In
defence of Walberg article
(Letter to People's Voice, Feb 1-14 2013)
A
letter to the editor (“Article gives
wrong impression of the Iran regime”,
People’s Voice, Dec. 1- 31,
2012)
complains that the article “Canada’s
toxic spill of anti-native racism”
by Eric Walberg from November,
about Canadian native activists
getting a voice in OPEC, portrays
Iran “in a very positive light
and characterizes it as democratic.”
But the article doesn’t
anywhere call Iran democratic.
Rather, the article exposes
the imperialist double standard
in calling Iran undemocratic
while Harper suppresses
Native voices and the EU
bans Iranian television, something
very different from characterizing
Iran as democratic.
Further,
the letter-writer mischaracterizes
“vilayet-e-faqih” (vice-regency
of jurists) as being appointed
by “fellow mullahs” and above
parliament. In fact the Assembly
of Experts is directly elected
by the voters, and while there
is a law specifying they have to
be religious scholars, this is not in
the Constitution and is being legally
challenged. There is also a Guardian
Council, which is above parliament,
but only half the members
are appointed religious scholars,
the rest are lawyers with secular
specialties elected by parliament
itself.
The
letter-writer expresses concern
about communists losing credibility,
but surely credibility requires
being accurate about facts?
Inaccurate information does not
serve the cause of international solidarity
with the Iranian people. Rather,
both international solidarity
and our credibility are best
served by countering imperialism’s
propaganda, as Eric Walberg
has done.
The
letter-writer suggests that Walberg
and others have joined “that
league of the enemy of my enemy
is my friend” because they are
bribed by Iran’s public relations budget.
Perhaps instead of speculating
about Walberg’s motives
we should pay more careful
attention to the suppressed information
he is bringing us. This is
why I hope you print more articles
by Walberg and PressTV.
Perhaps
Walberg was right the first
time, that Iran is not the enemy the
demonization of war propaganda
would have us believe.
S.
Saleh Waziruddin,
Niagara
Falls, ON
