The Middle East is one of those parts of the world where there is often very little good news. It’s a region where hatred, violence, superstition, oppression and backwardness rules. It’s an area scarred by war and dictatorship and one where the leaders of the Islamic countries of the region distract their populations from their own failures by encouraging hatred of the Middle East’s only advanced democratic country, Israel.

But today, much to my delight, I have some good news to bring you and from Iran no less. According to a link shared by the Gab user @Mohamscamel an attempt by the Iranian government to whip up yet another ‘two minute hate’ against Israel has been subverted by ordinary decent Iranians themselves.

The link, from the site of the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, tells of how ordinary Iranians, the ‘people on the Tehran Omnibus’ so to speak, fed up with the constant Israel bashing engaged in by the Iranian government, and reached out to Israeli citizens on social media. According to the Strategic Affairs site the hashtag #ShalomfromIran has started to trend on social media.

The Strategic Affairs site said:

Despite Iran’s continued threats and hate mongering, as well as their demonization of Jews and Israel in a childish attempt to drive Iranians and Israelis apart, the people of Iran are fed up with their oppressive regime, and they’re reaching out to Israel on social media to show it.

At the end of May, Iranians took to social media and with messages of peace and coexistence with the hashtag #ShalomFromIran to let Israelis know they love and support them. This occurred roughly around the same time as Al Quds day protests, a day dedicated to calling for Israel’s destruction. Even the Ayatollah himself took to social media to spread conspiracies against Jews, called for violence against Israel, and published a photo advocating for Hitler’s “Final Solution.”

Meanwhile, the people of Iran are pushing back against their government with their #ShalomFromIran hashtag, condemning their oppressive regime and sending messages of support to Jews and Israelis and even outright condemning antisemitism.

What these Iranians have done by going against their government’s narrative about Israel is unlikely to be cost free virtue signalling as is much of the current ‘Black Lies Matter’ online slacktivism that is occurring in the West. Iran is a nation run by a viciously oppressive government that brooks no challenge to their rule.

Iranians who have made this step on social media to show that ordinary Iranians are not the same as the Iranian government, do risk arrest and worse for thinking for themselves like this. There is more than a small possibility that Iranian security forces and others connected with the Tehran regime would track these people down and subject them to torture and imprisonment for speaking up for peace like this.

Courage comes in many forms, but sometimes it can be as something as simple as making a statement that tells an oppressive government that a person ruled by such a government is not going to take the lies and bullshit that the government put out anymore. Those Iranians who’ve spoken up for peace are decent individuals living under a thoroughly indecent government.