Thread by @hodakatebi

I've been wearing hijab for 17yrs. Islam is my moral compass & one of the central most part of my identity.
I’m also Iranian & understand the difference between burning symbols of the state it has co-opted (like a headscarf that is mandated) vs an assault on Islam 1/
#MahsaAmini

2/ Dangerously framing this as assault on Islam would alienate millions of Iranian Muslims in Iran & around the world. This is KEY right now because the Iranian gov is also trying to polarize the mvmt to divide protestors & allies (that are LED BY MUSLIM and non-Muslim women)

Having spent considerable time in protests/riots here in the United States over the years, I want to share a few things based on a lot of the comments/DMs/in my feed I’m seeing as we watch the protests in Iran unfold:

#MahsaAmini #JinaAmini

1. You can never control everyone at a protest. There will always be ppl w/different goals, tactics, etc. Videos of actions committed by the fringes of a movement can go disproportionately viral, which the status quo uses to fear monger and isolate public support for protestors.

Videos & images of actions committed by the fringes of a movement can go disproportionately viral, which the status quo uses to fear monger and isolate public support for protestors.

Orientalism, race, & class play into how protestors' anger get characterized & criminalized. Pls always keep this in mind whether for Iranians in Iran or Black communities in the US. A few ppl engaged in action against the goals of the mvmt shouldn't be used to undermine the mvmt

2. On that note, you don’t have to like everything you see to support a people’s struggle. If everyone lost faith in a mvmt/rejected struggle anytime we saw a few ppl on the sidelines doing something we don’t agree w/there would never be a successful revolution in history

Movements are messy. Join us in protest against police in the US & you’ll see that too. Change isn’t clean, easy, or romantic. It’s hard, often violent & traumatic, but inspiring. It’s with what values/principles we build & *practice* & imagine that define the future it can build

oops sorry i fell asleep and didn't finish ok let's continue 😅

3. I have no doubt foreign nations will try to co-opt these protests. Hell, find me a country the US hasn’t staged a coup in (including in Iran). Yet I believe more strongly in the young, brilliant Iranian ppl to lead, direct, & set narrative of the futures THEY want.
#MahsaAmini

Threats of external interference are very real and historically documented, but that doesn’t meant that liberation movements should be delegitimized as a result of that fear. That just means those of us living outside Iran have to do what we can to reduce interference from here

4. Finally, and most importantly, context is *key.* Iranian women burning a headscarf they have been forced to wear is ***very different*** than fascists in India burning the hijab while they attack Muslims.
#MahsaAmini #IranProtests2022

Iran exploits Islamic symbolism. Burning the Israeli flag in Palestine (w/the Star of David on it) is not anti-semitic, but resistance to Israeli Apartheid. Similarly in Iran burning a scarf is not Islamophobic, but a symbol of resistance to STATE domination over women’s bodies.

If anything, as Muslims we should be most outraged over a state’s co-optation & weaponization of our faith. We can do so while recognizing stakes/contexts as different for us living in the West where Muslims criminalized & we experience our own form of state violence & control

And as I’ve said before, using this opportunity to spew right-wing Islamophobic talking points is counter to a liberation movement that is being LED by Muslim and non-Muslim women in Iran. Don’t just share whatever everyone else is sharing bc it’s going viral.
#IranProtests2022

TL;DR: Breathe and take a moment to be nuanced, thoughtful, and informed.

Appreciate y'all and esp everyone on the ground in Iran and around the world I learn so much from <3