suffered from sell-outs and hypocrites, but also from true believers whose devotion has crippled their creative drive. Both are viewed by outsiders as unified, cohesive communities when nothing could be further from the truth…

But the most important similarity is that, like punk, Islam itself is a flag; an open symbol representing not things, but ideas. You can’t hold punk or Islam in your hands. So what could they mean besides what you want them to?”

Which brings me to a related point.  Last year, I had dinner with Melvin Van Peebles, the director who revolutionized American pop culture with a low-budget, indie flick entitled Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. His film inaugurated the “Blaxploitation” genre, putting young African-Americans on notice that culture was theirs for the shaping.

With Baadasssss director Melvin Van Peebles (Photo: Lem Lopez)

Melvin’s advice to this generation: Whatchoo waitin’ foh? Whatevuh you got to do, sheeet, go do it!  He did, and the intersection of art and politics has never been the same. Just ask President Barack Obama.

Thanks in part to Islamic punk, Muslim reformers are doing what need to get done. Because sometimes, sweet badasses, you have to slam-dance your way to freedom.

Learn more about the documentary — and where you can catch it — right here.

Should the burqa be banned in a free society?

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Q & A on Oct 10, 2009

London, UK (Photo: M. Douglas)

A few days ago, I sent this message to my Facebook fans: “France is currently debating whether to ban the burqa and veil. Now, my own country of Canada is debating that, too. A **Muslim** group is calling on the Canadian government to outlaw the burqa. How do you think the government should respond?”

Twenty-four hours later, I re-visited my fan page. Hello! I found more responses to this question than to just about anything I’ve ever posted.  Equally revealing, Muslims are disagreeing with each other.

Male versus female, you ask?  In a sense, yes. In my Facebook community, Muslim men are likely to reject the burqa outright while Muslim women are inclined to support choice.

Here’s a sample of their arguments, peppered with interventions from non-Muslims who have experience with Muslim societies:

* “Burqa? This hideous thing should most definitely be banned.”  - Umar

* “The GOVERNMENT should not have a say over whether a woman can wear it or not. If they did, they would be no different from Saudi Arabia or any other country that forces women to wear it.” - Sara

* “Yes, ban the burqa. A woman’s head is not an extension of her private parts.  A woman in burqa is convinced she is a a giant pussy on legs.  This is  offensive. Burqa is also dangerous. Not different from seeing a man walking down the street wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood, or a skinhead with a tattoo of a swastika on his forehead.” - Azhar

* “I wear the hijab on my head and I live in America. I would fight with the government til the end on something like this. Who cares what people wear as long as they are not doing anything wrong to you?” - Diana

* “One of my best friends is Muslimah and she lived in Algeria for years, never wearing a veil, never being asked to wear it.  As soon as her family moves to the States, her father, who is quite secular in Algeria, tries to impose the veil on his daughters. Why? Because in his eyes, they’re living in a hostile nation, and he needs to protect his daughters from the eyes of infidel boys/men.  My friend resisted and used the Quran as her justification. But her others sisters veiled, to keep the peace, because of their abusive dad.” - Rodney

* “The burqa is a marketing tool for Islamists. In a day and age when Islamist criminality is worldwide, the burqa is not an option!” - Najat

* “Sure, there have been security problems in countries with men hiding under burqas and niqabs. But I have also been witness to a woman being harassed by security in the middle of Khan Al Khalili, a very busy market in the middle of Cairo. Banned or unbanned, it is still Muslim women who are the victims here. Banning a style of dress will not ensure extra security for anyone.” - Sue

* “In the Middle East, a woman wearing burqa who was allowed to drive almost hit me because she couldn’t see me!” - Rosa

* “I don’t agree with [a] country imposing a certain dress code. Who the hell are you? If they want to ban it, ban it all. That means the nuns can’t wear what they wear.  A Christian can’t wear a cross, a Jewish man can’t wear a kippah, and all other religious symbols should be banned too.” - Faisal

* “Irshad, the other day, with horror, I saw a WalkingBurqa in The Eaton Centre [Toronto shopping mall].  I told my daughter to forget about the shopping and let’s get the hell out of here. U never know what’s inside the WalkingBurqa.  Canadian government should ban it… ASAP.” - Rehmatullah

Now I’m asking my Facebook community to interpret the photo at the very top of this post. Snapped in London recently, the picture shows three burqa-clad women walking the same footpath as a woman in a tank top and skirt.

How do you interpret this image? What does it say to you?

Join the conversation, and many more to come, on  my Facebook fan page.

A cuppa moral courage in the morning

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Oct 02, 2009

This week, I appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” to discuss moral courage, Iran, and leadership in our increasingly divided political culture. Among the highlights? My handshake with Pat Buchanan.

(I’ll never wash my right paw again. Ever. Unless the swine flu cops are around, in which case I’m all about sanitizing. But not sanitizing the truth. Gotta draw my boundaries.)

And the truth is, I don’t think I’ve had a better interview about the Moral Courage Project. That this could happen on morning TV — in the land of cable — testifies to why we can still hope for meaning in our media. Here’s some of the feedback you sent after watching:

“I probably would not agree with you on many issues, but you are one of the few people with whom I think I could disagree without being disagreeable. Please take Keith Olbermann’s time slot. He’s most disagreeable.” - David

Irshad replies: To mimic His Holiness, The Very Reverend Keith Olbermann, “How dare you, sir. How. Daaaare. Yoooooo.”

“I was so pleased to hear your message. I was taught all this ethics stuff when I was in army officer basic. That was the last time any ethics were demonstrated in my workplace, much less my actual life. I’m 50 now.

To answer a question you ask on moralcourage.com: If I say what I think, the best that can happen is… mental health. Freedom from the bad self-esteem that cowardice brings. Confidence. Self-respect. The release of constant stress and dissatisfaction. Occasionally, one also wins a battle. That’s a bonus. I hope your project takes over the world!” - Robin

“This Moral Courage concept can make democracies better — especially the so-called young and sometimes laughable democracies in my own part of the world, Africa. I’m from Cameroon and have been living in China. Through your site, therefore, I will be learning more about moral and immoral courage, if there is a distinction.” - Henry (fellow professor)

Irshad replies: Oh, there’s a distinction alright. Read this.

“I am glad to have met you and your contribution to society through MSNBC and now on your moral courage site. I disagree with my own community about viewing life as a simple linear explanation, LEFT/RIGHT, LIBERAL/CONSERVATIVE, SELF/MASSES. The world is much more complex; it is spherical and infinite.

I also disagree with the assumption that society as a whole should solve all problems with MASS support. The great teachers — Christ, Buddha, Krishna, Muhammad, Moses, Gandhi — taught that each person must find his truth. They only guided his first steps…

But I think it was also Siddhartha who, after years of searching for righteousness, discovered there was nowhere to go but to accept what he already was: himself. Right action was giving JOY to those one met along the way.” - Bill

To experience some of that joy, come to moralcourage.com and interact with a growing community of individuals who speak truth to power, who fight intellectual conformity, who challenge the herd in order to BE HEARD.

Get involved in the discussions, debates and ideas for action. You have nothing to lose but fear. Give ‘em a reason to declare, “How daaaare yoooo…”

An underground railroad out of Iran

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Sep 27, 2009

 Arsham Parsi, champion of moral courage

With Iran back in the news, this is the perfect time to tell you about a compelling post that’s featured on the Moral Courage Project’s website — a post bound to inspire hope, thanks to an unlikely hero.

Entitled “Moral courage champion fights for gay Iranians,” this blog entry profiles a young Iranian-Canadian named Arsham Parsi.  He’s risking his neck to run an underground railroad of sorts, helping other gay and lesbian Iranians flee their country’s oppressive regime. Consider it a 21st-century version of the underground railroad set up for American slaves so they could escape to freedom.

By the way, the blog is one of many features on the newly designed site of the Moral Courage Project. You’ll discover oodles of video — including moments from my own class, with one student complaining that he develops a headache after each moral dilemma posed.  (”No Tylenol allowed!” I warn him. Yep, you don’t want me as your prof.)

You’ll also find the curriculum of my course, Public Leadership and Moral Courage, so you can read the assigned texts on your own.

Above all, you’ll have opportunities to engage in meaningful conversation with me and many other advocates of moral courage.

Here’s just a sample of the discussion already generated:

“I was quite moved when reading about Mr. Parsi’s plight… Gay or not, I think every person can learn not only from his courage, but also from his perseverance… What I’m curious about is whether Mr. Parsi has expanded his underground railroad for aiding non-gays as well. I mention this because Iran is in dire condition. It’s difficult, especially for men, to seek refuge. As a first generation Iranian-American, I know this from the men in my family who still live in Iran.” — Shahrin

“Hi Shahrin – Irshad Manji here. In suggesting that Arsham Parsi could be helping heterosexual Iranians too, you raise a question for me: What do you say to those who argue that ‘Western’ Iranians like Arsham and you have no business aiding ‘authentic’ Iranians?”

“When a regime threatens basic human rights, it is a threat to the entire global community, regardless of nationality, religion, etc. Therefore, it is not my business to ally with indifference, ignorance, or denial. As Elie Wiesel once stated, ‘Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil.’” – Shahrin

“There is a temptation to ask why strong people like Arsham don’t do more. However, the point of these posts is to demonstrate the power that we each have to make a difference. My hope is that this blog will encourage readers to see how they, themselves, can do the things we look to others for; how we can live moral courage.” — Janice (campaign manager for the Moral Courage Project)

“Re: being ‘authentic’ versus ‘Western.’  It doesn’t matter what kind of person you identify as. We are all interlinked.  When a gay man suffers, the ability to love freely suffers. When an Iranian is told he is not authentic, the freedom to determine one’s sense of self suffers. Women’s rights affect men’s rights affect disabled rights affect LGBT rights affect immigrant rights…

I was shocked to hear someone connect disability with environmental affairs, but 50% of children suffering malnutrition go blind! The more we learn how interlinked everything is, how we are not just labels given to us, but individuals with desires and needs, then may we find an end to prejudice.” – Tom

“I want to comment on Shahrin’s point about the need for humanitarian intervention overseas. This afternoon, as part of researching my next book, I’ve been reading Defying Hitler: A Memoir, written by Sebastian Haffner and published in 1933. Let me share a relevant excerpt from the introduction:

This is the story of a duel. It is a duel between two very unequal adversaries: an exceedingly powerful, formidable, and ruthless state and an insignificant, unknown private individual…

Throughout, the individual finds himself very much on the defensive.  He only wishes to preserve what he consider his integrity, his private life, and his personal honor. These are under constant attack by the government of the country he lives in, and by the most brutal, but also often clumsy, means…

The state is the German Reich and I am the individual…

One might well consider my case as typical. From  it, you can easily judge the chances for mankind in Germany today. You will see that they are pretty slim. They need not have been quite so hopeless if the outside world had intervened.

It is still in the world’s interest, I believe, for these chances to be improved. It is too late to avoid a war, but it might shorten the war by a year or two. Those Germans of goodwill who are fighting to defend their private peace and their private liberty are fighting, without knowing it, for the peace and liberty of the whole world.

Haffner’s words give me goosebumps, frankly. And they heartily attest to Shahrin’s point. Problem is, these days humanitarian intervention immediately invites accusations like, “you’re a neo-con.”

I couldn’t care less about the smears thrown at me — being used it by now — but I know that the fear of being tarred this way prevents plenty of good-hearted, open-minded people from expressing themselves. Anybody have ideas for how to combat that fear? This is the essence of moral courage…” – Irshad

“I think the fear can be combated by understanding the purpose of that type of rhetoric.  It is not innocent language but actually part of a discourse intended to keep people from engaging. It loses some of its power when recognized as such. At core, find what is worth the risk to you and make your acts of moral courage to be conscious choices that you willingly accept the fallout from — with ‘informed consent.’ I don’t think the fear ever fully goes away, but you can find causes that are more compelling than fear, and that is empowering.” – Amanda

“Fearing backlash or consequences from offending people does indeed appear ‘innocent,’ when really, it is a comfortable and convenient state for people to be in. Fear separates us from humanity…” – Karys

“Amanda, your answer to my question almost perfectly echoes the statement that graces the top of my personal website: ‘Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is the recognition that some things are more important than fear.’” – Irshad

Get the picture, folks?

But it’s not all warm and fuzzy. In fact, right now, a vocal debate is percolating about the hijab: Can wearing it really be an act of free will?  Boy, oh, boy. Oy, oh, oy.

I invite you to join our conversations on moralcourage.com. And if you’re motivated to become a regular blogger for the new site, let me know.  It’s a great way to develop your own platform without having to maintain a full blog. You also get to be part of a focused and passionate community.

Eager to see your comments posted on the new site. Meanwhile, follow us on Twitter.

“The paramount moral challenge”

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Sep 20, 2009

Greetings all! The summer’s over and I’m back — sort of. My head continues to be buried in book-writing deadlines, and will be for a while yet. But I’ve surfaced just long enough to review a new and important book for The New York Times.

Written by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn — who happen to be married — it’s called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. Here’s a sneak peak at my take:

“In the opening pages of this gripping call to conscience, the husband-and-wife team come out swinging: ‘Gendercide,’ the daily slaughter of girls in the developing world, steals more lives in any given decade ‘than all the genocides of the 20th century.’ No wonder Kristof and WuDunn… declare the global struggle for women’s equality ‘the paramount moral challenge’ of our era.”

In my review, I also issue a challenge to the authors. I hope they receive it with an open heart.

Read the full review here.

Where you can find me this summer

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Jul 13, 2009

Ah, the joys of writing! (Photos: Terkel Borg)

Dear all: This summer I’m taking a break from my blog to begin writing my next book. You can still engage with me on my Facebook fan page and Twitter feed, where I’ll be discussing my ideas for the book even as I write it.

Engaging students at New York University

I’ll also be responding to posts on moralcourage.com, where my New York University students and I are conducting a summer-long human rights campaign revolving around a brilliant film.  It’s called The Stoning of Soraya M.  The movie is now playing at these US theaters.

In Canada, the film opens on July 17 at these theaters.

If you’re overseas, or you can’t get to a theater to watch The Stoning of Soraya M., then here’s the official trailer as well as extra clips that you can view for free.

Please join our discussion on moralcourage.com. Guest bloggers are updating content all the time. Your replies to the posts will help me clarify ideas that I’ll be writing about in my next book.

So, you have three ways to stay in touch: Facebook, Twitter, and moralcourage.com. I look forward to hearing from you.

Happy summer and wish me luck in meeting my deadlines for the first few chapters!

Yours,

See the movie, spread the movement

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Announcements on Jul 08, 2009

(Courtesy: Mpower Pictures)

My latest newsletter focuses on a compelling new film called “The Stoning of Soraya M.” It recently opened in select theaters throughout the United States and will come to Canada on July 17. Distribution to the Middle East is also planned.

You can read more details about the movie — and the movement — in my newsletter.

Please spread the word about Soraya. Simply email your friends this link: http://www.irshadmanji.com/newsletter

Thanks for your support. It means the world. Because at the end of the day, it’s about the world.

Freedom for Abe is freedom for Ali

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts, Q & A on Jul 03, 2009

Every Fourth of July, I receive a greeting card from friends who keep alive the memory of the anti-slavery movement in America. This year, Abraham Lincoln graced the front of their card. Inside, the Lincoln quote reads:

I have often inquired of myself, what great principle or idea it was that kept this confederacy so long together. It was not the mere matter of the separation of the colonies from the motherland, but that sentiment in the Declaration of Independence which gave liberty, not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world, for all future time. It was that which gave promise that in due time the weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all men.

In due time… Not alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the world… With those stirring words, Abe has something profound in common with Ali.

My most dedicated Tehran informant, Ali, recently inspired a message that I sent to my Facebook page:

“More injured are coming to hospital. After seeing so much fresh blood, those who’ve been bed-ridden and out of action for a few days need their morale boosted. So Ali is asking all of us: What do you love about your freedom? I’ll convey your replies to his sis; he’ll share with other patients via code of communication developing among the wounded.”

Facebookers replied with a cascade of reflections. Some highlights:

* “There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give to our children. One is roots; the other, wings. I awake each day knowing this is possible, with sunlight, peace, and dreams of tomorrow. I do not fear my neighbors, my homeland, or my community, but cry for those who do. For one is never truly free if the only certainty is fear. And the fact that I can write this makes me the freest of all. For what is life if it can’t be expressed and felt? May all your voices be heard.”

* “When you are free, you can tell the bastards to get lost. You can walk away and they can’t stop you. You can ignore the MFers.”

* “A freedom without limits is no freedom at all.”

* “I love walking down the street and knowing that even if someone I encounter has different beliefs than me, or even if they dislike me after having learned my beliefs, I still have the right to believe, and my country will protect that right.”

* “Freedom means defending the rights of those who hate me without feeling ridiculous.”

* “I love my freedom because I treasure the uniqueness of each individual. Oppression squashes that uniqueness; freedom allows it to (although doesn’t guarantee it to) flower.”

* “Freedom is to be fully human with the absolute worth of the human person. This is lacking both in secular materialistic cultures and in totalitarian ideologies that blot out humans as individuals.”

Spurred on by the wisdom of Facebookers, my Twitter followers weighed in with their own answers for Ali. A sample:

* “why do I love my freedom? kinda nice to get up in the morning and not have to worry about being shot for my tweets.”

* “I’ve just spent the day with my 7 week old son. Freedom means I know his future will be HIS choices and desires.”

* “I luv freedom because having breakfast at 3 am while discussing politics should be the right of every human being.”

* “Freedom is crucial to happiness. It’s as simple as that.”

I can report that these responses made Ali happy. Which, in turn, would have made Abe happy. To abolitionists everywhere, thank you for your struggle on behalf of human dignity.

And to Americans: This Independence Day weekend, if you watch one film worthy of Abe’s message, make it “The Stoning of Soraya M.” Details of the movie — and where it’s playing — are here.

Why Iran’s protests are dying (for now)

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Jun 28, 2009

Courtesy: WikiMedia Commons 

The other day, I wrote about Ali, one of my informants in Tehran. Years ago, this young Iranian introduced me to Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

Ali has spent the past two weeks in hospital, after taking blows to the head from Basij paramilitaries. If there’s a consolation in any of this, it may be that a hospital bed sucks less than a prison cell.

Still, Ali is becoming despondent. Iran’s demonstrations are dying. And so, it seems, is his soul. Here’s what I just reported to my Facebook constituency: “He’s out of hospital now but quite demoralized over 1) gov’t crackdown; 2) lack of opposition leader (where’s Mousavi gone to??); 3) no new strategies (see “lack of leader”); 4) deep division among Iranians about whether protests are valuable. (Some Tehran bizpeople are angry that sales are down bigtime due to public’s fear of being in streets.)”

But there’s something more about why the protests are abating: Young Iranians have taken inspiration from the central narrative of Shia Islam. That narrative challenges dictatorship. So far, so good. Problem is, the same narrative celebrates martyrdom as the means to achieve only a moral victory, not a political one.

In effect, Shia tradition romanticizes suffering. And anything that turns oppression into a fetish won’t end oppression. The question thus becomes: Can young Iranians use Shia tradition to replace, once and for all, martyrdom with freedom?

Read my full analysis in the Toronto Globe and Mail.

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