Millions turned out to publicly mourn the passing, 21 years ago, of Ayatollah Khomeni who led the revolution which overthrew the despotic Shah of Iran and replaced him with a totalitarian Islamic theocracy. Worth the trade? I hardly think so. But that is not the real question today, as speeches given by the current leadership excoriated the United States, rebuked as heretics any who challenged the current regime and predicted the end of Israel.
The real question today is not about the past. It’s about the present and how it helps us build a better future. How do we get past the options of banging the drums of inevitable war with Iran, as some seem to love doing, or of pretending that today’s Iran shouldn’t scare pretty much anyone able to read this post, as the way to avoid how tough the situation is?
We start by asking better questions about the meaning of those millions who took to the streets to mourn Ayatollah Khomeini. If they are there because the idolize him and believe that today’s Iran honors his legacy, then things are worse than many want to admit.
If the average Iranian believes that the totalitarian theocracy of 21st century Iran is the best way forward for their nation, then those of us who oppose theocracy and or totalitarianism need to speak out much more forcefully about the challenge of Iran. It does not matter that this has traditionally been an issue for conservatives and or Republicans. In fact, many of the human rights abuses and church-state issues (or mosque-state) in Iran, are the bread and butter of liberal advocacy groups in the US. So why not when it comes to Iran?
On the other hand, if the millions turned out because they were coerced by the government, then things may be more promising than we often imagine. It may be that people are not so happy with the status quo. It may be that more people than many imagine are still looking for a new way forward. And if that is the case, then offering something other than stark choices between American culture and Islamic totalitarian culture is incredibly important.
I know that like so much of what goes on in the Middle East, and especially in light of this past week’s events off the coast of Gaza, we tend to see what we already believe, rather than ask how new events present new opportunities. I also know that if we want things to improve, whatever our definition of that word is, we need to do more than use current events to confirm past conclusions.
As Albert Einstein remarked, “no problem could ever be solved at the level of consciousness which created it”. Nowhere more than in our thinking about the Middle East, should that insight be forward in our minds.
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
posted June 4, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Sorry but Iran is hardly “totalitarian” and it is time to stop referring to Iran as the old Soviet Union. Iran actually has a much more representative government than most of our closest allies in the region, if not the world. Kazakhstan? Azerbaijan? Egypt? Saudi Arabia? Ruled by petty tyrants and “Presidents for Life” that we propped up. Incidentally, the UNDENIABLE fact is that today, Iranians are far better educated (especially women) than ever before, they have far better access to clean water, electricity, paved roads, hospitals (their medical program is being implemented in rural Mississippi even) and Iran is one of the fasted growing countries in sciences. All of these are independently verified facts reported in the Western press, not Iranian propaganda. The Iranians have needle exchange programs for addicts, and are at the forefront of stem cell research and cloning too. Check it out yourself.
posted June 4, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Dear Haas…I can not believe my eyes and ears. IRI is the second most violator of human rights next to China according to Amnesty International. Almost a year ago, Khamenei stole the elections and chose his puppy who wants to wipe Israel off the map. There are more crime committed by this regime and Islam than in any period in Iran,s troubled history. Islamic government is not working–get it? It is the oil money that is keeping it alive. Inflation has been up annually for the past 31 years. Unemployment is at 25% Human smuggling, drug addiction and rape in Iranian prisons by Hams and Basij runs rampant. Yet you continue to apologize for the regime. Very shameful indeed.
posted June 5, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Anit save your breath.Hass is either ignorant or a believer in “the bigger the lie the more people will believe it. It was the late Shah’s father who had to use brutal force to unite the various tribes of the old Persian empire into modern Iran. Riza Shah Palavi the last Shah of Iran was a tough administrator who sent 3 to 400,000 Iranian young men and women overseas to foreign universities to bring Western thought and technology back to Iran. He emancipated the women – built schools, hospitals, and orphanages. He was a close friend of the U.S. selling us oil at reasonable prices. He was disliked by the Soviet Union. The main reason for his iron fist approach to politics was his Muslim fundamentalist adversaries who were waiting in the “wings” {Ayatollahs in Parisian exile], as well as in Iran, to murder him and his family. Thank God we have a thriving democracy in our country where the people can decide and vote in their candidates. Unfortunately all countries are founded on bloodshed and revolution. Nothing is perfect – utopia [from the Greek] means that which does not exist. How many Germans – who had been interviewed after WW11 or Japanese – wished for their former leaders’ return to power. Incidentally, I am not Iranian, Muslim, or a royalist. I don’t have a dog in this fracas.
posted July 17, 2010 at 2:31 am
As one who was alive during the time of the Shah’s reign and also the takeover by the Ayatollah, the U.S. shouldn’t have been involved in proping up the Shah’s regime to begin with, in my opinion – and it is the Brits who want control of Iran once again since they lost a lot of oil after the Ayatollah came into power and once their puppet Shah was booted out. This is all about Britannia ruling the natural resources of all nations, hence our country even giving them mineral rights to our offshore oil, while fighting a war in Iraq for Britain’s also prime possession and terroritory – Israel, which was created, after all, under a British accord signed prior even to World War I (look up the Balfour Accord).
Wake up, gentlemen.