‘Only the Iranian people can rise up, it has to come from within’

By Anat Lev Adler

Since the wave of Israeli strikes on Iran, Dr. Thamar Eilam Gindin has become a prominent voice in Israeli media, analyzing the fallout and implications. Known to many on TikTok as a “rockstar of war commentary,” she’s been in constant demand, from live interviews to private lectures. We meet at 7:30 a.m. for a rare personal interview with Ynet. Her first point is unequivocal: “The term ‘freeing Iran’ is misleading,” she says. “Israel’s strikes weakened the regime but only the Iranian people can take back their country. It has to come from within—just like dieting. You can tell me to diet a thousand times but it won’t make me do it. The Iranian people don’t like being told what to do.” While former Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has spoken about coordinated protests, Gindin notes the streets remain quiet. “Maybe they’re waiting for the bombings to end,” she adds, noting that a ceasefire has just taken effect—though time is always fluid in the Middle East. The desire to end Iran’s clerical regime is especially strong among women’s rights advocates. Many remember Mahsa Amini, the young Kurdish woman arrested by Iran’s morality police in 2022 for an alleged hijab violation. Her death in custody sparked the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, which were brutally suppressed. “The regime was terrified,” says Gindin. “They suspended hijab enforcement for six months. But it came back—with violence.” She points out that the hijab protests began a decade earlier thanks to student activists like Masih Alinejad, who launched the “White Wednesdays” campaign encouraging women to wear white hijabs as a silent protest. “Back then, women started appearing in public without head coverings, posting photos online, confronting clerics,” says Gindin. “The regime responded by shifting enforcement to private citizens—if a woman was caught without a hijab in a cab, the driver was punished.” When asked why Iranians don’t rise up en masse, she says the comparison to street protests in Israel or the West is flawed. “In Iran, protests are met with brutal beatings and live fire.” Despite these dangers, Iranian women retain certain legal rights: the vote (since 1963), the ability to drive and the right to keep their maiden names after marriage. “Women can demand their dowry at any time, even as a precondition for marriage or upon divorce,” Gindin explains. “And weddings are civil affairs, not conducted by clergy.” Although child marriage persists in rural Sunni communities, Gindin stresses that the average age of marriage in Iran is 25 and closer to 30 in cities. “Women are independent, educated, often working and many have just one child by choice.” Gindin points to the success of Iranian women abroad—many of whom are Jewish—as a testament to resilience. “When you come from a persecuted minority, you learn to survive and thrive. The top Iranian scientists, Nobel laureates and artists abroad are women.” But these women are also targeted. Star actress Golshifteh Farahani and activist Masih Alinejad face smear campaigns branding them collaborators or sellouts. Even Nobel laureates Narges Mohammadi and Shirin Ebadi were criticized for issuing a joint statement calling on both Israel to halt its strikes and Iran to end uranium enrichment. ‘Could the regime survive? I’m not a prophet’ Iran’s demographic curve, says Gindin, looks like a Coke bottle: a post-revolution baby boom followed by steep decline due to family planning campaigns in the 1990s. “Most families now have just one or two children,” she says. Get the Ynetnews app on your smartphone: Google Play: https://bit.ly/4eJ37pE | Apple App Store: https://bit.ly/3ZL7iNv Marriage laws in Iran are complex. In official marriages, women sign away their autonomy—allowing husbands to control education, work and travel. “Temporary marriages,” used as a legal workaround for sex or financial constraints, are common. Then there are “white marriages,” akin to cohabitation. “But a mother would never say her daughter is living with her boyfriend,” Gindin notes. “She’ll say they’re in a ‘white marriage.’” Asked how such educated, independent women accept such a regime, Gindin doesn’t mince words: “They don’t. But when they’re arrested, it’s not a night in jail—it’s torture. Doctors who treated these women cried at what they saw. If they rise up now, the violence will be worse. The regime has nothing to lose.” What might victory look like? “The people storming the supreme leader’s compound. Dragging [Ali] Khamenei from his bunker. Or even just seeing him flee the country.” Gindin praises Israel’s surgical strikes on military and propaganda targets, like the IRGC university. But she warns that hitting civilian infrastructure risks rallying the public behind the regime. Some opposition voices, she says, have already suggested cooperating with the Islamic Republic to oust the “foreign invader”—Israel. Could the regime survive? “I’m not a prophet. But the worst-case scenario is the Islamic Republic survives, intensifying repression. The best? The people rise, Reza Pahlavi returns and leads a peaceful transition to democracy.” Western countries, she warns, could inadvertently help the regime survive by reopening nuclear negotiations, which would halt the pressure campaign. Inside Iran, she says, society is split into three: regime loyalists eager to restore pride opposition members angry over Israel’s strikes and those who welcome Israel’s attacks and admire Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The failure of the regime to anticipate Israel’s actions, she says, stems from misjudging U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats. “They thought it was just bargaining. But he meant every word.” Israel’s recent operations, she says, “aren’t just sci-fi—they’re a video game level. Killing all senior security officials in their beds is beyond imagination. Dissidents say Israel opened the skies for them.” Gindin, a Persian-language scholar and mother of three, lives in Kfar Saba and works at the Ezri Center at the University of Haifa. A self-proclaimed “Honorary Persian,” she traces her love for Iran to childhood: “At age three, I already noticed differences in how my grandmothers spoke.” She studied multiple languages—Chinese, Arabic, Yiddish, French and even Albanian and Lithuanian. Initially focused on pre-Islamic Iran, she shifted to contemporary issues as public interest grew. Encouraged by her mother, she published a book based on her lectures. “I’m a terrible procrastinator, like the average Iranian woman,” she laughs. “But eventually, the time came.” With her children currently traveling abroad, she’s glad for the focus. “I wouldn’t have had time for them anyway,” she admits. “I’m grateful they’re safe—and that I can devote myself fully to this fight.” Follow Ynetnews on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Telegram

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