Iran: Multiple Things Can be True At Once

I first started paying attention to Iran through the graphic novel Persepolis, published in France in 2000 and in the US in 2003. It’s the story of a young girl growing up during the overthrow of the Shah and the rise of the Islamic regime…basically, from the gentler corruption and brutality frying pan into the raging inferno of extremist fundamentalism. Women who had been educated and free now had to cover their heads and stay home. No music. No singing. No dancing. No freedom. It was patriarchy at its worst. And that continued for almost 50 years.

Then there were the uprisings a few years ago — when the youth of Iran rose up to the sound of Baraye, and the Kurdish women’s rights movement motto: Women Life Freedom, after the arrest and execution by the Iranian “morality police” of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was wearing her hijab improperly in 2022. The Iranian regime went on a rampage, hanging protesters, shooting them, and burning them out in the open streets.

In 2024, Shervin Hajipour, who wrote Baraye and won a Grammy for it, was imprisoned and forced to write “anti-America aggression” music.

You may not have seen it, because our “mainstream media” is compromised, but a few months ago, the Iranian regime murdered another 50,000 protesters. These were mostly young people who were protesting by dancing and singing. Even riding a motorcycle, which was forbidden for women to do, was cause for murder. Baby Rider, the Iranian Biker Princess who was only 19, was killed this past January.

How dare she ride a motorcycle…and without a hijab?!

So here’s the deal: War is wrong. But freeing the women of Iran is right.

Now, I know there are a million contradictions in that statement. Bombing a girls’ school is definitely wrong and horrific. Trump and Netanyahu are both disgusting bullies who should be in jail. But it’s older and more complicated than all that.

I am most fortunate that one of my best friends, David, is half Lebanese and half Italian. He was born in Lebanon, and his mother still lives there. As a young boy, he was forced to leave his mother during the Lebanese war, which was fought from 1975 to 1990, and move to Italy with his father. And he is Jewish. He loves America and lives here now as a citizen, immensely enjoying our freedoms. Including the freedom of speech, which he utilizes quite profusely. He travels frequently to the Middle East and has many friends and family all throughout it. I don’t agree with him on a lot of things. But I agree with him about this: Freeing the people of Iran is a good thing. Although just taking out the top leadership is absolutely no guarantee of freedom. Because here is the thing: the history of the Middle East is that every revolution that takes out a leader leads to even more fighting for who will take his place. It’s not just power and money, it’s oil. And oil equals power and money. Israel needs oil. China needs oil. The US needs oil. YOU need oil. In talking with David, I can see that the roots of all these conflicts are deep and can’t be expunged with just a few bombs and assassinations.

Americans have a very narrow view of what the Middle East is all about. The history of Iran and the whole Middle East is older than Abraham. The original religion of Iran was Zoroastrianism. The core philosophy is “Good thoughts, good words, good deeds.” It is monotheistic and still practiced by many. They also believe in judgment after death, and heaven and hell. Despite the Middle East being the birthplace of all major religions (other than Buddhism and Hinduism), it is also the birthplace of patriarchy and war. According to David, Arabs only respect strength. And at the root of all the fighting is envy and jealousy. In other words, humanity. Arabs were primarily nomadic and tribal, and it was the British and Americans who forced them into countries with boundary lines. They have been fighting each other forever and will probably continue to do so. Fighting for resources, for beliefs, for power. But the victims always seem to be women and children, which is the signature of patriarchy.

And that’s why, today, I will not be angry that we are engaging in an illegal war. I will say a prayer that the women of Iran rise up and take control of their destiny. If patriarchy is ever to die, it must be in the place where the Divine Feminine was first murdered. And that was in the cradle of civilization, the Middle East.

Here is the final thing: It can be good that we have freed the women of Iran for now, but never forget that American “morality police” are itching to exterminate us here. In the pursuit of power, money, and oil, fueled by envy and jealousy, there is no safe haven. Which is why good thoughts, good words, and good deeds are more important than ever. What is also important is learning and understanding history and saving our marches and protests for when they are truly needed.

One day, I pray that women will be free around the world, and there will be enough organic food for everyone to sit around the table and share the delicious feast of life. I pray we all, men and women and children, will overcome our envy and jealousies to understand that true happiness and wealth can only occur when we are happy for each other’s successes. I pray our children will be raised in peaceful, inclusive, and safe societies where they can learn that love is greater than fear, and practice it in their daily interactions with people who are different from them.

War is stupid and bad. But freedom for women is great.

When the women are free, we can all be free.