by Nick Tyrone, spiked
Too many so-called progressives have instinctively sided with the brutal Iranian regime.
A new item has now been added to the left’s ‘omnicause’ – the list of views you have to hold to be a truly ‘progressive’ activist. Alongside trans rights and opposition to Israel, you are now expected to show support for the Iranian theocracy. Yes, those lovely, fuzzy mullahs who like to publicly execute homosexuals and spend an inordinate amount of time and energy oppressing women. It seems some on the left have now decided that those fellas are the good guys.
From the left’s perspective, it makes a warped kind of sense. The Israelis are the bad guys, in their view, and Iran is Israel’s enemy. Therefore, the Iranians must logically be the good guys. This thinking was demonstrated on Saturday, following Israel’s strikes on military targets in Iran. Pro-Iran chants and signs could be seen and heard on one of the ubiquitous pro-Palestine marches in London.
This is such a childish view of the world that it is difficult to fathom how grown adults can buy into it. The Iranian theocracy is one of the least liberal governments on Earth. It is a regime that imposes the death penalty hundreds of times a year – not just for homosexuality, but also for all manner of other things we wouldn’t even consider crimes in the West. It runs a ruthless authoritarian state that hammers away at any internal opposition in the most brutal ways imaginable.
More from spiked:
The hilarious collapse of the cult of the keffiyeh by Brendan O’Neill
The march of the useful idiots by Josh Howie