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Speaking with Terry Galvin

Kamangir | October 24, 2007 | Category Human Rights, International Bloggers, Iran, Islamic Republic, media

I spoke over the phone with the bright and well-informed Canadian journalist Terry Galvin. An excerpt of our discussion has been mentioned in his new article “What Iranian Dissidents Need, and why they deserve more from North America’s left.”

In the United States, a debate is raging over whether dissidents in Iran should accept U.S. State Department funds aimed at assisting the regime’s adversaries (Kamangir says it’s foolish to take money from Americans; it just provides the theocracy with another pretext to criminalize dissent).

…”It makes a lot of difference to people in Iran when they see that people outside Iran are trying to help with protests and demonstrations,” Kamangir told me, “but there is also a lot of text and lots of images coming out of Iran every day. I just observe, and then I post things. I don’t really engage in theoretical debates. I just observe.”

Reader's Comments

  1. leo | October 24th, 2007 at 8:53 am

    When Kamangir the Iranian says this:

    “(Kamangir says it’s foolish to take money from Americans; it just provides the (Iranian) theocracy with another pretext to criminalize dissent).”

    how could Leo the US citizen know better?

    However, Leo the former SU citizen says:

    “Screw it. Pretext will be found and smearing and prosecution and torture and murder will go on either way. And dissent will be accused of taking US money regardless whether dissent will take it or not.”

  2. ella | October 24th, 2007 at 10:22 am

    Leo

    IRI lasted only 20+ years, compare it to SU where things changed only after ~ 80 years.. Furthermore IRI system is not as totalitarian as SU was. I think Iranians believe that they do not need to change the whole system. I believe they think that changing one president for another and changing a couple of other things (particularly in the sphere of economy) will be enough. Add to that the fact that IRI is a theocracy, that dissent is really an economic dissent and that they have no clear idea what exactly (apart from economy) they want to change and than you have it.
    I agree with you and not with Kamangir, but we (the west) can not force the money on them if they do not want it.

  3. leo | October 24th, 2007 at 11:25 am

    Ella,

    I did not mean US should force it. Of cause not. I meant Iranian dissent has no good reason to refuse if offered.

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