In my freshman year of high school, I came across an eccentric-looking comic book titled Persepolis. What a strange and exciting title. At the time, I had no idea what it meant—to me or to so many of my descent and background.
As a religious individual, I can admit that we—followers of all Abrahamic faiths—often unrealistically place our religions on high pedestals. As a Muslim, though, you are constantly held accountable for and reminded of extremities that occur within your faith but have nothing to do with you: 9/11, terrorist attacks in France, ISIS, the Taliban, Hamas. More often than not, these reminders are nothing but hateful misdirection.
Persepolis, however, was the first piece of media that truly seemed to capture the oppressive power of an Islamic regime—because it was. It wasn’t American propaganda aimed at making you, as an easily impressionable patriot, view Middle Easterners and Muslim South Asians as terrorists so they could have easy access to oil and justify the means by which they were taking it.
Persepolis is exactly what it markets itself as: The Story of a Childhood. Marjane Satrapi recounts an Iranian childhood, colored by curiosity and self-discovery, hampered by the worst of Sharia Law, yet still respectful and kind to the image of Islam amidst the revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.
That is a level of empathy that is incredibly hard to come by, particularly in our current “political” climate. I say “political” because we often give humanitarian crises a false sense of polarization, as if there is a debate on which you can pick sides—neither side is more or less humane than the other.
Though published in the early 2000s, the civil matters of Iran have become a hot topic all over again. A hot topic, not a human rights issue, because the outrage regarding the Islamic Republic’s treatment of Iranians is only performative.
Iran has been under oppression since 1980. So why now, given Iran’s equally violent response to Israel’s missiles, do people care? There is nothing generous about this sentiment.
While scrolling through Instagram one morning, I came across a pro-Israeli story ending with: “My heart is with the people of Israel, and also with the civilians in Iran caught under a regime they didn’t choose. Praying for an end to this war.”
Disregarding the grammatical errors—which are testament to the emotional and general intelligence of this post (‘to’ should replace ‘of’)—there is much else wrong with it. In 2022, Iranian security forces claimed the lives of several protesters at the public space of Izeh Market. Where were your prayers then? Did you mourn, care for, or even hear of those civilians in Iran? No, you did not.
What about the civilians in Palestine caught under an occupation they didn’t choose? What about the Israel–Hamas war, which has devolved into labeling innocent children, mothers, and fathers as terrorists? Where were your prayers then?
It is never truly about Iranian civilians or any of these countries that people currently focus on. The questions being asked are not: “How can we provide humanitarian relief to Iranians? How can we recognize similar patterns in Palestine, where kids throw rocks in protest against tanks mowing down their homes and family members?”
Instead, people ask: “How can I use current global issues to justify my behavior and ignorance?”
The people of Iran and Palestine have no defense except us, and though oceans away, we have eyes to watch and words to pressure these oppressive forces. Still, we turn a blind eye and only gaze at these difficult realities when it benefits us.
Israel, meanwhile, has the entirety of the IDF and the support of major Western powers. Is the nation, then, truly the victim?
Unfortunately, I must clarify that I am not directing this toward Israelis or Jewish people, who are targets of oppression and have been wrongfully persecuted both in the past and present. I simply believe no one should live under oppressive rule.
What is happening to the people of Israel, as they are confined to bomb shelters overnight, should happen to no one. It has also been happening across the entire Middle East and South Asia: Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Palestine—to the point where there are no longer bomb shelters, only eroded land. It is incredibly saddening that this persists beyond these areas, and that Israeli powers are risking the safety of their own people by not only initiating attacks on Iran but continuing assaults on nations the UN has warned against.
I am a woman for people—all people. So, too, is Marjane Satrapi in her testament to her country. To be so, you must ache for the suffering of all humans—not only when it is convenient for your agenda. But these Instagram warriors, calling for the world to see the atrocities in Iran, are the same ones excusing what happens in Palestine, Sudan, and beyond.
That is not an outrage. It is not activism, humanitarian care, or benevolence. It is performative activism, selfishness, a lack of empathy, and a bad case of egocentrism.