Khomeini Photo Infuriates Mousavi Voter

 by Julie Jigsawnovich

While Noruz is being celebrated, not all are celebrating Mir Mousavi's Noruz message. One of my friends wrote, "After all this, can you believe the garbage that is still coming out of his mouth?! And take a good look at his pitiful Islamized excuse for a Haft Sin, with Ayatollah Khomeini's infernal portrait as its most visible element...I actually voted for this bastard! NEVER AGAIN. NEVER, NEVER AGAIN!"

What do you think of his speech and his inclusion of the Khomeini photo?

My friend Mazdak said, "I don't like it too. Moussavi has never been my ideal candidate as a president for Iran, and he doesn't necessarily fulfill the things I like. On one hand I like his honesty. He says what he believes in. Unlike many other politicians in Iran, he does not seem to be a hypocrite. He is talking of evolution--kind of reform, not a revolution--and I think that's what Iran needs. On the other hand, he has to do that--to give him the legitimacy to be able to continue his actions against coup d'etat and not being called "Mohareb". I think the guy who said 'the garbage that is still coming out of his mouth' is not living in Iran and does not have any clue about the harsh situation of doing political activity inside Iran. Plus, many people in Iran still believe in Islam and Moussavi is not there to ignore their beliefs.

Mazdak continued, "Finally, you will always see these contradictions and paradoxes in Green Movement of Iran because it consists of different oppositions. They can be secularist, Muslims who don't believe in combination of Islam and politics, or Muslims that still want an Islamic regime."

Another of my Iranian friends said, "I think we shouldn't forget that including the Khomeini picture is nothing more than a tactic, just like people who don't believe in God chant Allah Akbar from rooftops alongside people who do believe in God. The question is not if it is good to have Khomeini's picture there or not, but whether it is a good tactic or not. Of that I am not sure. I think nobody is."

My friend Arya said, "I genuinely don't have a problem with Khomeini's picture. First of all, he was way better than Khamene'ee in my book. He was a cold-hearted dictator who didn't need to rig elections and then have to kill people to bend them to his will. He would make a speech and everyone would just shut up.
 




 
 Secondly, let's not forget Mousavi's goal. He has said over and over that his dream is to 'Bring back some of the now-lost ideals that the revolution was once built upon.' I said genuinely  because I believe that you shouldn't add stuff to haft-sin that don't belong there, but most people put Hafiz on their 7sin so how can they boo Mousavi for putting Khomeini there??

"Which brings us to the real problem: about his speech, I'd really love to give you a translation but I can't because I can't bear to listen to his stupid crap. Frankly, I find it an insult to the people of Iran that someone like Mousavi would even think he can pretend to be 'green' and get away with it, but look at all these people believing in him.

"Don't you find it just a little odd that our government kills protestors, imprisons political activists and is now actively watching ex-political activists, but when it comes to THE LEADER of the opposition, who gives speeches, they're just letting the m-----f---er live? That is the biggest lie I've ever been told and I won't believe it for a second. F--- that guy! He's having a new year's eve cocktail with Ahmadinejad right now for all I know."

Another Iranian friend said, "You can never expect more (from Mousavi). He was always playing like this. He never said that religion and politics should be divided. He is just about fraud in the election. His aim is to make the country like Khomeini wanted it to be. He was always clear about this statement. It's nothing new.

"Khomeini died a year before I born, so I just don't know much about him. But he was also an extremist Islamic, as far as I know. People who are chanting that religion and politics should be divided are not following Mousavi. This whole thing is just another scenario like the last one, the Islamic Revolution. I have lost my faith in Green Movement, to be frank."

My friend Dalir said, "Beh nazareh man, it's not a real shocker that he has aqseh Khomeini sitting there on the table. I was a little more surprised that he didn't have Khamenei's picture there as well. Those two tend to go hand in hand.

"Setting Mousavi's campaign rhetoric aside for a moment, his true beliefs coincides with those that forged the revolution and sustained it. I can understand why it would get some people heated that he has Khomeini's picture, on the flip side, it shouldn't be that much of a jaw dropper.

"Regarding his speech in the video, I had some trouble understanding him due to my Farsi not being what it should. Beh nazareh man."



Dalir asked me my opinion on the whole matter. Well...I think Shah Pahlavi had become corrupt, extremely narcissistic, out of touch with the people of Iran--and that he used torture and murder to intimidate them. So I can see why the people of Iran wanted him out of power. But I think it's a shame that they didn't replace the Shah with a more Mosadeq-like figure, who--correct me if I'm wrong--seemed more concerned about sharing oil revenues equitably with the people of Iran, than with forcing Sharia law on them.

Khomeini's standing up to the US was awe inspiring, but his attempt to reject pretty much everything the US stood for was not--because the US seems a mixture of good and evil--the evil being exploitation, the good being personal liberties and freedoms. Khomeini lied and said he would not force hijab on women, but later he sure did! And as a woman who nearly fainted under her hijab, long sleeves and trousers in Isfahan last May--before it gets really hot--I can tell you that the Iranian law forcing women to cover up that much in a country that gets that hot is cruel.

Although Mousavi made history by campaigning with his wife, and many women supported his campaign and voted for him, his inclusion of the Khomeini portrait leaves me wondering how much Mousavi would have wanted to advocate for women's rights had he successfully taken office as President.

Mousavi's inclusion of Khomeini's photo, but not Khamenei's photo could perhaps be seen as a form of protest against Khamenei since the two photos are displayed together almost everywhere in Iran. But it seems that if Mousavi wanted a more secular form of government he would not have included the Khomeini portrait. This has implications not only for women--and for gays and lesbians who are persecuted under Sharia law, but also for the Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians in Iran who practice religions that predate the Islam brought by the Arab invasion of Iran--and for the Baha'is, practitioners of a religion newer than Islam, "innovators" who are heavily persecuted in Iran.

Noruz and the Haft Sin table display are ancient Zorastrian traditions that long pre-date all the other monotheistic religions including Islam, so to place an Islamic Ayatolah within the Haft Sin is itself an "innovation." For all these reasons, I can see why the friend I quoted in the opening part of this article, a friend who is politically Liberal/Progressive, supportive of a secular, Constitutional democracy for Iran and also proud of his Iranian heritage would be frustrated and angered by Mousavi's inclusion of Khomeini's photo even though, as my other friends pointed out, the inclusion is not that surprising.

Dear Readers, You can post comments as Anonymous, without having to create a profile. If your comment is long, submit it in sections. I deleted three comments by my friend Arya because there were some cuss words in them, but I cleaned up the language a little and added his comments to the article.