Prsion’s Dialogue published “History, Structure and Politics of the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas” in German-language. The book describes the development process of the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas in its historical context. The content of the book was already published in 1989 by Huschang (Karim) Dinarvand as his thesis at the Free University of Berlin, Department of Political Science, under the supervision of Professor Abraham Ashkenasi and Dr. Ferhad Ibrahim. On the occasion of the publication of the book, read the editor’s foreword below:
History, structure and politics of the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas, Huschang (Karim) Dinarvand
Price: 15.00 euros; Order: book@dialogt.info
Editor: Prison’s Dialogue, Exiled political prisoners (Iran)
Edition 2021, February Cover design: Manochehr
ISBN: 978-3-948494-03-2
Preface from Prison’s Dialogue:
Prison’s Dialogue publishes the history of the Iranian left movement, as a reminder of their way of thinking and established tendencies, to acquaint the international left worldwide about their efforts.
With the publication of this book on the 50th anniversary of the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas, we would like to remember the tradition of the struggle against dictatorship, capitalism and imperialism of an organization whose struggle with the same goals is still relevant. The lack of a progressive, left-wing organization in Iran and the Middle East is now – more significant than ever – an indispensable necessity. There is a need for an alternative force that works against the power of capitalist systems as well as reactionary forces and for justice, equality and liberation.
The establishment of the OIPFG in February 1970 marked a change in the Iranian political scene after Mossadegh was overthrown by a coup d’état staged by the CIA on August of 1953. It represents an important period of the new left movement in the history of Iran, encouraged by the example of the revolutionary left in Latin America. The organization was developing rapidly and had become an important reference point for the intellectuals and social movements of the country.
In this book the attempt has been made to show the aspects of the OIPFG’s way of thinking and political activities – in view of the brevity of the book – in their concrete historical context in order to make their motives and the subjectivity of political trade accessible and understandable for those interested in a leftist movement in the Middle East. (Parts of the work reflects the political language of the 1980s).
The role of women within the OIPFG in the 1960s and 1970s revolutionized the political and social life of women in Iran. The women of the OIPFG broke a great taboo in a dictatorial and patriarchal society. Mehrnoosh Ebrahimi, Marzieh Oskoui, Ashraf Dehghani, and… have been pioneers of the armed struggle in Iran who not only opposed capitalism, imperialism and the Shah’s dictatorship, but also the patriarchate. They lived underground with their comrades and were directly involved in the armed struggles. To this end, women, unlike their male comrades, had to break the barriers of patriarchy in families and society.
With its agenda and its revolutionary political conception, which was fundamentally different from the traditional left of the time, the OIPFG opened a new fighting horizon.
A consensus had been found from various points of view within the OIPFG: It wanted to fight “dependent capitalism” by mobilizing an alliance of workers, peasants and the impoverished middle class under the hegemony of the working class to fight for democratic development. The aim was to provide socialist ideas of the revolution through a continuous process.
Maybe it was the enthusiasm of a generation that was creative, courageous and wanted to build a different society, an alternative society without the rule of capital, a free society, a kind of collective life with creative power and hope. One tried to realize oneself with the help of an organization like the OIPFG.
One thing is certain that ideals like freedom, emancipation, liberty and social justice will continue to remain in Iran, despite all types of repression that still exist. Although the class judiciary of the capitalist regime in Iran tries to stifle every attempt of protest and resistance in the bud with sheer terror, this will fail because of the solidarity in the population. Protests of Iranian women, workers, teachers, pensioners, students and schoolchildren are able to organize national strikes quickly using modern communication channels and social media. This is also of immense importance for the current mass protests.
The present book describes the development process of the Organization of Iranian People’s Fedai Guerrillas in its historical context. The content of the book was already published in 1989 by Huschang (Karim) Dinarvand as his graduate thesis at the Free University of Berlin, Department of Political Science, under the supervision of Professor Abraham Ashkenasi and Dr. Farhad Ibrahim. In view of more recent knowledge about historical events over time, additions and references have been made to the current edition in consultation with the author, without changing the essence of the content and perspective of the original work.