Yearning for Freedom

As events unfold this week in IRAN, we are once again reminded that the people of all lands will yearn to be free. No matter what the regime is , whether it is religious, socialistic or capitalistic, the people will eventually cry out for freedom. What do they want? It is simple; all people desire the right to communicate,to express their ideas,to meet,to learn (what and how they wish to learn), to travel, to work,to marry,to have families, the right to inform their fellow citizens about their government(without fear of reprisal),to have a decent place to live,to worship as they choose.
As it is written in the AMERICAN Declaration of Independence, these rights are "inalienable" and belong to all peoples. These rights come from the "creator". No man or system can nor should take them away. And that is why the founders of the United States defined these rights in their Constitution.
What we are seeing this week in Iran is the little seedling of freedom trying to grow,nurtured and enabled by the modern methods of communication. Yes, Facebook,Twitter, Emails and Blogs,YouTube and all the rest. And how does the ruling regime respond? They cut off the communication,bar "foreign journalists" and turn the water hoses and tear gas on demonstrators.
We have seen it all before, claim the people who yearn for freedom are witches, burn the books,destroy the printing presses,jail and torture people for their ideas or beliefs. Some have gone further, they perform genocide on whole groups of people who are either in their way or they just don't like.
Yes, even in America we saw peaceful demonstrators beaten,gassed,hosed with water cannons,chased,attacked with vicious dogs and yes even murdered. Maybe some of you have forgotten, but it was called the "Civil Rights" movement. But, it was a sign that a corrupt system was failing,desperately trying to hang on to its evil ways. But a voice that was initially small began to grow, people who stood by and said nothing began to join the protest against this wrong. The result was that great change came to America. One of the reasons it changed was the powerful images of these injustices delivered to the people by a free and (for the most part) unfettered press.

So, this morning when I awoke to the news on CNN that the Iranian Government had brought out the tear gas and the water cannons, I knew that Freedom is on the way. The pictures, by the way, came from peoples' cell phones, because the government had barred the journalists.
The end of totalitarianism in IRAN is near. Not maybe today but soon.
We, as a Nation must support this cry for freedom. To paraphrase John F. Kennedy in his famous speech at the Brandenburg gate in Germany: We are all Iranians!

I hope the other dictators and madmen hear the drumbeat of freedom. You can't hide behind a cloak of secrecy and oppression much longer.

Inshallah