The momentum we are seeing in Iran these last few days is fascinating. Does anyone think this could have happened if President Bush was in office? If you remember Bush classified Iran as one of the “Axis of Evil”. This further isolated Iran and helped lead to a little known hard line mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to be elected President of Iran. Just in this year we have seen Barack Obama refer to the Persian nation as the Islamic Republic of Iran and stress through the campaign and now as President that the US should open up dialogue with Iran. No threats, no bullets, just an open hand. What do we see in the streets of Iran? The seeds of rebellion? Perhaps. Time will tell but what we do know is Iran has a very young population. Sixty percent of the population is under 28 years old, thanks in large degree to the devastating impact of the Iran-Iraq War. Iran is also the most pro-American nation in the Middle East. There are as many as 600,000 people living in Los Angeles of Iranian heritage alone (exiles of the Islamic Revolution) and many of them have family living back in Iran. Many don’t know that after 9/11 the only people to hold vigils for the victims in the Muslim world was Iran.

The disputed election has been covered in great detail in the news but the undercurrent of the scorn is much deeper. Though violence is a terrible thing, the misstep made by the Iranian authorities is a good thing from the West’s point of view. Day by day as the protests have continued the people are breaking down the validity of the current government. Despite the outcome of this crisis, Iran will never be the same. The youthful Iranian people are ready for the old guard to crumble and desire a new relationship with the west and especially the United States and there should be no doubt they see in the new US President an opportunity to change the dynamics of the relationship. The election in Iran, for the first time since the 1979 revolution, did not make the US the boogie man. The protesters in the streets are not shouting “Death to America” they are shouting “Death to the Dictators”.

It is true Mousavi is not much different than Ahmadinejad but the protest movement in Iran is much larger than both men. It is a bit premature but if the protests result in a liberal revolution and Iran goes from being an enemy to an ally of the West you can thank mismanagement by the Iranian government, repression of Islamic theocratic rule and the change in tactics by a new US President. The next two days may be crucial. Tomorrow the opposition crowds could be significant as Mousavi has announced a “day of mourning” which was a tactic used by those during the Islamic Revolution to gather unlawfully. Who is going to assault mourners? And Friday, the Islamic Sabbath, is believed to be the largest protest gathering thus far. We will all be watching…and hoping.

Iran’s Latest Protests Are Seen as the Toughest to Stop: NY Times

Iranian protesters’ slogans target Khamenei as the real enemy: Guardian UK

What’s behind Iran’s power struggle: CS Monitor

President Obama is giving the speech tomorrow that President Bush should have given on October 11, 2001. Though he won’t alter events on the ground in the Middle East immediately, Obama will cause the minds of many Muslims to shift. America chose to deal with terrorism by blindly flailing with a sharpened spear and in the process wounding many innocents. President Obama understands the Islamic World. Because he has a unique background, the President will be able to say things that his predecessors could not.

The most pressing issue in the Muslim World involves the Holy Land. The Israeli-Palestinian issue, however, is both a serious issue and a chimera in the region. There is no historical doubt that the Palestinians have been wronged in almost every occasion since 1919. Their ancestral homeland has been whittled away from them through peace treaty, League of Nations treaty, British hegemony, United Nations treaty, Jordanian hegemony and finally Israeli aggression. Their recent historical plight is a tragic consequence at being so near land which is of such religious relevance and being unable to defend itself due to poor and fractious leadership. But Palestine’s tragedy is also deeply rooted in the internal politics of her Arab brothers. Palestine’s condition also serves the interest of the despotic leaders who sit on Arab thrones. The images of Arabs being bloodied by Jewish guns, shells and bombs draws the attention away from the ills of the region’s Arab governments. It is a means of redirecting the rage. It serves another purpose also. Not only does it focus Arab passions away from their own failed governments but it also focuses the West’s attention away from the abysmal human rights violations being perpetrated from Arab capitals. America has simply created a new scene into the Middle Eastern production. The spotlights seem to shift these days between Gaza, The West Bank, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Corrupt Middle Eastern governments now have many outlets to direct the attention of their unhappy populace. Instead of spending lavishly within their petroleum empires, could not the rich oil states redirect significant resources into Palestine and lift out of poverty and destitution the 7.5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip? If the Arabs were truly concerned about their oppressed brothers in Palestine, this would have been done long ago. Look at how the wealthy Jews in the West have assisted the zionist cause in Israel. Wouldn’t it make sense for the Muslims to do the same for their brethren in Palestine?

I am sure President Obama will bring the failures of the Arab World to light in his speech tomorrow. He will state the fact that America has not always made the best decisions but the Muslim World cannot blame all the ills of the world on Jews and America. Islamic terrorism is being cultivated in the dictatorial petrie dishes in the Middle East (albeit warmed under the light of Zionism and American malfeasance). President Obama has rightly begun to push back on Israel by stating they should freeze construction on West Bank settlements. This stance against Israel has not been greeted warmly by many Congressmen on both sides of the aisle. The Jewish lobby is strong in the halls of Congress. Prior to Obama’s visit with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, 76 out of the 100 Senators sent a message to the President advising him to mind the risks to Israel over any Middle East peace accords. President Obama is not just saying what is right, he is doing what is right. It will now be up to Israel, the Arab States and, most of all, the Muslim people now to respond in kind.