ETERAZ

First of all thank you so

First of all thank you so much for the well wishes. They are greatly appreciated. 

But rather, I say one is too many because unlike other Arab states that supported Iraq, Palestinians had no proper motive in doing so other than the bankrupt (and rather illusive, as you point out) concept of Arab solidarity. You see, Iraqis had a somewhat legitimate reason for going to war with Iran. They had a border dispute, over which countries have fought each other since time immemorial. If you notice, I have never mentioned anything negative about Iraqis’ motives, even though I disagree with the specifics of their border issues. Other Arab, and specially Persian Gulf states also had a reason, which was the obvious fear, and often times direct threat of Iran exporting its revolution, and the need to stop Iran’s push for hegemony. But what did the Palestinians have to gain? Money and support? But Iran was providing that already? The inescapable reason was that they were doing so for the sake of Arab unity, and that is why their conduct was so despicable and unworthy of forgiveness.

You make a good point. But again I refuse to identify the actions of a minority with an entire nation. I am sure you would take offence at someone from Lebanon disliking or resenting you because of the Sepah's involvement in their country since the civil war.

You also make a point with your distinction between cultural supremacy and racism, though I believe assertions of cultural supremacy can seamlessly tranform into assertions of racial supremacy i.e. our culture is superior because we are racially superior - and we hear this all the time amongst Iranians claiming to descend from the 'pure Aryan race' - all hogwash mind you - to some extent the idea of 'civilization' and 'progress' you addres is undeniable insofar as one equates 'sophistication/complexity' with 'progress' - which at some level is hard to deny - as each 'great' nation has postulated itself at the end and culmination of history in good old teleological fashion - the Persians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and later the German philosopher Hegel dialectically derived the Prussian state as being such, and finally Francis Fukuyama in the 20th century theorized American liberal democracy as being the end of all ends of history. While recognizing that certain benefits have been accrued as a result of modernization which sustain the human species in terms of biological life...i.e. we are able to live longer, I also hold, taking my cue from the Jewish-German literary critic and philosopher, Walter Benjamin that every artefact of civilization is at once one of barbarity; no 'progress' is 'progress' as such without at once being party to monstrosity and disaster - the Holocaust was after all facilitated by technological advance - mass murder on such a horrific scale would never have hitherto been possible.

Regarding the notion of 'country'. That is not exactly what I meant. What I meant was 'national identification' in the modern sense it has come to connote. You do make many excellent points, which I have encountered previously in an article by Professor Ahmadi of Tehran University and I must admit that I must do more research on the subject before I can make a better educated judgement. If possible I would greatly appreciate it if you could email me at sadegh@eterazonline.com so that we can continue our conversation as my research progresses.

Finally, I am not a leftist, though I do strongly belief in human solidarity and human beings inextricable coexistence as do many other liberals. I am a left-leaning liberal if I can put it that way and believe the rights of the 'individual' are inviolable but also contend that we bear certain obligations to others. However, I recognize that certain historical and socio-economic conditions were required to first come to pass before one could say as much. Such rights are not God-given or anything else, they are historical concepts which have since been reified into the realm of the timeless and universal. For example, for the ancient Greeks ‘reason’ was only a possession of the Greeks, while other races were either barbarians or ‘naturally’ slavish and so destined to serve the superior peoples manifested in the form of the Greeks. This reification can at times be misleading. Nonetheless, I contend that individual rights, such as freedom of expression, assembly and the press are inviolable, integral to any functioning democratic society and can never be subsumed by the state or any other body in the name of a 'higher power' or ideological-value-system. And that is why I am a liberal above all else. Thank you for taking the time to have this discussion with me, I feel it was very fruitful.

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh  

Thanks for the Response and Hope You Feel Better

Mr. Sadeghi,

Thank you for your kind response. I hope that you are feeling better. I once again have o commend you on your superb writing skills. I enjoy reading your pieces, even if I disagree with them at times.

First, I do agree with you that a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict will be detrimental to the Iranian government’s interests as it will take away their most important . Again, I am not in favor of a resolution to the conflict. I just think that Iran should not be the standard bearer of the Palestinian issue to the detriment of its national interests. I also agree with you that Iran may not necessarily have Palestinian’s best interest in mind, and also in that Hamas’ alliance with Iranian is rather fluid and self serving. As far as Palestinians’ support for Iraq during its war with Iran, as you know, I lived in a Persian Gulf state and saw the dancing in the streets with my own eyes when Khorramshahr was shown captured by the Iraqis on the national TV. I also saw and read proud TV and print press footage, photos and articles of Palestinians fighting in battlefields against Iran. Obviously, it will be impossible to come up with accurate figure as to the numbers of Palestinian fighters, but in my opinion, one was too many. I say that not as an attempt to do minimize the significance of the level of the Palestinian participation in fighting against Iran. But rather, I say one is too many because unlike other Arab states that supported Iraq, Palestinians had no proper motive in doing so other than the bankrupt (and rather illusive, as you point out) concept of Arab solidarity. You see, Iraqis had a somewhat legitimate reason for going to war with Iran. They had a border dispute, over which countries have fought each other since time immemorial. If you notice, I have never mentioned anything negative about Iraqis’ motives, even though I disagree with the specifics of their border issues. Other Arab, and specially Persian Gulf states also had a reason, which was the obvious fear, and often times direct threat of Iran exporting its revolution, and the need to stop Iran’s push for hegemony. But what did the Palestinians have to gain? Money and support? But Iran was providing that already? The inescapable reason was that they were doing so for the sake of Arab unity, and that is why their conduct was so despicable and unworthy of forgiveness.

Next, I disagree with you that Iranians are racist. As you know, most Iranians are from mixed heritage. We have always welcomed and absorbed other races into our society, from Greeks to Arabs to Turks to Mongols, etc., and have never hesitated in intermarrying with them (contrast this with Persian Gulf Arab culture, which rarely, if ever one sees an intermarriage between an Arab and a non-Arab, which is mainly for racial reasons ) . We would have not done so if we were racist. We are not racists. We are cultural supremacists, and we have every right to be such. There is nothing wrong in saying that our culture, and not our race, was superior to the Arab culture of the 7th Century at that time. We had a sophisticated society that had a complex, and rather progressive federal style government which oversaw a national army, a national monetary system and a national economy. We had cities and temples and libraries and other institutions of an advanced society. The Arabian Peninsula’s culture in comparison, was a rather primitive tribal culture that still relied on bartering as the foundation of its economy. We had female rulers when they buried their female newborns. Therefore, our culture was superior to theirs. And incidentally, they tacitly acknowledged this by copying our religion, style of government and customs after their contact with us. But this is not to say that there were other cultures that were not superior to ours. For instance, the pre-Islam Egyptian culture was far more advanced than ours in many respects, such as science, engineering and mythology.

I also disagree with you on the notion that there was no such thing as a “country” (forgive me, but I am paraphrasing) before the 19th Century. If you look at the Sassanid literature, its coinage and its military rankings or even their temples, you can see that they did consider Iran as a unified country and they even called it as such (Eran to be precise). For example, under Ardeshir, the position of Eran-Sepahbod was created, which was the equivalent of the minister of defense, who had the authority to act on behalf of the entire nation in defense matters and even enter into treaties with other nations. Also, the main Sassanid temples were spread in selective points of Iran, indicating their belief that Iran proper was their homeland (note that there were no major temples in Ctesiphon, the capital of the Empire). Even at the time of the Achaemenids there were references to the name Iran. So, I disagree that we only came to call ourselves Iranians post 19th century and under western influences, although I do agree with you that racism as an ideology is a western concept.

Lastly, do I detect a bit of leftist ideology is your tacit repudiation of individualism? I was force fed a lot of those books as a teenager- you know, the Behrangi books, the Manifesto, the Abshooran, etc., and I can detect leftist ideology pretty quickly…not that there’s anything wrong with it…I personally disagree with it for many reasons…. but obviously everyone is entitled to his / her opinion.

Ba arezooyeh piroozi va sarbolandiyeh shoma.

Dear Anonymous Observer

Please forgive me if I miss out some of your points but I am not feeling very well. I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to discuss this with you however. 

If the issue is apartheid and racism, there are many more (and far larger in scope) of these scenarios going on around the world. Take Darfur for instance, where millions of people have been murdered, raped, displaced enslaved or otherwise harmed by a racist Arab militia with government support and indirect assistance by other Arab nations. But I have yet to see a single piece on this, or any other Iranian website, talking about Arab racism in Darfur and condemning it, when in fact what takes place in the Israeli / Palestinian conflict pales in comparison to atrocities committed there. And how about Chinese racism in Tibet?

Dear Anonymous Observer I have written about Tibet on this very site - but no one replied - because obviously no one was interested – it was posted on well-know American site and it received scores of comments. This is because I believe many Iranians are extremely parochial and provincial. They only care how events in the world which affect their perceived interests. This is by no means a characteristic peculiar to Iranians, but it's indubitably a very pervasive tendency on this site. For example, I wrote a hyperbolic polemic regarding Valentine's Day in a context entirely unrelated to Iranian politics and some still manage to relate arguments and propositions to their hatred or approval of the IRI and accused me of allegiances were pure fantasy and could in no way be deduced from the article. And it is virtually always made in an accusatory and disparaging tone. It often happens here and it strains belief – my opinions on the Palestinian issue have little to no relation to my opinions on the IRI. You can read my article here on my Iranian.com blog entitled 'The Dalai Lama and Tibet's Uncertain Future').

Second, of course Darfur is important and I have criticized the atrocities of the Sudanese government and intend to write an article on it, please just give me a little time. I’m still young and hopefully have plenty of time to write about the abhorrent acts taking place in Darfur. I have actually conducted discussions with Yasim Alibhai-Brown, columnist for the London independent who is also very critical of the crimes against humanity currently taking place in Darfur. The Arab states have been completely hypocritical regarding this matter, as has China. But then I am not a defender of Arab governments, most of which are decrepit, kleptocratic (glorified mafiosos) dictatorships, with little to no respect for the rights of their own citizens (like the IRI itself); and many of these have the overt backing of the US e.g. Egypt (which I have in no uncertain terms criticized - please see my blog entry 'Mubarak, Autocracy and the Arab Oxymoron on Iranian.com). But in principle I agree, the Arab governments and even Muslims more generally have been nearly silent regarding Darfur – this is disgraceful. But there are also certain differences which I feel you are overlooking.

First of all, Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has been taking place for 60 and for at the very least 40 of those with unconditional support, financial, military and diplomatic from the United States. As Mammad pointed out this should be of concern to all American citizens (which I am not but as I previously said it concerns me, as many other issues also do, for other reasons e.g. HUMAN solidarity, issues of justice, fairness and equality). The double standards of the United States in this instance, which has vetoed scores of UN resolutions condemning Israel's crimes against HUMANITY. I believe that China has done the same, vis-à-vis Sudan and again this is inexcusable and purely a game of cynical power politics. 

This unconditional and unwarranted support of Israel by the US has caused considerable resentment in the Middle East and Muslim world and has fuelled and continues to fuel extremism - in this regard it's merely a practical question regarding one of the plural causes of extremism and anti-Americanism; and furthermore that 'unconditional' support of Israel is unwarranted on moral grounds (I hope why I think so is clear), and practical terms because such support contravenes the US's own national interests. Apart from creating plentiful ill will toward the US, it has also completely undercut the perception that the US government can function as a neutral arbiter in the Arab-Israeli conflict, hence the US is undermining itself in terms of its own interests. Israel has a fairly robust economy largely subsidized by the US and the 4th most powerful military in the world - there is therefore no existential threat to Israel's existence and I full-heartedly support Israel’s right to exist, and believe Iran should reopen diplomatic ties with Israel if a lasting peace is established; if anything opponents of the IRI SHOULD SUPPORT A RESOLUTION TO THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT BECAUSE IT WILL TOTALLY NEUTRALIZE THE IRI, SINCE IT WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO EXPLOIT THE PALESTINIAN ISSUE. Even if they continued to do so, it would only appeal to a fringe element of extremists and zealots – even Hamas has now accorded Israel tacit recognition. But to return to my earlier point, there is no substantive reason (either moral or in terms of the US’s national interests) for the US’s uneven-handedness in the conflict. This argument has been presented most cogently in Walt and Mearsheimer’s book, The Israel Lobby.

This is just a minor point and my argument does not depend on it, but since the US is the world’s only superpower it is inevitable that it will draw more attention

A third reason is that Israel claims to stand alongside the West’s most civilized and human rights conscious nations in the world. This is pure falsehood and the Israeli government should not be permitted to purvey such deceits without being challenged. Apartheid (and as I have said previously the apartheid wall which entails even more thievery of Palestinian land), occupation, colonization, brutalization, a two-tier racist legal system i.e. one for Jews and one for Arabs, population transfer, all belie the false image of Israel propagated by the Israelis. This continues as we speak as the Israeli government becomes evermore held hostage by extremists and fundamentalists i.e. the settlers, groups which support them such as Gush Emunim

Why haven't we seen any articles about that? Additionally, Arabs, including Palestinians, are far more racist than any Iranian or Israeli will ever be.

I don’t think there is any empirical evidence to support such a claim. Also the Arab’s are not a single people but many. Even in the Gulf Kuwaitis are suspicious of Emiratis and Saudis of Omanis, as I am sure you know since if I remember correctly you have lived in some of the Gulf Arab states. This is exactly why Arab nationalism failed and is little more than a romantic ideology which bears little resemblance to reality. Finally based on anecdotal observation but also official proclamations by both the Shah and the IRI and friends, relatives and acquaintances Iranians are incredibly racist. Based on casual comments but also the official proclamations of Israeli prime ministers such as Golda Meir, Manachem Begin, and Ariel Sharon, not to mention even more extremist elements like the settlers movement (some of whom believe the Palestinians extermination is religiously sanctioned by the Old Testament), Israelis themselves also appear to be fairly racist.

Furthermore, much Zionist thought as originally formulated sees ethnic cleansing as integral to the birthing of a Jewish state (in which multiculturalism has no place – one only has to view the terrible treatment previously afforded Sephardic Jews (though I have read that a great deal of discrimination continues to exist) inside Israel itself. In brief, ethnic cleansing is conceptually necessitated. HOWEVER, AND THIS IS IMPORTANT, I REPUDIATE THE CRASS GENERALIZATION OF ENTIRE PEOPLES, WHETHER THEY BE ARABS, ISRAELIS, OR IRANIANS.

Moreover, if you want to discuss the history of the regions and who has attacked whom, as far as Iran is concerned (which should be our ONLY concern),

I disagree for reasons that should by now be clear. We live in the age of globalization and what happens elsewhere affects US. That is why an un-nuanced advocacy of isolationism is not sustainable. Apart from the fact of the brute reality of the 21st century’s global village, I believe that on the basis of a human solidarity and our capacity for empathy, compassion, and a deontological ethic i.e. an ethic, not motivated or predicted on self-interest as articulated for instance by the 18th century German philosopher Immanuel Kant, which is valid in and of itself, we should be pro-active in combating oppression, racism and subjugation. The fact that we even think of ourselves solely in terms of being ‘Iranian’ is itself a modern artefact, and product of contemporary nationalism and European racial theories dating back to the 19th century. Previously, one’s caste, tribe, tribal role and position, gender in a tribal, religious or even magical context, fertility, religion and many other factors played an important role in the process of identity formation and self-identification with a particular social formation. The possibility of straightforwardly proclaiming ‘I AM IRANIAN’ in its modern sense was not even possible. Even the notion of the ‘individual’ as such is a fairly new one, which emerged with the specifically capitalist mode of economic exchange and was formulated in the possessive individualism of philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes etc… 

we are the ones who have been harassed and attacked by Arabs without provoking them for the past 40 years, from Abdel-Nasser, to Iraq to Ghadafi, the Gulf nations and Palestinians in support of Iraq, etc....

First I don’t identify people with their governments. But neither do I deny that there is racism and bigotry in the Arab world regarding Iranians, but I’ll leave that to Egyptian, Lebanese etc…intellectuals who are more than capable of challenging the ignorance in their midst…The Palestinian leadership and some Palestinians did support Iraq and they paid the consequences when it came to making a peace settlement. Again, if you have any credible figures regarding the number of Palestinians who did fight against Iran on behalf of Iraq I would like to hear them. I am not admitting this as ‘evidence’, but the Palestinians that I do know have absolutely no animosity towards Iranians, and were actually shocked when they learned of some Iranians supreme dislike of ‘Arabs’, even when they don’t know any…This image of ‘Arabs’ is itself the upshot of propaganda and racist discourse.

I respectfully do not believe that the Iranian concern about the Palestinian / Israeli conflict on this site has anything to do with a sense of justice for Palestinians.

I am sure that in certain cases you are undoubtedly correct. Many people, including Arab leaders exploit it for their own ends – for one, justifying repression in their own states. I don’t really believe that the IRI for all its rhetoric genuinely cares about the Palestinian cause. If they did they would give humanitarian aid and not fund Hamas. For the record I vehemently oppose any Iranian money going to Hamas. Firstly because on moral grounds I think it’s just plain wrong. This is a secondary point in which I have little interest, but funding Hamas does nothing to benefit Iran in geopolitical terms. Hamas’s political leader Khaled Meshaal has hinted on numerous occasions his willingness to leave the ‘Iran camp’ provided the right incentives are put in place by the Israelis. They have absolutely no allegiance to their Iranian financiers and will abandon them as soon as it becomes politically expedient to do so. As you know better than I, this is exactly what Yasir Arafat did – after receiving copious funds from Khomeini himself he sided with Iraq in the course of the war. Support should be diplomatic and if financial, then purely humanitarian. But then as you suggested many of our compatriots suffer day in and day out. The modern nation-state above all has an obligation to its people first, but then we shouldn’t let such an obligation be transformed into extreme ethnocentrism, hyper-nationalism and parochialism.

I think that it is a byproduct of thirty years of exposure to Iranian government propaganda (let's face it--If I tell you repeatedly that I am from Mars for thirty years without giving you a meaningful opportunity to hear opposing views on the issue of whether or not I am from Mars, you will eventually believe me), along with a touch of neo-anti-Semitism that is prevalent in the West (the whole conspiracy theory about Zionists ruling the world thing).

I don’t disagree. But anti-Semitism as you know is not indigenous to Iran but is in origin a European phenomenon. Though anti-Semitism was present at both the time of the Shah and now, it is not the epidemic which the Western media has made it out to be. There is no serious evidence to suggest otherwise, it’s pure fabrication and baseless assertion.

While I do believe that you personally have genuine feelings about the issue, there are many others on this site whose writings show a clear bias, and in fact racism against Israel. See this one, for instance, and her associated comments:

//iranian.com/main/2008/road-old-jerusale...

I appreciate you acknowledgement of my sincerity. I assure you that I am. And again, I’m more than willing to concede that many governments, intellectuals and individuals exploit the Palestinian issue for subterranean and self-interested motives.

Ba Arezu ye movafaghiat, Sadegh

MRX1 what an old worn out zionist propaganda

Can't you come up with something more original than this? What a moranic suggestion. How about the zionist jews leave Palestine and go back where they came from?

non issue

there are twenty two Arab countries out there stretched from egypt and Africa to Persian Gulf. Now that's a lot of land. you can easily create ten palestenian state if you need to. There is nothing unique about so called palestine, culturaly, linguisticaly,socialy you name it.
unless you think borders of most arab countries are based on logic!
Arabs lost small teritory (present isreal). many countries including ours have lost much more land through history. This is just an issue for Arab leadership to keep the population busy with chert o pert so they can continue their rule with iron fist and blame jews for all their failours. I think it's time for some Iranian's to think about Iran and Iranian people.

Here's a Cause That I Believe In

Talking about being a “causehead”, this is my cause. Please see the link below about children growing up in Iranian prisons.

//www.radiofarda.com/Article/2008/06/27/f2_ch...

This phenomenon is by no means limited to Iran. I just came across this article and am using it as an example. There are thousands (if not more) children around the world who are confined to prisons because their mothers have committed crimes. What kind of childhood do these children have? How can a child enjoy her childhood growing up in these conditions?

I know that this is not related to your article, but since you (and I) care about human rights (perhaps from different angles), I thought it was a good issue to bring up. There are very few organizations in the world that care for or do anything about this issue, and that is very unfortunate.

Mamad

Aren't you tired of repeating the same sentence over and over and over..You keep adding to list..I feel like I'm on some kind of guest list for night out. Please stop your nonsence about American taxpayers. We all pay taxes and not necessarily it goes to suppressers AS U CALL it. You are worst than people I call in farsi (tazahor) at least their agenda is to do with Iran and its people. You on the other hand want to diffuse and ignore our own problems by pointing at different direction. To me you sound more and more like Ahmadinejad.

Anonymous Observer I forgot to add your name to the list of

those who do not want to see the truth and invent their own truth as fast as Israeli propaganda machine can create it. Always repeating the same nonsense as follow:
"but we are not arab! but Palestinians did that to us! but it's non of our business! but it is anti semetism! but look at Darfur, but look at China, blah blah blah"
You are another case of a broken record player repeating the same lines over and over. We as Americans are paying for what is happening to Palestinians, we by supporting the genocidal policy of Israel are making ourselves a target in the world. Our children who are born here will pay for it. But you and the rest of your co-thinker repeat the same Israeli propaganda forever.

Thanks for the Response

Thank you for the kind response, Mr. Sadeghi. I still disagree though. If the issue is apartheid and racism, there are many more (and far larger in scope) of these scenarios going on around the world. Take Darfur for instance, where millions of people have been murdered, raped, displaced enslaved or otherwise harmed by a racist Arab militia with government support and indirect assistance by other Arab nations. But I have yet to see a single piece on this, or any other Iranian website, talking about Arab racism in Darfur and condemning it, when in fact what takes place in the Israeli / Palestinian conflict pales in comparison to atrocities committed there. And how about Chinese racism in Tibet? Why haven't we seen any articles about that?

Additionally, Arabs, including Palestinians, are far more racist than any Iranian or Israeli will ever be. Moreover, if you want to discuss the history of the regions and who has attacked whom, as far as Iran is concerned (which should be our ONLY concern), we are the ones who have been harassed and attacked by Arabs without provoking them for the past 40 years, from Abdel-Nasser, to Iraq to Ghadafi, the Gulf nations and Palestinians in support of Iraq, etc....

I respectfully do not believe that the Iranian concern about the Palestinian / Israeli conflict on this site has anything to do with a sense of justice for Palestinians. I think that it is a byproduct of thirty years of exposure to Iranian government propaganda (let's face it--If I tell you repeatedly that I am from Mars for thirty years without giving you a meaningful opportunity to hear opposing views on the issue of whether or not I am from Mars, you will eventually believe me), along with a touch of neo-anti-Semitism that is prevalent in the West (the whole conspiracy theory about Zionists ruling the world thing). While I do believe that you personally have genuine feelings about the issue, there are many others on this site whose writings show a clear bias, and in fact racism against Israel. See this one, for instance, and her associated comments:

//iranian.com/main/2008/road-old-jerusale...

That article just showed the writer's utter despise for and racism against the people of Israel (talking about generalizations, this one takes the cake) for no apparent reason but possibly because her boyfriend is Palestinian, or that she "worked" in Iran (I'm interested in knowing her line of "work")?!!!!

The bottom line is, regardless of what is happening in Israel / Palestine, and regardless of who is right or wrong in that conflict, we should: 1) not stick our noses where it doesn't belong, as this conflict is NOT our conflict (and in fact interfering in the conflict is AGAINST our national interests, as the past thirty years has clearly shown us), and 2) if we want to be "causeheads", there are far more cases examples of injustice, racism and oppression around the world that we can champion.

Best Regards.

samsam, zion, etc the lost souls in hatred

Non of you have any answer to the main question of Palestinian issue. This is the issue: a colonial power has killed, destroyed, sent to exile and taken over the natives land. This colonial power has enslaved the natives and is killing, bombing, arresting, imprisoning, maiming and starving the Palestinians for the last 60 years. This colonial power calling itself Israel does not know any limit and attacks all its neighbors or threaten to attack its neighbors.

This is exactly like the Nazi Germany and its killing machine. Now if this had happened in Africa or Latin America or any where else the whole world would have protested.

And my tax dollars here is paying for these crimes committed by the aparthied regime of Israel. And this policy by my government has made me a target in the world. This is why I am concerned about the Palestinian issue.You and your co-thinkers are lost in hatred and simply don't get it and repeat your nonsense day in and day out like a broken record player.

So mammad tala what diffrentiate you from so called

Zion the "foreigner" as you call him?

You are an Iranian who gets offended by my simple articles about ancient Iran(not persia) and my warnings about Arabization of our language & culture..and the so called "Foreigner" mossad agent is happy to see more of it...so you see ! being born in Iran doesn,t give you a special right to her heritage as khalkhali was Iranian too but hated the land..no offence to you btw..just an example..What part of my articles insults your ethnicity & character? what part of it is hatefull(facts not rethoric)?

No I am not, Mola

I am actually very proud of taking this position. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?

same story

I could not care less about Palestine issue, I have yet to see any Palestinian raising voice and be HAMDARD to brutalization, torture, rap and stoning of Iranian people every day by IR. I have never seen an article or in any forum that a Palestinian write about how Iranian live miserably under IR, they simply do not give damn about us and its not even that, many also hate us, whenever I see Palestinian in my city, as soon as they found out I am Iranian, its like they are seeing their enemy and tell me that you guys are our biggest problem but unfortunately some of us avizon shodim be in flestiniha ya ghabre emam hossein vel konam nistim, if anything could have come out of Islam and Arabs we should have been able to see it by now.

@mamad tala

I can not say much to you, I leave it to people to judge your intelect, however let me tell you one of the most famous Iranian poem by Saadi :

Yeki ra rostaee saghat shod kharash
keshid bar take Bostan sarash.

this Beyt say everything to people with same mentality as yours.

Regards,

Kurdish I am not a proud this or that ,

I am a human being like others.
I'm gratefull to be alive and able to share the earth with others. All these notions about being proud "this" or proud "that" is the root cause of superiorty complex. This includes the jews who consider themselves the "chosen people" or those of us who consider ourselves the proud "Persians".

With being proud comes discrimination against others, like Nazis or zionists who consider themselves superior to other human beings. It's hard to believe the way Palestians are being mistreated by the zionist jews. They are being killed, bombed, starved, imprisoned, walled in and you of all people who claims to be a kurd want to ignore it. You don't want to think about it, you want it to disappear.

But the Palestinian issue will not go away the same way that the crimes of Europeans against black South Africans did not go away but was resolved by the international community. And we are a part of that international community.

You expect everybody to have sympathy for the kurds but when it comes to Palestinians who are doing one thousand times worse than the kurds you prefer to repeat the zionist propaganda. This is where you are at.

Mamad

You still havn't answered my question??Are you proud Iranian or proud Islamist??? You make me laugh...How can I be a racist where in many forum I supported thoses who are suppressed...We are all humans and nobody is superior to others including you who suppose to be the voice of Palestine. If you want to defend those who are suppressed then start with making a voice to defend your fellow Iranians first no matter what tribe or religion they are from. God bless you Maybe one day you can see right from wrong.

kurdish, samsam, fredy, zion and superiority complex

Palestinian issue is simple to understand. A clonial power has driven away the native people and have enslave the remaining ones. Simple and easy to understand by anybody but the zionists and their backers.
Who died to make you and your company the boss of moral issues? Just because you think or pretend to be a kurd or pure Persian or pure jew doesn't make you superior to others. You are as racist as racism goes. Samsam feed us every day with his grade school materials about ancient Persians and his outright hatred for others.
Mr kurdish repeat the same non-sense as warmonger neo-cons, Israeli lobby and zionists.
And zion like a lost jewish soul in the cyber-space of the iranian website repeats whatever Likud party tells him. You are all empy of humanity although you all claim you support human rights.

Mamad tala, noghreh, badal or whatever

I think you are the one who log in with different names such Xerxes and Dariush. Zion and Fred are Prob proud Persian Jews and I'm proud Iranian Kurd infact I'm prob one of few Kurds who speaks on behalf of many Kurds in this forum. What about? Are you proud Iranian? Or a proud Islamist??? I never said or showed any hatred against Palestinians or Arabs. In fact I know a lot of Iranian Arabs whose your government has suppressed their rights. What I said was that in order for them to get the Palestinian state they need to stop fighting with each other and listen to its people. So please keep your pathetic thoughts to yourself.

zion don't you have any shame?

Do you take us as a bunch of fools when you write these nonsense about Palestinians. In fact you are a partner in crimes of Israeli government with its Nazi like treatment of Palestinans and the rest of Middle East countries. What did Nazi regime of Germany had done that Israeli government has not done yet? How many villages Israelies blow up? How many natives did they kill? How many orchard did they destroy? How many children and women they killed. How many walls they built? How many millions of Palestinians they sent to exile. The ratio of the dead Palestinians to jews is 20 to 1!Don't you have any shame repeating these lie? It's discusting.

Simple

It is not that complicated. Arabs could have had a 60 year old palestinian state if instead of trying 3 times to throw all Jews in the sea, they would have declared an independent state and worked hard to turn it into a modern land. Instead they have only tried to kill Jews and wipe it off the map, they have brainwashed their children with Nazi like proaganda. Just the last few years show this clearly. Israel unitarily withdrew from Gaza and displaced thousand of Israeli families by force, even left the homes intact as ameasure of good will for arabs to live in. The US and Israel then pushed for and provided a venue for arabs there to vote ina democratic election process and build the land now instead of 60 years ago into a modern state. What did they do? They elected a gang of terrorist murderers in whose charter there are clear repetitions of Nazi lies like the Protocoles and who to this day clearly state that they strive for the destruction of Israel, an independent nation state and have used all the help from around the world to throw rockets on Israeli childern. So, until the arabs in Palestine prove that they will put this kind of crap behind them and instead work to better the life of their own children instead of killing Israeli children, until they recognize Israel and prove they will never do anything to destroy her, in short until they prove they have reached a stage where they deserve to have a state until then they should not and will not be allowed to even have a dump hole to pee into, let alone a state. Clear enough?

Kurdish W, I forgot to include your name in the list

Your name should have been added to the broken record player list. You and your shadows (samsam,fred, etc)are either logically deaf, blind or are the same person with different login name. Your views are racist and ignorant. You close your eyes to the crimes committed by the racist regime of Israel and repeat the same nonsense argument. You always say: "but they are arab, but they are not Iranian, but some of them helped Saddam, but it's non of our business, etc. You are as bad as any Hezbolahi because you are as rigid as them about your ideas.

I'm sure that

One day the Palestinians will have their dream come true, however it is going to be very long path before they reach it. What I don't understand is that why some of Iranians keep bringing up the Palestine-Israeli issue when have tones of domestic problems in our own country. I'm personally no fan of Palestine because of what they did in Iran-Iraq war and also the funding they (Hamas) keep receiving from our BELOVED fascist government which should rather be invested in our own country. However I can't generalize all Palestinians for the crime they did to us. My question is how can a state be created while different of its factions are constantly at war with each other, Hamas and Fatah in this case for its own agenda and not the people of Palestine.

To samsam, fred , zion etc. stop the hate and see the light

Your writings get so tiring and at times comical. Like a broken record player repeating the same old tired arguments, the same old racist and tired hatred towards Palestinians and Arabs while supporting all the crimes commited by the corrupted, racist, rapist government of Israel and its backers everywhere. Palestinans are human beings too and they have the same desires and dreams. They need a place to call home. Stop the BS and see the light.

Thanks Anonymous Observer - Kheili delam tang shode

 As I have always said, you have great writing skills. As I have also always said, the Israeli / Palestinian conflict has nothing to do with us. It is an Arab issue. Moreover, when the Palestinians had the opportunity to return the favor to the Iranian people (favor of the Iranian support of them in the 1979 Revolution) they betrayed us by VOLUNTEERING to fight alongside the Iraqis against Iranians.

Thanks for the words of kindness. Regarding Palestinian volunteers; that is surely regrettable, but don't generalize - not all Palestinians went and fought alongside Saddam - do you have any credible figures as to the actual number? You may well yourself be buying into Arab propaganda. I am not going to hold the entire Palestinian nation responsible for the actions of a few morons. 

So, needless to say, I have no love for them (and neither do the majority of Iranians, even those inside Iran -- if you read blogs from inside Iran).

You are surely correct here. But then again I'm not an hypernationalist. It's simple really: I'm Iranian but I'm also a human being and I don't think we one ought to be ashamed of the appropriate empathy which emanates therefrom. Our being with others is a brute ontological fact of our being-in-the-world. Human solidarity is part and parcel of that brute fact. Also many Iranians inside of Iran have enough problems of their own and are just trying to scrape by.

The Israel / Iran conflict is an artificial conflict created for domestic Iranian political reasons which has no logical basis. We have nothing against Israel and Israel should have nothing against us.

Very true. I (and I never claim to speak for Iran in its entirety as do many on this site - I am not referring to you but individuals such as Fred, Parthian and samsam111, whose unabashed racism and unapologetic facism isn't even worth replying to) have no problem with Israel as such, only its illegal occupation and brutalization of an entire people. I take issue with a racist apartheid system, just as I have a problem with China's brutalization of the Tibetans (of which I have written about - you can read it on my blog here), and the erstwhile apartheid system in South Africa (which as Norman Finkelstein and numerous others have demonstrated was far better in comparable terms than the predicament of the Palestinians).  

Can you explain to us why we have been chanting "marg bar Israel" for the past thirty years? What had Israel done to us before the Iranian Revolution?

Fanaticism, jingoism, religious nationalism, genuine solidarity, realpolitik, exploitation of the Palestinian cause for their own ideological ends so as to extend their reach in the region, to cultivate the perception of the Islamic republic as the Islamic vanguard. These and many more reasons besides could be postulated as possible reasons for the IRI support for the Palestinians. 

Oh....I forgot...Shah's regime was a Zionist creation....just like everything else in the world!!!!! Also, can you explain to us why Iran has been financing and arming anti Israeli groups for the past thirty years and blowing up a Jewish community center in Argentina?

Israel's Mossad are hardly free of sin and have conducted many extra-judicial killings, kidnappings, torture and acts murder across the globe. Mossad has cells active inside Iran and conducts one of the most aggressive intelligence campaigns by a US ally against the US. Scott Ritter has also publicized that Mossad is passing fabricated evidence to the MEK which was then passed on to the US and the IAEA vis-a-vis Iran's nuclear program i.e. the dodgy laptop and blueprints. Iran is engaging in realpolitik and attempting to galvanize its position as regional hegemon. Just as Israel does.

Let's just take a brief moment to assess which nation in the Middle East is the most belligerent and prone to dismiss diplomatic solutions in favor of unilateral military aggression. The Israelis have been ethnically cleansing and brutalizing the Palestinians for the last 60 years, in cahoots with the imperial powers of France and Britain invaded Nasser's Egypt in '56 simply because he has the audacity to nationalize the Suez Canal, unilaterally invaded and bombed Egypt, Jordan and Syria in '67 (and and to this day continues to occupy the Syrian Golan Heights, and the West Bank and East Jerusalem in defiance of international law, the Israelis have also turned Gaza into the world's largest prison), invaded Lebanon in '78 and '82 killing thousands, bombed Iraq in '81, Lebanon again in the summer of 2006 killing over one thousand civilians, bombed Syria in 2007 under the most opaque of circumstances, and are now gearing up to attack Iran.

The Israelis have attacked virtually everyone in the region and Iran has not attacked another state since the reign of Nader Shah in the 18th century. There is no denying that hostile rhetoric has been emanating from Tehran since the ascendancy of Ahmadi-Nejad (though of course, it has long been present since the '78-'79 revolution, even if its intensity fluctuated from government to government, which the Israelis only too well know, but that never stopped them from surreptitiously dealing with the Islamic Republic - remember Iran-Contra? Also check out this useful link vis-a-vis that debacle), but in terms of tangible actions and their disastrous repercussions the Israeli war machine's record speaks for itself.

Lastly, can you explain to us what Israel must do in response to this animosity? Send us candy and flowers?!!!!

 I think I flipped that one on it's head with my above response. Thaks Anonymous Observer, I always greatly enjoy our debates. Take care.

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

Here's a Cause That You May Want to Write About

Mr. Sadeghi,

As I have always said, you have great writing skills. As I have also always said, the Israeli / Palestinian conflict has nothing to do with us. It is an Arab issue. Moreover, when the Palestinians had the opportunity to return the favor to the Iranian people (favor of the Iranian support of them in the 1979 Revolution) they betrayed us by VOLUNTEERING to fight alongside the Iraqis against Iranians. So, needless to say, I have no love for them (and neither do the majority of Iranians, even those inside Iran -- if you read blogs from inside Iran). The Israel / Iran conflict is an artificial conflict created for domestic Iranian political reasons which has no logical basis. We have nothing against Israel and Israel should have nothing against us. Can you explain to us why we have been chanting "marg bar Israel" for the past thirty years? What had Israel done to us before the Iranian Revolution? Oh....I forgot...Shah's regime was a Zionist creation....just like everything else in the world!!!!! Also, can you explain to us why Iran has been financing and arming anti Israeli groups for the past thirty years and blowing up a Jewish community center in Argentina? Lastly, can you explain to us what Israel must do in response to this animosity? Send us candy and flowers?!!!!

Anyway, if you are so concerned about human rights, why don't you use your superb writing skills to write about the human tragedy that is taking place in Somalia where millions of people are at risk of dying from lack of food. Here's a link:

//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7472109.stm

I will look forward to reading that article!!

Palestinian POWs

Since the resident Palestine-struck is as he puts it worried about “possibility of a looming war with Iran” it would be highly useful to reveal the following in his sure to be imminently posted cut &paste job. 1- Whatever happened to the Palestinian volunteers fighting alongside their Iraqi Arab brothers who were captured by Iranian forces during the War Iraq initiated against Iran? Given Arafat’s unflinching loyalty to Saddam Hussein the rumors at the time had the Palestinians in Iranian POW camps in considerable numbers. 2- Should the resident Palestine-struck “possibility of a looming war with Iran” become a reality what is his best educated guess on the expected number of Palestinians who will be fighting alongside the Islamist republic forces and conversely those who will be cheering on the attack as they did during the eight year war? Before anything else the Islamist/Anti-Semites and their likeminded lefty strategic allies should first delve into this sort of highly poignant unanswered questions that Iranians could use.

Very interesting writing.

Very interesting writing. Bravo. Palestine is our generation's apartheid.

Do Arabs realy want a lasting peace?

lets disect this;

What is the banner that "Global left,Arab populist chalatans and Mullah & associates" have come under for the last 60 years to change a "dime a dozen" regional conflict into a Global bloody battle which has directly&indirectly killed and maimed millions around the Middle east and the Globe? Is it the return of give or take 5 million palestinians %7 of the world total refugee populace?  Is it Arab land for Arabs only? Noooo

Are you kidding  me !!offcourse not.They call it the great Jehad "to Liberate the holy land" .Because that,s the banner in which they can regenerate millions of fools around the globe to fight for their petty, mere ethnic regional conflict tagged wrongly as "Global ultimate just cause of Palestine" 

Now the Hypocracy;

Not all Palestine in it,s entirety is holy but a tiny part in Jerusalem with a "Muslim holy site".

Israel on 3 occasions has offered to share the custody of the holy sites & Jerusalem with Palestinians. Palestinians have refused via  meddlings of "Agent Provocateures" such as the groupies like "Mullahs & company" on all occasions and want more lands.

So is it about the great cause of "liberation of holy lands" or ;

is it a mere regional conflict that doesn,t require thousands getting murdered around the globe under it,s fake banner?

If we treat it as a regional conflict between two nations .and if Mullah & company and their likes leave Palestinians alone to decide for themselves I am sure both parties will reach a compromise sooner or later just like Balkans.

But wait! without "Palestinian Cause"  How else   all these "Jehadists for the sake of Jehad", "lefties looking for a cause to yell" and "Mullahs & company" could find new recruits for their rethoric?

Regards!