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Thurssday * The human side Thank you for publishing "Burning eyes". I cried. It is a beautiful essay, with strong prose. It is time to think about what young generation Iranians have gone through since twenty years ago. For those who were sensetive and bright as this woman was many did not follow the existing government's promises. So they were drawn to other ideologies. Many did decide to struggle and many did die. That is why , what you have published today is commandabel. You are brave enough to go beyond popular beliefs and look at different aspects of these issues. I am proud of you and iranian.com. Not many publishers would put this essay in the first feature section. This essay is obviously written by a writter who is still in pain for the loss of their loved one. You Mr. Javid went beyond being political and looked at the human side of this story, the compassionate side of us human beings . You did not fall into trap of being political. This piece is obviously a person's heart renching effort to come to terms with what has happened to their loved ones. You saw this. I wish we could all feel and be frank to face life based on human emotions rather than preconceived political ideologies. Our world would be a better place. * But remember this I wanted to comment on the above article that appeared on your website ["Burning eyes"]. I read the heart wrenching story of the "mojahed sister", contemplating her life as it drew to a close. I wanted to express pity for the hero of the story and the likes of her for having shed their blood in vein. The author would have us believe that we are to sympathize with traitors for fighting along side our sworn enemy during war. But remember this, that over one million Iranians died in that bloody war, and if one drop of their blood was shed by a single Mojahed, may they all burn in hell. They say time heals all wounds, but I am afraid this treachery will never be forgotten by any patriotic Iranian. When I hear the word Mojahed, I think of all the assasinations both before and after the revolution, I think of the bombings all over the country, I think of Iranians fighting alongside millions of arabs against my country and then I become consumed with hatred for all the self-serving vile motives that human beings can possess. The "hero" of the story indeed died in vein, as did her comrades. But they did show us if nothing else, that violence begets violence, and that two wrongs never make a right. * Untold story Dear Javdon, There is an entire novel, a life story, in your beautiful article ["Burning eyes"]. Please write it. Yours is a story that remains untold. And we need to know. Thanks for what you have so far. * Worth dying for? Javdon, you may have died on that day, but was there a point to your death? ["Burning eyes"] Were your beliefs -- comprised of a number of hatreds -- worth dying for? Was you leader worth idealizing, let alone dying for? You seem to know the vast majority of your fellow Iranians don't care for your cause or your leader. So, did you die for Iran? Did you think all the rest of us just don't understand that transcendental truth which is only in the possession of your leader? Were you going to "educate" us in that truth starting the day after your victory? I do cry for you Javdon. Because I feel people should not kill or be killed for what they believe. Now, you are dead. If you had lived you would have been a murderer. * Perplexing Dear Setareh Sabety, Thank you SO MUCH for all your well-written articles for iranian.com. I have enjoyed all of them, and this latest is another winner. (Sorry for gushing). This phenomenon of rejecting your Iranian identity ["Aym not eeraaniyan"] is SO perplexing for me. I guess some Iranians had it tough in the U.S. during the hostage crisis but that is not the whole explanation because I have seen this behavior in Iranians in Canada and Europe. They pretend to not speak or understand farssi, they call themselves French or German or whatever and they make it a badge of honor of not associating with other Iranians. I am so sad to report I have a relative in my own family who has brought up her kids to look down on the rest of the Iranian family because they have a French father. I was born outside of Iran but at home, I feel I had a real good exposure to Iranian culture, language, values, etc. It used to make me angry when I came across people like Sir Alfred, now it just makes me SAD. * The keyword is "Assimilation" There is such a coincidence that thre articles have appeared at the same time on the issues of diaspora ["Keshvare khaarej az keshavr"], Return to Iran ["Stop hallucinating"] and Iranianness ["Aym not eeraaniyan"]. The common theme among these articles is the question of identity crisis. As the saying goes, Crisis? What Crisis? This issue which appears to be one of Ms Sabety's major preoccupations has now found a new hero: Mehran Karimi Nasseri (aka Sir Alfred). First of all I am surprised to see that this case is news to Ms Sabety. The case of Mehran Karimi has been well publicised in the European and Iranian media (outside Iran) for at least the last six years. This very website Iran Times had a report about him on 22 September 1999 based on an earlier BBC documentary by Stephen Jessel. Also apart from many newspapers reports, The British, French and Belgian TV channels have made a number of short documentaries about Sir Alfred. The highly talented Finland-based Iranian film maker, Alexis Korous made his break through documentary called Waiting for Goudot at the de Gaul on the basis of the same story. A number of charities (Iranian and otherwise) have made representations on his behalf but with varying degrees of success. What, in my opinion, Mr Karimi needs, more essentially than ID papers, is a proper course of counselling in whatever language he would prefer. However, suggesting that he is a symbol of the Iranians abroad, as Sabety insists, is a meaningless proposition. We cannot take one extremely unusual case, and without knowing the truth behind his stories, suggest that he exemplifies the case of the Iranians outside Iran. The problem that many people see as an identity crisis is itself a new identity assumed by the Iranian Diaspora. The keyword in recognising the Iranian identity is "Assimilation". In fact this has been the secret of our survival throughout our turbulent history. We have been invaded and ruled by many alien nations and tribes since the time of Soloukians and most dramatically after the Arab conquest. From then on, we have been ruled mostly by the tribes of Turkish origin (Qazanavis, Saljuqis, Kharazmis, etc), then by Mongols, then by Tatars and finally by a mix of Turks and other tribes. The most recent of these non-Iranian tribal chieftains who ruled over Iran for more than a century, were the Qajars. Even the language spoken in the court of Qajars was dominantly Azari. Therefore, with this illustrious background it is surprising how we have survived as wholesome nation. The answer is in our ability to assimilate with the invading forces, losing parts of our identity and assuming parts of theirs in the process. With the exception of a few historic cases we have never adopted a confrontational approach with our alien visitors. We have been a xenophilic nation for a significant part of our history and particularly since the advent of Islam. This very interest in and admiration of anything foreign is the basis of our newly assumed identity. In a relatively short period after massive migration of the Iranian to foreign countries there are numerous examples of Iranians involving themselves with the financial, industrial, educational and governmental sectors of their host country. The case of Farah Karimi, who only after twelve years of living in Holland was recently elected as a member of Parliament is a typical one. She is by all accounts a true symbol of the Iranian émigré community's ability to assimilate and adapt itself with the host country's way of life. So the true identity of us Iranians is in our ability in absorbing other peoples identities and creating a totally new identity as a result. Perhaps a more familiar example of our ability to sustain our national attachments or Iranianness, as some would prefer, while adopting a second identity can be found on the pages of this website. The majority, dare I say more than ninety percent, of the people who visit iranian.com or contribute to it are of Iranian origin. But I think we can safely suggest that less than ten percent of the articles appearing on these pages are in Farsi. Is this not itself a clue to our new identity? * Quite helpful Dear Ms. Sabety, ["Aym not eeraaniyan"] Your article has been quite helpful. A few people have emailed us. A library in San Jose wants to buy the films for their Persian section. Thank you for your support and time in promoting the film. We really appreciate it. Regards, Hamid Rahmanian and Melissa Hibbard * Why people choose to go back After I read the piece by Aref Erfani "Stop hallucinating", I couldn't help myself responding to what seems one man's lack of understanding the logic of those who have dreamed about retuning to their homeland, however imperfect the conditions in Iran may be. I would like to ask respectfully, that it would be wise for Mr. Erfani to speak for himself and not to use collective term "Let's not hold on to hallucinating non of us believe in (retuning home)". Interestingly enough, the author whom have lived for 18 years in five different states seems to be the voice of authority when it comes to analyzing the sociopolitical climate of today's Iran, and uses his factious argument to build a case why Iranian people living abroad are not going to return. Oddly, he appears to even know the number of addicts which he report to be 10% (more than six million people). What is interesting is that he even dares to compare today's Iran with state of Israel and India for shortage of water. He doesn't actually stop here and proceed on to ask the most preposterous question that he could possible ask "exactly what will make you go back"? "Are you willing to sell whatever you have, take your family to Iran, only to send them back when they are 18 to go to college"? Mr. Erfani, it is not difficult to understand why people choose to go back. Let me try to answer your question briefly and perhaps you can learn a think or two from some one who has lived in west much longer than you have. For us, the Iranians, the most precious word in our vocabulary is "family". It is the backbone and foundation of our very existence. It is what dives us to be who we are. It is what makes us to steadfastly maintained our heritage and identity. It was their sacrifices that helped us to achieve high status in this country. For some of us living with our family or living where we can visit them as often as we want is worth lot more than you can ever imagine. * Generalizing & pontificating Mr. Erfani's long piece preaches Iranians to forget about "going back" because things in Iran are too bad for a population that has it too good here ["Stop hallucinating"]. This might be the feeling of some Iranians, especially those living in the United States, but it does not accurately capture the state of Iranians around the world. Not all Iranian immigrants and exiles are living in the United States. Those who live in the U.S. are not comparable with those who live in many European countries, Canada, Turkey, and so on. I just came back from a trip to four Middle Eastern countries. Iranians I saw in Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon have very little in common with those of us living here, the least of which is the legal and economic opportunities available to them. Many of them are truly exiles, living a life of involuntary destitute simply because they have had difficulty with the government in their own country. The distinction between exiles and immigrant is a relevant one and cannot be brushed aside by feelings based on tidbits of facts. Mr. Erfani's piece, as much as it speaks of a reality for many Iranians, it is full of generalizations about a population who is too large, too scattered, too diverse, and too difficult to be accurately represented. While, I am very delighted to read more reflections on Iranians abroad, especially by Iranians of the second-generation, I am alarmed by the ease with which many generalize, pontificate, and exaggerate. What we write about ourselves and our country will reflect on who we are and what we know about ourselves. When Mr. Erfani says "The population [in Iran] is growing at an alarming rate -- 10% of which are addicts (some hardcore some not but addicts nevertheless)", he misrepresents Iran and Iranians. No source that I know of puts the number of Iranian addicts at 6.5 millions, even those published by sworn enemies of the Islamic Republic! * Yeki az behtarin Daaneshmand Geraami Dr. Nooriala, ["Keshvare khaarej az keshavr"] Shaadam keh yeki az behtarin maghaalaat neveshteh shodeh dar khaaredj az keshwar dar iranian.com az nou montasher shod. Tabrik migouyam. Baba ehteraam //www.nushazar.de/cards/card.html * Nothing peaceful about Khatami's policies In support of the views of compatriots Hamid ["Can't blame Ashraf anymore"], N. Tavaleli ["Where's the smiling president?"] and Mehrdad ["Poor people"], my response to Mr. J. Mohammadi ["Stop nit-picking" + "Easy to make grand speedches"] would be: What Khatami represents is not "peaceful gradualism in reforms" but elongation of the brutal, repressive and destructive rule of the Islamic regime. As we have seen over the past four years, there has been nothing peaceful about the way Khatami has handled the affairs; and, again, as the evidence has shown in the first couple of months of his second term, he is even less capable now of dealing with the problems of the country. As to the millions of votes that is said to have given him madate (at the recent elections)to implement his "reforms", I would say that, notwithstanding the millions who did not vote, and knowing what every one knows about the Islamic Republic and its electoral system, the election has been no more than a pantomime and, therefore, the so-called mandate is no more than a tool of manipulation in the hands (Khatami) of the regime. Make no mistake, the people of Iran in general and the 60% youth in particular, are smart enough to realize this. They are no longer prepared to submit to passivity or be fooled by Khatami's smiles and strategic lies (empty promises). Iran and Iranians have endured more than enough suffering under the Islamic Republic and now is the time to put a stop to all that. This is the 21st century and the age of Internet. No one is advocating another bloody revolution in Iran. There is no need for any expatriot Iranian to arm himself/herself and "go to Iran and.....". All we need to do, at this stage, is to have an open mind and a sincere heart and think of Iran first (as opposed to our self-interests); set aside our petty indifferences and stop blowing Khatami's trumpet; express solidarity with and give support to the struggle and voice of the millions of young Iranians crying for justice and freedom within Iran; and raise awareness (by any means possible) of the citizens of the world, their governments and all the relevant international organisations (e.g. UN, Human Rights, Amnesty International etc.) about the sufferings and the plight of the Iranian people under the Islamic regime. Then, you can rest assured that the positive outcome will follow. The proof of this assertion is in the history (even in the last 25 years or so) of numerous nations on this planet.
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