“We have to unravel these lies”

The following is based on an unpublished essay, and on several conversations, in which Victor Kal, who teaches philosophy at Amsterdam University, claims in a nutshell that a theocracy can only flourish in a liberal democracy and a liberal democracy only thanks to theocratically orientated citizens. Has this philosopher lost himself in abstract thoughts and gone mad?

“Strong media create freedom”

“I am still ready for Jihad”

“People are seeking their rightful demands”

“We will persevere until the fall of despotism”

“The final victory will be for the people”

In a contest of violence against violence, the Green Movement would be doomed. Its only chance is a contest of state violence against the power of people acting in concert. Violence could still be effective and destroy the power generated by the Green Movement, but violence can never create the power that is necessary to legitimize good governance. Even if the Green Movement loses its momentum, and its power, it should not drink from the cup of viciousness to satisfy the great thirst for freedom: violence can never be a real substitute for power.

“Mohammad would never approve of Iran’s prisons”

“The people are supposed to rule”

Attempt to broaden and energize the Green Movement

“We must absorb people who are not with the Green Movement”

“Every banned weblog should be replaced by tens of weblogs”

“We must persist until the problems are solved”

“Protesters only want reform”

Iran undoubtedly has one of the most dynamic civil societies and women’s rights movements in the Middle East. From the 1990s onward, the Iranian civil society has been marked by the vitality of debates on social, civil, cultural, economic and political dimensions of women’s citizenship

In an interview Dr. Hamid-Reza Jalayipour (sociologist & university professor, Tehran) has made an analysis of the behavior of the Iranian Regime and the opposing ‘Green Movement’

Which other 20th century regimes can Tehran be (partially) compared with, and what are the historical precedents that Iranian insurgents should keep in mind today