Fun Facts About the Insides of an Iranian Embassy in "enemy" land!

I dragged me to the embassy with a cocktail of nausea, grudge, tears, swears, huffs and puffs. I went back and forth over the application and asked myself and my husband: "Is it worth the trouble to renew my passport when I never want to go back?"; "Is it sensible to do what makes me puke, filling a form that needs to bear the permission of my husband or father for me to obtain an Iranian passport?"; and importantly, "Is it morally excusable to walk into the devil's territory without raising a concern about Shiva; about Sakineh, about Saharkhiz & Zeidabadi?" ... "would I become complicit, and accomplice to IRI?", was my dilemma.

At the end I decided to go. I talked myself into "the path to peace passes through compromise"; "you cannot abandon your country and give the occupying goons what they really want: your elimination"; "you will learn from the experience and will be able to blog about it."; "you cannot trust any political stability in the next few years and you better have a passport before the administration of the IRI begins going belly up" and etc.

My "souvenir" from this journey through hell is a few fun(ny) observations:

1) The large pictures of Khomeini and Khamenei on the wall was replaced with large pictures of Iranian landscapes, both natural and cultural. The supreme leaders' pictures were minimized in size and positioned opposite the counters; so that only the employees would be seeing their pictures. The applicants in waiting would be looking at the large TV screen positioned opposite the leader figures!

2) The TV was playing Shajarian's music from a DVD; perpetually. This is strange, and it was noted and joked upon by a few of us. Why?

• Because it is Ramadan, so technically, "happy" instruments such as daf should not be played during the month of meditation.
• Because Shajarian has recently been openly attacked by the IRI goons (in Fars News). His Ramadan prayer "rabbana" (which has marked the month since I recall) has been officially (and expressly) banned from the IRIB, because the Ahmadinejadists have established Shajariyan is an anti-revolutionary. The row between maestro Shajarian and IRIB goes back to the beginning of election-coup events; when he was in the US and he sided with the people and stated: "The IRI might be able to contain the situation, but will not be able to sustain governance".
• Shajarian has objected to IRI playing his music for any motivational or entertainment objective.

3) Not only it was odd to play the "music" (and not the prayer) by Shajarian in Ramadan, but also the background images of the songs were bizarre: Persian miniatures; many of Farshchian's paintings which feature a beautiful women handing wine to an old man (like this); or many beautiful women in some form of "spiritual" orgy (like this)! No matter what spiritualism is assigned to Persian miniature (to rescue it from the religious bigots) images of wine and pretty women in Ramadan is quite unusual!

4) There was an English man who was applying for a visa to visit Iran. He was wearing a silly grin as if expecting us to smile back at him and thank him for his curiosity about our weird country! He was much ignored by all.

5) There was another English man who was married to an Iranian woman with colored blond hair. They had two children and were wishing to go to Iran, but someone had warned them that they had to make sure the consulate issued the right marriage certificates for them, as reportedly Iran was not as welcoming of foreign spouses as it was a couple of years ago. They were haggling to get it done soon so to take advantage of cheap flights!

6) There was entertainment: An Arab driver of Rwanda embassy walked in with an invitation card to a party and his CV!! No one could speak Arabic or French to him; so I volunteered. He had hand delivered the invitation card; and he had his CV in case the Iranian ambassador needed a ride to attend the invitation!!!!!! (he was told that all such invitations should come by mail; and that the ambassador didn't need a ride! I smiled at the naivete of Ahmadinejad's international friends; no wonder he feels himself so popular in the world. We keep ignoring that there exist simpletons in the world who are charmed by A.N.)

At the end, the experience was not as bad as I anticipated. The passport officer was amused by "my having brought my 'master' to give me permission to a passport"; he smiled and said such things were only for women who were residents of Iran and didn't apply to dual citizens like me. The employees were kind, polite, well dressed, more handsome than the last group I had met 4 years ago, and were trying to be efficient. But Iranians are not efficient and it was the customers/applicants who were disorderly, unorganized, uninformed, and unable to understand due procedure had to respected, queues had to be respected, service numbers had to be respected, personal spaces had to be respected ... they kept cluttering around the booths when others were served; kept arguing and haggling about their missing documents; kept jumping in front of the counter to shove their gradually completing documents in ... at the end; this experience reminded me that our people ARE the cause of much of our government's inadequacy and inefficiency.

And it doesn't matter how much we nag at Ahmadinejad, the 15-years long western-dwelling Mr Doctor who could not even sort out his photocopies when he stole my turn at the counter and delayed me by an hour, was responsible for the inefficiency of the service I received.

To obtain an Iranian passport cost me close to 250 dollars! Other Iranians were also counting how much it had cost them to travel, to eat, to pay for the forms and etc. People all talked together and although complained; but had fun! Complaining is the seasoning to Iranian taste!

But I appreciated the fact that they played Shajarian, that they provided nice/fresh espresso; that they had removed the omniframes of Khamenei and Khomeini from the walls; that they were polite, courteous, humorous, hard working, civilized. I observed people who wanted to drink coffee stayed in the little coffee corner; and did not defy Ramadan openly--although I doubt anyone in that room was fasting. It is because of this implicit respect for other's belief, that I believe, the most fanatic of the governments will only succeed in annoying us with a few of their trained criminals for a short period of time ... until they too, learn to respect ... in that room, packed together with some 50 Iranians, I sighed pleased: "my country will NOT succumb to fascist war mongers ... we are too fun-loving to take anything really too seriously!"

I am happy I adhered to the principle of "measured compromise"; and I am happy to have a passport again.

A Campaign for War with Iran

BEGINS ...

Keyvan Samimi, refusing to break his hunger strike.

This is Keyvan Samimi کیوان صمیمی.

Keyvan is a journalist: the editor of the banned periodical Naameh نامه (letters), who also blogged on a now banned site, Kharabaat خرابات. He was also a member of National committee for peace. A committee formed in 2007, by a call from human rights Nobel laureat, Shirin Ebadi, and in response to increased foreign threats about IRI's nuclear program. Their motto: No to War, Yes to Human Rights.)

Last year, in Ramadan (which has begun now), his daughter wrote a moving letter praying for her father's broken heart for witnessing injustice, and prayed for his safe return.

Now his life is in danger. He refuses to break his hunger strike. From the 17 prisoners who went on strike over three weeks ago, 15 of them have broken their strike (yesterday). They have broken their strike, after the Green leadership pleaded with them to save their own lives (a very respectable gesture from Karroubi and Mousavi who insist they are not going to play with "the blood of others".)

The older ones, however, refuse: one is Keyvan, the other is Arjang. Keyvan remains on strike for his "sons" (who are still in solitary confinement).

...

Samimi was arrested a few days after election coup d'etat. Samimi's daughter speaks of his high spirits (after he returned to jail after a new-year break he was given on 100,000$ bail): "Father's going to prison for his ideals. He has chosen this path and he is content. His ideal is justice and freedome and his is determined. He has never stopped, he never will." (Samimi's vacation was not extended, he was punished for continuing to act politically as soon as out of prison.)

When asked why Keyvan refuses to break his strike (while others have), a close relative of his responded: "Mr Samimi is a goal oriented individual. He did not go on strike to protest his own condition, but the abhorring prison conditions for others. Therefore, he will stay on strike until others (the 15 who are still in solitary confinement) are transferred to common wards. Unless his family convinces him otherwise, he will not break his strike. A few months ago he discussed this matter with his family, because he cares for consensus. [...]

According to prisoners who are released, Samimi has a high spirit: he chats with the younger prisoners to lift their mood, he doesn't leave the prisoners alone and gives them home and morale. [...] He also believes in dialogue, he believes dialogue will solve all problems. According to his daughter, he even planned to go visit Hossein Shariatmadari; the fascist in chief and the chief editor of Keyhan.

Samimi is not a "new" revolutionary. When he was young, he was amongst the student protesters who had thrown rocks at Shah in protest to (then) Vice President Nixon's visit to Tehran; a few months after the CIA-coup of 1953. For that, Keyvan was jailed three months but then allowed to go back to university. In the brutal Shah's regime, political activism did not turn into life-time ban from education institutes and public service. (He is now deprived of ANY public/intellectual activity, for life.)

After being handed his 6 years prison term, he sent a short message from the 209 ward of Evin prison:

"Steady and determined, I Jihad for my sacred ideals, internally and externally. And of course, the prophet has called the internal Jihad the more magnificent and the more important one. Thus, goodbye to 'me', hello to 'us'."

Arjang Davoudi's critical condition

Arjang Davoudi (also spelled as Arzhang Davoodi ارژنگ داوودی) has been in prison since 2003. He is an ardent and vocal activist; he was sentenced to 15 years of prison; and 74 lashes for having dared to spoken to a Canadian journalist, who worked on a documentary (Forbidden Iran) about the death of Zahra Kazemi (an event that crystallized the rift within the ranks of the IRI, as it happened under international watch, during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, and highlighted the venomous powers of the hardliners who have now stolen the power in Iran. It is over Zahra Kazemi's death that Canada and Iran relations fall apart.)

Arjang has not been silent in prison: he secretly wrote a book about savage tortures he endured and there is also a video clip he has made from Evin prison, speaking in English, to the world community, reiterating his hopes and struggles for Iran (video is posted in 2008). He protested to the recent execution of the innocent Kurd prisoners with a poem. He also raised a warning flag when Ali Saremi's death sentence after over two decades of imprisonment was upheld. For being such a noncooperative prisoner, he has been punished by being sent to horrendous prisons in Iran's southern provinces; reserved for the most dangerous of felons: murderers. Nevertheless, he has kept writing his letters and having them heard. His cause is simple and within the realm of the existing constitution of Iran:

"... establishment of a civil society in Iran, which will uphold:

1. Freedom of Speech

2. Freedom of the press

3. Freedom to inform

4. Free elections

5. Freedom to assemble and to peacefully protest

6. Freedom of political parties and groups."

He is one of the prisoners on hunger strike and in critical condition. This is the second time he goes on huger strike. Last time was 2008 (he held on for 51 days, his demand was to be handed in a copy of his charges and sentence.)

According to his wife Nazanin Davoudi, the reason for his current strike is: "protest to eavesdropping of his phone calls by prison officials as well his transfer to the solitary confinement." For this hunger strike, he is additionally punished! His scheduled family visit was cancelled a few days ago. He (56 years old) is in critical condition.

Looming gloom

Please see persiantoenglish.com ...

A relative in prison: Hossein Nouraninejad

His name is Hossein Nouraninejad. I don't know him. I didn't care to know any/many of these reformist journalists when the reformists were in power in Iran. In fact, before this election fiasco, I considered them and Ahmadinejadists entities of the same fabric. But, Hossein is in prison since September 2009. He is not granted a leave (not even on bail) since then. Not even for the new year.

Hossein went on hunger strike close to two weeks ago. The country's begging the 17 of them to break their fast. Karoubi, Mousavi, old political activists, young ones are begging them to save themselves because it has become apparent to us that the world community doesn't give a damn; and the IRI is in fact happy if they die. These individuals were the hard-to-crack ones.

But, the IRI is very wrong. Because they have now encouraged me to read about this gentleman to figure out why he is given such an extraordinary hard treatment that he has gone on a detrimental hunger strike to have his voice heard.

Nouraninejad (حسین نورانی نژاد) is a journalist. and head of the Information Committee of Participation Front. (The Participation front party has issued an invitation to its members to go on hunger strike in solidarity with their jailed comrades.) His charge was "attempting to disrupt public order". Thus, sentenced to three years at first. His jail term was cut to one year, of which he has almost served all. So why is this "mild" case on hunger strike now? Why is he prevented from a short leave? why is he kept in solitary confinement? What are the evin conditions that make a man on the verge of freedom risk all his life? The IRI must answer.

His mother has gone public, in a hope to save her son. But, she was told that the prisoners on strike will face extra charges. Parastoo Sarmadi, his wife, has also joined the strike, publicly. She has also pleaded with the authorities to let them hear the messages of Karoubi, Mousavi, Ayatollah Zanjani, Abdollah Nouri, and Sohrab's mother, and numerous other opposition parties, begging them to end the strike. Interestingly, Nouraninejad's mother is also threatened to jail!

Nouraninejad has edited a book entitled: عاشورا در گذار به عصر سکولار "Ashura, in Passage Through Secularism" (2004); it is a collection of essays by a number of religious theoreticians, some founding figures of the IRI philosophy, turned its ardent critiques: Soroush, Aghajari, Ahmad Haj Seyed Javadi, Kadivar and others. It is hard to find much of his writings; but there is a little letter of her sister that tells us Hossein dreaded politics, but found himself obliged by conscience, to act ...

These men in prison are heros. They are not afraid of death. But the least we can do is to hear them out, before the candle goes out.

In fact, the IRI fears journalists, fears information, fears statistics, fears numbers ... Ahmadinejad is treating the pubic opinion as a "civil engineering" project; bulldozing his path, burning the forest, digging the graves of our civilization to erect an ugly monument, ode to his megalomania.

Hossein nouraninejad, a prisoner of conscience ...
On hunger strike ... even though his jail term was to end soon ...

17 withering away in Evin, entering the 12th day of dry hunger strike ...

Please see International Federation for Human Rights

Their names are:

Majir Tavakoli (this is his second strike. He is suffering ulcer, and kidney failure). He is the brave engineering student who stood up and called Khamenei to task. He is the one who was arrested and forced into women clothing. Iranians responded to this media scandal by wearing a veil, and starting a media counter campaign of "I am Majid".

Bahman Ahmadi Amooei, journalist,
Hossein Nourinejad, a journalist and member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front,
Abdollah Momeni, a student and Spokesperson for the Bureau for the Consolidation of Unity (BCU)
Ali Parviz, a student
Hamidreza Mohammadi, an activist
Jafar Aghdami, an activist
Babak Bordbar, a photojournalist,
Ebrahim (Nader) Babaei, a civil society member and a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war,
Kouhyar Goudarzi, a human rights defender and blogger,
Keyvan Samimi, a journalist,
Mohammad Hossein Sohrabi Rad, activist,
Zia Nabavi, a student,
Ali Malihi, a student,
Majid Dorri, a student,
Gholam Hossein Arshi, a demonstrator
Peyman Karimi Azad, demonstrators.

In solidarity with the Evin prisoners on hunger strike, a number of Iranian refugees (most journalists) were planning to go on hunger strike in Paris. Interestingly, the Iranian embassy pressed charges on the high profile individuals; and they were indicted by the French court. Of course, the activists pledged to use the court appearance as a platform to raise awareness about deplorable condition of fellow journalists and political prisoners in Iran. But I can't find anything in English; so I guess it didn't.

There is a facebook group, trying to raise awareness ...

I hate for this cause to be picked by the McCain gang of human-right-defense torjan war horses .. but 5 of these prisoners are in very bad condition ... everyone is urging them to stop the strike ... knowing that it is he regime's dream that they self-execute ...
...
...
I just want you to know ... no; I don't want you bomb us into liberation!

Assassination of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?!

Yup; his wish to go down the history sewage with full glory of an attempted assassination was about to come true. (media-watching and updating below; the contradictions of IRNA and FALSE news are getting hilarious!)

Two days ago, after a significant amount of finger pointing at this, that and the other; and telling the west that looloo (genie) has taken the mameh (boob); meaning that middle east's breast is not to feed the west's brats, he also predicted that the Zionists are plotting to assassinate him!

Because this gentleman is such a zionist insider, and has so much insight into their intentions, in fact about an hour ago a hand grenade was thrown at his motorcade, hitting the car carrying journalists, the profession that these days has low life insurance, the less journalists/reporters, the happier the goons. There is smoke and blood; and of course Mahmoud the Zioniser is just dandy and undead! They say the "terrorist" is arrested.

12:28 PM local time: Parliament news reports the grenade blast
13:11 PM local time, Irna has reported on his speech in Hamedan, but no mention of assassination.
13:34 PM Iran local time: Curiously, no report on Fars News site yet (after an hour of the news announced on Al Arabia, although the news is not tagged for time on their site) 13:34 PM Iran local time.

This silence means they are regrouping for a new oppressive strategy, or that they are caught by surprise and Mahmoud hasn't had time to instruct them Gobbelly?

First Fars News report emerged at 14:07, snapshot below:

Now things are getting funny, because while Fars News, Ahmadinejad's official propaganda reports teh attack, his english pipe, pressTV is denying the news:



Now this is IRNA's news (at 16:05 local time): "The fire cracker of a joyous Hamedani lad leads to [media] excitement"!

As I said, they seem to be trying to figure out a strategy! Fars News has not updated the previous news. Whether this was an assassination or not, at this point, is less important than the obvious ahmadinejadist-media confusion on the matter! Initially, they had to decide between two narratives:

The "beloved" president came close to an assassination attempt.

The "mighty intelligence office" failed to stop an assassination attempt.

It seems they have chosen the third alternative: "there was no attempt"; "there was no arrest"; "there was no injury" ... as reported initially! I won't be surprised if the orders for this version of the story came from the Khamenei office. Khamenei cannot afford to appear weak; nor can he afford giving Ahmadinejad the martyr/hero status he was hoping for by predicting his own assassination by "zionists infiltrators".

24:00 Local time:

And to conclude this: I have surveyed the Iranian bloggers, who are united in mocking Ahmadinejad and attributing this even to one of his half-assed publicity stunts in which he has attempted to prove, to his brainless followers who consider him the sign of the messiah, that his prediction of a zionist attempt on his life is validated!

I stay by my analysis: the higher-up has ordered him to close the act and let this pass ...

What a nonsensical farce is this man ... i can't help sweating in agony and embarrassment.

Mohammad Nouri: Another voice of a past we love, passes away ...

Mohammad Nouri (1929-2010) was the singer of my parent's generation. I heard him more because my aunt played and sang his songs on the guitar and a relative was said to have dated him in pre-revolutionary glory-days.

Nouri was one of the first "fusion" musicians of Iran: influenced by folk songs, and performing them in western style, as far as the vocals and the orchestra composition were concerned. His music is never categorized. He was not a pop singer, not a classical singer, nor a folk singer. His music was not traditional, but his melodies and lyrics were. There is something pulsatile in his music, short harmonics, low pitch, that brings it close to jazz but with 'oriental' rather than African beats. But his music also invokes memories of French singers Edith Piaf, Jacque Brel, and Charls Aznavour.

Nouri was educated in Iran in the Honarestan-e Aali Mousighi (High college of music, or Tehran Conservatoire, envisioned by Reza Khan Pahlavi and founded by the French Alfred Jean Baptist Lemair about 100 years ago). He studied music with several musicians such as Sirous Shahrdar, Fereydoun Farzaneh, Hossein Aslani, Naser Hosseini, Mohammad Sareer, Mostafa PourTorab. (Source)

In addition, he studied English literature and theater, he wrote (or performed) 300 songs, and translated and wrote music articles. He was modest, and not a businessman. For this reason, loved by foe and friends. The You Tube video I posted below, however, is his first on-stage performance with an orchestra, in 50 years of his career. (The concert is in Tehran.)

Nouri was spared the terror other pop singers suffered after revolution, because he was 'pious'. Five years ago, he was recognized as an icon of the Iranian music, by (the now-turned-infamous Iranian broadcaster) Seda O Seema. It is important to know, that Nouri died in poverty and after struggle with 1.5 years of illness. The IRI minister of Culture and Islamic guidance did offer help, but Nouri refused. (Source: Donyaye Eghtesad, 7 July, 2010, quoting The Artistic Deputy of the Minister of Culture and Islamic guidance.)

And he died, yesterday, in a hospital bed in Tehran, at home ...

All newspapers, from left and right, are acknowledging his passing in sadness (including the Ahmadinejadist propaganda machine, False-News)

There was a song that, when aunt Khorsheed sang, made me cry:

Ne-mi-she ghos-se ma-ro [is it possible that sadness]

ye lah-ze tan-ha be-za-reh? [leave us alone one day?]

Ne-mi-sheh in gha-fe-leh [Is it possible that this caravan]

ye-rooz ma-ro ja be-za-reh? [leave us behind one day?]

See? ... pulsatile ...

Rest in peace, lovely man. May one day, your genius and contribution to the Iranian modern music be discovered in a PhD thesis ...

Who's being Chastised for US Sanctioning Iran?

Israel?

Zionists?

American Imperialism?

Islamophobed?

Great Satan?

NOPE!!

The greens!

Yup!

It is because of the Greens that 'Obama', the person, has slapped Iran with crippling economic sanctions.

Says who? The False News quoting some unknown Friday Imam, speaking to the students of an unknown university, in a Kurdish province: Kermanshah! This Mullah believes that it is because of the Green elements inside, that Iran's immunity is compromised. He adds that such compromises are to be expected before the "return of the messiah".

These days, it seems Iranians Mullahs and the Zionist war mongers are all working for the same purpose: Bringing the Messiah out!

The mullahs seems to be almost orgasmic about the possibility of an attack. It seems as if they are cheering for it. They are treating it as if it is a gift given to them by Greens and Zionists: the catastrophic war after which their Mahdi will emerge!

The name of Mahdi is revoked just too frequently to be comforting! The dinosaur Jannati, Ahmadinejad, the dinosaur Alam-ol-Hoda ... This is the superstition that Mousavi has been warning against for some time.

So, Santionizers! In case you think your beating the war drums is deterring Iran, you are wrong. Don't gamble; as they are hoping for your attack! And when you attack, it will be the green ones who will defend that country; and it will be bloody; and it will be long, and it will make Iraq and Afghanistan look like a piece of pie!

So, back off of this Hojjatiyeh/Zionist scenario! Get it?!

The Iranian Wikileaks: Fars News and Rafighdoost prove why war profiteers who are running Iran today hate Mousavi.

I am a bit busy these days, but in one of the most recent idiocies of the Iranian hardliners, and Ahmadinejad's propaganda machine: Fars News, one of the IRGC who-is-whos, who was forced on Mousavi's Cabinet, during the Iran-Iraq war (sacred defense, for Iranians) attempts to undermine Mousavi by expressing how Anti-War he was as the head of the government of the time.

A summary of what this crook (Mohsen Rafighdoost) claims is published in Persian.

Mousavi's angry response, (English on Khordad 88) and his vowing to blow the whistle on war profiteering of Rafighdoost and his ilk is one of the most threatening statements Mousavi has ever made against the IRGC rulers of Iran, today. It is not that Mousavi is angry to be called anti-war; but he is expressing anger at how the IRGC commanders such as Rafighdoost harmed the country, and vow to harm the country with their unattainable love for war and its profits.

I hope to come back with an english translation of how Rafighdoost is shooting himself and his accomplices in the foot. In the meantime, a sample of his self-incriminations include:

- Admission to confiscating industrial factories against the wish of the government, to produce weapons. (من به زور مي‌رفتم كارخانجات دولتي را تسخير مي‌كردم و در آنها مهمات مي‌ساختم،)
- Admission to smuggling and potential war profiteering (يك بار من جنسي را با تخلف قانوني وارد كردم و دادم كارخانه‌ها و پس از آنكه كالاي مورد نظرمان توليد شد، تازه وزارت بازرگاني پيغام داد كه ما اين كالا را 7 دلار در تن ارزان‌تر پيدا كرديم
- Admission to how Mousavi was more concerned about feeding people than conquering Baghdad when the country didn't have enough resources for war (حتي اواسط جنگ آقاي موسوي از من خواست كاميون‌هاي سپاه را براي حمل گندم از بندرعباس به سيلوها اعزام كنم تا نان مردم داده شود. در واقع خيلي از وزرا هم روحيه جنگ نداشتند و هم مملكت امكانات آنچناني نداشت.)

The Bombing of Zahedan (update with Mousavi and Khamenei's statements.)

Disclaimer: if you come here by way of a link from Michael Ledeen, please be advised that I am ADAMANTLY opposed to the war mongering views held by this gentleman, and as part of my fight against local and global fascism, I hold his school of thought in utmost contempt. (July 27, 2010)

Today, I came across a report about the aftermath of Zahedan's Jundollah Bombing of the 14th of July, 2010. The report ended with a question asked by the The Iranian Muslims Society in America (not sure what their official name is in English; but they are not the average anti-IRI modernist, secularist, monarchist Iranians you are likely to meet in America: they are 'decidedly' Muslims and in the Islamophobic atmosphere of today's world, you are likely to brand them as "fundamentalist"!):

"Where are the human right defenders in exile to raise an issue about the bombings in Zahedan? Why don't they condemn the attacks? Don't the people of Zahedan fit the same bill for human rights? Are they not Iranian? Then your silence is an indication that your patrons [the West] are responsible for this?" [By many Iranians, Jundollah, like Al Quaeda is considered a CIA offspring]

I admit to guilty feelings about my silence. This bomb has hit close to home for me. I remember a smaller version of such blast from childhood: it was loud, it was smoky, it was bloody, it was in the first year of the Islamic Republic, it scared me; I was a child.

But the reason why I find it hard to blog these days is because Iran seems to have turned into a hodge podge. Criminals are busy killing each other, to satisfy each other's thirst for blood. The IRI kills the Rigi brothers, a few weeks apart, without proper trial, without even considering the possibility that giving Rigi a death penalty together with a pardon and a life term in prison, will have served the country far better than his death. The IRI is behaving like a savage barbarian; one matching the rouge elements of Jundollah; primitive, uncultured, mercurial!

So Jundollah sends suicide bombers and IRI sends thugs to the streets of Zahedan, the city of kind people, open minded people, mountain and desert people, city of smuggled goodies, city of white Sunni mosques, and dusty parks. The thugs, report says, have been knifing people. These knife thrusters would be of the same ilk that was unleashed on Tehranis in Ashura: they are most likely Ahmadinejad's products from the "rehabilitation program" that found "convicted criminals" a useful job in the society.

According to local observers, these knife-pushers are the worst of all: they seem to target Balouchis randomly, and beat them up for no reason--further fueling the ethnic resentments and convictions that the Balouch are discriminated against.

The city seems to be trampled by some uniformed security forces (they must be soldiers doing their compulsory military service, sacrificial sheep ...), plainclothes knife/baton holders, and jundollah 'terrorists'.

Ahmadinejadists are not losing any breath in their comfortable Tehran towers blaming the blast on the West; especially because Abdulmalek Rigi, the Jundollah "hero", confessed within literally hours of being arrested, to being paid by America.

But, what is interesting is that several people have lost their lives in the aftermath of the bombing, to the knife wounds of the plainclothes. Depending on their age or looks, the plainclothes can be called Basiji (more religious looking and young and unlikely to give a damn about anything happening in Zahedan as they are only posed to fight the Westernish opposition in Tehran) or the so called Intelligence forces (more gangster-like; body-builder with a big belly, giant beard, angry bloody eyes, carrying a walky talky and wiggling their ugly asses when they walk and taking jobs in Zahedan because it PAYS WELL--and because the Sissy-boys of official security forces have literally closed shop--with the excuse of fearing further targeted attacks.)

Three parliament members from the province resigned in protest to lack of sufficient security provisions to guarantee the citizen's safety. However, they were "ordered" by the Stalin in chief, Khamenei, to take back their resignation (it's amazing how much this person, the soupreaked leader, is meddling in the affairs of the country. It would be as if the queen of england would be meddling and over ruling every minute decision and action in the house of commons.)

So, to the "American Iranian Muslims": I DO condemn the bombings; but I don't lay the blame on ANYONE other than the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and their CORRUPT security officers (especially the DRUG LORDS OF THE IRGC) for their utter lack of respect for human life, for ethnic rights; and their utter lack of competence, care and wisdom.

When I lived in that city, it had a reputation for having a high density of 'elite' population, because the Shah's government of the time followed a policy to send "experts", political scientists, historians, lawyers, engineers, and the better ones of the army to this "volatile" region (this province has been volatile for 200 years, at least) to manage it out of trouble, to educate it, to bring prosperity to its harbour (Chahbahar), to its agriculture (Mirjaveh, Sarbaaz). Balouchestan was to get attention by the queen wearing Balouchi patterns, and by the King building a royal residence in this poorest of the provinces to allow him frequent visits. Alas, all the rush to modernity was too much to take for the traditional Iranians, and it looked too capitalist to the university-educated lefties. Revolution happened; and Khomeini stole it and turned it into a fundamentalist battle of egos East vs West. And then, Iran and its people were forgotten, and remain forgotten, in the cacophony of headless heartless politicians of the East and the West.

What is interesting is that revolution didn't come to Zahedan, really. (I remember distributing colourful slips with Khomeni messages on behalf of my university student uncle, and I remember my father bailing him out of trouble a few times, but that was it. I never saw or heard of a rally; and the Wall writings were so few and so mediocre that no one bothered to do anything about.) Revolution came only after it was declared victorious, and only then did the people pull down the Shah's statue from the statue of his horse), I watched both the palace and the province being robbed of all potential in the first years of the IRI. Some of those old blueprints have been put back on the table during the Reform era; but they are now peripheral (remind me to tell you the story of Banana) and what dominates is the corruption of the revolutionary guards, who together with their accomplice (drug) lords of the province are the targets of the Jundollah attacks. What is ironic, is that apparently, after Abdulmalek Rigi was arrested, a bit of confidence was returning to the province, luring investments and development projects. But now, people are afraid of "being Balouch" again; and investors run away from trouble.

Don't blame our miseries on the western patrons: WE are accountable for our OWN lost opportunities and for any loss that comes to us, of life and of fortune.

UPDATE: I have translated statements of the green leader and the 'supreme' leader on the event. See, the division in the country really fades when the country comes under serious danger! So the Republican assholes who wish to give the green light to the Israeli assholes to bomb Iran, better beware!

=====Translation of Mousavi's message on the 3rd day of the event, stressing that both the internal and the external agitators are eager to use the event to muddy waters for their gain.

In the name of Allah, the giver and the forgiver.

The atrocious act that took place in Zahedan, was clearly intended to create a rift between the Sunni and the Shiite brothers; a despicable act against the national unity. Of such actions benefit, both the foreigners and also those whose profits lay in the chasm of cultures and ethnicities.

In the critical times we are living today, be careful of conspiracies, across the country, targeting the unity of the people.

I express my condolences to the families of the victims; and to all my brothers and sisters in Sistan & Balouchistan. I hope the alertness, the fraternity and the national unite of the brave people of our country will neutralize the malicious intentions of their enemies.

Mir Hossein Mousavi

=========Excerpt from Khamenei's message on the 7th day of the event, stressing that the external enemies are eager to spread terrorism in the middle east to gain control of the region.

"Blind, ignorant, and murderous fundamentalists have given their hearts to corrupt powers who have repeatedly demonstrated their hatred for Islam and Muslims; and have delivered a blow to them when ever a chance has presented itself. Their animosity with Iran is because of the flowing flag of Islam in this country, and its perpetual call to Islamic unity, dignity and power. In this bloody event, and many alike, one of the aims of the enemy is to generate rifts between Muslims. The Islamic Republic of Iran, who has for years supported the [Sunni] people of Gaza, Afghanistan and Kashmir, is now the target of the Intelligence agencies of the US and Israel, who have delusions of dragging [Iran] into the conspiracy of Sunni/Shiite clash. Unaware, are they, of the fact that the Sunnis of Iran, like their Shiite brothers, have frequently proven their loyalty to this sacred Nezam [yes they have, but not to the Nezam, but to the country, dude! Since Nezam is the one who is conspiring with the "enemy" in wronging them] and have stood up against Imperialism in defending the Islamic Republic.

In our region [Middle East], the emergence and the growth of blind and savage terrorism, is born out of the malicious American and British policies. It is up to all Muslims to stand up against and fight this ominous and unfortunate offspring.

[...]

The Shiite and Sunni elite, across the Muslim and Arab world, must illuminate the intentions of the enemies in spreading and strengthening sectarian terrorism, and alert them of the dangers of the enemy's dream of religious conspiracy.

[and then condolences]

Seyed Ali Khamenei"

Iran & The World Cup

Disclaimer: I am no soccer expert; and I hardly know Iran's current national team. I watch the world cup every four years. I do not care about any specific team, but in general I like people with southern looks and attitudes: they dance the ball!

This post is just to say, to the readers of this blog, who I suspect are mostly North American, and thus only recently become interested in soccer, that Iran HAS in the past qualified to play in the World Cup (and some may recall that Iran beat USA (2-1) in 1998 in France; a game preceded by exchange of gifts and courtesy, the first world-encounter during Khatami's presidency and the missed opportunity of the "dialogue of civilizations".)

Until Ahmadinejad took over, Iran was a rising star in Asian football. Taking a page from Goebbel's book, Ahmadinejad tried hard to ride the populist waves of football waters in Iran (that were stirred high during the reform era. However, as everything that he puts his finger on, this went rotten as well! Iran didn't qualify for the WC this year because of Ahmadinejadism.

In addition to characteristic incompetence of the Ahmadinejad-picked national team managers; many Iranian players chose to stand with the people in the aftermath of the bloody election. (Wikipedia: During the final game of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against the South Korean national football team held in Seoul on June 17, 2009, seven members of the team, Javad Nekounam, Ali Karimi (The Asian Maradona), Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hosein Kaebi, Masoud Shojaei, Mohammad Nosrati, and Vahid Hashemian, wore green wristbands in support of the opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi in the 2009 Iranian election protests.)

Some of these players (home stars and players for Bayern Munich, Leicester City, Bochum and Eintracht Frankfurt) were forced to retire and banned for life. Of course, Iranian footbal federation denied the reports of disciplinary action related to green symbolism.

Some of these soccer stars didn't go out without a bang. Ali Karimi (the Bayeren Municher, also called the "Asian Maradona" and eyed by LA's Galaxy) spoke to Ahmadinejad's False-News agency and openly criticized Iran's football federation by calling it "the weakest in his ten-year presence in the national team [that] would bring Iran's football backwards rather than forward."

What are my sentiments about Iran's participation in the WC?

Personally, I am happy Iran is not playing. Countries like Iran do need things like a national team to inspire a bit of pride and unity in a people that is slapped around by internal and external criminals (read Khamenei and the USA). However, under a Fascist government, a national-team triumph will only feed the monster (of Ahmadinejadism) and its defeat will break the country's spirits further. Also, being part of the world cup distracts the nation from the goal they need to focus on right now: scoring against militarism and fascism.

For now, I enjoy the display of human triumph, speed, power, reflex, strength and stamina on the field. These players become "stars" because they inspire faith in the capabilities of human being and the marvels of team-play.

Here, a video of the Asian Maradona: Ali Karimi!

In memory of the fallen (Neda and others)

I thought you had forgotten, heart,

Your ability to suffer pain.

That easy gift would come, I thought,

No more again! No more again!

Gone were the raptures and the griefs

And the dreams you half-believed. . .

But now I know, while beauty lives

so long will live my power to grieve.

(By Alexandre Pushkin)

A footnote from a historic apology and a strategic guideline by Mostafa Tajzadeh

On the anniversary of the election rigging; Tajzadeh has written a long letter entitled: "Father, mother, we are AGAIN accused" (title borrowed from Ali Shariati's short book "Father, mother, we are accused", in which Shariati explained why his generation had abandoned the stale and superstitious version of their parents Islam and taken up Marxist ideologies instead.).

Who is Mostafa Tajzadeh? A political scientist, who has worked as deputy to ministries of culture (when Mohammad Khatamy was the minister) and Interior (during Khatami's presidency). Hence, he is a "reformist".

Tajzadeh was one of the first to be arrested in the aftermath of the IRGC coup d'etat; he was one of the last to be given a break from prison on bail; a reformist who did not "confess", nor apologize for his involvement in "velvet revolution" as alleged by Ahmadinejadist and militia-controlled judiciary.

His wife, Fakhorssadat Mohtashami (in beige scarf lower right), relentless, brave and rhetorically poetic, was the first of the "political prisoner spouses" to write public love letters to her husband, highlighting the cause for which he and his colleagues were subjected to torturous imprisonment; she was also the one who ignored all threats and spoke publicly to the Iranian media inside and outside Iran about the injustices served by the judiciary.

With this very long and elaborate letter Tajzadeh is the first of the IRI (once) ruling elite to apologize for the actions of IRI. I accept his apology; and I welcome this moment of truth and reconciliation. (ALTHOUGH, I do not like these reformists myth of Khomeini. Khomeini was the first to cheat and to lie and order killings. In fact, Khomeini behaved very similarly to how Khamenei is conducting himself today--except that Khomeini had religious credentials that his dude doesn't; except that Khomeini was the leader chosen by people and Khamenei the leader chosen by Hashemi. But I understand that to split from Khomeini for the reformists is not only political, but also biological suicide; and I do not wish any of them death.)

Despite some "oh khomeini" lamentations, in the largest portion of his letter, Tajzadeh reflects on how he and his generation let the Iranian revolution go awry; and how he and his reformist believers of the Islamic Republic bear a responsibility to have stayed silent when they watched fascism take root under their watch. He apologizes to my generation and younger ones for having been part of the system that stripped us of our human, social and civic rights and enforced, by guns and intimidation, an ideological version of righteousness on our private lives.

Besides apologizing, he is also hinting to the green movement where the ideological soft spots of the regime are. Like a good football coach, he speaks of how he has argumentatively disarmed his interrogators by asking them: "if you accuse us of a velvet colored revolution, then do you admit to your regime being a despotic communist-like one?"

The letter is very long and I don't think any of my english readers will care to read all of it; it is a private national conversation for us Persian-reader folks. But, because Iran is on your mind--whether you are a Pro-Israeli who thinks Iran is a threat or an Anti-Israeli who think Iran is the messiah; I found this footnote relevant to your interest (Persian text follows):

"Last year, the propagandist machine of the Milita party (referring to Ahmadinejadist IRGC gangs) has directed many accusations towards the green movement and its leaders. Some of these accusations are that they act in cahoot or in concordance with Americans, Zionists, Monarchists and MKO Marxists. These accusations are made despite the Islamic and Nationalist history and background of these leaders, despite the republican nature and goals of the movement, and despite its insistence on dialogue and non-violence and the fact that the movement has clearly expressed its separation from and rejection of any totalitarian, separatist, oppressive and terrorist agenda; and dismissed those who do not acknowledge Iran's independence and unity, and who are not bound by the Iranian Constitution.

But, what is least paid attention to is the similarity of the Militia party (i.e. Ahmadinejadists) to the four mentioned groups (Monarchist, Marxist, Zionist, Imperialist), especially in relation to obstruction of democracy, and violation of civic, political and cultural rights of the Iranians. My main criticism of the totalitarian regime is that by behaving similarly to these four groups, the Iranian government (totalitarians) disarm the (green) people in confronting these groups.

For example, the Militia Party (Ahmadinejadists) competes with America in hypocrisy; races with the Shah's regime in cracking down political opposition and in nepotism; surpasses the (Marxist/terrorist) MKO in militaristic rigidity and hateful rhetoric; and has borrowed from the communist Russia the solitary cells, forced confessions and televised courts!

I suggest that while the greens delineate their difference with these groups, they also ask what is the regime's difference with those! The boundaries of the greens with the violators of the human rights are clear, but are the differences between the Iranian totalitarians and those groups clear?!"

[65] دستگاه تبليغاتي حزب پادگاني در يكسال گذشته اتهامات زيادي متوجه جنبش سبز و رهبرانش كرده است؛ از جمله این كه آنها با آمريكايي‌ها و صهيونيست‌ها، سلطنت‌طلب‌ها، مجاهدين خلق و ماركسيست‌ها هماهنگ عمل مي‌كنند يا همسو سخن مي‌گويند. اين در حالي است كه سوابق اسلامي و ملي رهبران جنبش سبز، اهداف و ماهيت مردمي اين حركت،‌ گفتمان مسالمت‌آميز و خشونت‌‌پرهيز آن و فاصله‌گيري آشكار جنبش از انديشه‌هاي تمامیت‌خواه، جدايي‌خواه‌، سركوبگر و تروريستي را همگان مي‌دانند و مرز آنان با همه كساني كه استقلال و يكپارچگي سرزميني ايران را به رسميت نمي‌شناسند و حاضر به فعاليت در چارچوب قانون نيستند، مشخص است؛ اما چيزي كه كمتر به آن توجه مي‌شود، اين است كه رفتار و گفتار حزب پادگاني بيشترين شباهت را با چهار گروه فوق، بهویژه در ايجاد انسداد،‌ مبارزه با دموكراسي و نقض حقوق مدني، سياسي و فرهنگي ايرانيان دارد. اساساً يكي از انتقادهاي جدي من به بينش، روش و منش اقتدارگراها اين است كه با ارائه عملكرد مشابه و گاه يكسان با گروه‌هاي مذكور، ملت را در برابر آنان خلع سلاح مي‌كنند و در موضع ضعيف قرار مي‌دهند. براي مثال، حزب پادگاني در كاربرد معيارهاي دوگانه با دولت آمريكا رقابت مي‌كند، در ايجاد انسداد سياسي و سركوب مخالفان و احياي مناسبات شاهنشاهي با سلطنت‌طلب‌ها كورس رقابت گذاشته است، عملكرد پادگاني و ادبيات خشن و كينه‌توزانه مجاهدين خلق را الگو قرار داده‌ و از كمونيسم روسي، سلول انفرادي، اعتراف‌گيري و دادگاه‌هاي نمايشي را وام گرفته است. من معتقدم سبزها ضمن دادن جواب به اين سؤال كه «مرز» شما با گروه‌هاي سابق‌الذكر چيست، بايد از اقتدارگراها بپرسند كه «فرق» رفتار و گفتار حزب پادگاني با جريان‌هاي مذكور چيست؟ «مرز» سبزها با ناقضان حقوق ايرانيان روشن است، اما آيا «فرق» اقتدارگراها با آنان معلوم است؟

72 Iranian Intellectuals in Exile condemn Israel's recent actions

What this list confirms is this : the signatories are not AIPAC/AEI subsidiaries.

Not all, but many of these individuals are ardent opponents of the IRI.

Ervand Abrahamian (Historian)

Nasrin Almasi

Kaveh Ehsani (University Professor)

Mohammad A'zami

Fariba Amini

Bahman Amini

Ali Afshari

Abdolali Bazargan

Golbarg Bashi

Reza Barahani

Mohammad Borghe'i

Mehrzad Boroujerdi

Sohrab Behdad

Maziyar Behrouz

Asef Bayat

Shahrnoush Parsipour

Ali Porsan

Foad Taban

Kamran Talattof

Nayere Tohidi

Mehdi Jami (Writer, filmmaker)

Ramin Jahanbeglou (Political scientist)

Houshang Hasan-Yari (Economist/political scientist)

Fatemeh Haghighatjou

Mehdi Khanbaba Tehrani (Historian)

Behrouz Khaligh

Hamid Dabashi (NYU Professor)

Mostafa Rokhsefat

Sa'id Razavi-Faghih

Hossein Zahedi

Faraj Sarkouhi

Bijan Shahmoradi

Masoumeh Shafi'i

Shahla Salehpour

Ahmad Sadri

Mahmoud Sadri

Behzad Karimi

Kazem Alamdari

Reza Allamehzadeh

Reza Fani-Yazdi

Masoud Fathi

Mansour Farhang

Hadi Gha'emi

Hosein Ghaziyan

Firouz Ghoreishi

Maherangiz Kar (Human rights lawyer)

Naser Kakhsaz

Kazem Kardavani

Ali Keshtgar

Abdee Kalantari (Historian)

Hossein Kamali

Taghi Kimiyaee-Asadi

Effat Mahbaz

Akbar Mahdi

Mojtaba Mahdavi

Akbar Ganji

Majid Mohammadi

Mehrdad Mashayekhi

Ali-Akbar Mousavi Khoeeni

Rouzbeh Mirebrahimi

Ali MirSepasi

Ghafour Mirzayee

Mohsen Namjoo (Musician)

Ebrahim Nabavi

Mehdi Nourbakhsh

Shahin Najafi (Musician)

Farhad No'mani

Mohamadreza Nikfar (Philosopher)

Farzin Vahdat

Nader Hashemi

Ata Hoodashtiyan

Mohsen Yalfani

That which will go down in history books as the massacre of Flotilla

As usual, Israel responded to stones and batons, thrown in self-defense by innocent men and women under aerial siege by perhaps the best of the commando forces on the planet, with unmeasured live fire!

As usual, many died and Israel and the bitch in chief Hellirry Clinton didn't wink. In the meantime, the apologist media tried to provide "objective and unsentimental factual news"!

As usual, there were only the Iranian-Americans of my facebook friends who reacted to the event. At the same time, the Iranian-Iranians were busy with desperate calls for attention to the 6 years jail term and 74 lashes for the university professor Sara Tavassoli--the common sentence of attending a protest; or to more school teachers on death row, or to the depressive tale of children of the victims of the IRI massacre; people ending in cold blood for demanding a fair and open counting of their votes.

As usual, the Left-leaning non-Iranian "activists" started crying Murder/Massacre; started forming "action" groups and started clicking "like" buttons. Their indignation is praise-worthy especially since these same individuals have been willfully ignoring the IRI killings, 100 times in scale of brutality and unjustness and directed against the own population. (I wish to ask these enlightened activists of the pro-palestinian/pro-IRI inclination: does it have to be an Israeli act of crime to justify using the word massacre? The killing of AT LEAST 70 people for participating in a rally in Tehran is not a massacre?)

Within hours of the Flotilla massacre, Khatami, Mousavi and Karoubi, who are the leading figures of Iran's green movement condemned it, each with a personal statement of their own.

Also, Khamenei, the infamous violator of the Iranian human's right, grinned his teeth to the international "defenders of the human rights" (such as the bomb-bomb-bomber McCain and his ilk, who have desperately tried to leech on to the green movement--and have failed miserably togeher with their Iranian-American rookies) and said: "the most pressing human rights issue of the world today is Palestine." He compared Israel's actions to those of his and said: "this crime showed that Zionism is more violent than Fascism!"

The Hanging Baluchs

Today, Abldulhamid Rigi was hanged. When researching his hanging, I came across this old photo of an execution event whose cause I do not know.

In this picture, three men hang dead. A large crowd is watching. If you pay attention to the faces of the frontliners in the crowd, it seems they are watching a bullfight of sorts. It seems like a circus, a parade, a freak show of sorts.

One may wonder if these public hangings are done to serve as an "example"!

I took this picture from a Balouchi weblog: Taftan.blogspot.com. The writer of the blog finds it provocative that the hanged men are in their Baluchi dress. He finds the fact that they are hanged in their ethnic attire a proof that the "Iranians" are out there to get them.

Today, more Balouchs have been hanged. One of them is the brother of Abdulmalek Rigi, the (in)famous leader of the terrorist organization Jundollah.

That Jundollah is a terrorist organization is attested by its members; they, like many other resistance movements (such as Palestinians, and Japanese) resort to suicide missions to take out their enemies. If you can read a comment left under this picture in the weblog I mentioned above, you will see a call for a suicide mission to get rid of the Zabolis (who are the shiite rivals of Balouchis in the Sistan & Balouchestan province.)

But, that these public hangings succeed as deterrents is highly objectionable.

Three men are hanging dead. Their dead bodies feel no pain, no gain, no shame, no pride. As sweet as life is, men who enter "action" are not afraid of death. But hanging bodies will fuel the hatred and the resolve of those who lose their fear of death for a cause: compared to the violent injustices experienced by the world (death by hunger, death due to denied AIDS medication, death in a war) these hanging bodies on a rope seem awefuly calm and peaceful. If anything, each of these ropes shall become the umbilical chord of many a new terrorist.

The Baluchis have been fighting for their rights for over two centuries. They are impoverished by the unforgiving forces of the nature, and by the paranoia of the rest of the nation that has implicitly decided a prosperous Balouchestan will feed the resolve of the secessionists. In addition, Baluchistan is plagued by much of the same drug-lord phenomena that plagues Afghanistan; and survives on the same warrior mentality that has kept Afghanistan alive. The Balouchi problem is not going anywhere by public hangings and jailing of their leaders.

Is it not ironic, that the IRI that sympathizes with the cause of Palestinian suicide bombers subjects the "terrorists" inside Iran (who have been seeking national independence even before inception of the IRI) in a manner that if Israel conducted it would guarantee a call for its "obliteration" by the good and zealous people of the middle east?!?!

In this picture, three men are hanging dead!

From the body language of the crowd, I feel a call for "closure" and "revenge" is addressed. If these desires for revenge and closure didn't exist, the IRI would not dare killing even killers in public. Remember, two weeks ago they killed the Kurds, the heroic teacher, and the innocent woman in hiding and even refused to return their corpses to their families! Then, there may be more to carrying these public executions.

But, what is revenge begetting the rulers, or the men who are cheering on the event of death?

I don't know who will persuade the IRI to do without the capital punishment anytime soon. Perhaps since they are after becoming a super-power, they are competing with China and the USA, the other two major killer-states?!

Khoramshahr: defiant on the anniversary of its liberation!

This shameless man thinks by wearing a green shawl he is divesting the opposition movement of its symbolic color!

The fool that he is!

The people of Khoramshahr (which was liberated from Iraqi occupation on this day) are shouting in unison:

Bi-Kari
Bi-Kari
Bi-Kari
[Unemployment]

overpowering his senseless propaganda about his grand national plans ...

Simply, the brave people of the "frontline", are defying "the enemy within" ...
Judging from the enthusiastic reception this video is receiving, perhaps this is the beginning of their end!

I just pray they won't open fire on labour protesters soon.

P.S. they are now executing from the Baluchestan; the other hot-zone on the eastern border with Pakistan.

Hijab Power-Play again; Another Desperate Act, again!

The desperate goons of Ahmadinejadist persuasion have promised a new round of persecution of the bi-Hijabs (i.e. people who do not observe the government imposed dress code: requiring women to cover their hair and skin--save hands, feet, face; and men to not wear t-shirts, tight pants and sport excessive/stylized hair/beard styles. The picture is an example provided by Fars News, Ahmadinejad's mouthpiece.

The women activists and the civic-society activists are tolling the warning bells; rightly so! "Hijab is an instrument of power in the hands of the authoritarian government." It is not only the instrument of their power, but also a manifestation of their grip/control on the society.

In modern Iran (i.e. after the constitutional revolution) the rulers have invariably used women for political intentions: whereas the Quajars killed the brightest of them on charges of scandalous blasphemy (she dropped her veil in public); Pahlavis legislated them out of veil, making Hijab illegal; Khomeini legislated them into veil; Khatami won their vote on the promise of freedom of dress and social rights; Ahmadinejad is struggling hard to look pro-women; albeit in his schizophrenic way: promoting idiot mindless women such as his minister of health (the first female member of cabinet since inception of IRI) who fit the patriarchy bill!

I remember the first round of Hijab-fascism well. I remember it because my mother was an official feminist before revolution; not one of those who thought women's right were inversely proportional to the length of their skirt--rather one who believed women should not be objectified, should not be reduced to pretty sexual eye candies. She believed in women having equal (if not more) capabilities than men had. I remember this common narrative about how she took assignments in such frightening rural areas in Iran that her male counterparts didn't dare to.

When revolution came, all those who worked under mother's department ran to black veils; suddenly the most flirtatious and sexually exhibitionist of them adopted chador; the most drunk and morally decadent men of her department began wearing a beard and stopped shaving. Soon, those people reached the top; became the bosses; and who was the first to fire? My mother!

I remember when revolution and Hijab came! For the first few months, mother wore a little Dior scarf over her coiffured short brown hair. My father too, refused to not wear a tie, to not wear crisp pants. Revolution had come, but my parents did not change their dress code. This, together with their refusal to allow their departments being robbed (literally, with trucks) out of items that belonged to the tax-payers, by young revolutionaries, accelerated the appearance of their names in media as "anti-revolutionaries" to be "cleansed" out of the government.

My own encounter with forced Hijab came later. I was 8.5 at that time. I went to a semi-private elementary school. It was a small school with enlightened staff. When mother wore her little scarf for the first time; I too wore a large pink georgette scarf over my beautifully made gray uniform (with a white dantel collar and a pleated skirt, buttoned nicely in front, tight around the waist--mother never let us wear pret-a-porter; our clothes were carefully designed and made by herself.) I remember I also wore a pair of dotted pink trousers under my uniform. I wanted my hijab to be complete; and in my young mind, I also wanted to be fashionable--hence the matching scarf/pant color!

I walked to the school with my mother; and we were greeted by the principal who always stood in front of the door when students arrived. She too was wearing a scarf; but as soon as she saw me she burst into laughter: "what's that you are wearing?" I don't remember what I said, I remember she and mother talking and nagging at the current situation a bit and then I took the pink georgette off and went to my class. It was only in the last year of elementary school that I was FORCED to wear a bucket for uniform, and a hair covering scarf over that--and that's because we moved to a different city; a conservative one!

Again, my Hijab zeal made for a funny story that my friends and I still laugh at! My mother bought me a really hair-covering scarf made in some Muslim country. I wore the "complete" Hijab, went to school, and my teacher introduced me to a student who was from the same city I had just arrived from! The student happened to be Bahai, and seeing my complete Hijab, she feared I was a fundamentalist muslim being forced on her! I gave up that fashion statement too; and resorted to a white scarf!

And then, I grew up in 10 years of being harassed over my hijab; in school, in streets, in university. There was always something I was picked on:

Your winter coat is pink!

Your shoes are white!

Your pants are too tight!

Your pants are too loose!

Your overcoat's opening in the back is too high!

Your scarf in the back is not low (I had long hair that I braided, and it always stuck out of the back of my hejab! So I put it in my manteau, which made it look as if I had a hunch!)

Your shawl is red!

Don't sit behind "brothers"

Don't sit in front of "brothers"

Is that eye liner?

Is that nail polish?

etc

etc

I was even picked on for wearing a Jean jacket--it was a western symbol! And this one really sucked because I was raised under my mother's strict "no-logo" "anti-western" doctrine. Mother did not allow VCR machines in the house--because she thought imported films from abroad were trash. I was perhaps the only teenager of my days who didn't own a madonna/ michael jackson/george michael poster in her room! Mother wanted us to be original and creative; and somehow the creativity, which was fully home-grown made me more of an odd ball--I managed to be called to the principal's office and punished more often than others with real western tendencies.

But, what did this Hijab do to me?

Truth is; it only helped to crystallize my rebellion, and my awareness of this inverted objectification of my sexuality. Perhaps, if I were not forced to scarf, if I were not harassed because of my choice of colours, I would not have fully grasped the desperation of those who ruled me in the name of religion. Perhaps, my disdain for Islam and Hijab should be credited to IRI! I am happy that all measures the IRI took made me question religion, while making me aware of the power of my sexuality.

The Hijab fascism, however, made it impossible for people like my mother to remain in the society. She refused to go back to work--although she was invited back some years later. She refused to wear a bucket; it suffocated her. And she wasn't the only one who decided to stay off. Although many were not as stubborn as she and my aunt were, and they camouflaged into Hijab, while being the soldier of the women's camp.

Mother also decided to send me away--she thought I was a misfit for that society (and she was right). She also relaxed her anti-western policies on my younger siblings--but somehow even they never acquired a Madonna poster.

Mother did some thing else too: when the vigilantes harassed my youngest sister or mother, who can not still wear a scarf quite properly, she pulls them aside and recites to them Koranic verses, with interpretations, thus either shaming the vigilantes with their ignorance, or annoying the hell out of them to have to listen to a granny. After all, mother's still charismatic and calm, and fascism in Iran is not THAT bad to raise a baton over a respectful, aloof, soft-spoken grand mother.

P.S. if you have noticed, Iran is run by really ugly men! I assure you that the average population of Iranians is not this grim/gross looking. But being ugly guarantees you success in the IRI :) The ugly men of IRI cannot help their arousal seeing inaccessibly beautiful and fashionable women and men parading the streets. This has nothing to do with religion. It really is just an inferiority complex that raises these fascist practices.