During this past weekend the US joined Israel in bombing Iran and its nuclear sites, and there are many articles and commentaries on this topic from a political and ideological position, both from the left’s and right’s perspective. But this article is not like any other article that’s been published thus far, as this writer has not taken a position for or against this particular conflict, for I write and give voice to the feelings, thoughts and aspirations of the Iranian people themselves, and am fortunate to count as my friends some wonderful Iranian people that live in my suburb.
Firstly, let’s clarify this writer’s ideological, political and cultural position, which will provide some context for the positions that I take on the subject of this article. I am a dual citizen, I have both a Greek passport and an Australian passport, have lived in the old world and now fortunate to live in a continent in the Southern Pacific Ocean, in a suburb on the edge of Sydney Harbour. Therefore, having lived both in the old world and now in Australia, this gives one the ability through rational and critical thinking to compare and contrast ideas, beliefs, politics and geopolitical situations with a little more clarity.
Politically this writer’s politics are just right of centre due to democratic ideals, individualism and the championing of capitalism- the most successful economic system that has lifted billions out of poverty since the industrial revolution. Yet culturally I am a secular cosmopolitan bohemian humanist who believes in cultural, ethnic and religious inclusiveness that also includes an acceptance of all sexual orientations. Australia is a relatively new country, and living here one cathartically sheds any previous civilisational, political or cultural grievances and is a thorough melting pot of migrants from all over the world, a truly successful multicultural society where one is able to reinvent oneself and wear new lenses to view and experience the world.
This writer’s circle of friends includes atheists, Christians, Moslems, pagans, secularists and people from many different nationalities and amongst them an Iranian brother and sister who live in the apartment directly next to mine. We have been neighbours now for four years, though I am a close friend with the brother, and for the sake of privacy will keep their identities anonymous. Our apartment block is located in a suburb of Sydney called Kirribilli on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. Our apartments are northern facing, and the harbour to the south is literally five hundred meters from our apartment block, and the Sydney Harbour bridge is just a few hundred metres westward. During these past four years, many a night have I found myself out on my balcony at nights and my Iranian friend on his where we have ruminated and discussed life and philosophy together, and where we agreed how lucky we are to live in this new world. When we first met - an Iranian and a Greek - we smiled at the irony of our ancient ancestor’s enmity, and now the Iranian and Greek peoples are firm friends.
Though during these last two weeks leading up to the USA’s bombing of the nuclear sites, my two Iranian friends have been away visiting their family in Iran, I have not heard from them and do worry about them. During my philosophical discussions with my Iranian friend, I have been fortunate that I have discovered the nature of the Iranian people’s hopes, aspirations and current situation from firsthand accounts. On the subject of the Israeli and US bombing of Iran, what is this writer’s position? I have absolutely no position for or against – I am totally against violence and suffering of any kind - but my main concern here is from a humanist position for the hopes and aspirations of the silent Iranian majority who have been subjugated and terrorised by an Islamic theocratic fascist regime hellbent on the destruction of Israel due to a theological delusion and which has been a major supporter of violence and terror throughout the region.
So, what are the hopes and dreams of the silent Iranian majority?
From the mouths of my two Iranian friends here, they advised me that most of young Iranians ( under 40 years of age), wish that their country was free of their theocratic regime, that they wish to live in a secular democracy where all Iranians - Moslems, Zoroastrians, Christians and Jews - could all live in a peaceful and prosperous society, where women are equal and can walk the streets with hair flowing freely in the breeze. Finally, they also wish that Iran was not a pariah state and was a friendly and open society with the rest of the civilised world.
When asked how this will be achieved, my Iranian friends quietly and confidently exclaimed through revolution! That once the older generations die-off - the generations that dreamed of the recreation of a grand Islamic Caliphate - that the young people of Iran will rise up and reclaim their future. In the meantime, the tired old left and right of Europe and the US face off against each other with fists shaking and taking opposing positions and juxtaposing their tired and failed left-right anachronistic European and US political dichotomy on a complex geopolitical conflict; one side shouting their support for Israel and the US and the violence wrought on the Iranian regime and innocent people, and the other side shouting their support for Iran and critical of the west’s hypocrisy vis-a-vis at Israel being allowed to possess nuclear weapons.
Yet seeing things clearly and objectively from distant Australia, no one in the media in the Northern Hemisphere has written about the real victims of the geopolitical grievances and conflicts involving Iran, namely the Iranian people themselves who want nothing more than to live free and prosperous lives in a free society, just like the rest of us in the west do.
So, as I sit here on my balcony on a late Sunday night reflecting on this all and wondering if my Iranian friends are alive and well and will return safely to Sydney and on the aspirations for their people, a quote from the famous Persian poet Rumi comes to mind; “ I am neither of the East nor of the West, no boundaries exist within my breast.”
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Article and cover digital paintings from Nikos Laios
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