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Iran
At war with your people
What good is peace if you have to kill and destroy for it?
By Najmeh Fakhraie
August 4, 2000
The Iranian
They usually carry worry beads in their hands; they always have really
long beards and a ring on their finger. The army boots are also a must.
I don't know why but it seems as if the memory of war must linger on and
on forever. Some call them basijis, some call them eesaargars and most
don't call them anything. The dirty looks on their faces when they see
one in the street or talk about one in low whispers is enough.
They're mysterious creatures who seem to be controlling almost everything,
if they are smart enough to get themselves into the system. Some are truly
terrifying. Anyone who has seen photos of Masoud Dehnamaki's office knows
what I am talking about. Pictures of dead people stuck to the walls, dirt
and grenades all over the room, exactly like a war-zone. Makes you shudder
to see what kind of people are controlling your country >>>
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Outlook
Constitutional Revolution Anniversary
BBC Persian Service
Today is the anniversary of the Constitutional Revolution. After almost
a Century have the original aims of the revolution been achieved? Saeed
Yekta talks to Dr Sadeq Zibakalam >>>
LISTEN HERE
Still banging on that door
The Economist
August 5, 2000
HE IS the symbol of the reform movement, but can Muhammad Khatami bring
about a fundamental change in Iran? A great orator, the president is now
being ridiculed for talking so much and so fluently but never getting anything
done. People have begun to wonder whether exposed toenail polish and "bad
hejab" (a scarf loosely fastened to reveal bits of a woman's hair)
will be the most concrete achievements to materialise from the dream of
political pluralism and religious flexibility.
The president announced on July 27th that he would be running for re-election
next May. This was premature. Presidential campaigns officially last only
a few weeks and candidates usually enter the race a month or two before
the election. But Mr Khatami delivered the news early, probably to boost
his ailing reform movement. >>>
FULL TEXT
Reformists in Iran, Despite Pressure, Speak Out More
Boldly
The New York Times
August 4, 2000,
It was a Rip van Winkle moment.
Mohsen Kadivar, a mid-ranking cleric, had just been released after serving
18 months in jail for "disturbing public opinion" because he
had branded Iran a religious despotism. As some 1,000 students gathered
to honor him, Mr. Kadivar could not believe his ears.
"Religion has performed badly when it has gone along with power,"
said Hashem Aghajeri, a Tehran University professor, in an emotional speech
in which he effectively called for an end to religious control that has
dominated social and political life for two decades >>>
FULL TEXT
Name an ice cream bar
The Pak dairy company has decided (forced?) to change the name of one
its popular ice cream bars. It used to be called Magnum (the same as a
similar ice cream bar in the U.S.). It has organized a competition for
people to come up with an alternative Iranian name >>>
GO HERE
More Letters
* Talk is cheap
Gary Sick's long expose on the pearls of wisdom spewed by Dick Cheny
in various stages of political undress fails to show how this man, if elected,
will fulfill the promise of "Better
for Business." Whose business? Just like Gary Sick, Dick Cheney
speaks with a forked tongue depending on the make-up of the audience...
Where his fudiciary responsibility to his shareholders dictates Cheney
speaks against the Iran sanctions in order to secure for his company a
favorable future legal position. And when approached just this week at
the RNC in Philadephia, his people seemed to indicate, among other things,
that the concern over the "Iran 10" and other issues stand in
the way of any removal of sanctions, end of discussion.
The same bunch also referred to Yasser Arafat as a "terrorist"
because of the failed Camp David talks.Talk is cheap and Cheney delivers
it as well as anyone >>>
FULL TEXT
* Pahlavis should learn
Parvin Darabi (www.homa.org) wirtes: I am so sad about
the death of Shamlou. As a teenage girl I used to recite his poem "Paria"
and loved it. I still do as a woman.
What is interesting is that according to the email no Islamic jargon
was recited at his funeral ["Only
ey Iran"]. The Pahlavi family should learn from this. So when
they go for the Shah's
yearly memorial they should not recite the Koran and Fatehe.
I am proud that Iranian people are finally getting freed from the years
of Islamic domination and oppression.
* Inspiring Neshat
Stig Gunnar Ringen
writes: I just saw Shirin Neshat's film in Donostia. At the museum
I also saw "The
Gun and the Gaze" for the first time, and both the film and the
book, made a great impression on me, although I didn't get the time to
see if there was any translations of the text on the photographs. As a
revolutionary in this little country called Norway, this book, as well
as the whole exhibition, inspired me a lot.
Music: Barbad ensemble in concert, Berkeley
Date: August 12, 2000. Place: Julia Morgan Theater, 2640 College Avenue,
Berkeley. Tickets: $18.00 For Information and Reservation please call:
(510) 840-8699 >>>
DETAILS HERE
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Translation of today's poem by Zara
Houshmand:
The harvest of my pain was its own peace and remedy.
As low as I had sunk, I rose, faith restored from blasphemy.
Body, heart, and soul obscured the path, until
Body melted into heart, heart in soul, and soul in love itself.
-- Rumi
Previous
translations
Copyright © Abadan Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
May not be duplicated or distributed in any form
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More
news
Rafsanjani says regime could lose confidence
over economy
TEHRAN,
Aug 4 (AFP) - Iran's clerical regime is in danger of losing the confidence
of the people if it fails to address the nation's serious economic problems,
former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani warned Friday. He said supreme
religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has acknowledged that criticisms
of the regime would be "proven correct" if steps are not taken
to address the economic crisis >>> FULL TEXT
"Dastardly" US scheme on Jerusalem
denounced
TEHRAN,
Aug 4 (AFP) - US efforts to get the Palestinians to compromise on the issue
of Jerusalem are a "dastardly deed," former Iranian president
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani charged Friday. During weekly prayers at Tehran
University, Rafsanjani dismissed US efforts to broker a peace deal, accusing
Washington of being on the side of the Israelis and trying to short-change
the Palestinians >>> FULL TEXT
Russia, Iran to expand cooperation on nuclear
power engineering, oil, gas
MOSCOW,
Aug 4 (AFP) - Russia and Iran pledged to increase cooperation on nuclear
power engineering, oil and gas Thursday at a meeting between Alexander Dondukov,
minister for industry, science and technology, and Iran's visiting energy
minister Habibollah Bitaraf, Interfax reported. The Russian minister's press
secretary quoted the Iranian minister as saying that the volume of joint
projects, worth some 500 million dollars (547 million euros), was inadequate
and fell short of both countries' potential >>> FULL TEXT
U.S. oil back at $30 as OPEC supply disappoints
NEW
YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) - U.S. oil prices shot back up to $30 danger zone
on Friday as lower-than-expected supplies from producer cartel OPEC refueled
stubborn supply worries. September crude futures on the New York Mercantile
Exchange ballooned $1.30 higher to touch $30 before settling just at $29.96
a barrel >>> FULL TEXT
Press clampdown paralyses reform course
in Iran
July
28, 2000, Teheran (dpa) - Despite overwhelming victories in presidential
and parliamentary elections Iranian President Mohammad Khatami seems to
have ground to a halt with his reform efforts. The slow-down follows an
extensive press crackdown by the conservative opposition >>> FULL
TEXT
Venice: Iranian invasion
Tehran
(Hamshahri) -- The upcoming Venice film fest will include several new Iranian
films, including Jafar Panahi's "Daayereh" (The circle) which
will be screened for the first time. The Makhmalbaf's, father and daughter,
will also be there. One as a director, the other a jury member >>>
FULL TEXT
Karimi: Me too!
Tehran
(Cinema) -- Niki Karimi is not just a pretty face. She wants to lessen her
movie roles and make her own film. Everybody else is, so why not her? >>>
FULL TEXT
Poet tries acting
Tehran (Cinema) -- Poet/author Mohammad Ali Sepanloud will soon
be acting in a film. He slips into movies "every 15 years or so"
he says >>> FULL TEXT
Basketball: Iran win West Asian tournament
TEHRAN, August 4 (Iran Sports Press): The Iranian National Olympic
Basketball Team defeated Syria 65-58 to win the West Asian Basketball Tournament
and qualify to the Asian Basketball Championships to be held in Qatar later
this month >>> FULL TEXT
State TV "agrees to pay" for
soccer broadcasts
Tehran
(Iran Varzeshi) - The state TV has agreed to pay a billion tomans this year
for the right to broadcast Azadegan Leaguge matches. But no formal announcement
has been made >>> FULL TEXT
Wrestling: Talaie and Khatbi join team
Tehran
(Hamshahri) - With the selection of Mohammad Talaie and Behnam Khatibi,
Iran's (strong) Olympic wrestling team (free style) is almost complete >>>
FULL TEXT
BBC
Rhetoric over reforms
Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
once again emphasized the economic aspect of reform and warned that if unemployment
is not tackled people will lose confidence in the Islamic Republic. Afshin
Amirzadeh reports >>>
LISTEN HERE
NOTE: BBC link content changes every 24 hours
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Quote Unquote
What good?
There's been enough aggravation on both sides, whether
you consider the Iranian occupation of our embassy in 1979 and holding hostages
for over a year, or the shoot-down of the Iran airliner by a US naval vessel
in 1988. It's been a tragedy in terms of the relationship.
-- Najmeh Fakhraie
"At
war with your people"
The Iranian
August 4, 2000
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