Archive - Jul 21, 2008 - Article

The enemy has a face

The looming Iran-Israel confrontation has a seemingly deterministic quality to it. Listening to the politicians, one gets a sense that powers beyond our control are pulling us toward a 21st-century disaster. Yet a great deal of the force propelling us into confrontation is fueled by ignorance and dehumanization. Israel is demonized as "Little Satan," while Iranians are portrayed as irrational Muslim extremists. Indeed, mutual ignorance of our respective societies plays into the hands of the hard-line leaders who are calling for blood and destruction. They manipulate and distort; above all, they do everything to prevent us from recognizing that the enemy has a face.>>>

Inspiring & Empowering

On July 17, 2008, Iranian.com posted an item entitled “Hopes and Concerns,” signed by Soudabeh Bashirrad (which may be a pseudonym). The article generally welcomes the formation of Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA), admires it for having brought together Iranian Americans of diverse views, and praises PAAIA for taking steps to serve the community. We applaud the author for acknowledging PAAIA’s significant accomplishments during its short history. Unfortunately, the article also contains statements that, at best, reflect serious misperceptions and factual inaccuracies. The “questions” asked about PAAIA may essentially be divided into three categories>>>

Islam, Nationalism and Democracy

Islam, like any other religion, has to wear the national dress of the people in order to enter a new land. The strict fundamentalists see only the religious dogmas and try to suppress the expression of any cultural nuances within the religious form. But life gradually removes their illusions and covers the religious dogmas with local colors. It seems that V. S. Naipaul, in his trip, was mostly surrounded by Islamic fundamentalists, especially the Wahhabi type. He takes the Wahhabi's approach toward Islam and extends it to all islamic factions. In Afghanistan, the Taleban destroyed the twin Buddha on Bamian rocks, but the Zoroastrian fire temples in Iran, and the holy Buddhist sites in Indonesia, still stand and resist religious conformity. >>>

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صندلیهای خالی

. پریشبا بود که سر میز کلی آدم نشسته بودند چند نفر اصلا مجبور شدند برند یک گو شه دیگه بشینند چون جا نبود. یکهو نگاه کردم و دیدم صندلی جلوییم خالی هست همه از کنازش رد میشند و کسی نمیببیندش .خواستم یک چیزی بگم اما کور که نبودند. لابد کسی نمیخواست اونجا بشینه و یا شاید هم مثل همیشه چشمهای من آلبا لو گیلاس می چید. نمیدونم چرا همیشه وسط این شلوغیها چشمم میافته به یک صندلی خالی که هیچ کس رویش نمی نشیند.یک موقعی فکرمیکردم بالاخره پر میشه , اما حا لا می بینم که نه انگارهرکس جای خودش رو د ا ره>>>