J. Pharoah Doss: The Ayatollah adopts American students

Close allies: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the man who was expected to succeed him, President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed in a helicopter crash on May 19 2024. ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News The History Channel ran a series called History vs. Hollywood. Each episode examined a biopic or historical epic to determine whether the film accurately reflected historical events. The series revealed that Hollywood tended to mythologize the past rather than be historically accurate. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, recently sent an open letter to American university students protesting Israel’s war on Hamas. Khamenei praised their “awakened consciousness,” which propelled them to defend the oppressed people of Gaza. However, Khamenei’s letter was more mythologizing than Hollywood could even imagine. Khamenei began by informing the American students that the pages of history were turning, and they were on the right side of it. Former United States President Barack Obama frequently discussed being on the right or wrong side of history. Being on “the right side of history” meant supporting specific activities or political viewpoints that promoted progress, social justice, and change. Most media agencies referred to Hamas’ October 7 terrorist attack as the deadliest day for...