In this post-democratic age, any politician who defends democracy is denounced as a tyrant or dictator. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Ahmadinejad of Iran and many others have been consistently demonised in the western press for their ‘anti-democratic’ politics. And the reason for this is simple: all three leaders defend economic policies that favour the poor over the rich.
There is no doubt that most young people in Iran want change, but this desire is more cultural than political. I spoke to many students during my last visit to Iran a few months ago, and what struck me about many of them was their deeply confused reasoning on international issues. Many admired Israel and the United States as paragons of democracy and progress, flagrantly denying the fact that these are two of the most aggressive states on the planet, both guilty of war crimes and genocide abroad as well as deep corruption at home.
The problem with the Iranian opposition groups is that their opposition to the cultural politics of the Islamic Republic threw them back into the hands of CNN and propaganda radio stations from Israel. Many of them expressed views of Arabs, and in particular Palestinians, that amounted to racism. But in the west, racism against Arabs is the norm.
Every time the newspapers and TV channels refer to the Israeli Defence Forces combating Palestinian ‘terrorists’, they are guilty of racism, deliberately ignoring the fact that the territories occupied by Israel are in breach of international law. Moreover, Israel’s insistence on describing itself as a ‘Jewish’ state is outright racism, as it favours one ethnic community over others. On the other hand. Hamas is one of the only democratically elected organisations in the Middle East, and their military struggle with Israel does not constitute terrorism. Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah are no less unlawful than the IDF – they are simply combatants in a protracted conflict.
In Iran, Ahmadinejad has also been demonised for his statements concerning Israel. But his words were, as usual, taken out of context. He did not call for the destruction of the Jews: on the contrary, he called for an end to Zionism. There are many anti-Zionist Jews both in Iran, Israel and throughout the world. Ahmadinejad has Jewish ancestry himself, and is supported by a majority of the Jewish community in Iran, the biggest in the Middle East outside Israel. He also has support from anti-Zionist rabbis within Israel.
As for Venezuela, the vitriol, lies and anti-democratic propaganda reaches dizzying proportions. Hugo Chavez is a democratically elected president, and since coming to power he has provided free schooling for the country’s poor, free healthcare through generous help from Cuba, and a free press for the first time in the country’s history. He has given hope to millions of the country’s poor and overcome both a US-backed coup against him and an international campaign to demonise him.
Hugo Chavez has consistently promoted freedom of expression and freedom of the press in Venezuela, where an incredible 95 per cent of the media is privately owned by right-wing, pro-US moguls. When the ‘human rights’ opposition supported the CIA-backed coup d’état against Chavez in 2002, the Venezuelan media applauded the re-installed fascists. Since then, they have spread the most atrocious propaganda against the president, accusing him of being ‘disturbed’ among other lies.
Since the media in Venezuela refuses to recognise their democratic leader, Chavez was forced to start his own TV programme where he answers calls from Venezuela’s poor. But in this Orwellian world, leaders who side with the poor, oppose imperialism and favour the interests of their people over those of the US, EU and the international cabal of capitalist hawks are subject to the most callous and outrageous untruths.
It is a deeply worrying sign of how inhuman and decadent western societies have become when we attack the democrats and freedom fighters and defend the tyrants. Sadly, this problem is now ubiquitous.
