Just when it appeared that the opposition movement of Mir Hussein Moussavi was squashed, comes a ray of green light and hope for the opposition through a crack in the clerical establishment.
The Association of Researchers and Teachers of Qum issued a statement siding with the Iranian's of the opposition movement and Moussavi, calling the new government illegitimate. This courageous act of defiance to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is an unparalleled challenge to his absolute authority. The will of the people, association of clerics, and the reform movement tests the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's power and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's legitimacy.
The Greek philosopher Plato said, "The excessive increase of anything causes a reaction in the opposite direction." There is clear evidence that within the Islamic republic there is a growing movement away from the denial of a people's rights toward transparency and truth. In all revolutions there are the seeds of freedom and the right to live without suppression held in peoples hearts, for themselves and future generations. This is fundamental to the nature of human beings everywhere, and it is what spurred people to take to the streets and protest Iran's clouded elections. The Revolutionary Guard and the Basij militia may initially win in stomping out or trying to extinguish peoples spirits in achieving this freedom. But, to do so goes up against the will of life itself and no police state can withstand that force without eventually succumbing.
Iran's population is young with 60% of its people are under 30 years of age. Its youth remain split in how they see the future of Iran. There are those who still hold on to the theocratic ideas of Khamenei and Ahmadinejad and see the principles of Islam under threat, the west as evil, Israel as an illegitimate state, and women as second class citizens. This is a traditional and conservative Iran, of strict control of Islamic values seen through a religious lens. A lens that is framed and focused by the patriarchal supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iran they see is not open to the outside world and is in a protectionist mode. Then the rest of the youths are seeking a government of tolerance and reform. They see an Iran much more engaged with the world at large, one that embraces human rights, and the rights of women, and believes that people's votes and voices must be counted in determining how their country moves into the 21st century. Their reformist leader Mir Hussein Moussavi campaigned with his wife Zahra Rahnavard, an educated woman who refuses to be bound by the rigid constraints imposed on women in Iran. The power of a woman campaigning as an equal cannot be understated to those seeking equality for Iranian women. With Moussavi the opposition can begin to see an Iran that is less isolated and willing to engage with the world. They see an Iran that they want to have a future in.
It is with the youth of Iran where all the hope of its future lies. The naturalist Jane Goodall said: "It's easy to become hopeless. So people must have hope: the human brain, the resilience of nature, the energy of young people and the sort of inspiration that you see from so many hundreds of people who tackle tasks that are impossible and never give up and succeed." Will this youth populated nation find a way to bring everyone to the table to write a future chapter for Iran that holds as much promise as its rich historical past?
Goodbye to the youth of Iran divided against each other Hello to the youth of Iran finding common ground with each other
Goodbye to the youth of Iran seeing everything in black and whiteHello to youth of Iran seeing the gray that connects them
Goodbye to the youth of Iran writing a history of neither conservatives nor reformists Hello to the youth of Iran writing a unified history that holds promise for all