Separating A People from the Government, "Deradicalization," Etc.
On Iranians, Russians, and Palestinians, and the Limits of Separate Peoples and Governments
Hello! It’s almost the new year. And I’m sick, so, no going out for me. When you read this, it’s already the new year. So happy new year! Here’s to a lot of dead tyrants and victorious militaries of Ukraine and Israel!
To be clear, this is sparkling wine, not champagne. I continue to boycott France for the crime of existing.
In 2023, I moved back to Arizona. What a wonderful decision! Except for being sick right now. I can barely keep my eyes open. I’m trapped at home, bored. I can’t read because I literally am having a difficult time keeping my eyes open. I can write with my eyes shut, but I won’t be editing this one. So excuse any typos and bad writing.
Speaking of the New Year’s celebrations in Arizona, I am having a flashback. Six years ago, when I was young a still able to go to raves—as opposed to now that I’m old and unable to go to raves but do nonetheless—I was at Decadence. What’s Decadence? This is it:
It was an odd moment. At the age of 28, I was finally about to finish college. Next stop: Realizing my dream of attending Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, and starting a new life in Washington, D.C. (both of which I regret now). I was at the top of the world, at a mindless, two-night rave with 15,000 people, yet I was anything but mindless.
Only a few days earlier, nationwide protests in Iran had begun. It was the first instance of anti-regime protests. Whereas 2009 and previous protests were mostly directed at specific policies and factions, 2017 was directed at the entirety of the Islamic Republic. It was surreal for me.
I didn’t grow up with a romantic view of Iran and Iranians. Rather, my romanticism was for America and Americans (which the U.S. immigration system has turned into a resentment for). After leaving Iran, I’d always say that I didn’t just flee Iran but also Iranians. I’d dance around it in explaining why—too traditional, too backward, too politically conservative—but really, what I meant was too non-revolutionary. Iranians were too comfortable with the tyranny they lived under.
I opposed the Iran nuclear deal. They supported it. I hated reformists. They had hopes for reform. I thought that the regime was the problem. They thought that hardliners were the problem. I liked the Republicans because they were tough on Iran. They liked the Democrats because they were soft on Iran.
The protests of 2017 changed that. For the first time, they had caught up with me. They finally saw what I had seen, asking for what I had asked.
At the party, my mind couldn’t stop thinking about Iran. For the first time, I was looking at it through a romantic lens. For the first time since leaving, I wish that I were there, not at one of the most fun parties in the world, with the best DJs and the hottest girls. I wanted to party by killing a few IRGC members, not at a rave.
Since then, my views of Iranians have drastically changed. I can separate them from their government because they have made it clear, over and over again, that they are different than their government. Since then, many have been killed, more tortured, even more imprisoned. Yet they haven’t stopped protesting and rioting. They haven’t stopped challenging the authority that oppresses them. You can’t find a more telling indicator than this. The authorities teach schoolchildren to say “Death to Israel,” and they respond, “Death to Palestine.”
My ultra-Zionist bias is showing here, of course. But there’s more. The old friends who would accuse me of being a traitor for my Zionism and support for Republicans still launch the same accusation at me. Now, for being critical of Bibi Netanyahu and anti-Trump, the two saints of the Iranian resistance.
After Russia started its full-scale war against Ukraine, the Russian diasporas either kept silent or began explaining that we really don’t understand the conflict and it’s too nuanced to be black and white, etc., etc. (by the virtue of their looks, I often find myself in the company of Russian women and have firsthand knowledge). The Palestinian diasporas have even less shame in apologizing for Hamas. The Iranian diasporas, on the other hand, show up at pro-Ukrainian and pro-Israeli protests.
The only thing left is for every Iranian to get a tattoo on their foreheads that says, “DO YOU GET IT? WE HATE THE REGIME!”