I Grew Up Under Their Lies and Saw Who the Real Enemy Is

I grew up under a system that tried to teach us that Israelis were our enemies, yet every year it became clearer that the real threat to our lives was the ideology ruling over us. Ordinary Iranians were never at war with ordinary Israelis. Both peoples have been cornered by the same violent doctrine that glorifies death and demands obedience instead of freedom. One nation has endured its attacks for decades and the other has endured its rule, but both know the truth. They want a future built on life, dignity, and the right to escape the suffocating grip of clerics who decide destiny for everyone else. You can see this shared understanding in the way Iranian protesters cheer for any blow against the IRGC and in the way Israelis distinguish between a people and the regime that cages them. A bridge between these two populations exists today in small acts of courage and in the everyday rejection of the propaganda we were raised with. It is a bridge the regime cannot sabotage because it grows every time Iranians and Israelis choose each other over the lie that was forced on us since childhood.

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