Ninety percent of Iranians hate the regime and everything for which it stands. Yes ten percent support the regime and would like to see Israel destroyed but the vast majority of Iranians reject the regimes policies. Unfortunately the ninety percent is the group without the guns.
On Monday June 17 2013 Shai Franklin currently senior fellow for United Nations Affairs at the Institute on Religion and Public Affairs penned a critique (1) for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency entitled Op-Ed: Stop pretending to care about Iranians rights" in which he roundly criticized Professor Irwin Cotler and Illinois U.S. Senator Mark Kirk for their essay (2)Op-Ed: Stand with the dissidents of Iran" published in JTA on Friday June 14 2013. Franklin condemned the Cotler-Kirk call for support of the newly formed Iranian Political Prisoners Global Advocacy Project as counter-productive. He proclaimed that their appeal for support actually undermines the cause of dissidents who are risking their lives and being tortured daily just for the basic dignity that most JTA readers take for granted."
Mr. Franklin may be an expert in many areas of Middle-East affairshis background certainly implies suchbut on this issue he is woefully ignorant. Nothis writer is not an eye-witness to the Iranian prison systemthank God. But he does have regular contact with scores of former prisoners who have been part of the Iranian dissident movement for over three decades. And their testimony consistently calls for greater international scrutiny of the Iranian prison system.
Mr. Franklin criticized Cotler and Kirk for publishing their essay in a Jewish newspaper. He wrote: But when Cotler and Kirk call on Jews to demand democracy and human rights in Iran implicitly branding it as a pro-Israel priorityit actually undermines…" I have read the Cotler-Kirk essay multiple times; nowhere does it address the Jewish community to act on behalf of Israel. In fact nowhere in their essay do they address their words exclusively to the Jewish community! Publishing in the JTA in todays world is no more of an intention to address an exclusive faith/ethnic community than was my 2008 publication of essays about Iraq in the AINA press an address limited to Iraqi Christians or my essay about Syria in 2009 in Ashraq al-Arabi an exclusive to the Arab world. But Mr. Franklin should understand somethingand this is that leading advocates as well as lawyers for the National Council of Resistance of Iran the leading opposition movement to the Tehran regime with supporters both in and outside Iranleading advocates for the NCRI are Jewish. And some of us support the NCRI because we care about human rights and some of us do so because we believe that it is in Israels interests to see regime change in Iran and some of us are involved for both reasons.
Franklin suggests that not only do most of the brave Iranians Cotler and Kirk claim to be helping not want their help they would probably continue much of the terrorist and nuclear enterprise the current regime is pursuing." It appears that Franklin doesnt remember the words of the young dissidents in the streets of Tehran during the summer and fall 2009 riots as they repeatedly chanted: Obama ya ba oona ya ba ma"Obama: Are you with us or with them?" andNa ghazeh na lobnan janam fadai iran"Neither Gaza nor Lebanon is our business; no to Gaza and no to Lebanon. Iran is our business and I give my life for that!" He also seems to be uninformed about the current pro-democracy demonstrations (3) in the capital this past weekend wherehundreds of Tehranis mostly young people staged a march in which they were chanting free all political prisoners" we dont want a government with guidance patrols" Sattar Beheshti we will continue your path" Neda Agha Soltan the lady of Iran your path is continuing" and dont be afraid we are all together" or a similar demonstration Monday in Hamedan where the crowd chanted Political prisoners must be released" and Cannons Tanks Bassijis are effective no more. (4) Does Franklin need to be reminded that one of the first places that Neda Soltans fianc Caspian Makan came to visit after his escape from Iran was Israel? (5) Ninety percent of Iranians hate the regime and everything for which it stands. Yes ten percent support the regime and would like to see Israel destroyed but the vast majority of Iranians reject the regimes policies. Unfortunately the ninety percent is the group without the guns.
Franklin says that Iranian dissidents arent asking for us to isolate and strangle their country economically and politically." Maybe Franklin isnt looking or listening to the right dissidents. My sources (6) report that many Iranians are calling for stiff sanctions and boycotts of products that bring income to the regime. Franklin further states his belief that most Iranians will want nuclear arms even if the regime is overthrown. He writes: But even a complete change of regime whether by internal revolution or external force would be unlikely to produce a cooperative government that renounces Irans inbred aspirations to regional hegemony." Obviously Mr. Franklin is not very familiar with the National Council of Resistance of Iran or its nominal leader President-elect Mrs. Maryam Rajavi. The NCRIs 2012 annual convocation in Paris drew over 100000 attendees from around the world; the 2013 convocation next weekend promises to feature a larger attendance yet. The NCRI Ten Point Plan for Future Iran (7) specifically rejects nuclear weaponry for Iran and calls for regional harmonious relations. That doesnt sound like an aspiration to regional hegemony.
Mr. Franklins portfolio calls for him to promote human rights; thats an admirable goal. As he is a Jewish professional I assume that he is committed to Israels safety and survival. The two are not mutually exclusive despite what he seems to think. And if he would get out into the field and see the work of the NCRI and its subsidiary the PMOI (Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran) he might come to realize that regime change is not only desirable but if led by the popular NCRI will result in amicable relations between Iran and Israel as was the case prior to the 1979 Khomeini revolution.
i Shai Franklin Op-Ed: Stop pretending to care about Iranians rights" JTA June 17 2013 http://www.jta.org/2013/06/17/news-opinion/opinion/op-ed-stop-pretending-we-care-about-iranian-rights
ii Irwin Cotler and Mark Kirk Op-Ed: Stand with the dissidents of Iran" JTA June 14 2013 http://www.jta.org/2013/06/14/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/op-ed-stand-with-the-dissidents-of-iran.
iii Security forces attack protesters chanting anti-regime slogans" Iran Focus June 16 2013
http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27804:security-forces-attack-protesters-chanting-anti-regime-slogans&catid=4:iran-general&Itemid=26.
iv INTV Iran: gathering in Hamedan with people chanting anti-regime slogans" PMOI June 17 2013 http://www.mojahedin.org/pagesen/detailsNews.aspx?newsid=26880.
v JPost.com Staff Nedas fiance: Iran will be free" The Jerusalem Post March 19 2010 http://www.jpost.com/International/Nedas-fiance-Iran-will-be-free.
vi Joseph Puder Iran is Ready for Change" Front Page Magazine September 24 2007 archived in: Iran Watch September 24 2007 http://ncpdaus.org/iran-watch-september-24-2007/. Also see: NCRI Iran: NCRI Womens Committee calls for sanctions on Mullahs regime" NCRI June 23 2009 http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ncri-statements/women/6575-iran-ncri-womens-committee-calls-for-sanctions-on-mullahs-regime.html.
vii NCRI Maryam Rajavis Ten Point Plan for Future Iran" NCRI January 8 2013 http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/ten-point-plan.html and Ibid Non-nuclear Iran" NCRI January 8 2013 http://www.ncr-iran.org/en/non-nuclear-iran.html.