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COURAGE
04-Dec-2009 (9 comments)
The other day I read an article by a long-time friend and fellow activist, Heshmat Tabarsadi. I was struck by the powerful words, the courage that did not mince words, but cut directly to the point. Tabarzadi still lives in Iran, and it is for him and for the thousands of others fighting for freedom for Iran, that we must come out on 16 Azar. I met Heshmat more than a decade ago. We were both growing our student organizations, and we forged an alliance called the United Student Front>>>
PERSEPOLIS
04-Dec-2009 (5 comments)
This issue has very important implications for the United States. First of all, one can imagine how much dislike, distrust, and suspicion would be incurred by a Western power dragging another culture's ancient heritage to the auction block. America's museums are national institutions that are often trusted to hold and display the cultural materials of other societies around the world. They are not bank accounts or slush funds to be raided whenever money is needed>>>
TRAVELER
01-Dec-2009
When the Romanian-born Herta Muller won the 2009 Noble prize for literature, her novel The Land of Green Plums shot up to No. 7 on Amazon.com; until then it had been No. 56,359. Muller was little read even in her adopted country Germany, in whose language she writes. Romanians, whose language is different, still take unusual pride in her. This would be a reflection of their craving for positive international recognition, which I observed in my recent trip to Romania. Never mind that like another Noble laureate Elie Weisel, who was Romanian-born, Herta was an émigré from an inhospitable homeland. Romanians, in time, mix history with myth for respectable results. Such is indeed the case with the legacy of another famous writer, Bram Stoker’s legend of Dracula>>>
RECONSIDER
28-Nov-2009 (14 comments)
Given that Shirin Ebadi's Nobel medal is now in the hands of the Islamic Republic, the British Museum should reconsider its loan of the Cyrus cylinder, on which the 'charter' Ms Ebadi referred to is inscribed – it is due to go on display in Tehran in January. According to one source, the chances that the Iranian government will decide to keep the cylinder are “very high”. Iran’s clerics have a history of hostility towards Iran’s pre-Islamic heritage – after the revolution, Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkhali threatened to raze Unesco-recognised world heritage sites with bulldozers>>>
NEDA
28-Nov-2009 (63 comments)
The ruthless exploitation of the death of Neda for political purposes is an egregious example of a propaganda war being waged by the enemies of Iran – everyone should be concerned, however, since the manipulation of the media and public opinion is a feature of domestic news coverage in the West as much as it is of reporting on a Middle Eastern state, notes Reza Esfandiari and Yousef Bozorgmehr. The tragic death of Miss Neda Agha-Soltan continues to reverberate five months after her shooting in Tehran>>>
TRAVELER
26-Nov-2009 (21 comments)
باغ طوطی اولین جایی بود که میخواستم بعد از آنهمه سال ببینم. امیدم بدرختان تنومند قدیمی بود، چنارهایی که پر از کلاغ میشدند و به گنبد شاه عبدالعظیم ابهتی میدادند. بسیار تعجب کردم که تمام محوطه قبرفرش بود ودر تمام سطح آن باغ قدیمی فقط چند درخت کاج ده پانزده ساله و نیمه مرده مانده بود و روی تنه یکی از آنها پیراهن بچه ای پهن بود تا خشک شود. زیر درخت دیگری بچه ای مشغول بازی بود. دو زن وسط آفتاب روی قبری نشسته بودند و چای میخوردند. شاید آنها نیز برای تکرار خاطرات کودکی آمده بودند>>>
ROCK & BLUES
26-Nov-2009
عبدی بهروانفر: آلبوم "کخئووکلخت" آلبوم دوم من وگروه ماد است که ضبطش از سال1387 شروع شد واخیراٌ مراحل میکس و مستر و چیدمان ترکها تمام شد. آلبوم 8 ترک داره بعضی از اونا قبلا با گروه اجرا شده که البته دراین آلبوم تنظیم وسازبندی جدیدی دارند. آلبوم در سبک فولک راک و تلفیقی از سازهای اصلی راک، بلوز و سازهای محلی خراسان است. یکی از بخشی های بزرگ استان خراسان اهل چناران -عاشق علی اکبر بهاری- در این آلبوم قشمه، سرنا و کمانچه زد. تلفیق سازهای بلوز، راک و سازی مثل قشمه - از استخوان بال عقاب ساخته میشه با قدمتی بیش از4000 سال>>>
ACTION
24-Nov-2009 (5 comments)
My family migrated to the U.S. before the Revolution when I was just 8, I went back to Iran only once 5 years ago for a month and I was arrested on "Pole Tajrish" for not wearing my hijab well. I basically grew up thinking this is really my country of origin given that all I had learned and knew was from this generous hosting country. It wasn't until recently that I learned that there is a definite difference between me and and my dear Anglo Saxon friends/colleagues or perhaps the Jewish Americans or even Chinese or Indian Americans. NOT just in my own eyes but in the eyes of the world looking at me>>>
RE-ORIENT
24-Nov-2009 (4 comments)
Whenever I enjoy a politically themed movie or play, I wonder if solidarity with the viewpoint isn’t clouding my judgment of the aesthetics. Is the artist speaking my heart, or is my heart speaking for the artist? Often it is a mix of both, to be honest. But one of the works I watched last Saturday at Golden Thread’s Festival of short Middle East plays shattered the silly question at the outset. Naomi Wallace’s No Such Cold Thing is a spellbinding play that powers its way beyond “friends don’t let friends invade Afghanistan.”>>>
VIOLENCE
22-Nov-2009 (7 comments)
سبز جنبشی بی‌خشونت است و از این نظر تجربه‌ای است آغازین برای ما. تجربه‌ای آغازین نه از آن که پیش‌تر جنبش‌های بی‌خشونت در ایران وجود نداشته‌اند. جنبش سبز جنبشی آغازین است زیرا، برعکس جنبش‌های پیشین (مانند جنبش تنباکو یا جنبش ملی شدن صنعت نفت) رویکردِ بی‌خشونت را نه تنها آگاهانه به کار گرفته، بل کنشِ بی‌خشونت را با گفتمانِ بی‌خشونت، و ترویجِ آن، همراه کرده است. پس جنبش سبز به هرگونه گرایش یا ایدئولوژی که از اهمیت جنبه‌ی خشونت‌پرهیز جنبشِ مردمیِ امروز ایران بکاهد، بی‌اعتنائی می‌کند. از این رو، جنبش سبز نه تنها جنبشی سیاسی- اجتماعی که جنبشی آموزشی نیز هست>>>
RECENT COMMENTS
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 |