MOJAHEDIN
A test of US-Iraqi relations
When the regime of Saddam Hussein came to an end, 3,800 members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq organisation were bombarded, captured and disarmed by US Special Forces in Iraq and confined to Camp Ashraf. Five years on the American military must be given full credit for the excellent job it has performed in containing the MKO in Iraq and keeping the people secure. Dealing with a dangerous, destructive cult is not an easy task. It is widely acknowledged that the American forces are perhaps the only ones who could do this, particularly in the violent and chaotic conditions of Iraq. But the situation has now developed to the point at which urgent action must be taken to deal with the group
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GUILT
Rising suicides among U.S. soldiers
This phenomenon of suicide among the soldiers has its deep roots in the fact that the U.S. war on the people of Iraq is an unjust and brutal war of subjugation of the nation, regardless of the maniacal claims of George W. Bush and some Iraqi mercenaries chained inside the Green Zone. It is this savage character of the war which is responsible for the heightened rate of suicide among returning American soldiers. This rate has had a 500 percent increase since the start of the open war on Iraq, hitting levels not seen in more than a quarter century. Every day five U.S. soldiers attempt to take their own precious lives in the U.S. army, while before the war on Iraq, the number was less than one suicide attempt per day
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BAHAR
Spring is like young people
It is not thinking of winter or fall
It is thinking of life, here and now
So don’t be sad or angry
Instead be forgiving and kind
Not only for their sake
The ones who may have hurt you
But also for your own
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13 BEDAR
Photo essay: Iranians invade Vasona Park, northern California
by
kfravon >>>
NEW YORK
Photo essay: Norooz Parade
by Omid Memarian
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EQUALITY
Olaf Palme Award acceptance speech
by Parvin Ardalan
For nearly three decades now, we have been struggling to achieve the right to divorce and equal rights in marriage for women. We have repeatedly claimed that polygamy rights for men create an unbearable and disgraceful reality for women. But these patriarchal laws have sustained. For years, we have objected to unequal diyeh, or compensation for bodily injury, and have wondered why it is that being a man or a woman determines the amount of compensation to be paid to accident victims? We ask why our laws recognize men as full human beings, setting them as the standard, and value women at half the male standard, and sometimes even less
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NUCLEAR
I believe that Iran is involved in a peaceful production of energy
It is very belittling to me to see how some of the western countries are trying to force their power to stop Iran from having nuclear power. Iran not only should be able to utilize nuclear technology to produce electrical energy, she should also be able to produce its own nuclear fuel to run these plants. We should not be at the mercy of some superpower deciding whether or not we can have our quota of fuel to run these plants and produce electricity. Iran is a sovereign country and needs to be able to decide independently much nuclear energy she wishes to produce, in as many power plants as she wishes to build
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STORY
Chop, chop, those beautiful chestnut locks all gone
A while ago, Yassi had been arrested by a group of officers. Before they had taken her to the station house, they had gang raped her. When she came home after weeks of detention peppered with beatings, lashes, and other mistreatment, the young girl was hysterical. For the first day, she couldn’t stop laughing. It wasn’t laughter actually. More like a giggle. Not a light hearted giggle that you would hear at the end of a punchline. Something else. Something wild and ... not... sane. It chilled Azadeh to the bone to hear her friend giggle like that for no reason when she should have been crying or screaming, anything but that. Had she lost her mind for good?
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POETRY
دامن همچون تویی گلگون شدن
ای خوشا چون لاله های کوهها
در بهاران سبز و دامن خون شدن
از نسیم دامن افشان سحر
واله و شیدا و دیگرگون شدن
سی تماشای رخ خورشید خود
بر سر بام جهان بیرون شدن
یا ز انوار رخ دلدار خود
مست گشتن و ز پی اش مفتون شدن
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PRIDE & JOY
Photo essay: Thousands join Norooz parade
by
talieshah >>>
YOU
I have never been this woman before you, before I found you
I need you to say you love me. I want your words to touch me again. Look, who knows maybe I will break into a thousand pieces soon. Perhaps morning tempers and letters burn, but I want my body to learn new words, a fistful of words as sweet and sour candy that happens to be in my mouth; words that stem from the heart and soul, making rich feathery sensation on the back of my neck; words that tantalize like the tip of your tongue finding its path to my lips. These are simple adventures that fill, pant, and pour the depth of my body where I let natural forces find fever at every beat, every beat that is as strong as my desires
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SIN
Interview with translator of Farrokhzad's poetry, Sholeh Wolpe
Although a number of English translations of Forugh Farrokhzad's work have been published, many fail to capture the nuances of the Persian language, the incisive and edgy aspects of her mind, and her unique and powerful experience as a woman living through the turbulence of Iran’s 20th century modern history. I had the opportunity to interview Iranian-American poet-translator, Sholeh Wolpe and asked her about her role as the translator of the most recent collection of Forugh’s poetry, Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad and the way Forugh’s life and legacy has personally touched her.
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CHANGE
More realistic alternative for a better Iran
The Islamic Republic is not our entire problem. I would argue that with or without the IR, little or no significant difference would be felt by those who truly dream of a free and independent Iran. The major part of the equation I believe has not been fixed. The people of Iran need to define what are acceptable social norms in the Iranian society. The simplest solution is what the IR is enforcing. To take the Rights of all so no one would argue for the acceptable norms. IR agrees that we need to go back to Islam to find a common ground.
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SOROUSH
نوانديشی های آقای سروش نه بر ضد يا در رد تشيع امامی که در جهت تقويت مبانی آن است
نوانديشی های آقای سروش نه بر ضد يا در رد تشيع امامی که در جهت تقويت مبانی آن است. با اين همه، بنظر می رسد که در حوزهء انديشهء تشيع امامی عارف و عامی، هر دو، حقی برای اين سرباز فداکار دين، و نوانديشی که اغلب نوانديشان ديگر امامی خود را به او منتسب می دارند، قائل نيست که در مورد دين خود بيانديشد و راهی برای انسانی تر کردن آن بيابد. يعنی، در واقع، اين «خودی بودن» اوست که کار دست آقای سروش داده. مثلاً، آيت الله سبحانی همهء دردش آن است که: «او (يعنی سروش)، با آن چهره نوراني و بيان شيرين، روزگاري مدرس نهجالبلاغه بود. خطبهء همام را به نحو دلپذيري تفسير ميكرد، چه شد كه از اين گروه اين همه فاصله گرفت؟
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POETRY
ساحل فقط جای تماشا بود
و لم دادن سبکباران
اما در انفجار بزرگ
در سفر پيدايش؛
از توآموختم بر موج برقصم
و جز بر پرواز و صبح آرام نگيرم
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