Farhad Kashani

Dear Mr. Cohen,

Your recent article about Iran and the state of Jews in Iran raises some important issues, and proves a point about you and your establishment and the role it plays in prolonging the survival of regimes such as the IRI.

I am not going to write you a lengthy letter so you get bored half a way reading it, I just want to raise some points.

We all know that in today’s’ world, public opinion is an essential tool and factor in the creation of perception and reality. Sometimes the truth is translated into what people “perceive” it to be, not what in reality it is. Public opinion also plays a vital role in the survival of not only democratic regimes, but even non-democratic ones. Those being said, New York Times’ role in shaping a “false” public opinion abut the realities of world politics and the state of matters in other countries, have caused a devastating dent in winning the public opinion war and shifting it towards rejecting inhuman and barbaric regimes such as the IRI.

You and your newspaper’s irresponsibility and ignorance about what really goes on in Iran and your cliché oriented cold war era mentality is an important factor why regimes such as IRI have survived all this time and continue to commit their atrocities in our country while people like you engage in the “blame America” game cause “blame America” is a sign of “intellectual” and “not simplifying” politics!

You are making a few mistakes”

1-     You are not distinguishing between the regime and the people. The way the regime treats Jews is very different than the way WE Iranians treat our Jewish brothers and sisters. Jews in Iran do not have the right to get elected in high government position (Open Apartheid) and do not have the right to support Israel (whether they are right or wrong in doing so is besides the point) and have to adhere to Islamic Fundamentalist law imposed by the regime by brutal force, including Jewish women having to wear Hijab (also Open Apartheid), and other forms of open discrimination. The examples are numerous.. Based on what logic and common sense, can you claim that “Jews in Iran are not treated differently”? Have you stopped and think about that?

2-     Your “blame America” propaganda is fading. It was once popular because innocent and politically unsophisticated Americans used to believe your propaganda and take it without question; now the trend is shifting with the election of Obama. The sooner you realized that, the better it is for your establishment.

3-     You are unable to understand the simple fact that IRIs threat does not reflect in its nuclear weapons program, although that has to be stopped, but rather in its inspiration and support of Islamic Fundamentalism. Al Qaeda and others are nothing but a product of IRIs Islamic Fundamentalist ideology. Because leftists such as yourself have immersed yourself into “economy” and viewing politics solely based on “economy” while neglecting the power of ideology , you have miserably failed to realize that unwise, irresponsible and traditional regimes such as IRI do things that are not necessarily based on “economical interest”, sometimes its just “ideology”. IRIs threat is its inspiration of the culture of Islamic martyrdom. The folks who hijacked the planes on 9/11 subscribed to that mentality. As result of your propaganda machine, average Americans are not able to comprehend that important factor, and that, as it showed on 9/11, will again, have a devastating affect not only on America, but the world.

Mr. Cohen, we Iranians have a tradition of “keeping our heads above the water” even when we’re drowning. The people you met in Iran are “keeping their heads” up. They are trying to survive under brutal conditions and they are trying to make the best out of life. That does not excuse what the regime is doing to them. That does not say a whole lot about the regime, it says a lot about us Iranians who never give up.

Try to distinguish between IRI and the people of Iran who have absolutely no say whatsoever in who and how their country is ran. Again, the sooner you realize that, the sooner you will find Iranian respect and the sooner the people in this country will realize what monster the U.S, the Iranian people and the world is dealing with.