In another sign of lack of unity among Iranian expatriate community these days an old issue has resurfaced again; that is easily playing into the hands of those who believe in the theory of ‘divide and conquer’. The issue which is pretty much exclusive to diasporas is about the ever important subject of which flag if any should be shown in the various rallies outside of Iran. The famous ‘shir-o-khorshid’ flag that used to be Iran’s flag during the Pahlavi era with a lion, sun and sword emblem, or the current Islamic Republic State of Iran flag that has the four crescents and sword.
Usually the supporters of the two groups advocating displaying the ‘shir-o-khorshid’ flag tend to be aligned either with the monarchist opposition movement led by Reza Pahlavi or the Islamist Socialist group Mujahedeen Khalq (MKO) led by Maryam Rajavi. They base their firm belief on a series of factual historic claims that shows how the embelm had evolved throught time until it was finally taken off after the revolution.
Here for whatever is worth (not much) I should add that personally I prefer the ‘shir-o-khorshid’ flag, however what adament defenders of this symbol seem to miss is exactly what other adament defenders of those who cling to other symbols from the past like for example those who still carrry the Confederate or Southern Cross flag in the South is that symbols matter as they have different meaning for different folks. To some folks in the South the flag represents bigotry while to some it is reflective of their feeling of pride toward their ancestors.
As far as Iran and its current struggle the point that adament defenders of the flag seem to miss is that symbols be it a flag or a simple green ribbon or the words used in various chants all are intended to first unite a movement in its base and then grow it in numbers. The more inclusive these symbols and then the rhetorics and agendas the more chance of growing the base.
The question is who comprises the base and what is their agenda. Since there are no legitimate scientific polling of those involved in the green movement – both the large masses in support of Mousavi pre 22nd khordad coup and those wearing green post 22nd khordad coup we can then only rely on anectodal evidences to base our opinions.That said in my opinion based on these anectodal evidences the goal of majority of those involved in the green movement ‘inside’ Iran was not a complete overthrow of Islamic Republic. Not that probably many of them didn’t want a secular republic, but rather because they realize given the hard core idealogical stance of those on the opposite side the road toward that goal would’ve been much costlier in blood than a peaceful reform within the laws of the existing flawed system.
Of course there are some supporters of Pahlavi and Rajavi who live in Iran and although pre 22nd Khordad coup were against voting even for Mousavi, but used this opportunity to jump on the green wave to push their groups agendas along those that truly felt betrayed because their vote had been stolen. Again it is tough to say if they outnumber supporters of Mousavi and Karoubi but again using ancetodal evidences like how given their continuous effort in the past decades to have ordinary Iranians rebel against the regime and none doing so, more than likely the number of their supporters getting a free ride on this green wave is very low. So ‘for now’ it is my opinion that most of those wearing the symbolic greens are there to support Mousavi’s agendas.
So the issue for the expat community who more than likely for majority of them will not be moving back to Iran to demonstrate in the streets is how to show their support for those that are risking their bodies and lives for a better Iran. A good start would be by looking at Iran’s streets. Clearly Iranians inside Iran are not carrying the ‘shir-o-khorshid’ flag! The question is it because they are scared?! If they are scared then how come they aren’t worried when they are shouting out the death chants?! And if they are brave enough to shout death to dictator then how come there hasn’t been any death or deragotary chants toward the founder of revolution Khomeini?!? Again this is why I think they are not after another bloody revolution or even some type of civil war. This is why for the sake of ‘unity’ the expat community abroad should try to mimic those inside Iran instead of trying to be different. The day they start carrying the ‘shir-o-khorshid’ flag or the day they start wearing another color is the day those of us who believe in their bravery and their noble path should do the same when we are trying to show our support for them.
Originally posted on: http://essenceofwisdom.blogspot.com
