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If you're an American, what could protesting Iran possibly accomplish? They are already sanctioned out the wazoo and our government already doesn't like the gov
by fenwick67 9mo ago
If you're an American, what could protesting Iran possibly accomplish? They are already sanctioned out the wazoo and our government already doesn't like the government there.
- iso1631 9mo ago[flagged]
- School-Cotton 9mo agoIsrael's treatment of Palestinians is completely different from Iran's treatment of Iranians, though I agree both are bad.
- stackskipton 9mo ago>The voices that are silent are the ones that are shouting from the rooftops when Israel does this to Palestinians. Depends on the protester and what they are protesting but many of Israel protests have been against US continuing to support/fund Israel and want US government to do something different. Iran on other hand is US sanctioned and US actively works against it, very different relationship then with Israel.
- zeroonetwothree 9mo agoI don’t doubt that many protesters do hold this view, but looking at the banners that some protesters have it’s clear that it’s not at all universal.
- visageunknown 9mo agoIts obviously not universal. No movement is a monolith. That's a silly expectation to have.
- alex1138 9mo ago[flagged]
- alex1138 9mo ago[flagged]
- michelsedgh 9mo agoI think there are voting rings and bots downvoting anything that goes against a certain agenda here on HN. I read many posts about it here as well, nothing we can do, but I don’t think the downvotes are organic.
- tinfoilhatter 9mo agoShould we talk about all of the victims on October 7th that were killed with munitions Hamas doesn't possess as well? I wouldn't call leveling Gaza "targeted strikes". Seems more like wonton destruction to me.
- almosthere 9mo ago[flagged]
- tdeck 9mo agoThe IDF conducted targeted strikes alright. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80d2zrdj7vo https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c80d2zrdj7vo
- baxtr 9mo ago[flagged]
- croes 9mo agoThe same day when Trump threatens to kidnap Netanyahu
- Capricorn2481 9mo agoThis is one of the most ridiculous things I've read on this site.
- cultofmetatron 9mo agoIs that because you want Greta and her friends to be tortured, humiliated and raped like Israelis did to them as the freedom flotilla testified? IF you're going to profess such outlandish things, please go ahead and say the quiet part aloud for us all :) EDIT: zionists on here downvoting anything they don't like because the truth offends them. https://www.reuters.com/world/greta-thunberg-alleges-torture-israeli-detention-after-gaza-flotilla-arrest-2025-10-07/ https://www.reuters.com/world/greta-thunberg-alleges-torture...
- tdeck 9mo ago> The voices that are silent are the ones that are shouting from the rooftops when Israel does this to Palestinians. When Israel does this to Palestinians with US made planes and US made bombs, bought largely by US tax dollars? Over and over again for more than 2 years? Shielded from consequences in the UN by the US? Seems pretty sus that Americans would protest that in particular.
- maltalex 9mo agoThat argument would have made sense if the protests were limited to the US, but they're not. There's clearly something else at play.
- tdeck 9mo agoWhat thing? Afraid to speak plainly?
- mandog2000 9mo agoAnd U.S. citizens (with Israelity citizenship) fighting on behalf of Israel. How many are American-trained soldiers. An evil loophole.
- tinfoilhatter 9mo agoOne government is committing a genocide against a neighboring sovereign state. Why does a person have to condemn every atrocity to condemn genocide without being accused of being an anti-Semite? They don't need to, is the answer.
- whatshisface 9mo agoThe purpose of protesting Israel's human rights abuses is that lack of awareness, misinformation, and propaganda, are key pillars in the policies that make them possible. Protests (and online complaints) are ineffective enough already, we don't need to layer an unclear goal (what would you be hoping to accomplish?) on top of it all.
- andrepd 9mo ago> The voices that are silent are the ones that are shouting from the rooftops when Israel does this to Palestinians. As the comment you just replied to says, Iran is already sanctioned and bombed, while Israel gets billions in military (and other) aid from US and the rest of the West. It's abundantly clear that there's a difference. And furthermore, so you have to have a decibel meter perfectly calibrated for every tragedy that happens on planet earth, or your arguments are nullified? Preposterous.
- RobertoG 9mo agoWell, last time I checked Iran was not invited to Euro-vision and my government was not selling weapons to it. So, not the same, see? I demand for Israel the same sanctions that they are applying to Iran and Russia. Are you happy now?
- gretch 9mo ago> our government already doesn't like the government there. Well yeah but we could drop even more bombs than we would have
- almosthere 9mo ago[flagged]
- anon7000 9mo agoTo demand the US invades Iran? Do you think the Iranian fuckheads killing their own citizens care about the words of a group of people in a different country? A country which already sanctions Iran to the point that a protest doesn’t change anything for them unless the demand is for the US to invade them?
- thinkindie 9mo agoPalestinians have been living in an apartheid state since well before October 7th, 2023. At least few decades back. Gaza was even worse.
- almosthere 9mo agoThis post was about Iran. Do a Google search for "impact of a sharp object to the face" with quotes and tell me again it's not worth 5 minutes of protest.
- cultofmetatron 9mo agoThey were displacing and killing Palestinians long before oct 7th my dude.
- jama211 9mo agoDirect your anger at the problems.
- Cyph0n 9mo agoFirst, Oct 7th was not the start, but it can seem like that to those that regard Palestinians as subhumans who do not deserve liberation and instead are destined to live under the shackles of apartheid, blockade, and occupation. Secondly, there are various reasons why there is no protesting in this case. Maybe it’s because Israel is the child of US foreign policy? Or perhaps it’s because US veto protection is what has allowed Israel to get away with so much across its history? Or heck, maybe it’s because our taxpayer dollars fund the Israeli gov to the tune of billions of dollars annually (and don’t come with the “it is just weapons” bullshit; money is fungible). On the other hand, what exactly would be accomplished by protesting against Iranian government repression on US soil or on US campuses?
- nashashmi 9mo agoOur sanctions are the reason why their situation is difficult. They are having the intended effect. And the protests plus the calamity are wanted by the west.
- 0x1ch 9mo agoNot too long ago (three months ago?), either here or on Lobsters, an iranian programmer was basically pleading for help because he had built some type of A.I. system, but there is zero market for it in Iran, and he is blacklisted from working with / for anyone in the US.
- js8 9mo agoIn fact, I believe if the U.S. wanted to really help the Iranians, they should have lifted the sanctions in exchange for Iranian government easing some of the domestic laws. I don't think sanctions are that helpful in establishing democracy, and even if they were, taking the population hostage in order to instigate an uprising is morally quite dubious. In any case, U.S. has recently proven to be a dishonest actor, so even if above was correct I would still not want them to do it. P.S. I was born in communist Czechoslovakia. So I have seen an organic regime change, and the Iranian one is IMHO too violent to be the moment.
- alephnerd 9mo ago> they should have lifted the sanctions in exchange for Iranian government easing some of the domestic laws... No authoritarian regime wants to go down the same way Gorbachev, Husak, and Honecker did by meeting the opposition halfway. Most regimes learnt from how China cracked down in Tiananmen and how SK cracked down in Gwangju, especially countries like Iran that are much more structurally similar to Maoist China than the 1980s Eastern Bloc, as much of the Iranian economy is owned by the Bonyads (Islamic charities), State Owned Enterprises, and regime affiliated conglomerates who wouldn't expect to retain economic control if Iran didn't remain an Islamic Republic, and the footsoldiers of the Cultural Revolution (yes, Iran had one too called the Inqilab e Firangi or "Revolution against the West") are the ones in charge. The current violent crackdown is similar to that which the Iranian regime used during the Green Movement back in 2009-10. The IRGC has a headcount of around 100k, the Police 300k, the PMF in Iraq (which have now been mobilized across Iran) have 200k, the Liwa Fateymoun (Shia Afghan militia) have around 3k-10k, and Liwa Zainabiyoun (Shia Pakistani/Pakhtun militia) have around 5k-8k personnel. That's around 600k personnel who are ideologically aligned with the regime, have seen combat in Syria or Yemen, have had experience cracking down on anti-regime protests on multiple occasions, and have the means for a violent crackdown in a country of 90 million people. And that's ignoring personnel that the Houthis or Hezbollah can send despite being battered by Israeli strikes. On the other hand, the SAVAK during the Iranian Revolution only had 5K personnel in a country of 40 million. A lot of people will refer to Syria as an example of a counter-revolution, but the Syria's population was significantly better armed during the Assad regime compared to Iranians today. Before the Arab Spring it was common for the then Syrian government to send disaffected Sunni troublemakers across the border to Iraq to take potshots at the Americans and let them solve the problem [0][1][2][3]. This was how Jolani/al-Sharaa and a number of anti-Assad revolutionaries got their start as well. I sincerely hope the Iranian people get the ability to choose the government that is right for them, but based on the lived experiences of my friends and family in authoritarian states, I sadly think the Iranian regime will stand. [0] - https://jamestown.org/a-mujahideen-bleed-through-from-iraq-a-look-at-syria/ https://jamestown.org/a-mujahideen-bleed-through-from-iraq-a... [1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07iht-syria.1.7781943.html https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07iht-syria.... [2] - https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirection https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirectio... [3] - https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2008/10/30/a-puzzling-raid https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2008/10/30/...