Sic Semper Tyrannis

Dabashi / Israeli student email fiasco

The incident began late on Sept. 27, 2004, when Victor Luria, a Ph.D. candidate in genetics and a former soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, wrote Dabashi an e-mail taking strong exception to what Dabashi had written about the IDF in an article, "For a Fistful of Dust: A Passage to Palestine," he published in the Egyptian newspaper, Al-Ahram.

In response, Luria wrote to Dabashi:

I have rarely seen such a revolting excerpt of anti-semitism as your article in Al-Ahram. Your article implies no right of Israel to exist. … As an Israeli citizen, I welcome the right of Palestinians to have an independent state and a capital in East Jerusalem. At the same time, you clearly deny (and you are not even a Palestinian) my right to have a country.

Rather than answer Luria's critique, Dabashi early on Sept. 28 forwarded his note to several top Columbia officials, including the university's provost, Alan Brinkley. He also commented on what Luria had written:

"I consider this slanderous harassment a conduct unbecoming of a student of Columbia University towards a member of the faculty whom he has never met or known. I bring this defamatory attack against a Columbia faculty to the judicious attention of your respective offices. Given the military record of this person, I also feel physically threatened. I would be grateful if Columbia Security were also to be informed of this slanderous attack against my character and appropriate measures taken to protect my person from a potential attack by a militant slanderer.Dabashi concluded, "For the time being, and in the best interest of our university, I will refrain from contacting the New York Police Department directly."

Underwhelmed, Brinkley wrote him back the same day,.

"Dear Hamid,I see nothing threatening in this message, however unfair its conclusions might be. I also see no grounds for alerting security, although you are certainly free to contact them if you feel otherwise.I very much doubt the New York City police would have any grounds for intervening in this matter.I'm sorry this attack has occurred, but you are no stranger to controversy and have encountered such ad hominem criticism before. This is one of the unhappy prices of a public life, and I would recommend ignoring Mr. Luria (whom I do not know)."

Yours,Alan

Copied From: //www.danielpipes.org/2255/hamid-dabashi-columbia-universitys-hysterical-professor

Just as expected :-))

The NIAC supporting thugs attack.  Don’t worry Anahid.  If you haven’t figured it out yet, this is what I call a “leftist elitist.”  If you disagree with them, you are a “retard” and you're “dumb.”  You’re just not at their level of intelligence.  So, just STFU and allow the “smart” ones to make decisions for you….like they did back in the 1970’s.  And you’re dumb because you didn’t go to Columbia.  The clown below is right, actually.  I didn’t go to Columbia.  I had to settle for a really, really bad school in the New England region that has navy blue as its official color and a bulldog as its mascot.  I was a science major, though.  So, no political discussions there.  I did take a couple of pol. sci. courses as electives.  But I guess my professors were also retards because they weren’t named Hamid Dabashi!

What the moron below also doesn’t realize is that comparing (or copying) the Western style civil rights movement to what is happening in Iran is perhaps the dumbest idea ever created by any so-called “opposition” movement to any dictatorship.  In fact, in my opinion, that concept is a ploy by the IR and its cloaked West residing supporters to maintain status quo in Iran.  The most obvious difference between the two situations is the fact that in the West, there is an independent judiciary that can strike down laws that create inequalities such as segregation, etc.  A perfect example is, of course, the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown vs. Board of Education which put an end to segregated schools.  Now compare that with IR’s show trials and “revolutionary courts.”  So, this whole idea that one can end one of the most brutal dictatorships in the 20th and 21st centuries by flower power and that the quest for democracy in Iran is a “civil rights movement”-- as is advocated by staunch fossil 1970’s revolutionaries like Dabashi and his supporters-- is just dumb if not quite sinister and insidious.         

It is also noteworthy that “bahmani” is a business partner with the other clown, Reza Aslan, who, as we all know, is a huge Dabashi fan.  So, you make the connections and see where that comment comes from.  Also noteworthy is that NIAC supporters and operatives have quite an appetite for harassing and screaming at people who disagree with them.  With Oktaby’s permission, below please find a link to a video of Babak Talebi, a former NIAC official, calling the police on a group of Iranians whose only “crime” was apparently waving an Iranian flag with the “sheer-o-khorsheed” emblem:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=och26QdEEF8&feature=player_embedded  

BTW, a big thank you to the DC police for not buying that BS.

So, the ad hominem attack below by this clown is not surprising at all. Well, I really have to get back to work.  Unlike some, I don’t copy the Shahnameh and sell it as a “comic book” for a living.  I will also post a more detailed account of Dabashi’s email event with the Israeli student in another comment.  This one is becoming too long.  The story is actually quite entertaining. 

Last but not the least: just because someone went to, or teaches at a good school, does not mean that the person is wise.  Knowledge is knowing that tomato is a fruit.  Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit basket.  I bet that Dabashi and the like will insist on putting a pound of tomatoes in a fruit basket just to “prove” a point!

I am disappointed

That some commentators on this thread try to treat rest of us like 8 year olds by saying that if we don't understand how great Dabashi is, it is because we are retarded. Dabashi is as another commentator wrote;"nan ra be nerkhe rooz meekhorad", he over focuses on other countries and does not think Iranians are after regime change. How great can someone like this be?

?

pofyuz embodied

jj, generalizing & oversimplifying is what got us in the hole we're in. Dabashi is not "ourselves". Not even close. He is 'them' in disguise.

Oktaby

Libelous Rant??

""History is now recording their shameful names and will deal with them in proper time -- Abbas Milani, Mohsen Sazegara, Amir Taheri, Azar Nafisi, Ramin Ahmadi, Roya Hakakian, and an ilk of reprehensible names next to them.""--dabashi
//english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=310240&rel_no=1&back_url=

He was enraged by the success of Azar Nafisi's book, he couldn't even hide his jealousy using all kinds of ad hominems, and vitriolic to demolish her.

That's when I lost all respect for him...he might be brilliant but he is an insecure loon.

AO jaan

All stateless  neanderthals like this Omaru & his clones have 3  things in common like a bug up their tokhmeh omar @*S;, hate for kiaan, hate for true Iran & love for Arab cause. Now some of these  desert dungers might differ in delivery(some charlatans even embrace kiaan just so to distort it;) but never the message. Dont waste your time on fossils of Arabo ommah.

Cheers pilgrim!!!

Path of Kiaan Resurrection of True Iran Hoisting Drafshe Kaviaan //iranianidentity.blogspot.com //www.youtube.com/user/samsamsia

Not accurate, Not funny.

Sorry, this is just a libelous rant by someone who apparently didn't pass Hamid's class, or might have sat through one of Hamid's talks, and simply didn't understand it.

Sometimes when you're this stupid and you know it, you can get insulted and start writing far too easily. This often leads to really dumb posts like this one. 

("... doesn't mow his lawn..."????)

Instead of getting angry because you can't understand Dabashi, why don't you invest in a dictionary, and just one good book on Western History of Civil Rights, and then re-take his course.

Don't worry he'll let you audit if you're still afraid to take the test!

Hamid Dabashi is one of the most brilliant men of our time. You're just too dim to get it. Which isn't as much your fault, as it is your parents'.

Attaining a position at Columbia is not something just anyone with the level of retardation you used in trying to uncreatively and unamusingly, paint him as, can get.

While you may think Iran is a simple black and white (or black and green) matter, it isn't. There is a reason why the IRI has successfully thwarted anything remotely close to change for the past 30 years.

Since you likely didn't understand the previous sentence either, allow me to rephrase it.

When Dabashi tells you something, you need to listen. You might not like what you hear. As Iranians we tend to not like a lot of what we hear.

The simple fact is that this very smart person, specifically presented to us by fate, at this time, with this level of understanding how we tick, is not something that you treat the way you just did.

Especially to do it anonymously. What a fucking coward you are!

He is known as "the

He is known as "the hysterical professor" around Columbia. He does look a bit deranged. I feel sorry for Golbarg who is half-swedish.

The Wrong Side Of History!

Since those JJ has mentioned are in the spotlight, anything they say could have much effect on many non-Iranians' AND some Iranians' perspectives. 

When someone like Dabashi claims that Iranian people are not after regime change or they say anything that is against the will of millions of Iranians, they are indeed attacking them.

Dabashi has the mentality of a merchant. Noon ro beh nerkheh Rooz mikhoreh! And that is absolutely wrong. Attacking his views, is the least Iranians can do on this site. 

Thanks to his position as a professor at an Ivy League college, his views, with regards to the will of tens of millions of Iranians who seek regime change or want separation of state and religion, are even more damaging than the propaganda coming from the regime in Tehran.

What is it with "mowing lawn", which "lefties" hate so much?!

But seriously dear AO, If you treat this man - whom I know quite little about- like the rest of us, all pissed off with the islamist regime , for our own reasosns, yet agreeing on a common objective of a democratic secular alternative for Iran, then you might think of him less nagatively. Despite his appearances on BBC, CNN, etc, I am very sure that he has very little influence on policy of USA towards Iran. US government are not fools. They only take the kind of people seriously who are prepared to put their money where their mouth is...

"Personal business must yield to collective interest."

i got "it."  i want the

i got "it."  i want the mullahs out.  i want the irgc out.  does dabashi want "it"? 

"A band of useless expatriate Iranians are now swarming Washington D.C. hotel lobbies and the White House and State Department offices, seeking a pathetic role and a lucrative salary for regime change in Iran, doing nothing but wasting our tax money, while registering their ignoble names in the annals of a maligned nation. History is now recording their shameful names and will deal with them in proper time -- Abbas Milani, Mohsen Sazegara, Amir Taheri, Azar Nafisi, Ramin Ahmadi, Roya Hakakian, and an ilk of reprehensible names next to them."
//english.ohmynews.com/ArticleView/article_view.asp?menu=A11100&no=310240&rel_no=1&back_url=

"I say Iranians are not for “regime change” on this program for those of us who have lived long enough in this country know that in Washington DC (where this program was taped) that phrase "regime change" means imposing crippling sanctions against Iranians and initiating military strike—as it happened with Iraq."
//webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:w6MOGplH9j0J:arabicforread.blogspot.com/2010/12/dabashi-on-islamic-republic.html+dabashi+against+regime+change+iran&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

obviously dabashi does not believe in regime* change.

* regime = velayat faghih

You Just Don't Get It??!!

Hey Anonymous Observer, there is a huge difference between being critical and being constructive. Anyone can be negative, so what? What are you proposing? The whole point JJ is making is we need to be united, and stop attacking each other. If you criticize, you have do so in a constructive way. You need to learn to be positive and constructive, not behave like a spoilt teenager.

Yes, anyone in the public arena is and should be open to criticism. God knows, I get enough jokes and critics wearing the Ayatoilet Costume. But, the objective here is NOT to vote for Dabashi or me or anyone ...no one is running for office. The objective is to topple the regime in Iran - to stop the toture, the killings, the corruption, the suppression, the oppression, the evil.

We will not do this if we are not UNITED, and if we start finding faults among each other. If Dabashi opposes the regime, if Ebadi opposes the regime, if you oppose the regime, if JJ opposes the regime....we can all work together to topple the regime. We must unite, not divide. Then once they are toppled let everyone form a political party and run for office ...then your views and criticism have a place.

There is a place and time for criticism. Grow up, recognize the time we are in. Recognize what this forum is useful for. You've done nothing to promote your views.

You must be constructive. We want to rebuild Iran, we want to create a great nation again. We want to be proud again. And we want the Mullahs/IRGC out. Remember that. Reserve your criticism for later.

May be Love has made him to change his mind : )

I went to the link that you posted .......

He got married just a few years ago, his wife name is Golbarg and the kids are Chelgis and Golchin .......  nothing Arabic is going on here which should make some of the true Iranians on IC happy ..........

ok now  .. please take it easy on the poor man ........

Ps. I did not read all of it ..... but the parts I read actually was good !

All- Iranians, I think it stands for "Tool"

that he is. :-))

Self-Destructive & Idiot

Glad to see you know he is a self destructive guy who is only interested in the chase and is destructive to everyone. He and his wife are also idiots; view their stupid notes on  “Sal-e No Mobarak”, //tehranavenue.com/article.php?id=855

BTW: What that "T" sign on his hat stands for? Terrible? Terrorist? ....?

You're quite right HG - Note the green chafiyeh in the pic.

he's trying to merge the two causes.  And I do remember seeing that moment in the video.  It was a "WTF" moment for me as well.  

Now, I wouldn't be surprised if he at some point puts a sickel and a hammer on the green chafiyeh just so that he can merge his other favorite cause with the two...and make it a three way race!

i also found it curious how

i also found it curious how dabashi ties the iranian people's cause to the palestinian cause as they're in a three-legged race.  right before dabashi got on niac's board, he had an interview with trita parsi that was posted on i.com.  watch the ending of the video from min. 10: instead of iranian protesters, it show palestinians being brutalized with arabic music.  the topic of conversation was about iran.

//iranian.com/main/2010/jun/trita-parsi

SK- That may be true

but Dabashi had nothing to do with it.  He's a Johnny come lately opportunist!

And I disagree with your view on the events.  I think that the protests have actually delayed IR's inevitable internal implosion.  But that's a subject for another blog. 

let's face it

whether you like it or not ........... the last two years event would not had happened in the streets of Iran if it was not because of this green movement .....

you can all go back to your opposition mood now and wait another 32 years or so for something to happen ! 

And yes, Ayatoilet - I'm an IR agent, LOL!!!!!

AND an FBI and a CIA operative as well!

I am also a Zionist and an anti-semite as I was called once before on the same thread:

 //iranian.com/main/blog/anonymous-observer/why-iri-nothing-nazi-germany

As CC said below, we're not going to get anywhere by making public figures "off limits" to crticism and ridicule.  They put themselves out there (and in Al-Dabashi's case, they attack others viciously as well--such as his attacks on Milani, Nafisi, etc.).  They should expect the return of the favor.  Politicians and pundits need to go through the coarse filter of public critique before they can be accepted by public.  To do otherwise, will result in the nation being ruled by yet another  demagogue.

Plus, people like Dabashi are the reason why we are where we are today.  These were the ones who wanted the Shah gone, and these are the ones who have been the IR's West-residing propaganda agents for the past three decades.   

AO

Good comment.

I agree with you. People may think that I'm a pro RP or pro Monarchist, I am not!

But like yourself, I'm tired of all this hypocrisy (or at best, ignorance) of the Iranian in Diaspora!

As soon as someone says being against the actual government, they become his/her follower, without questioning the background and the motivation of that person!

How long we want to stay blind? That just blows my head!!!

Come On JJ - Don't be a hypocrite!

What about Reza Pahlavi?  Day in and day out you feature articles and videos that call him anything from fat to thief to opportunist to Zionist puppet, blah, blah, blah.  Just look at your "most viewed" list today.  And now you're "outraged" about me criticizing an opportunist (and a public figure) who until 2 years ago had made it his mission to put an AN-tellectual face on the IR?!!!  What, Reza Pahlavi is not opposition?  Ridiculing him does not benefit the IR?!!!!

So, now, just to show us some consistency, please go ahead and copy and paste the same comment on the Reza Pahlavi's "most viewed" link.   

JJ - You're Absolutely Right

What I have discovered is that the IRI has planted a large number of people abroad (via the Pasdar/Sepah Network) whose sole mission is to throw dirt at various opposition members and splinter the opposition. There is absolutely no gain in attacking Ebadi, Nafisi, Dabashi, Milani ... JJ you are right, absolutely right.

There are folks who call into my show, write garbage on my youtube channlet etc. Then you figure out who they actually are, and I now have specific names ...and you see they are all part of the Sepah network. By the way, I have alerted the FBI. And there will be some major arrests soon.

By the way, these IRI agents are not only in the US - they are scattered everywhere including Europe (UK, Germany, Sweden etc.). They are well financed, well equiped and they are literally on computers all day long reviewing blogs, and they watch and call satellite TV stations ...all day...all night long! Its incredible.

The other thing, I have noticed, is that in a tacit way they also support some bad elements of the opposition like the Mujahedins (PMOI, MEK etc.). It works to their advantage to have them as the "leading" members of the opposition (a leftist/Marxist Islamic movement without a democratic base with a history of terrorism)...it makes them seem "nice" compared to this "leading opposition movement".

Some opponents are good for the IRI, some are not. Bottom line they (the IRI) are very sophisticated and cleverly undermine them. This type of blog is designed to undermine an opponent that is gaining prominence - that they do not like.

We must be united against the regime. We must support humanist, secular alternatives that promote a separation of religion from politics. And above all, we must be respectfull of each other as an opposition movement.

JJ - you are a democrat. And you are very wise. At least you've allowed this to be published. And viewers/readers see this blog for what it is. 

AO

not bad .... not bad ..... good job AO ........

are you working for FBI or CIA ?

It seems that you have done your assignments pretty good .........

 or IRI for that matter : ) 

ok now do not get mad I am just joking ......... but how is it that you know that much on one specific person ? 

self-destructive?

 It's called critical, democratic thinking that holds people accountable with humour, instead of Shaholaahi or Ayatollahi blind worshipping or the other fanaticism "everything IRI does is straight out of Satan's bowels" . 

Anonymous Observer, I have no idea why this particular thickie gets so much exposure, but then some greens sprout into lawns of weed. But then I'm rather fond of nettle and dandelion salad.

Self-destructive

What is the point of attacking people like Dabashi? Or Abbas Milani? Or Azar Nafisi? Or Shirin Ebadi? What do we gain out of it?

Nothing.

You know who gains? The real enemy. The Islamic Republic.

While we are attacking and destroying ourselves, the people with real power, the people who control the prisons, the military, the security apparatus, the media, the economy... go about their business and laughing at the opposition.

Pathetic. Pointless.

I have my own thought amd

I have my own thought amd feelings about Mr. Dabashi (elahi nabashi) once I criticized him, then him and his wife deleted my name from their Facebook list, that's what kind of person he is.

LOL

I like the "He has never mowed his lawn" and "He once had a homoerotic dream involving himself, Ali Shariati, Khomeini and Karl Marx" parts :-).

BTW, this strange creature is more of a "post-modern" type than a leftist.

Thanks for the laugh,

Azadeh