45 Nobel laureates: People of Iran must be heard

Balatarin
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Shorts
by Shorts
04-Aug-2009
 

The following Open Letter was published in August 3, 2009, issue of the New York Times, in a full-page ad:

To Shirin Ebadi and to All the dissidents – the brave men and women of Iran:

Do not feel abandoned.

Do not lose hope.

The world knows that its physical and spiritual survival is linked to yours.

We, the undersigned Nobel Laureates, strongly condemn the flagrant human rights violations in the wake of the recent presidential election in Iran.

We deplore the violent and oppressive tactics the current regime is using to dissuade protestors from expressing their right to free speech. Your election was shamelessly tampered with and your human rights disregarded. We are outraged by your government’s denial of basic liberties to its people, such as detaining large groups of professors, students and innocent civilians, and denying proper funeral services to victims of its violence. These events, and the decision to ban all international media from covering these events, are blatant violations of the democratic principles your government claims to uphold.

We are well aware that throughout the long and glorious history of the Iranian civilization, your ancestors have often stood firmly against both interference from without and repression from within. Today, once again, you are fighting for a just cause.

We urge President Obama and the world’s political leadership to support, with all means at their disposal, the people of Iran, who deserve to have their votes counted, their voices heard, and their dignity respected.

Richard Axel, Nobel Prize, Medicine (2004)

Baruj Benacerraf, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1980)

Paul Berg, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1980)

Günter Blobel, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1999)

Mario R. Capecchi, Nobel Prize, Medicine (2007)

Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (2004)

Stanley Cohen, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1986)

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Nobel Prize, Physics (1997)

Elias James Corey, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1990)

Robert F. Curl Jr., Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1996)

John B. Fenn, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (2002)

Edmond H. Fischer, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1992)

Jerome I. Friedman, Nobel Prize, Physics (1990)

Donald A. Glaser, Nobel Prize, Physics (1960)

Sheldon Glashow, Nobel Prize, Physics (1979)

David J. Gross, Nobel Prize, Physics (2004)

Roger Guillemin, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1977)

Leland H. Hartwell, Nobel Prize, Medicine (2001)

Dudley R. Herschbach, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1986)

Avram Hershko, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (2004)

Roald Hoffman, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1981)

Tim Hunt, Nobel Prize, Medicine (2001)

Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize, Economics (2002)

Eric R. Kandel, Nobel Prize, Medicine (2000)

William S. Knowles, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (2001)

Roger D. Kornberg, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (2006)

Harold W. Kroto, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1996)

Finn E. Kydland, Nobel Prize, Economics (2004)

Eric S. Maskin, Nobel Prize, Economics (2007)

John Mather, Nobel Prize, Physics (2006)

Craig C. Mello, Nobel Prize, Medicine (2006)

Marshall W. Nirenberg, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1968)

George A. Olah, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1994)

John C. Polanyi, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1986)

Stanley Prusiner, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1997)

Robert C. Richardson, Nobel Prize, Physics (1996)

Richard J. Roberts, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1993)

Heinrich Rohrer, Nobel Prize, Physics (1986)

Jens C.Skou, Nobel Prize, Chemistry (1997)

Hamilton O. Smith, Nobel Prize, Medicine (1978)

Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize, Literature (1986)

Joseph H. Taylor Jr., Nobel Prize, Physics (1993)

Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Prize, Peace (1984)

Betty Williams, Nobel Prize, Peace (1976)

Elie Wiesel, Nobel Prize, Peace (1986)

Balatarin
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Farah Rusta

What Wiki doesn't tell you ...

by Farah Rusta on Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:22 AM PDT

is that the ruler of Otrar was a seated toy boy of the Shah's mother and to please his girl friend he confiscated the mongolians' merchandise, had them killed and reported them (to the Shah) as spies. 

Iranians never learn Craig do they?

FR


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ex programmer craig

Farah Rusta

by ex programmer craig on Wed Aug 05, 2009 03:38 AM PDT

The more it changes the more it stays the same, right?

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khw%C4%81razm-Sh%C4%8...

In 1218, Genghis Khan sent a trade mission to the state, but at the town of Otrar
the governor, suspecting the Khan's ambassadors to be spies,
confiscated their goods and executed them. Genghis Khan demanded
reparations, which the Shah refused to pay. Genghis retaliated with a
force of 200,000 men, launching a multi-pronged invasion. In February
1220 the Mongolian army crossed the Syr Darya, launching the Mongol invasion of Central Asia. The Mongols stormed Bukhara, Samarkand, and the Khwarezmid capital Urgench. The Shah fled and died some weeks later on an island in the Caspian Sea.

 


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ex programmer craig

Well

by ex programmer craig on Wed Aug 05, 2009 01:58 AM PDT

Why the hell is Yassir Arafat's name not on that list!? Just because he is dead? That's no excuse whatsoever. I'm sure as a revolutionary leader of Muslims fighting against opression he would wholeheartedly support this. Posthumously.


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Farah Rusta

Notable absentees

by Farah Rusta on Wed Aug 05, 2009 01:24 AM PDT

The letter is a curious one. To start with, it is addressed to the wrong people. Shirin Ebadi must be on the list and not its addressee! The letter should have been addressed to the head of Iran's government. Well, perhaps this is why Ms Ebadi has been saved from having a direct confrontation with the government by being addressed instead of appearing on the list! Not to ignore the fact the list is filled with predominantly winners of Jewish background - something Ms Ebadi is keen to avoid any association with.

Apart from some sentimentalism like "physical survival of the world is linked to the crisis in Iran - a subtle reference to the possibilty of Iran's access to a nuclear weapon while a radical government is in office - there is an exaggeration of the Iranian spirit to "resist interference from without and repression from within!!" When? How? History of Iran is a history of cooperation with the internal repression and collaboration with the external interference. From Alexander's invasion to the Islamic conquest through to the submisson to the non Iranian (Turckic) rulers - Qajars being their last, Iranians have shown little resistance to the external invaders and once they were overrun, they have willingly cooperated with their new (repressive) masters.The Qaari era is the best, and the most shameful, example of both open flirtation with foreign interference (Ahmad Shah was offically receiving pension from the Brits) and the people did little, if anything at all, to out these backward and barbaric rulers. The Pahlavis, with their mixed approach to freedom, modernism and autocratic rule, were cooperated with for more than fifty years. The present genocidal rulers of Iran whose criminal records of are the most outrageous in modern times, have been tolerated and cooperated with for three decades. Even when Iranians want to "reform" their situation, they go for such characters as Khatami and Moussavi, and worst of all Rafsenjani, the very architect of the Islamic regime. 

But back to the list and I wonder why there is such a shortage of Peace laureates, notably Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi.  Why such a shortage of Economists and most importantly why almost non existing contribution from the Literature laureates? Why such a selective list?

FR


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Sassan

Where's Jimmy?

by Sassan on Tue Aug 04, 2009 10:32 PM PDT

Why is Jimmy "jackass" Carter not on this list? In fact, where has he been since 1979 to scream, "Human rights!" in support of the Iranian people?!

What a disgraceful phony he was!


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