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Thursday * Hope to improve Dear Mr. Kermane, I appreciate your comments regarding my article on Canadian immigration ["Prevalent vicitm mentality"]. Your point on "victim mentality" is well taken. I would never suggest that Canada not have standards and requirements for immigration ["Polite racism"]. What I am pointing out is that such standards and requirements are not applied equally to immigration applicants who are very deserving of a chance to receive the benefits of Canadian residency as well as to give back to Canadian society, solely based on their nationality. In my admittedly limited experience in this field, I am often at a loss of words to explain to Iranian clients why, even though they meet all the criteria required by law, they are not able to succeed in their endeavour or why their refugee claims are not met seriously, sometimes insultingly. I am not the first to notice discrepancy in what is supposed to be equal treatment before the law in the Canadian immigration system. Other immigration and refugee lawyers, as well as shcolars, many of them Canadian-born, have noticed this and written extensively on the subject. Perhaps I can direct you to Lisa Marie Jakubowski's Immigration and the Legalization of Racism, (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 1997), David Matas and Ilana Simon's Closing the Doors: the Failure of Refugee Protection, (Toronto: Summerhill Press, 1989), Ashkan Hashemi's Control and Inadmissibility in Canadian Immigration Policy, (Vancouver: Committee for Racial Justice, 1993), and Valerie Knowles' Strangers at our Gates: Canadian Immigration and Immigration Policy 1540-1997, (Toronto: Dunford Press, 1997), to name but a few sources which explain in great detail what I have obviously failed to condense effectively in my article. Also, I have received many kind emails from readers of iranian.com. Some of them expressed apprehension at their decision to immigrate to Canada based on reading my article. I would like to take the opportunity to emphasize here and now that I in no way wished to paint a negative picture of the overwhelmingly kind and generous nature of the Canadian PEOPLE. I have lived the best years of my life in Canada, where I truly felt I belong, after years of being called "L'Etrangere", "L'Arabe", "L'assassin", "La voleuse" and other less polite names while living in France as an immigrant for eight years. It is because I love this country so much that I hope to improve it. I want its doors to stop slamming in the face of my compatriots. The more the number of Iranian-Canadians grow, the easier it will be to dispel the racism that is at the root of the discriminatory attitudes of a secretive bureaucratic machinery given too much unfettered discretion. * Not whining Yesterday, I read the enlightening and educational article entitled "Polite racism" regarding the Canadian immigration practices of the past and present. I expressed my appreciation directly to the author by email and discussed some questions and possible related topics for the future. What prompted this letter was the comments today by Mr. Bruce Kermane regarding the subject article ["Prevalent vicitm mentality"]. Mr. Kermane has a very valid point regarding the victim mentality that is expressed by Iranian and other immigrants. This mentality, unfortunately, is part of our collective culture whether we are here as immigrants or back in the homeland. However, in my reading of "Polite racism", I do not see any hint of "victim mentality" or "whining" at all. To the contrary, the article is very objective and well-written by some one who is clearly well-informed on the topic and has studied the Canadian immigration practices before and after the 1978 Immigration Act. The writer takes a proactive approach and in the last paragraph of the article suggests a practical plan to help deal with the issues. Expressing a "victim mentality" is no doubt unproductive. But leaving unchecked the hypocrisy in Western politics and social practices is similarly unproductive. To expose this hypocrisy and suggest reasonable and practical ways to deal with it is the responsible thing to do and we should whole-heartedly welcome it. Best Regards, * 90% of world tolerates chauvinism I read "Break the cycle" with interest. I suspect there are many more cycles that would need to be broken if Iran and Iranians were to contribute anything to the world again. I also suspect those families facing problems with boy-girl ssues are also the least likely to understand what's to be done about it, even if they do manage to venture on to this web-site and read your article. When confused they will surely resort to old ways of thinking. To clear-up some of the confusion, I would ask the writer to further explain what she meant by the paragraph: "No society and no nation can morally afford to tolerate chauvinism. Iranian parents should embrace those values of American culture which are morally right and healthy, such as gender equity." As I understand it, 90% + of the societies in this world do tolerate chauvinism, from Italians, Greeks, Spanish to Latin American countries, to Chinese, oriental countries, to all of Africa, to Slavic peoples. My understanding of the word chauvinism comes from www.dictionary.com: chau·vin·ism noun. 1. Militant devotion to and glorification of one's country; fanatical patriotism. [From Chauvin, a character represented as making grotesque and threatening displays of his attachment to his fallen chief, Napoleon I., in 1815. Blind and absurd devotion to a fallen leader or an obsolete cause; hence, absurdly vainglorious or exaggerated patriotism.] 2. Activity indicative of belief in the superiority of men over women. And from the above definition, I would say, possibly the belief of the superiority of men over women and militant devotion to one's country is one and the same. The superiority being in matters relating to security and defense not other areas. What requires further explanation would be why is gender equity "morally right"? Is the morality (or virtuous conduct) of the Anglo-Saxon world relevant to the rest of the world? There are Spanish communities in U.S. that do not even speak English! Are you saying that assuming you want to be assimilated into your host countries, then gender equity is morally right? Also, considering Islam has different view of women to that of Iranian patriots (Rumi, Hafez, Fedosi etc.), would it not be better to contrast Islamic teachings in relation to women with those of our poets and their morality, rather than Anglo-Saxon morality? And in this way tackle this thorny problem? I'd like to finish this letter with a poem I've pinched off Iranian.com, written at a time when Iran was full of "chauvinist men raised to be insecure in the face of independent-minded Iranian women" Not just her laugh and her face are lovely; * Sparseness of happy relationships About Ms. Dokhi Fassihian's recent article, "Break the cycle": I enjoyed reading the well-written article and frankly many things she brings up make a lot of sense. It seems that she has honestly looked for a fair explanation and the reasons why Iranian relationships in an American atmosphere are doomed to fail. She proposes that it generally has to do with the way Iranian boys are raised. Although her elaborations on this seem justifiable, one question kept popping up in my mind throughout: If the failure of relationships among Iranians in the U.S. is MAINLY due to Iranian men's upbringing, how do you, then, explain the sparseness of happy relationships amongst Americans themselves?! I think once again we have become the instance of someone who suraakh-e do'aa raa gom karde. I personally don't know of a globally applicable remedy for the collapsing of relationships. I can't even claim that I know what the exact reason is. But I highly admire the writings of Danielle Crittenden in a book that I have previously referred to in a letter to iranian.com. She skillfully and beautifully weaves her theory of "why happiness eludes the modern woman"; far far more beautifully that I can put into words. That's why I recommend you all again to read her book. :-) * Hope parents will learn Wow!!!!!!!!!!!! I just read Dokhi Fassihian's featured article "Break the cycle". I have to say, I am so impressed. She said all so well. She sure pointed right to the root of male chauvinism in Iranian culture. It seems like she spoke for all of us women (and some men too) and she indeed expressed her views and the facts so profoundly well. Thank you Dokhi, thank you so very much for writing such a real article. I truly hope some Iranian parents will read it and learn from it. * Salams mostly Turkish I read your article, "Salmas", in Iranian.com. I have some comments: First of all Salmas is neither a village nor a town, it is a city. Its population is way over 100,000. Second of all, it is not an Assyrian city. Maybe it was hundreds of years ago, but not any more. Now it is Turkish, an Azarbaijani city. I Do respect the rights of all religious minorities. But I wish the largest ethnic minority (if not a majority) in Iran, the Azarbaijanis had one tenth of the rights of the religious minorities like the Assyrians and Armenians. It is not fair that you do not mention the fact that the majority of the people in Salmas are Turkish speaking Azarbaijanis. I am from Urmia (Oroumieh). And you were not fair to Urmia either. Urmia has always been one of the least religious cities in Iran. During the Shah's time it used to be called the Paris of Iran. What you see on the streets is totally different than what you see in people's homes. It is good that you write about your observations and share it with others but please be accurate and fair. Habib Azarsina * From the heart Hi. In Farsi, we say what has come from the heart sits in the heart. In the last couple of days, I have red Linda Shetabi's "Salmas" a few times and each time I read it, I get more fascinated. Salmas is simple and honest. It simply says how Iranians enjoy life. I hope we read more of Salmas like in near future. Thanks, * How much did you win? I don´t want to ask, or borrow any money from you but I guess you are not going to reveal the actual $$$$. :) It´s only natural that readers would want to know out of curiosity alone, now that you have published a letter ["How I spent my lottery winnings"]. The lottery is public information though isn´t it? Anyway, I wish you luck and hope that you will manage it well. * Erased from history? For some reason I have been thinking lately of the beautiful Queen Soraya of Iran, the second wife of the Shah ["Zir derakht porteghaal"]. I recall a time when her photo graced many newsreels and magazines. There was much sadness when the Shah felt he had to divorce her because she could not produce an heir. Of course, Queen Farah, the third wife of the Shah, seemed to be an outstanding person, but the image of Queen Soraya's face still haunts me. Can anyone there tell me what has happened to her? There is very little about her on the worldwide web. It's almost like her name has been erased from history. Is there a biography of her available? Is she still alive? If you have time, the favor of a reply would be appreciated. Sandra Merrifield * Two Yazdis It is a tragedy that the government of Iran would imprison its own citizens of Jewish faith ["No home coming"] for having visited relatives (also of Iranian heritage) in Israel. This is an indication of religious bigotry that has dominated Iranian politics for many years now. Out of all this idiocy of imprisoning and persecuting religious minorities -- and majority (many good folk of Muslim heritage are also in jail) -- in Iran, and hatred of Israel by Iranian politicians and Iran by Israeli politicians, some divine humor has taken shape as well: God has made it so that the only two presidents in the world born in Iran are no other than President Khatami of Iran and President Katsav of Israel. Yes, you heard it right, President Katsav of Israel, whose job is mostly ceremonial, never-the-less an important figure, is actually an Iranian from Yazd whose family emigrated to Israel less than half-a-century ago. What is amazing is that both Mr. Katzav and Mr. Khatami are of the same age and born in the same country, and yet they most likely hate each other's guts. Instead of all this stupidity of hatred and anti-Iranian and anti-Jewish propaganda by both sides, these two gentlemen should meet and have a beer-- I mean chai -- together and improve the relations among their countries and the Middle East as a whole. Enough of all this violence, hatred and bigotry already! * I never heard of him again
David became very dear to me. I traveled to New York in October 1979 from my home in Chatsworth, California to visit David on a lay over in New York City. David was to come to the USA in December of 1979 to an airline school in Texas for training. However, because of the embassy takeover in Tehran in November 1979 plans for everyone changed. The last telephone contact with him was on February 6, 1980, when he called me from Tehran. After that I never heard of him again. Attached is a picture of David and I taken on the beach in Honolulu. If you know of this man and what happened to him or of any information that will aide in my search, please contact me. For over 22 years I've wanted to know what became of this wonderful, beautiful and kind man. Your reply, one way or another will be gratefully and deeply appreciated. Thank you. Sincerely, Patsy Ames
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In July of 1979 I met a man named
David Moazen traveling on holiday in Honolulu, Hawaii. David
was in his late twenties at the time and worked for Iran Air as a pilot.
David was traveling with two friends Nasir and Saeed.  |
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