foucault-and-the-iranian-revolution-janet-afary

92 Foucault's Writings on the Iranian Revolution
exception to Foucault's uncritical stance toward the lslamists. She dedared: "I
am profoundly upset by the untroubled attitude of French leftists toward the
possibility of an 'Islamic government' that might replace the bloody tyranny
of the shah." Foucault seemed "moved by the 'Muslim spirituality' that would
advantageously replace, according to him, the ferocious capitalist dictatorship
that is tottering today." Why, she continued, apparently referring to the
1953 overthrow of Mossadeq, must the Iranian people, "after twenty-five
years of silence and oppression" be forced to choose between "the SAVAK
and religious fanaticism"? Atoussa H. then brought in a well-known verse
from the Quran on women, which reads, "Your wives are for you a field;
come then to your field as you wish." This, she wrote, showed " dearly" that
"the man is the lord, the wife the slave; she can be used at his whim; she can
say nothing. " Unveiled women were already being insulted on the streets,
and Khomeini supporters had made dear that "in the regime that they wish
for, women should behave or else be punished." With respect to Foucault's
statements that ethnic and religious minorities would have their rights "on
the condition that they do not injure the majority, " Atoussa H. asked pointedly,
"At what point do the minorities begin to 'injure the majority'?" ("An
Iranian Woman Writes," app., 209).
Returning to the problematic notion of an Islamic government, Atoussa
H. pointed to the brutal forms of justice in Saudi Arabia: "Hands and heads
fall, for thieves and lovers." She conduded,
It seems that for the Western Left, which lacks humanism, Islam is desir-
able . . . for other people. Many Iranians are, like me, distressed and desperate
about the thought of an "Islamic" government. We know what it is. Every­
where outside Iran, Islam serves as a cover for feudal or pseudo-revolutionary
oppression. Often also, as in Tunisia, in Pakistan, in Indonesia, and at home,
Islam-alas ! -is the only means of expression for a muzzled people. The West­
ern liberal Left needs to know that Islamic law can become a dead weight on
societies hungering for change. The Left should not let itself be seduced by a
cure that is perhaps worse than the disease. ("Iranian Woman, " app., 209-10)
This critique was extremely hard-hitting because it came from an Iranian who
strongly opposed the regime from the Left, and who was very familiar with
the key issues, especially those of gender, that Foucault had avoided in his
writings on Iran.
Foucault, in a short rejoinder published the following week in Le Nouvel
ObservateuT, made two arguments against Atoussa H. First, he said, she "did