Sometimes we really need to compare ourselves with others and look at our similarities and differences. It helps us to see where we stand.

A while back, a forum called “Journalism behind the Fence” was held in Beirut – the capital of free speech in the Middle East – in memory of the late Al-Nahar editor, Jubran Twaini. In the forum, Salaheddin Hafez, Secretary General of the Arab Journalists Union, called attention to the descent of Arab media into obscurity and oblivion. Hafez described the causes of this descent as follows:

1. Poverty, ignorance, illiteracy, and mounting financial problems prevent families from purchasing publications regularly in their basket of goods.

2. When, out of fear of government retribution, all newspapers report the same things, readers do not need more than one newspaper – especially if that newspaper is unable to report the news accurately in the first place.

3. With their rulings, legal and judicial systems allow governments to restrict the free flow of information, and laws are also interpreted in ways that are favorable to governments.

4. The high cost of publishing books, resulting from the conditions of industry, salary of writers, and high risk of uncertainty decreases motivation to work in the publishing industry.

5. Governments regard journalists and writers as their sworn enemies and the price of criticizing those in power is imprisonment and exile.

It is not necessary to note the similarities between Hafez’s account of the Arab Media and our own media. Analysts agree that this trend results from the prevalence of authoritarianism, which naturally undermines freedom. But it is interesting to note that, when the same thing happens in Iran, it is called defending the Islamic Revolution and fighting against foreign mercenaries.

There are those who still fall for the religious and pious rhetoric of the government and think thank freedoms are restricted to protect religious faith. But paying attention to the similarities will help these people realize that they must look for the roots of the anti-freedom movement somewhere else – somewhere other than religious principles. God’s view on the nature of human beings and its relation to freedom is clear and does not need expounding by religious authorities.

This report shows that, all over the world, dictators are alike, even if they hide behind the veil of Islam and faith. In one of his pieces, Paulo Coelho writes about the clerics who, after a thousand years, realize that Jesus too must have a role in the Church! That day is yet to arrive in Iran!