[Salon] Fwd: Iran and North Africa’s Gen Z - ArabDigest.org Guest Post

[Salon] Fwd: Iran and North Africa’s Gen Z - The Islamic Republic defeated the US and Israel in the information war Summary: the Iran war provoked interest in and support for Iran from young North Africans who have taken to social media to celebrate Iranian resistance to America’s hegemony. We thank Tharwa Boulifi for today’s newsletter. A 23 year-old Tunisian writer and medical student who writes in Arabic, French, English and Spanish, Tharwa focusses on women’s rights with an emphasis on Arab and African women, culture and LGBTQ+ rights. Her AD podcast Tunisia’s Gen Z is here. On 28 February after the US and Israel's coordinated strikes on Iran most North Africans shared the same opinion about the Persian state's imminent defeat and how it was likely to meet a similar fate as befell Iraq. "It's the US, no one can defeat it" was the phrase people kept repeating with resignation while they waited for matters to take their course That view changed quickly though as the war and Iran’s resistance continued. North Africans, especially Gen Z (those aged 14 to 29) embraced Iran's immediate response of hitting American bases and its regional allies and Israel simultaneously. The myth of an invincible US was being broken, at least to some extent, by Iran and it was a breath of fresh air. Although Gen Z North Africans (with the exception of Libyans) have not directly experienced wars in the region, they still share the feeling of precariousness and uncertainty inherited through their parents and their grandparents generations and through decades of America wielding its might as a super power while backing Israeli aggression to the hilt. Although Iran isn't an Arab country, Arabs saw it wreaking revenge on the US and Israel and felt a common cause against a common enemy. Iran’s resistance and now the ceasefire have brought a sense of euphoria and victory. What stands out too is a marked lack of sympathy for the Gulf states being hit by Iranian missiles and drones. In the North African collective psyche there is a widely shared stance that these countries (especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE) serve as the US's energy providers and thus the reinforcers of American hegemony. So Iran's strikes on US military bases and on the Gulf’s state owned oil facilities symbolised a just action. We can say that one of the realities brought to light by this war is the underlying resentfulness and the love-hate relationship that many North Africans have with these wealthy GCC states. They resent them but they also aspire to immigrate to the Gulf for work and careers. These contradictory feelings stem from a common fantasy inherited through generations: the desire to right the wrongs of an unjust world order that puts them at the mercy of powerful hegemons and their regional agents. For young North Africans Iran's resistance made this dream seem more attainable, especially given that the internet allowed them to follow the war's every detail and update it in real time. Through the innovative use of internet memes the Islamic Republic also defeated the US and Israel in the information war, a major departure from Iranian propaganda of the past Seeing the war unfold online lifted the spirits, re-energised Arab nationalism and enhanced a shared wish of ending US hegemony and Zionist aggression, something that undoubtedly has proven useful to the Iranian propaganda machine. Within a few weeks, a great shift happened, especially among the young generation of North Africans. The war saw them move from the extreme of desperately wanting to immigrate to the Gulf countries to eagerly awaiting their downfall. In the virtual world Gen Z seized on memes as a way to cope with the war's stress, minimise the anxiety linked to it and the threat of a potential WW3. Quickly, a wave of memes on countries armed with nuclear bombs wiping out the world hit social media platforms and resonated with young users who took it as a kind of joke. More seriously the most viral format wasn’t geopolitical or military analysis but rather a generational accusation: the idea of "old men ruining the world" was very popular on social media, and played in many posts using images of current elderly politicians like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and Xi Jinping. Although not a protest in its classic form, it is no less an opposition outcry. Gen Z, the first digital natives, are expressing their disgust with the policies of old men who won't live to bear the long-term consequences of their decisions. The failure of these leaders to take into consideration the opinions of global youth only serves to reinforce the Iranian propaganda narrative. In fact, this war was a chance for Iran to open itself to the world. Since the US and Israel launched their war more and more people have wanted to know about a country that has remained remarkably resilient in the face of devastating attacks. In North Africa, people who didn't know much about the Persian state, aside from its religious branch (Shia Islam), became interested in discovering Iran’s culture, ethics, values and how the country has managed in the wake of Khamenei's assassination. On social media, young people started following pro-Iranian accounts even using Farsi in hashtags. After Trump's countless statements on "obliterating" the enemy, the ceasefire he has accepted makes this old man look weak and foolish. Iran handled strategic matters much better than the US and didn't make a fool of itself. The regime battered though it has been by six weeks of war has emerged a winner able to promote Iran, brighten its image, grow its fan club and tarnish the US reputation even more.