Why this phrase and why this image? Choosing the right side of history should be a no brainer, and most Brits are doing their best to do so.

One of the placards (as many placards and banners before it) of IHRC has caused consternation amongst pro-Israeli, Zionist actors.  It featured a profile of Ayatollah Khamenei raised at anti-genocide in Palestine / no war on Iran protests in London, Edinburgh and elsewhere last month.  At that point in time, the Israeli regime has extended its war machine to bombing and killing civilians in Iran.  As an anti-war, pro-Palestine, anti-apartheid organisation, the banner was part of the non-violent, democratic arsenal IHRC employs to push for peace and justice.

When the husband of an Israeli intelligence recruiter wrote an opinion piece in the Zionist newssheet, The Jewish News, castigating the organisation for said banner, the response from IHRC’s Chair was clear on the reasons the organisation printed these, and presumably why so many, including mainly non-Muslim Brits, chose to hold the placards:

We write in response to Damien Egan MP’s recent article expressing confusion over our use of the phrase “on the right side of history” alongside an image of Ayatollah Khamenei.

We wish to clarify his confusion: it is because Khamenei opposes the killing of Gazan children. He opposes the killing of hungry civilians at aid distribution points. He opposes the death and destruction visited upon the people of Gaza since October 2023. It is this stance, his condemnation of the genocide against Gazan civilians, that led us to characterise him in that manner.

For IHRC, being “on the right side of history” means standing unequivocally against injustice and genocide. In the IHRC Chair’s response to disgraced peer Lord Walney’s attack on the placards, he emphasizes that IHRC’s position is based on opposition to apartheid, occupation and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The phrase symbolises a clear moral choice: supporting the oppressed rather than siding with or ignoring the actions of oppressors.

IHRC also stresses that future generations will judge harshly those who chose silence or complicity amid atrocities. Just as we condemn previous eras of injustice like apartheid or genocide, future generations will similarly hold accountable those today who fail to speak up or act against oppression and mass killings committed by Israel. Being remembered on the “wrong side of history” will mean being forever associated with moral failure, while standing firmly against injustice will earn the respect and acknowledgment of future generations.

It’s straightforward, and as events and commentary from across the political spectrum have shown these last few weeks, the carefully crafted demonisation of all things Muslim, Islam and also Iran has backfired through the principled stance taken by a hitherto much maligned political leader.  Everyone from ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ activists in and outside Iran, to trans TV celebrities in the UK have found political and moral space within which to connect with actual politics and thinking from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Palestine and other parts of the global South, as the killing machine that is the Israeli Defence Force mass murders the population of Gaza.

It is not just that the Israeli regime is now clearly seen in its truly murderous colours, its supporters have nowhere to hide their moral depravity either.  No-one can say they did not know what was happening. No one can credibly claim ignorance about the atrocities being committed.

Does this mean that IHRC, Women Life Freedom, Trans Celebrities, performers at Glastonbury, unknown placard carriers at demonstrations are somehow all ideologically aligned under the umbrella of the Islamic Republic of Iran? No, of course it doesn’t.  It does mean however that in recognising the principled stance of IRI on Palestine (and indeed other issues) a new politics of conscience, in a time when politics seemed to have totally failed humanity, is being born.  People have already chosen the right side of history en masse in their protests against the genocide and their attempts to resist it in whatever little way they can – from boycotting Zionist goods, to carrying placards to attending protests, to enduring bombing campaigns for their efforts.

IHRC urges those somehow still confused about this to open their minds and hearts to the right side of history.  Anything less in this moment of genocide, is complicity.

Find out more about IHRC’s campaign, research and advocacy for justice and empowerment for all peoples across the website.