A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

I have long maintained that it is more important for Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji to be well than it is for him to martyr himself for a cause--even one as important as the liberation of the Iranian people. Iranians would prefer--I think--living examples of heroism to dead martyrs.

That is why it is reassuring to read this:

Akbar Ganji has broken his hunger strike following pleas from his family, according to his wife, who over the weekend was allowed to see the jailed Iranian journalist for the first time in nearly a month.

A spokesman for the student organization that has supported Mr. Ganji's campaign, Tahkim Vahdat, told The New York Sun yesterday that Iran's prodemocracy activists were pleased Mr. Ganji had given up his protest to save his life.

"We are very happy that Akbar Ganji has broken his hunger strike because he is a symbol of our democracy movement in Iran against Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Republic," Akbar Atri said in an interview from his home in Connecticut.

"He has brought the issue of human rights and a nonviolent movement to the attention of the Iranian people and the world," Mr. Atri told the Sun.

I have little doubt that there are many in the leadership in Iran who feared having Ganji as a martyr inspiring the anti-fundamentalist cause. But comprehensive change comes about less through the actions of martyrs and more through the actions of those who husband their strength in wise and savvy fashion. Akbar Ganji brought much-needed attention to the cause of Iranian democracy by nearly losing his own life. Now he can be a living symbol of democratic reform--thus ensuring that he will continue to vex those who richly deserve vexing.