Celebrating Freedom for America and Iran

This Fourth of July, I spent the day in solidarity with the people of Iran. I added a touch of green in honor of the fiercely brave and yet everyday people of Iran.

A lot of people lost their lives last month. Even more are in prison. I don’t see the point of celebrating American freedom if it does not include honoring the Iranians who have sacrificed for their freedom.

My Fourth of July was in honor of an Iranian blogger who wrote to the world believing it would be her last post. In the face of death, she spent her last night doing the things she loved. Her last prayer. She made her hair look pretty one last time. She painted her nails. And then she danced one last time to her favorite song before she walked out to the street ready die for her vote.

My Fourth of July was in honor of the Iranian who video-blogged from the rooftop of a night-darkened Tehran. I sat in prayer and remembered the silence between the cries of Allah-o Akbar (God is of most value) that pierced the night. I remembered how the people’s cries sounded like the soul of Iran moaning in frustration.

I remembered her voice as it cracked with emotion and tension.

I remembered watching people beat, pulled from their cars and then a women named Neda dying on my TV screen. I remembered the man screaming over her. I remembered Neda’s eyes rolling into the back of her head. I remembered the thousands of people that bullet passed through before landing on her chest.

I remembered the beatings becoming more brutal as the Iranians chanted in the streets to not be afraid.

The police would grab protesters while other protesters would attack the police and save their countryman from being taken away.

I remembered the militia driving down the street on their motorbikes only to have people from a bridge above throw bottles - trying to save the trapped crowd below.

This year on the Fourth of July, I honored Iran and how they are scratching at the walls of freedom with bloody fingertips.

This Fourth of July I honored Iran for they have yet to succeed. I did not celebrate 1776. I celebrated bravery and freedom and the ideas of freedom that connect America and Iran through the everyday people who today make up a worldwide nation of my patriots.

Western Media Misread Iranian Elections

Reports on the Iranian elections by Western media have been misleading.

They portray the election battle as a struggle between conservative Pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and moderate Mir Hussein Moussavi. The election battle, however, is actually a struggle over power and money, not democracy.

Ahmadinejad is cast as unpopular, and most coverage presumes that he stole the elections from Moussavi. Many western journalists compare Moussavi with Pres. Barack Obama and broadcast news show frequent images of bloody demonstrations as evidence that Iranians like Moussavi because he represents change. The truth, however, is completely the opposite.

Western media have failed to answer the question: Why did the majority of Iranians vote for Ahmadinejad? The answer is simple: because he, not Moussavi, is their Obama. This may be difficult for a westerner to understand. Yes, Ahmadinejad has been accused of wanting to wipe Israel off the map and developing a nuclear weapon and quoted denying the Holocaust. However, from the perspective of ordinary Iranians who voted for him, these things are not important. What is important is the fact that he is the only president who has been courageous enough to stand up for “millionaire mullahs” headed by Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the main supporter of Moussavi.

After the establishment of the Islamic republic in 1979, the country’s wealth was transformed into charity organizations headed by mullahs. Since then, these organizations, which are not audited, have become corrupt. There is also widespread corruption among the mullahs who exploit their power to accumulate wealth.

During his first term in office, Ahamdinejad clashed with these millionaire mullahs when he launched a campaign to rid Iran of corruption. His goal is to nationalize the charity organizations, which means that they would be subjected to auditing. This has made these mullahs very nervous.

Al Jazeera English reported that Rafsanjani, Moussavi’s chief supporter, is now in Rome. He is there to use the momentum of the students’ riots to generate support for other rich mullahs and to make sure that his position will be secure in the post-election era.

During the televised debates between Ahmadinejad and Moussavi, the president singled out Rafsinjani and asked, “How did Rafsanjani’s sons became millionaires?” The Rafsanjani family is known to have used its powerful position to amass huge wealth like many other mullahs.

Ahmadinejad, on the other hand, is well known for his humble family background. This was pointed out on Monday by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who called on Iran to vote for the candidate whose life is not corrupt.

Ahmadinejad is the son of a blacksmith from South Tehran. This is extremely important for Iranians who resent the widening gap between the haves and have nots. According to Al Jazeera English, this gap has increased during the past decades and is visible in the extreme poverty in south Tehran and extreme wealth in the city’s north.

Those who carried out the Islamic revolution vowed to end corruption and the disparity between rich and poor. This works to Ahmadinejad’s advantage. Many voted for him because of his concerns about corruption and inequalities, which in their view are counter to true Islam. This means that Iranian society, which tends to be religious, sees him as a better candidate. One should not underestimate the power of mosques in Iran.

Having said that, one should not ignore the role of dissatisfied students who simply want more freedom. Moussavi does have the support of many of them, but his lethal mistake is his strange alliance with conservative and rich Mullah Rafsanjani. During the televised debates, Ahmadinejad stressed these strange relations and used them link Moussavi to corruption.

Once the votes are recounted, and the riots end, it will be interesting to see where the struggle between Ahmadinejad and Rafsanjai will lead. Will Ahmadinejad continue to receive the backing of Supreme Leader Khamenei, or will Rafsanjani, the second most powerful man, manage to stop Ahmadinejad? Time will tell, but the Western media won’t get the story right if it cannot transcend its current script.

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This article originally appeared on New America Media.