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Thursday
June 14, 2001

Utterly oppose boycott

Dear Mr. Ahmadi,

I have yet to read a more articulate and complete consideration of all the arguments for and against voting ["Rethink and rebuild"]. Though I may not agree with all the points you make, I very much respect your point of view and agree with your ultimate conclusion that the citizens of Iran -those whose future is in Iran- absolutely should vote. I absolutely and utterly disagree with anyone who calls for a vote boycott.

The history of the world is littered with the dashed aspirations of peoples who chose to stay on the sidelines, thinking that their abstinence from engagement would actually change anything/delegitimize anything/say anything. But absence of a vote is only a silence. And as such, I have nothing but respect for those Iranians who chose to vote last week.

That said, I did not vote in the most recent elections, though I could have. The reason: it has nothing to do with the specific content of Mr. Khatami's program, or the nature of the Islamic Republic. Further, I do have a valid Iranian passport and updated shenasnameh, enabling me to vote. The reason I chose not to vote is my aversion towards long-distance nationalism: I live outside Iran and -- even more importantly -- will continue to do so for the rest of my life.

I will not suffer the consequences of my vote. When I vote, I vote for how millions of others on the other side of the world live, affecting my life only marginally. It seems to me unethical to have the choice to dictate a particular political result, when I am immune from the short-comings or benefits of that choice. That is why I didn't vote.

And let me tell you, I really wanted to. I really really really wanted to vote, if for no other reason, so that I could stick my tongue out at all the monrachists/mojahedeen/various other authoritarian groups who were boycotting the vote. But my particular silence had everything to do with how I believe politics should be conducted.

I have looked at how a Croat nationalist pizza baron -living in the safety and oppulence of his new Canadian home- funded the arming of Croat separatist in Bosnia triggering a war which will not affect his life, his property, or his family at all. I have seen how funding by Hindu nationalists in the US allowed the destruction of Babri Mosque in India, resulting in bloodshed between the sectarian groups, while those who funded the destruction had nothing to worry about in the comfort of their American homes.

I have seen how American citizens in their safe cocoons of New York and Los Angeles have funded and supported the construction of settlements for fanatical Zionists in the West Bank and Gaza, creating havoc, death, and destruction, which does not affect their lives in the least. I don't say that my voting for a particular regime in Iran has anything in common with the war in Balkans, sectarian violence in India, or neo-colonialism in Palestine/Israel, but nonetheless, it is a vote I cast, a choice I make, not for my society (as I now live in Europe) but for others' society. I understand and respect the wish of those who chose to vote outside Iran, even if they will never return to Iran. Participation in the affairs of your country of origin, beyond all my political drivel, seems to be a visceral need for all those living in exile.

The choice I made was my own, made on the basis of *my* political philosophy and *my* very own standard of ethics. As such, I have no regrets about the choice I made. The choice of non-interference.

All the best,

Laleh Khalili

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