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Breaking Down Orientalist Views of Politics
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Last October, I was talking with friends about the situation. Week after week, it became clear to me: they didn’t care about defending Palestine, or standing with oppressed people, or fighting against colonialism. It was only about fighting Israel, at any cost. I had a conversation with a Palestinian friend about why, as an…
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The Anti-Colonial Dilemma: Israel and Palestinian Liberation
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What we face today on the global left is a fundamental issue, not just with ideology, but with clarity of purpose. There’s a fixation on the destruction of Israel, a vision rooted in an anti-Semitic worldview. It’s crucial to confront this head-on. The struggle for Palestinian liberation, over the past decades, has become entangled…
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Iran on the Brink: War, Fascism, and the West’s Hypocrisy
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The people in the West, standing up for Palestine over the past year, are doing something important. It’s true, some of them also hold racist and Orientalist views, supporting Islamic fascism without realizing it. But for us Iranians, the fight against Islamic fascism and the struggle for Palestinian liberation are two separate matters. We…
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The Story of a Nation? A Country? A People?
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I struggle to find the right title, perhaps because these words—nation, country, people—have lost their weight, their truth. For many of us, they are no longer symbols of pride or belonging. This isn’t just because I’ve wandered for over 12 years, moving from one place to another, but because the idea of a “nation”…
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The Geopolitical Implications of Ismail Haniyeh’s Assassination
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It is undeniable that the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh involved cooperation from high-ranking security officials of the Islamic Republic. The assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, while aiding Netanyahu’s agenda, has broader implications for the Middle East. It underscores the fragile nature of political alliances and the continuous struggle for power in the region. This act…
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The Book of Fate: Heartbeats of Resistance and Sacrifice
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A friend’s request for English translations of Persian literature led to a search highlighting Iranian women writers, focusing on themes of resistance and struggle. A notable work is “The Book of Fate” by Parinoush Saniee, a novel depicting Iran’s social history from the 1970s to present. It follows Massoumeh, a Tehran teenager forced into…
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Understanding Iran’s Election Engineering and its Global Ramifications
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The post discusses the intricate political dynamics in Iran involving its relationships with Russia, the West, and China. It highlights Interior Minister’s statement on a “new era” and Vladimir Putin’s concern about Iran-Russia relations amid presidential elections. The narrative points to Iran’s need to engage with the West to ease sanctions and stabilize economically,…
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Strikes and Struggles: The Plight of Iran’s Oil Workers
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The new wave of strikes, called the “14-14” campaign, began on June 19. Contract workers in various oil and gas companies went on strike demanding higher wages and a 14-day work, 14-day rest schedule. Earlier, these workers had warned that if their demands were not met by the end of June, they would strike.…
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The Complex Dynamics of Voting in Iran: Aspirations, Realities, and Repression
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The political situation in Iran is like a patient with 80% of their body affected by leukemia or AIDS. Those who still have hope in this sick and paralyzed democracy ask what should be done with this patient. They don’t abandon the patient but use their energy to keep him alive, hoping for a…
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Wallet and Gender: Understanding Women’s Economic Marginalization in Iran
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The Iranian centrist newspaper, Ham Mihan, has highlighted the issue of women’s employment in a recent report. Despite Iran having one of the highest numbers of female university students and graduates in the region, their participation in the labor market and economy remains lower than in most neighboring countries. The core issue revolves around…
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Hijab, Political Islam,
and the Construction of Theocracy in the Middle East•
The Iran-Iraq war saw the slogan “My sister, your hijab is your fortress” symbolizing the Islamic Republic’s efforts to cement its ideology through veiling. Over time, the veil revealed itself to be a protective measure for the regime rather than for women. Questions about policy’s significance in women’s dress arise amidst large budgets for…
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Rima Hassan: The Controversial Advocate of Palestinian Rights in France
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Rima Hassan, a 32-year-old legal scholar and activist, has made history by becoming the first French-Palestinian member of the European parliament. Her party, the left-wing France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI), obtained 9.89 percent of the votes cast on EU elections and is now sending nine MEPs to Brussels. The European elections in France…