 The last straw
Do what we want, then do what you like with protesters
By Elham Gheytanchi
July 12, 2003
The Iranian
I am not a pessimist and I don't
usually comment on
political events. I believe in people's power to change their
condition. I
believe in the students' potential ability to gain a democratic
government. But I do not think there is a big conspiracy by the
British or the
Americans to conquer the whole world.
I do not think, as unfortunately
some
of my progressive friends sometimes do, that Jews are secretly
planning a
map of the world entirely for themselves. I do not think, as unfortunately
some of my progressive Jewish friends think, that Arabs only
desire destruction and death for others.
I do not think people's
desire for change
can only be used for superpower manipulations.
Yet this is what I found myself thinking about for the past 10
days.
The Iranian government has made
a deal with US and Britain: Iran
will order Hamas to stop fighting as long as the US and Britain
stop supporting
the student movement in Iran. Britain's Foreign Minister Jack
Straw's visits Iran for a series of talks with Iranian hardliners
and once
again
he has been successful in his diplomatic efforts.
In the second
round of negotiations, it seems Straw has
persuaded the Islamic Republic to stop extremist Palestinian
groups
from getting direct help from the Iranian government to kill
Israelis. And Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State, has agreed
with the deal. At first, President Bush and Secretary Powell expressed
support for the Iranian student movement for democracy, but no
such statements
have appeared since Straw's visit to Iran.
So it appears Iranian hardliners have negotiated
a deal to cut
international support for the student movement in exchange for
help
with the peace process and cooperation on nucelar inspections. The
US, Britain and the IRI are all after their own interests, and
supporting democratic aspirations is not one of them.
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The last straw
