Iranian Testament

Big Brother Award

2007-10-23T15:14:00.000-07:00

The right against unsanctioned invasion of privacy by the government is part of many countries' laws. Even according to Iran constitution this right has been recognized for people. Last week I got familiar with The Big Brother Award given to governments which have done the most to threaten personal privacy. While US is candidate for this Award because of its anti-terrorist phone records by the government, Iranians are dealing with a most simple form of surveillance. Read this story to find out what I mean.

This week Radan, the chief of Tehran police, attended the Police Fair to talk with the citizens and solve their problems. One of the reporters of ISNA (Iranian Students News Agency) asked him about a conversation between one of the police officers and a girl which he had recorded a few days ago. Here are some parts of the conversation. (The girl is arrested inside her car with a young boy beside her.)

Police officer: God has sent me to arrest you and prevent a crime.
Girl: What are you talking about? What crime?
Police officer: You have sat together at this unusual time, inside a dark car, in a deserted area of the city.
Girl: Is it our CRIME? God has sent you for this?
Police officer: yeah, God knows if I wasn't here on time what a scandal could happen to your family.
Girl: It is not deserted here. There are many people there in the park and so may cars pass by here.
Police officer: I don’t know. I just know God has sent me…

ISNA reporter asked about the civil rights of the people and whether the police can treat people like this.
Radan, answer quite unexpectedly "How do you know that officer was not sent by God?"

That Was a Shame

2007-10-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

I vividly remember 6 years ago when I was a student. Mr. Khatami announced that he will come to our university. All classes were cancelled and we went to shout approval for our beloved president. The ceremony was so full of life that I hold a picture of Khatami and started waving it in the air. (Later on my friends told me I was on TV!)
The hall was divided into 2 parts: Reformist students on the right and Basijis on the left. They were quarrelling all the time, throwing paper and water bottles to each other. Of course the Basijis were only a minority.
When some students shouted "death with hardliners", Khatami became angry and said "eliminate death from your vocabulary." After that he started talking about tolerance, civil society and other concepts which were quite new concepts for us.
When I compare Ahmadinejad lecture at the University of Tehran with that of Khatami I see a lot of differences. The most important of them is the absent of critics of Ahmadinejad in the hall when he was delivering his lecture. Only Basijis students from other universities were allowed to enter to the ceremony.
Ahmadinejad and his government insist they support free speech and welcome opposition, but in reality they act quite contrary. Outside the hall there was a gathering of protesters but they were scattered by the police force. Ahmadinejad continued his lecture confidently: "when I was at the Columbia University the US government just allowed a selected group to the hall! That was a shame."

Should We Make Another Bomb?

2007-10-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

I don’t know you have seen this White House photo by Susan Sterner or not. Here Laura Bush accepts books of poetry by "Turkish poet" Rumi presented by Emine Erdogan, wife of the Prime Minister of Turkey, during a coffee at the White House. You can find this picture on whitehouse.gov website. This is not the first time that I see Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet and mystic philosopher has been introduced as a Turkish poet.

Rumi was born in Balkh (in present-day Afghanistan), and died in Konya, (in present-day Turkey), but none of his poems and works are in Turkish language. Rumi's birthplace, his native language and the themes of his poetry indicate a Persian heritage. His poetry is all in Persian and has been translated into Turkish and many other languages. But why should Rumi be introduced as a Turkish poet?

UNESCO has designated 2007 (the 800th anniversary of Rumi’s birth) as the International Year of Molana Jalaleddin Rumi. After that Turkey’s cultural officials have announced plans to hold special ceremonies for commemorating this famous personality. During last year they had hundreds of ceremonies for attracting tourists to the shrine of Rumi in Konya and for introducing him as a national luminary.

Shortly their activities extended beyond the borders. Buffalo Turkish Center organized "RUMI 800" or "Rumi Reading Club" in US to enjoy Rumi's poetry for one night each month. Unlike Iranian students, the Turkish ones hosted some film screening events at their Universities to celebrate this poet. They invited Canadian filmmaker Tina Petrova to show her movie, "Rumi-Turning Ecstatic", and to share her extraordinary encounter with his poems. After a short time Rumi and Turkish culture were so interwoven that Library of Congress on March 14 celebrated Rumi with an evening of Turkish poetry and music.

But what did Iranians do? Well, Ahmadinejad hosted the holocaust meeting in Tehran. Abdolkarim Soroush delivered some lectures about Rumi at Harvard University but no one heard of it because this man is a critic of Islamic Government. It is a pity that Iranian politicians are busy with some affairs that are none of their business and neglect important issues like this. Maybe we should do something by ourselves againg, may be we should make another Google Bomb?

No comment !!!

2007-09-29T10:25:00.000-07:00

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad returned home Friday evening from his tour of America. He asked people not to come to the airport to welcome his arrival but go to the mosques and say thanks prayer to God for his victories.

TEHRAN Times - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad invited President Bush to speak at an Iranian university if the American leader ever traveled to the Islamic Republic, state-run television reported Friday. ""If their president plans to travel to Iran, we will allow him to make a speech"" at a university, Ahmadinejad told the IRIB earlier this week before leaving New York to travel to South America.

IRNA - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday evening that displaying Iran's grandeur was the greatest achievement of his tour to the American continent.

Meanwhile, addressing thousands of Tehrani worshipers at Tehran University campus, Jannati focused on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's attendance at United Nations General Assembly, saying that Ahmadinejad scored another victory during his stay in New York. Referring to President Ahmadinejad's presence at Columbia University, Ayatollah Jannati said, "Hurrah Dr. Ahmadinejad who did not lose his temper, did not take revenge by acting similarly, and gave his address modestly, so that the university students attending the meeting kept on applauding him on numerous occasions till the end of the session, which meant pulling the Columbia University Chancellor's leg." He added, "In accordance with the result of an opinion poll conducted after that meeting, 77% of the students believe President Ahmadinejad was right, and this is a document revealing the US and Israeli media and politicians' lies."

IRNA - Iranian lawmakers on Saturday labeled the US army and CIA as terrorist groups.

The Portrait of the dictator as a righteous man

2007-09-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

Unlike what Bollinger said at his speech in Columbia University, Ahmadinejad has no "sign of a dictator". To find the characteristics of a dictator in Iran's president one should search deep inside him and read between the lines of his behavior.

It is quite strange that the new dictators of our age (except Putin) do not follow the clichés of dictatorship manner. On the paper, Ahmadinejad and Bush are both good people, highly religious, doing their best to save the world from injustice. Ahmadinejad dines with journalists, speaks for a half an hour about the relationship between man and God and defines the mission of human on earth as pursuit of love, kindness and dignity. We have heard the same lecture from Bush before the invasion of US to Iraq and after huge massacre of innocent Iraqi people.

According to this discourse, filtering of internet is a "moral" act to immune the community from the rotten world and execution of criminals in the public is a virtuous deed.

Nicholas Kamm in his article, "My Dinner with Ahmadinejad" (published on Sept. 25 in TIME) is suspicious about the president, but through his writing you cannot deny his fascination to Ahmadinejad's "calm and fluent words" and "the slightly mysterious smile that never leaves his face" (italic is mine). Kamm's article ends when Ahmadinejad "bows deeply and heads upstairs."

I think Ahmadinejad knows the power of his smile and demagogic behavior. He won the presidential election with the same strategy and there is a possibility of cheating the world with the same one.

Why Ahmadinejad Laughs

2007-09-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

While many Iranians feel ashamed and humiliated after Ahmadinejad's scandalous speech in Columbia University, a new wave of propaganda has been started inside the country praising the president for his new international achievements. Even while I am writing this commentary, the First Television Channel of Iran is replaying the censored copy of the lecture to prove the popularity of Ahmadinejad in the world. Of course many reformers has called Ahmadinejad's lecture a disgrace for Iran but their voice is too weak to be heard.

After just one hour search inside internet I understood what IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency) has described as "standing ovation of the audience" was nothing but the angry shouts of the student groups who planned mass protests outside the hall denouncing him as the new Hitler.

Now I know before President Ahmadinejad's address, university President Lee Bollinger in a brief introduction called him "petty and cruel dictator", "astonishingly uneducated", "ridiculous" and questioned whether he would "have the intellectual courage to answer [these] questions" but IRNA feel confident enough to reflect the above issue as a warm welcome (!): "[He] told the audience that they would have the chance to hear Iran's stands as the Iranian President would put them forth. He said that the Iranians are a peace loving nation; they hate war, and all types of aggression. The audience on repeated occasion applauded Ahmadinejad when he touched on international crises."

Today Kayhan (the official newspaper of the government and the conservative party) published a picture of mass protests against Ahmadinejad in the NY. But the first title of the newspaper was: "Shock in NY; The Logic of Iran Enlightened" (see the picture).

By the way, Ahmadinejad with his "Cheshire cat smile" (as Tony Karon has described him in TIME) gained what he wanted from this meeting: the victory of being on the stage, having microphone for the best part of an hour, becoming the first news of Yahoo and the 7th top searches of the day.

Popularity or Populism

2007-03-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Accepting the fact that

Iran

revolution was a popular political movement, it seems necessary to define the real meaning of popularity after about 30 years of the beginning of this revolution.

Popular revolutions are defined as those political movements which are mainly focused on collapsing a totalitarian regime and giving power to government of the people, by the people, and for the people. But it has been proved practically that the meaning of popularity is either unknown or ambiguous in contemporary Iran. Here I would try to illustrate the tiny difference between "democracy", "populism" and "demagogy". Any analysis concerning such an issue should inevitably follow these three questions:

1) Should a democratic politician behave like ordinary people?

In other words, does a popular politician have (morally) this right to wear ordinary clothes just like people and use slang or folk literature in his/her formal speeches to prove the civility of his/her government? Every now and then we see in news that Iranian politicians pay no attention to diplomatic prestige. The members of the parliament sit on the ground and presidents avoid any make up or chic suits.

On the other hand no one can say is this a populist attitude that people impose on the government or is it vice versa. Ten years ago in a unique presidential election, the majority of Iranians voted for Mr. Khatami simply because he was a good-looking well-dressed mullah, but in the last presidential election (two years ago) the same people voted for Ahmadinejad who prefer simplicity in appearance.

2) Should be a direct relationship between people and government in a democratic society?

Although having direct relationship with people is one of the first principles of any democratic government, the experience shows that after elections in such societies, the voters prefer to give the total control of affair to their elected ones. The important point is that this sudden gap between people and government is usually filled by civil movements (and rarely with referendums). But in Iran it seems quite contrary. In a country where most of the social movements are suppressed by the government, the main propaganda of the government is direct relation with people. President Ahmadinejad travels to the villages and gathers thousands of letters directly form peasants. Facing such a paradoxical attitude, one might doubt that a democratic popular government has slipped into a demagogic policy.

3) What is the main criterion for decision-making in a popular government?

Popular government believes that the demands of the people are more important than any other criteria or political mechanism. But this simplified priority might lead the society to simple-mindedness and this attitude can switch the government into a demagogic institution. Last presidential election of Iran was full of candidates whose main slogan was giving 50 dollars monthly to any citizen of the country and bringing the income of oil export to people's houses! It seems that Iranian politicians are going to sacrifice the destiny of this nation to gain popularity and heroism.

I think the tiny difference of democratic governments with populist or demagogic ones appears within three mentioned questions. A populist government is always pride of finding anti-people conspiracies (a method that clearly can be seen in Iran). In such a regime any protester who is against the tribal system of the government might be boycotted with such labels as disloyal, spy or mercenary. In more serious situations s/he might be simply "evaporated". Such a populist method can be seen in the policy of Senator McCarthy in the United States especially in 1945; a dreadful method of controlling people by cheating and deceiving them with their fears and believes (McCarthyism).

A populist government has no choice but using people's simplicity and their prejudices in order to survive. Here, I want to put forward this question that shouldn't democratic revolutions neglect their popularity and emphasize on the very notion of civility? Doing so they might be accused of absolutism, but at least they are highly immune from dangers of populism and demagoguism.

Ecstasy without a cause

2007-03-24T09:08:00.000-07:00

Congratulations everybody! It's New Year holiday here in Iran. Everyone is happy. The only problem is that no one knows why s/he should be happy!

The price of gas is going to be double next year and the economists predict a tough year for Iranians. On the other hand, the UN Security Council has decided (with the majority of votes) to increase the pressure of sanctions on Iran. The number of tourists to Iran has decreased because of insecurity (or image of insecurity) in the region. The good news is still going on. The publishers have decided to ban the Tehran international book fair (which is regularly held in May) to show their protest against Ahmadinejad's cultural policy. The coming year will be full of political troubles, economical suffering and cultural difficulties. But why no one cares?

I don't know what could be the reason? When I look at the history of Iran through last 15 centuries, I see this cheerful and glad nation never has had a reason to be happy of. I mean, there has always been a paradoxical consent in Iranians. This nation has the unique capacity of adapting itself with all unpleasant events and enjoying them.

Maybe this is the fatalist spirit of Iranian that makes them always be content with what they have. Maybe it is the epicurean attitude of this nation which evokes them to "seize their time" and enjoy it anyway. Maybe it is the religious learning of Islam which has always urged them to look at the miserable life and be thankful to God since "the situation could be worse than this!"

Last night I went out to stroll in a park. The park was full of happy families, sitting on the grass or benches, enjoying the fresh air (I'd rather to say cold!). The loudspeakers on the trees were broadcasting the radio news (!), filling the air with the government's achievements in tackling unemployment and poverty. All through my stroll, I had to listen to statistics and numbers. It was a terrible night. After 20 minutes I finally decided to return home and enjoy listening to music or something. On my way, I passed over a dozen of young boys who were smoking hookah and singing their favorite songs. I should confess that in that moment I really envied their happiness. The bubbling noise of their hookah and the voice of their songs were acted as the best dam against the raid of the outer world.

That's the Iranian way of living! Sing not to listen. Laugh to hide your tears. Buy to forget your misfortune. That's the Iranian way. I should adapt myself to it if I want to survive.

God bless you, Osama Bin Laden

2007-03-16T04:52:00.000-07:00

Joan François poured another glass of Vodka for himself, wondering how this naughty Absolute bottle has found her way inside Islamic republic of Iran. It was a hot night and every now and then, the lazy wind that came in through the window made us dizzier.

I asked Joan how he thought about Iran before landing in Tehran airport. He replied frankly (thanks to 46% pure alcohol) that he thought Iranians ride camels in the streets. "So you should be quite shocked seeing all these Peugeot here?" I asked. "Your government has sold us more than 7 million Peugeot and still said nothing about Iranian people to you. Is it a cultural sanction?"

photo: Mahgame Parvane
to order this photo send an email to me

Sometimes it is quite interesting why Europeans and Americans view on Iran goes no further than one thousand and one nights' movies. Mc Luhan may talk about his global village, but it seems that the east and west contact has ceased after Crusades. Of course some tiny interactions still exist; The people of the east are fascinated in Coca Cola and McDonald and the American soldiers in Vietnam or Iraq have introduced opium and some others Asian drugs to their families and neighbors. But these have nothing to do with global village, dialogue among civilizations or things like that. Most of the habitants of the west prefer to imagine eastern countries as in James Bonds movies; heroic horse-riders of Mojahidin who fight against Soviet Union or east block government. (No one cares these Mojahidin are now the first enemy of the western States!)

Joan François returned to his country a week later. The process of finding a job inside Iran (and by a job I mean teaching French language of course) failed. By the way, he had a wife and two children waiting for him and his unemployment salary. About a month later Joan François sent me an email. It was at the middle of Iran nuclear crisis. He emailed "You have the entire world looking at you - how does it feel?" Well, in a world whose people don't know anything about us, we should celebrate few times we are the first news of the world.

Sometimes I feel we should take care of this Osama Bin Laden, as our very last relics to resort to. We should keep him in a highly guarded museum with laser lights on him, because it is the only antithesis of us against Hollywood culture. Eastern habitants of the world are happy deep inside their heart that there is a Bin Laden in this goddamned continent to make them subject of everyday chats, even if they are the very first victims of him.

O Google, Shall thou find me

2007-03-15T12:06:00.001-07:00

Now, thanks to "Iraq war" and "Iran nuclear issue", people of the world know the difference between these two countries. Now, thanks to Google, Iran is one of the top searches of the world. Now, thanks to our president Ahmadinejad, we are the breaking news of every agency and channel. Congratulations fellows! The spotlight has turned to us at last.

There is no doubt that Iran has suddenly turned out to be the most interesting topic of the world (After Britney Spears I mean). There are a huge number of documentary makers who are waiting at the boundaries of this country to be let in. There are many peeping eyes who want to see what is going on inside this labyrinth. It seems that due to White House policy this country is going to be known to every single creature breathing in this planet. So why do I write these lines? In this weblog I am to profile contemporary Iranian society and culture in all its richness and complexity, offering viewers portraits of a nation that are far removed from the clichéd images often associated with it. I think this country really needs some explanations. I am just a child of revolution and I have been a long long time inside this labyrinth searching for truth; the tiny truth of Iranian contemporary society which vanishes every time you think you have grasped it.

This weblog is a narration of personal stories intended to help its readers to understand the 'enigma inside a puzzle' that is Iran -one of the most dynamic and complex nations in the world today. This weblog is the private diary of a journalist who writes his unpublishable columns inside a highly censored country. It is the story of a holy place in which angels fear to tread.

P.S. I have named this blog after Arthure Koestler book, Spanish Testament, and will use the same method of journalism in presenting the real under surface identity of Iran.