TEHRAN - Operation Al-Aqsa Storm brewed a storm that blew away the false patina of democracy Western countries had built for themselves. The West which has been touting itself as the biggest defender of human rights, has had its true colors exposed in the past weeks as it has shown no regard for the lives of thousands of women and children getting slaughtered in the besieged Gaza Strip.  

The so-called liberal democratic states in the West have been trying to portray their educational institutions as independent entities that only care about knowledge and science, and are not forced to endorse any political bias. But the events surrounding Western universities in the past weeks have debunked yet another lie often told by the West. Professors and representatives from different universities and colleges in the U.S. have been summoned and interrogated by Congress for merely showing support for the students who had staged protests to ask for a ceasefire in Gaza. They just didn’t want to see children get slaughtered. But the U.S. government decided to crack down on them, further exposing its unequivocal support for a child-killing regime. 

Liberal states can undoubtedly be considered the architects of “refined dictatorships”. These are governments that have imposed the most brutal and harsh restrictions while bloviating slogans of freedom and democracy. This type of narrative has been injected and regurgitated by professors teaching in Iranian universities, who consider the West to be the epitome of freedom and democracy despite all the evidence that proves them wrong. One of these professors decided to extol American academic institutions by saying: “Look at where we stand today, look at how freely universities function in the U.S. and then take a look at our own educational centers. We have a long way to reach the standards Americans are beholding”. 

There are countless more academics and professors, as well as others considered to be part of the pantheon, that have expressed disbelief at the alleged independence of American universities and how these entities are supposedly allowed to speak on any matter completely unfettered. Recent developments, however, showed that all these verbose praises of American universities have been nothing but empty assessments influenced by lie-ridden books written by U.S. lobbies.  

The elite in Iran have for the longest time been largely affected by the false picture the West has put up of itself. Our people have not been able to see the West for what it really is and some of them even refuse to open their eyes to the reality at hand despite all that’s happened in the past two months. 

A while ago I spoke extensively about the uprising of universities against Western atrocities during a university summit I had attended. I spoke about how the academics in the West have changed the history of their universities forever by showing support for the dying masses in Gaza. 

Now, the president of Harvard University has been summoned to U.S. Congress and is forced to come up with explanations for the Education Committee. In addition to Harvard, the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have also been summoned, and are on the verge of losing their jobs. These events are undoubtedly seen as a trial of the scientific society. 
Although liberal governments have always tried to show a democratic face and emphasize independence in science and scientific institutions, these events have clearly revealed what is happening behind the scenes.

Dictatorship is not only defending Zionism but also imposing the regime’s system and understanding of science on others, ridiculing and even assassinating those who do not accept this understanding and system. The martyrdom of university professors in Islamic Iran, such as Shahriari and Ali-Mohammadi, and the sanctions against Iranian universities were clear examples of the West’s disregard towards science and its untrammeled support for an illegitimate cause. But those deeply influenced by Western propaganda refuse to acknowledge these facts no matter what happens.

Today, in this ongoing battle, the true nature of the West and its conduct in universities have been revealed, and those who are seriously concerned about respect for the university are expected to boldly scrap their past false beliefs and simplistic attitudes and condemn this behavior.

Years ago, I told an ambassador from a European country that the shame of assassinating a scientist in Iran would not be wiped away from your history just like what happened in the Middle Ages, and today I emphasize that the end of academic governance in Western liberal democracy has arrived and a new plan should be launched.

 Dr. Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi is Chancellor of Islamic Azad University