Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Iran, the Shah, and Human Rights
Since we're reading "Persepolis," maybe it's appropriate to kick off our blog with a blog posting by none other than Reza Pahlavi, son of the deposed Shah of Iran. He is now an advocate for human rights in Iran and also has something to say about nuclear power--the possession of which no one has ever claimed was a human right!
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Reza Pahlavi states that the only way Iran can be free from the repressive Islamic regime is through free elections and the support of the people. "I envision a democratic Iran where leaders are elected through free and fair elections, where each individual's vote is a meaningful one." Yet, four years ago in Iran's previous presidential elections, a majority of the middle class boycotted the vote. This was in response to what Shirin Ebadi, who is a human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, said. She thought that the Iranian's participation in a flawed and undemocratic election gave it legitimacy. How can the Iranians ever hope to achieve freedom if they don't vote?
ReplyDeleteMany middle-class Iranians later on regretted their decision not to vote when Ahmadinejad had trouble handling the economy. But in the latest election in June, Iranians turned out in high numbers to vote. "If people had not voted in Iran on such a grand scale, the world would have assumed once again that the people had chosen Ahmadinejad as their President. Now Iranians have made their discontent clear, and though their votes have been discounted, their voices have been heard. Ahmadinejad may remain President of Iran, but his legitimacy has been shaken to its core, not just before his nation but before the world. Iranians managed that by voting, and it is a powerful accomplishment indeed." Although the elections were rigged, Iranians showed they now understand the importance of the right to vote and its relation to their future freedom.
Here is the link to the Time article I quoted on: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1904876-1,00.html
Also, I found another interesting article about how Iran recently sentenced an Iranian-American scholar to twelve years of prison.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1931174,00.html
So! Of course everything in my life is a Harry Potter reference, but bear with me.
ReplyDeleteNuclear Weapons are like the sorcerer's stone, really dangerous in the wrong hand, should only be found by those who want to have them but not use them, but ultimately we're all better off without them and they should be destroyed. On that note, In this case I would say that America is "Nicolas Flamel" and Iran is more like "Voldemort". Nicolas Flamel didn't use the sorcerer's stone as a tool of evil, rather he used it out selfishness and fear (of dying). He wasn't directly doing any damage, but the very exsistance of the stone created problems. The US and most other devloped nations have nuclear weapons out of selfishness and fear, even though they may not be using them, the possesion of them encourges issues. Iran uses nuclear weapons and Voldemort trys to use the sorcerers stone to rise to power. If/when this happens, it will be scary and it will probably lead into a time of opression for Iranians and beyond. The whole wizarding world is better off without the sorcerer's stone, us muggles are much better off without nuclear weapons.