Letters
Feb 26-March 2, 2001 / Esfand 8-12, 1379
LETTERS ARE PUBLISHED AS RECEIVED.
THEY ARE NOT SELECTED
Today
* Freedom:
- Get Eminen
* Revolution:
- At last
- We all lost
* Iran:
- In France too
Previous
* Baniameri:
- Old-fashioned jaahels
* Iran:
- No poetic rite of passage
- Wrong information
* Persia:
- Persia is dead
- Get your priorities straight
- Semantics
- DON'T bring back Persia
- Persia small part of Iran
- Farsi creeping into English
* Petition:
- Power of unity
- Commendable approach
- No ordinary congressman
* Monarchy:
- Lots of kids
- Kings are for kids
* Shah's general:
- Fallen heroes
* Googoosh
- Bunch of pothead brats
* Esmail Nooriala:
- Non-sensical utterances
- Destroying Shamlu
* Identity:
- No more, no less
* Model:
- Oy vey!
* Revolution:
- You animals
- Sorry for Reza Pahlavi
- Very good at shouting
- Made fools of most
email us
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Friday,
March 2, 2001
* Get Eminen
After reading the short piece about how Eminem
wins awards for his freedom of speech and the Iranian journalist gets
punished ["Here
& there"], I thought, "Hang on
a minute. This could be turned into something positive."
As crazy as it may seem, Eminem is the most powerful
man on earth, opinion wise. As soon as he says one word the world suddenly
takes notice. So why don't we as a community ask of him to write about
all the abuse that's going on in Iran? After all it's not like he would
be censored or get killed over it.
He could potentially bring the eyes of the world
onto our country and encourage the seed of change into faster growth.
Of course there is no telling whether he would
accept the challenge but wouldn't it be interesting to hear what he has
to say about the mollas' after the way he humiliated half the music industry
and the American President?
Shirin
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* At last
At last a well thought-out discussion of the revolution that does not
blame any number of conspiracies and Western powers ["Surprise"].
The eternal truth of the world is unexpected results.
Mark Cooper
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* We all lost
I was about 10-years old when the revolution happened. Even at that
age I was in middle of everything ["Surprise"].
I almost died twice in 24 Esfand Square and Maydan Shahyad area. I remember
that no one back then knew the reasoning behind it all, but the revolution
became an entertainment center for the people, especially young people.
A good source of excitement like no other they knew.
I am saddened for losing the Rahimis ["The
general's widow"] as well as the ones who were killed by the government
like the Farrokhzads, and our war heroes, and the 17-year-old Mojahedin
Khalghs & Cheerekhaa, Basijis and many many more. All these people
died for what they believed in & none of them really won. We all lost
because THEY WERE ALL IRANIANS >>>
FULL TEXT
Eliot Salehi
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* In France too
I would like to draw your attention to the following regarding Behrooz
Parsa's article, "I'm
the Shah here": I read the article with great attention, and I
believe every word he said. I would't go as far as to say the generals
were gods everywhere in Iran but such power abuse must have been common
in a totally bureacratic country Iran had become... I personally had a
similar experience but in a democratic country, the country that claims
to be the country of human rights >>>
FULL TEXT
Darius Kadivar
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Thursday
March 1, 2001
* Non-sensical utterances
I was saddened and deeply sorry to read the letter by an unknown face,
AA,
accusing one of our finest poets outside Iran of stealing from Ahmad Shamlu
["Baar-e
digar, Bahman"]...
Now that you have printed Shamlu's poem as well, could someone come
out and tell us which part of it has been picked by Dr. Nooriala, apart
from the fact that both poems are written in Farsi and use a lot of plural
forms of words ending in "aan"? >>>
FULL TEXT
Hushang Mansurian
Hacienda Heights, CA
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* Old-fashioned jaahels
I read the article written by our so-called compatriot, Mr.Siamak Baniameri
on"Art
of Kissing". I was tremendously shocked because all I found in
his article was an exaggeration about himself and other things that are
closely related to him, like his father, and on the other hand, beating
what can be considered as Iranian traditions.
I know that many foreigners who are interested in different things related
to Iranians, spouses of Iranians and tourists who like to travel to Iran
check your website in order to become more familiar with our rich culture,
but you have introduced Iranian men as old-fashioned JAAHELS >>>
FULL TEXT
Annonnymouss
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* Persia is dead
Let's settle this problem once & for all, the name of our country
is IRAN not "Persia", and we are "Iranians" not "Persians".
The reason is pure & simple: there is no country called "Persia"
in the year 2001. So please set your clocks & renew your calenders!
If any of you Persian lovers show me a map (not a 1910 map!) with a
country named Persia in it, I will take back all of my words. Persia was
a country consisting of Iran, Afghanistan, Bahrain, parts of Iraq , Pakistan
, Tajikestan & ....., so open your eyes & accept the reality --
there is no Persia any more. Persia is dead
AA
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* No poetic rite of passage
I am writing in response to the article, "Not
going back". I truly appreciate this author's opinion on what
Iran has become. I have read many of the letters sent to this website in
regards to Iran now. I feel that those letters have somehow romanticized
and "prettied-up" the Iran of today.
Has Iran really changed from what it was during the time of Khomeini?
We need to still maintain hope that we will all one day return. But to
what? The story "A man without a country" rings a disheartening
familiar melody >>>
FULL TEXT
Noosham
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* You animals
Mr. Moniri is very correct and to the point in his
response to Ms. Amini ["Thy
father's sins"]. It seems that after 22 years, she has not grown
and still is the same "young and idealist" person!
You were animalistic. The violence that Iran has been subjected for
22 years was brought about by the violence you people committed in 1977-79.
You cheered when members of "ancient regime," Kurds and Baha'is
were murdered but you only cried foul when mollas turned against you >>>
FULL TEXT
H. M. Jalili
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* Sorry for Reza Pahlavi
To those who have misread the essence of my article ["Thy father's
sins"]: I am truly sorry for Reza Pahlavi to have followers who
are illiterate, live in the past, have not studied a single word of Iranian
and world history and -- yes -- they still wish to annihilate individuals
for their beliefs.
I do suggest to all of you to stay where you are because the Iranian
people do not want the likes of you to be part of their lives. And I hope
Reza Pahlavi will bring some sense to his followers although it might be
too late >>>
FULL TEXT
F. Amini
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Wednesday
February 28, 2001
* Power of unity
I would like to appreciate the initiatives of the author of "Petition
by one" for encouraging over one million Iranian Americans to
write personalized letters to their senators and congressmen in order to
oppose the regulations of fingerprinting and luggage searching of Iranians
at U.S. airports. This is a highly effective and extremely productive campaign.
However, I would like to suggest that such personal initiatives not be
considered as a substitute for collective actions such as petitions >>>
FULL TEXT
Kamyar Kalantar
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* Commendable approach
I would like to commend Mr. Mirfendereski's approach toward bringing
discrimination against Iranians to the surface and even sharing it with
the rest us via this forum ["Petition
by one"]. I am hoping other Iranian - Americans will follow suit.
My bad experience in the past has been with the Iranian haters and bashers
in the United States Congress. I applaud the efforts to keep terrorism
in abeyance.
I would be the last person to impede those actions. However, actions
such as the following can in no way be attributed to countering terrorism.
Searching, photographing and fingerprinting an 85-year-old handicapped
grandmother coming to visit her grandchildren. Fingerprinting, photographing
and searching world-renowned athletes, scholars, artists. Fingerprinting,
photographing and searching 4-year-old children coming to visit their relatives.
What makes these actions even more ludicrous is that since it was necessary
to obtain a visa, these Iranians had to complete an extensive background
and security check prior to coming to the United States. These are simply
systematic acts of discrimination against Iranians.
Masoud Neshat
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* Get your priorities straight
Not to disrespect or belittle the comments/concerns of the readers,
BUT does it REALLY make a difference whether or not Americans say Farsi,
instead of Persian? Or whether or not Iran is "Iran" or "Persia"?
["Bring
back Persia"]
My point is, with all of the country's problems and present issues,
the last element of concern should be titles. This energy could be better
utilized in other, more meaningful areas. In my opinion.
Who really cares what Americans think or say anyway? Let us, please,
discuss and concern ourselves with the real issues facing our country and
people: hunger, illness, degradation of culture and environment, drug-use,
and poverty (in general) -- there is not a single letter addressing any
one of these issues. What does that say about the priorities and mentalities
of our fellow readers?
Sara Moussavi
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* Semantics
An important consideration in the choice of an official name of a country
is whether or not it is a reflection of that country's culture and heritage
["Bring
back Persia"]. The choice of "Persian" versus "Iranian"
cannot erase the parts of our history that trouble us, nor can it distance
us from the problems we confront as Iranians or Iranian-Americans today.
We'll always have a little explaining to do about what our ancestry and
culture mean to us, and these are discussions that we should embrace rather
than try to circumvent with semantic stratagems >>>
FULL TEXT
Cam Amin
University of Michigan-Dearborn
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* Fallen heroes
Twenty-two years after the brutal murder of Generals Rahimi, Khosrodad,
Naji, and Nasiri by the barbaric low-life savages (revolutionizes as some
call them), the memories of all these fallen heroes are still alive in
our hearts and our minds ["The
general's widow"].
I salute each and every member of Imperial Iranian Armed Forces for
their bravery, patriotism and honor. Surrounded by all the chaos, betrayed
by treacherous politicians, they stood their ground firmly and defended
the country and the constitution and paid a heavy price for it, a price
most of us will never pay!
Zendeh Bad Iran, Payandeh bad Artesh Shahanshahi Iran.
Quincy Irani
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* Lots of kids
Though I enjoy Saman's cartoons very much (at least some of them ) I
do not agree with his view points ["Kings
are for kids"]. Some 75 million Britons are all kids chasing their
tails! >>>
FULL TEXT
H. Hakimi
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* Wrong information
Obviously, Eli has not spent much time in Iran and has written what
she was told before traveling to Iran ["Not
going back"]. Many women including myself wear make-up and colorful
scarves or rousaries.
More women work than they did before the revolution. Some 52% of university
students are women! We have 2,000 Americans visiting Iran every year. This
figure is obviously much higher for Germans, Italians and Japanese.
We have more than one soap opera on TV and they are not all about religion
or Imam Reza. Eli must have liked that one so much she didn't want to see
the other five channels.
Is having soap opears like The Bold and the Beautiful that important
to a nation? What do you learn from them anyway? You could read a book
instead.
True, the economy is not good, but there have also been improvements.
Hedieh
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Tuesday
February 27, 2001
* No ordinary congressman
Mr. Mirfendereski did the right thing contacting Barney Frank ["Petition
by one"]. But Barney Frank is no ordinary congressman. If he was
my congressman (which he used to be) I too would certainly write to him.
He is not just a Democrat. He is a very open-minded, outspoken and liberal
Democrat. In fact if you live in his constituency, all your life you won't
ever feel like a foreigner.
While I would much rather take Mr. Mirfendereski's approach I would
like to point out that those of us who live in ultra-Republican constituencies
do not have a Barney Frank to write to. He is literally a needle in the
hay stack of the Congress. If only all of Congress were Barney Franks!
>>>
FULL TEXT
Setareh Sabety
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* DON'T bring back Persia
I'm not sure how many times I've come across this 'name' argument but
it never seems to go away ["Bring
back Persia"]. Every time there is negative news from Iran, you
get someone making an argument to change the name back to Persia.
Not surprisingly most requests come from Iranians abroad. I feel for
them. I've been there. (I was in college, here in the U.S. during the hostage
crisis. It wasn't fun!) But the reality is that Reza Shah asked other nations
to call the country Iran, because Persia - at that time - represented an
old and backward nation >>>
FULL TEXT
Sassan Behzadi
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* Persia small part of Iran
This is an opinion and every opinion is valid ["Bring
back Persia"]. But Persia is derived from the word Pars, or Persis,
as it was known to the ancient Greeks, and has a narrow and specific connotation.
It refers to a mountainous region to the northwest of the Persian Gulf,
where the city of Shiraz and province of Pars (of present Iran) and the
Achaemenid palace, Persepolis, are situated.
Using the term Persia or Persian corresponds to the small part of Empire
of Iran. This word may help to describe a certain kind of product or species
such as Persian Rug or Persian cat, but certainly would be insufficient
and unprofessional for describing the country >>>
FULL TEXT
SB
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* Farsi creeping into English
There appears to be a concerted effort by some Iranian-Americans to
arbitrarily replace Persian with "Farsi", as the English name
of the language spoken by the majority of Iranians. As such, the word "Farsi"
is slowly creeping into American English as a de facto replacement for
Persian, and given that American English is the dominant form of the language,
it is not unreasonable to assume that the use of "Farsi" will
soon spread to other forms of English if this farce is allowed by Iranians
to continue unchecked >>>
FULL TEXT
Arash Alavi
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* Very good at shouting
I am so sick of people trying to deceive themselves on this forum that
Iran has been anything different but a one-man show for the past 22 years.
He is not called the Shah but the Supreme Leader.
Let's just lift our heads out of the snow and not pretend that no one
can see us just because we don't see them. They have tortured more, killed
more, destroyed more and will continue to do so -- that is there agenda
inherent in their ideology because they think they are defending the "Right
Cause"! >>>
FULL TEXT
Sepehr Sohrab
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* Destroying Shamlu
Mr Nooriala it is obvious that you have no talent in poetry and frankly
your poem sucked ["Baar-e
digar, Bahman"]! Although I have to admit it is not any of my
business to ask you to quit poetry at once but I strongly forbid you from
DESTROYING (I couldn't find a stronger polite word) SHAMLU's poem. for
god's sake keep your hands off of his poems. I'm not being rude or anything
I'm simply telling the truth.
The Shamlu poem I am referring to is KHATAABEYE TADFIN (or kaashefaan-e
forootan-e shokaraan). I'm also sending you a
copy of the poem as an attachment. Compare specially Shamlu's poem
with this part of Mr Nooriala's poem: "aasheghaan-e shakibaay-e aazaadi
, monkeraane mosamame edaam" to the end.
AA
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Monday
February 26, 2001
* Made fools of most
In response to "Paradox",
in a way I admire Khomeni too. He made fools of most of the Iranian population
by making empty, unrealistic promises, that not even a child would believe.
Let's see, he made Iran become the laughing stock of the entire international
community, made you all look like idiots, and is still praised by some
of the uneduacated fools who followed him, and his revolution led to the
demise of Iran into a third-world country >>>
FULL TEXT
Maral S.
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* Kings are for kids
As a 27-year-old, I have witnessed a revolution, a war and don't have
a single nice thing to say about the present regime in Iran. The only thing
I can say is that I was physically and mentally abused by a system that
should be tried for inhumanity.
However, I have been fortunate enough to find freedom elsewhere, and
make the best of my life. With that in mind, I find it extremely difficult
to understand that some people still talk about "having a king"
in Iran! >>>
FULL TEXT
Saman Albaloo
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* No more, no less
In response to Farid Moghadassi's article on Andre Agassi, thank you
["Just
don't do it"]. I had a good laugh and can now conjure up other
ways in my mind Andre can identify with being Iranian on center court.
For those who wonder what Andre's stance on his ethnicity is, here is
a hard fact. On a recent PBS special on "The Armenians," who
do you think was on there talking about his Armenian background? You got
it, Andre.
So it's not a question of why he won't admit his origin, he denies it
altogether. Maybe his real name is Agassian, I don't know.
Enjoy Andre for the tennis player he is, no more, no less.
Ali Towfighi
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* Bunch of pothead brats
I just can't believe that you made such a comparison between the Googoosh
concert and a bunch of pothead brats who don't know a thing about music
["Better
than Googoosh"].
Backstreet Boys people like u don't value our music and singers. It's
a pitty that our young genaration has to be so depressed to listen to the
likes of the Backstreet Boys. Just because we are in the U.S. doesn't mean
losing our identity of heritage.
Suntana
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