Kamangir (Archer)

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One Picture, Many Thoughts

Kamangir | December 16, 2005 | Category Iran

This picture is started circulating in the internet. The original source seems to be a website majorly devoted to fun-related material. In the original image, censored here, face of the monkey is replaced with Ahmadinajed’s face.

First of all, as a person who has spent time on manipulating images, I have to acknowledge the quality of this fake image. Both the idea, and the implementation are great.

It is clearly a result of Ahmadinejad’s attitude in his few months as a president. Obviously, this image shows that who ever created it, and those who later distributed it, are greatly unsatisfied, and even frustrated, by Ahmadinejad’s actions. But is it a worthy excuse for making such a picture? What is being ridiculed here? Ahmadinejad, specially, and Iran, generally. I can’t imagine what should I say to my non-Iranian friends if they see this. More than insulting Ahmadinejad, this picture is insulting the people who elected him. More than that, this image is making fun of Iran’s political system; a president of that kind may remain in power for four long years. Because, the kind of democracy practiced in Iran is a quasi-democracy: “people become important when regime needs votes, then they’d better shout off”. Are we happy for being a citizen of such zoo?

If it is insulting to see one of our countries institutions, the presidency, being humiliated to this extent, what do the people of all those countries feel, when their national flags are burned out in streets of Iran? Iranians attacked and occupied US embassy, piece of United States of America. Isn’t that insulting? Iranians shout “Down with USA” in the streets of Tehran, what will happen if Americans shout “Down with Imam Hossein” in the streets of New York? Iranians burn mimics of White House, what would happen if British men stone the models of Imam Reza’s shrine? Why do we tolerate humiliating others’ values this easily? Though, after the feast comes reckoning, and we easily pay (see).