An Important Message From Rosie To All of You

Anvar, I am not suggesting keeping non-Iranians out.

From the very beginning I have always reminded (sometimes begged) people to remember there are many non-Iranians reading the site and they should be aware of them and make a good impression for Iran (not that I wound up following my own advice under stress but still..), and also that whenever a non-Iranian dropped in and posted, they should be treated specially to know they are VERY welcome. At that time there were very few non-Iranians posting here. But I knew they were lurking and were just shy to post (because even I had been at first).

This was corroborated when, during the Obama campaign, more non-Iranians started posting because it was a topic they knew about and felt comfortable with. And of course, since the Uprising there have been many non-Iranians posting because they want to learn and they want to get involved.

The site has very high google ratings. People are directed here a LOT.

//iranian.com/main/blog/rosie-t/our-google-ratings

No, I would be the last person to advocate for keeping non-Iranians out.  The point of this particular blog was that IN THIS SPECIFIC SITUATION I had to choose not to direct non-Iranians to the site, because the issue was too serious and the woman, Bahareh, too admirable, for people to be directed to a discourse at its lowest ebb of toxic sludge I have ever seen in the entire now almost three years of blogging.

(Anniversary coming up! First blog, August 3, 2007: //iranian.com/main/blog/jahanshah-javid/hello) 

Under ordinary circumstances, I would recommend the site to anyone. But explain the background--that the participants are almost all expats from specific backgrounds which make the discourse highly polarized and sometimes volatile.

u c?  :o)

I get you

Rosie - This is not a unique phenomenon, but we certainly have our share of Coyote Ugly participants on IC and in our culture. At times, per your example, we may need to chew off our own arm to sneak out or get away!

I fully understood you and confirmed your good points.  I was only trying to point out that by keeping non-Iranians out:

- Iranians may get deprived of the opportunity to show off their better qualities.
- Non-Iranians may get deprived of the opportunity to explore their own characters (are they curious, open-minded, pre-judge, etc.)

I personally prefer the mingling of all cultures (good & bad traits), but I can certainly understand why you wouldn’t want to extend an open invitation to everyone.  And it makes perfect sense too.  

We can certainly find ugliness in any culture, but we should focus on its beauty while working collectively to enhance all cultures.

Anvar

Anvar, waking up with a hangover....

after having had sex with someone you picked up at a party...

No, not you! I know you would never do anything like that. lol But you're not quite understanding what I'm talking about. It has nothing to do with how non-Iranians are treated here. It has to do with how Iranians have been treating each other here.

This is what it seems to me. Last year for a while there was this almost euphoric unity. Suddenly 'Islamo-fascist apologists' and Monarcho-fascists and all the other 'Fascists', i.e. everyone, because everyone's a fascist in someone else's eyes, or a 'warmonger'...were all Green. And even those who weren't were sympathetic toward the Greens, with few exceptions. Then things fizzled. And since I started reading the site again in April after six months away, it was like you had all these factions, these parties (no pun intended) and they were at that moment when you just wake up, after you picked someone up at a party when you were trashed and had sex with them, and you have a hangover and you don't know where you are. And you look around, and then you look next to you on the bed, and it starts to dawn on you and you think oh my god I can't believe I slept with this person. And you want to sneak out before they wake up but you can't and...

the overwhelming feeling and tone are disgust.

I've seen tons of abuse here, more than most have, because I was here when there wasn't even any moderation--and I've been part of it too--but nothing like what I saw recently. Over and over the same accusations and the same sneering and the same insults, like a broken record. Usually with no real passion, creativity or even individuality. Just disgust. With no 'camp' having a plan and accusing the others of having no plan, everyone else is either a traitor or a fool...

I'm not the only one who's complained about it. A couple of people even wrote blogs about it or told me they'd left because of it. And when it comes to something as important as Bahareh's video, I could not send non-Iranians here with that ubiquitous disgust. Don't forget, these would NOT be people who know much about Iran, let alone UNDERSTAND it (because who really understands Iran? Certainly not Iranians...). And they would also not understand that the people here are not really representative of Iranians either. How could I send them here, to equate Bahareh's struggle, her people's struggle, with what struggle? The struggle to ridicule each other in the name of who is the 'real' Opposition?

Non-Iranians have plenty of countries and peoples to worry about, not to mention their own. They don't have to worry about Iran. I chose to include my own short explanation of Bahareh's sentence with the youtube link three weeks ago.

Anvar, you wrote: I hope that they can understand the amount of stress we’re under, and forgive us our rare trespasses towards them. Again, the problem would not have been 'your' rare (or non-existent) trespasses toward them, but 'your' chronic trespasses toward each other. Because no, they would not have understood them.

Now some things are looking better here, others worse. Well, it's two days before the anniversary and summer is coming. We'll see what happens next. 

Robin

p.s. As for Iranian hospitality, Anvar--have you ever been to the West Indies?  Just busting your chops... ;oP

Good to see you back Rosie Jaan

Kudos !

Yes, it’s very important

Bahareh Hedayat is a lioness who represents the bravery and eloquence of the younger generation of Iranian women.  She is a source of pride (pun intended) for most people.

*roushan boodam* - Thank you for keeping this yet another blatant violation of human dignity and rights, by the Islamic Republic of Iran, fresh in our minds.

Furthermore, thank you for trying to save us from ourselves by keeping your non-Iranian friends away from this site.  You make valid points.  However, we are also famous for our hospitality.  Additionally, we are also receptive of other cultures and grateful to those who contribute positively.  

We already have three such wonderful “guests” on this very blog.  Most of us are honored by the presence of well-intentioned non-Iranians on this site.  I trust that we can always remain open-minded, respectful, and hospitable towards our non-Iranian friends.  In return, I hope that they can understand the amount of stress we’re under, and forgive us our rare trespasses towards them.

The more, the merrier!

Anvar

Thanks Rosie for reminding what matters

It's part of your 'foreigner' charm but if you really want to go Persian, you should use 'roshan' or 'rowshan'. And I didn't mean to change the subject. It's just because you said it all. There is nothing to add.

Okay, ladies,

I just edited the text to say "so much of the discussion here HAS BEEN such an embarrassment LATELY" instead of "IS such an embarrassment". Yes, i.c. will always be i.c. and that is part of the 'charm', but you have to understand that when it was something as serious as this issue, I couldn't send non-Iranians here when on almost every single political thread so many people were howling at each other like banshees, saying the same nasty things over and over everywhere. I really wanted to. As you can imagine. But I just couldn't.

Well, summer is coming and some things look a little better today. Some. But this incident with Bahareh has been weighing on my mind. There has to be a middle ground. Not that i.c. should be a Quaker meeting house but the site isn't just for the people on it. That's all I'm trying to bring out.

The site is for the world.

kudos rosie

for bringing us back to focus on the issues.

i think bahareh hedayat is a wonderful window onto iranian bravery and a worthy prism through which non-iranians may be introduced into the issues. the focus on the personal freedoms, right to study, the right not to be killed, the sincerity and non-manipulative way she expresses her points, and the points themselves.

ic infighting, forsaking people under ad hominem humiliations to bleed,  foul-mouthedness, profanity, flirting, promoting of ic personae/masks instead of debating ideas, etc. will probably always be part of the site. peccavi. i also am not an angel, none of us are.

i still think ic can serve a good purpose also for non-iranians to get to know the issues, as long as the dosage between informative, political, cultural, and social are healthy.

like yolanda, i will not forsake my admiration for iran and iranians.

more than that, i will cross my fingers for the liberation of iran from the iri, and if need be, take action.

Dear Rosie, "Bahareh Hedayat" is such a brave young woman

Dear Rosie, this is great. Not only you have a blog but it is about a cause that is so important. Thanks for what you did regarding Bahareh and for writing about it. "Bahareh Hedayat" is such a brave young woman and her cause needs to be taken by more and more people.

......

Thank you, Rosie,

    We will never forget about Iran......it is not going to happen!

Please take care!