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Baba Taher
Image
Oil, mean people, dark skin, terrorism
Mental images of the Middle East influence relationships
By Yahya R. Kamalipour
"What images come to your mind when you think of the Middle East,
Muslims, Arabs, Iranians, and Israelis?" This was a question that
I posed to nearly 500 high school students in five cities throughout northern
Indiana, during a 1997 world affairs conference for which I was the principal
speaker. Using an assessment method called "word-association,"
I asked them to write, without censoring themselves, whatever images came
to their minds immediately after hearing certain terms. Although space
limitation does not allow me to outline and discuss the disappointing results,
the following responses, compiled in no particular order, should reveal
their perceptions of the Middle East, Arabs, Muslims, Iranians, and Israelis:
The Middle East: Terrorism, war, dangerous, Muslims, oil, desert,
hot, camels, sand, Saddam Hussein, the Gulf war, PLO, fanatics, radical,
destruction, oppression, dark skin, dress funny, black veils, cab drivers,
oppressed women, OPEC, always in the news... GO
TO FEATURE
Outlook
Where will it all lead to?
Columnist Mohammad Javad Hojjati Kermani on the murder of the Forouhars
and the attack on the bus carrying American visitors:
... FULL TEXT
From Ettela'at newspaper November 26, 1998
Forwarded by Payman Arabshahi
www.hostage.com
"This domain may be available for your project! RAS.net is an interactivity
company which is involved in several Internet projects. This domain was
acquired for a project, but is now available for the right partnership
opportunity or offer to purchase..."
More Letters
* Money talks, Iranians listen
Farshad Kazemzadeh writes: As far as being money hungry, name a country
where its people turn money down! This is the 90's and it's how people
in the west tend to justify every peculiar behavior. Being money hungry
is no exception! "Money talks" as they say and most Iranian immigrants
have caught on little quicker than the rest. That does not make them evil,
just smarter ... FULL
TEXT
* Art: Gallery Ovissi: First specializing
in Iranian art
Press release:
Maryam Ovissi and Daryl Pendleton are proud to announce the opening
of Gallery Ovissi in Emeryville, California. The Gallery will feature unique
exhibitions and events that share the works of contemporary Iranian and
Middle Eastern artists in the United States.
Iranian-born Maryam Ovissi, the daughter of internationally renown Iranian
artist Nasser Ovissi, has been a part of the art world since birth. Her
experience and expertise in art has allowed her to curate annual exhibitions
for Iranian and Arab artists throughout the United States... FULL TEXT
Book of the Week
The Assassin Legends : Myths of the Isma'Ilis
By Farhad Daftary
Since the twelfth century fantastical tales of the Assassins, their
mysterious leader and their remote mountain strongholds in Syria and northern
Iran have captured the European imagination. These legends first emerged
when European Crusaders in the Levant came into contact with the Syrian
branch of the Nizari Ismailis, who at the behest of their leader were sent
on dangerous missions to kill their enemies. Elaborated over the years,
the legends culminated in Marco Polo's account according to which the Nizari
leader, described as the 'Old Man of the Mountain', was said to have controlled
the behaviour of his devotees through the use of hashish and a secret garden
of paradise.
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news
Asian Games: Iran 2 - Kazakhstan 0
BANGKOK, Dec 1 (Reuters) - In their opening
Asian Games on Tuesday Iran, a medals contender a participant in this year's
World Cup in France, battled to a 2-0 victory in a closely fought game with
Kazakhstan.
New law could slash Iran gasoline use-oil
minister
TEHRAN, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Iran's oil minister
said on Tuesday that a bill before parliament aims to slash domestic gasoline
consumption, and could involve scrapping subsidies. The official Iranian
news agency IRNA quoted Bijan Zanganeh as saying local gasoline consumption
is expected to rise to 32 million litres (8.5 million gallons) a day in
the Iranian year which starts on March 21, 1999... FULL TEXT
Must read: Recent events & Khatami's
reactions
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - An analysis of President Khatami's
reactions to the murder of the Forouhars and the attack on the American
visitors ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
Students gathering leads to violence
Tehran, (Hamshahri) - A moderate/leftist student
gathering calling for an end to the "militarization" of college
campuses and political violence leads to clashes ... FULL TEXT IN PERSIAN
The plight of the Persian carpet
TEHRAN, Dec 1 (AFP) - Ali Bidani sits disconsolately in his corner
shop in a passage in Tehran's sprawling old bazaar, surrounded by piles
of luxurious hand-woven carpets he says he cannot afford to sell. After
almost two decades running a business that has been in his family for generations,
Bidani is considering joining some of his fellow Iranian carpet merchants
and simply shutting up shop... FULL TEXT
Kharrazi hail relations with Italy
TURIN, Italy, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign
Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Tuesday described relations between Iran and
Italy as ``exemplary'' and said the two nations could jointly play an important
role in the Middle East. On the first day of an official visit to Italy,
Kharrazi said Iran did not need a rapport with the United States, ``which
is not ready for relations based on equality and mutual respect'' and sought
to ``eliminate Iran's liberty and independence.'' ... FULL TEXT
US official talks Iran deal compensation
in Ukraine
KIEV, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A top U.S. aid official
visiting Ukraine this week will discuss compensation to firms affected by
Ukraine's agreement not to participate in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant
project, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. ``There will be talks about
some compensation for those Ukrainian companies which declined to take part
in the Bushehr project,'' First Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Bersheda
told a news briefing... FULL TEXT
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Quote Unquote
Big blob
I distributed a map of the Middle East and asked [high school students
in Indiana] to point out any distinction, in terms of culture,language,
geography, history, or politics, between the countries of the Middle East.
[But] they generally appeared to think of the Middle East as a "big
blob" devoid of any geographical variation or cultural diversity.
Yahya R. Kamalipour
"Oil, mean people, dark skin, terrorism"
The Iranian
December 1, 1998
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Washington, D.C.-based DJs and producers Ali "Dubfire"
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