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UCLA
13-Feb-2010
The 20th Celebration of Iranian Cinema kicked off this weekend at University of California, Los Angeles, featuring a collection of established and emerging talents from Iran. The goal of this greatly received show-case is, and has been, to present a diverse portrait of Iran’s variety of cultural communities, leading customs and expressions as well as ethnic minorities’ way of living. On Friday February 5th, the opening night was dedicated to Heiran (2009) Shalizeh Alizadeh’s first feature film>>>
VIEW
11-Feb-2010 (28 comments)
Old habits are difficult to break. After years of almost singularly focusing on the nuclear issue, the west has been slow to react to the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. While United Nations Security Council members are preparing new sanctions over the nuclear issue, the UN has yet to address Iran’s human rights abuses since the fraudulent elections last summer. Now more than ever, the narrow nuclear focus must be set aside and renewed attention given to the state of human rights in Iran. It is literally a matter of life and death>>>
DISGRACED
11-Feb-2010 (19 comments)
In Britain, the word “black” usually refers to people of African or Caribbean descent. It’s always been a surprise to many Iranians that Ali Dizaei, the disgraced London Met police commander, should have been head of the Met Black Police Association (MetBPA) — few people of African or Caribbean descent would be comfortable calling themselves Iranian. Even the word “Asian” doesn’t quite sit with us — it usually refers to people from the Indian subcontinent. We identify much more with the tag “Middle Eastern” and even then like to make clear that we are not Arabs>>>
OPEN LETTER
09-Feb-2010 (99 comments)
Although I have already highlighted the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran on several occasions in writing and in person, I deem it necessary to once again draw the attention of Your Honour and the distinguished members of the UNHRC to the following issues as you prepare to review the Islamic Republic of Iran's human rights record, on 15 February 2010: My compatriots have endured a difficult period. Their peaceful protests were responded with bullets and imprisonment>>>
PET
09-Feb-2010 (10 comments)
Last summer I got a dog. I wasn't planning on it, it just sort of happened. I had been thinking about a dog for years. As a child, my father had gotten us one, while we were living in Algeria, his assignment as a technical engineer exchange program for the National Iranian Oil Company. We lived in a beach-side residential area on the southern Mediterranean, and the puppy we got, Alfor, was very soon bitten by a wild dog roaming the sand dunes, rabid as it turned out, and after a week or so, Alfor showed up outside our house again, but with the telltale signs of foam at the mouth, dirty, bloody, exhausted, and unresponsive to our calls>>>
VISITOR
07-Feb-2010 (6 comments)
I went to Iran, the country of my birth, in November of 2009 and stayed there for two months after being away for 30 years. I had left Iran right before 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shah. Before I left for my visit back to Iran, I was feeling very agitated and depressed about the way things are here in the USA and I felt like I needed to get away for a while. My trip to Iran was a pleasant, interesting, and eye-opening trip, but at times I felt strongly the gloomy atmosphere that was overshadowing the country of my birth>>>
MOTHERS
05-Feb-2010 (25 comments)
One evening last week at the Free Library of Philadelphia, I met Alex Fattal. I saw pain on his face, as he came up to me. A nice, kind young man, he told me who he was. I learned that he is the brother of Josh Fattal who, along with two of his friends, was on a hiking vacation in Iraqi Kurdistan before they were arrested by the Iranian authorities. This was in July, now it is February, and they are still in prison. Evin: Where else? The mothers and the families of Shane, Josh and Sarah have had no direct contact with their loved ones. No phone calls, nothing>>>
WOMEN
05-Feb-2010 (14 comments)
Nestled deep in the snowcapped Alburz Mountains of Northern Iran, amongst a heavily forested region, the Council of Shir Zanan met under the cover of a pitch black, moonless night. Seven women were seated around an altar, facing each other and holding the eternal fire of Ahura Mazda in the palms of their hands. The sacred fire illuminated their faces and drew eerie shadows on the wall. Their murmur could be heard in the silence of the frosty night as they chanted under their breath: “Fear not our wrath; Fear not our revenge; Fear only our reverence.” >>>
REALITY CHECK
03-Feb-2010 (10 comments)
بر سر زبان افتادن نام آقای جان فرحی به اتهام کلاهبرداری و سوء استفاده های مالی، آتش یهودی ستیزی و اصطلاحا آنچه آنتی سمیتیزم نامیده می شود را تیزتر کرده است. این روزها در لوس آنجلس در هر جمعی که می نشینی به شرطی که دوستان یهودی حضور نداشته باشند، یکی پس از دیگری نظریاتی می دهند و با استناد به شواهدی احکامی صادر می کنند که گویا از فرط بدیهی بودن به قضایای مسلم هندسی می ماند که انکار و یا رد آن تائیدیه ای بربیسوادی و بی صلاحیتی و حواس پرتی مدعی ست>>>
IDEAS
03-Feb-2010 (one comment)
در ربع آخر قرن بیستم در آمریکا شاهد یک حرکت مذهبی بنیادگرایانه قوی بوده ایم که شاید بتوان از آن به سومین احیای مذهبی (اولی و دومی در قرون هجدهم و نوزدهم رخ دادند) تعبیر کنیم. در ایندوره شرکت مردم در کلیساهای بنیاد گرا بمراتب بیش از اقبال آنها از کلیساهای "جریان اصلی" پروتستان (مانند پرسبیتارین و اپیسکوپل و متدیست) بوده است. عجیب اینست که جامعه شناسان این دوران بجای مطالعه این پدیده هنوز به مرده ریگ عصر روشنگری یعنی خیال خوش تقدس زدائی از تفکر انسانی (سکولاریسم ذهنی) و ناسوتی سازی حیطه عمومی تکیه میکردند>>>
FILM
03-Feb-2010 (2 comments)
Neshat’s prominent style of magic realism combined with strong elements of female melodrama unfolds a strong tale about societal turmoil and personal nightmares from five female perspectives. I consider Iran as the fifth character, which is highly misunderstood, mistreated, and even raped at the end by fundamentalist forces, very much like the lives of other four characters. Iran in this era stands on the verge of a profound transformation from a poor developing country to an independent wealthy nation with a democratic government>>>
SIMILARITY
01-Feb-2010 (42 comments)
There is a stark similarity between some aspects of the political atmosphere dominant over Iran today and those under Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh right before the U.S.-led coup of 1953 that resulted in the overthrow of the legitimate government of Iran and the establishment of a U.S.-puppet government of the Shah. In the period between 1951-53, the U.S. in a close collaboration with the British colonial power through their channels within Iran's military and political apparatus, particularly the Shah’s court, was able to contrive division within the ruling circle and as a result the society at large>>>
COMPARISON
30-Jan-2010 (93 comments)
The English historian, Richard Evans, in his three extraordinary volumes on Nazi Germany goes into great detail about the rise and fall of the third Reich. As someone who follows the events in today’s Iran, reading the 700 pages of volume two, The Reich in Power, I am struck by various similarities between the Nazi regime and the Islamic Republic. One is the role of resentment of perceived humiliation by foreign powers in both regimes. The Nazi regime derived much of its popularity and ideological fervor from anger about the humiliating terms imposed on Germany following World War One>>>
IDEAS
26-Jan-2010 (33 comments)
Throughout the history of humankind, we cannot find any phenomenon more enduring and more ubiquitous than religion. It has been with us ever since we started living in communities. While scientific investigations have not provided conclusive evidence regarding the origin of religion, many researchers believe that human beings have a natural inclination for religion because of their genetic makeup. In other words, believing in religion is rooted in our genes. We are predisposed to be spiritual beings and religion is the outward manifestation of our spirituality>>>
IDEAS
26-Jan-2010 (one comment)
رویاروئی فکر روشنگری با جهانبینی دینی در سه جبهه بود. جنبه شناختی دیدگاه روشنگری کیهان شناسی جدیدی فارغ از پیشفرضهای متافیزیکی ارائه کرد، جنبه سیاسی آن به تفکیک دین از سایر حیطه ها منجمله سیاست انجامید و بالاخره در پهنه ذهنیت فکر روشنگر زیبائی شناسی و اخلاقی جدید را بارمغان آورد. این تقابل فقط در عالم فکر نبود. در عصر جدید با ظهور پروتستانتیزم و دولت- ملتها طومار سلطه کلیسای کاتولیک بر اروپا یکباره در هم پیچیده شد. >>>
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IRANIANS OF THE DAY
| Person | About | Day |
|---|---|---|
| نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
| Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
| Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
| احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
| گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
| Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
| محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
| Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |