Anyway

Dear Madam or Sir, I enjoy

Dear Madam or Sir,

I enjoy debates. Debates force or encourage us to widen our perspective and to eliminate false assumptions and or false perceptions that we might have had before the debate started.

I like that I have found someone who does not hold Hooman Majd's views on IRI in such high regard because I am confident that if you feel this way, there must be good reason for it. I am excited to learn these reasons.

You say that Majd was brought up in a well off family...can't speak Farsi perfectly...and is holding a grudge against the Shah's regime...and is also seeking publicity. Ok. Sure.

But what about what he "says"?

What part of his logic do you disagree with?
I read his book. Have you?

All he is saying is that Iran has certain social and cultural peculiarities...that very much influence the political system and explain a whole lot about why the Iranian political arena looks the way it does today. If you disagree with the statements that he makes...please explain to me "why", so that I could correct whatever wrong views I have. So that I could learn something I didn't know before. So that I could widen my perspective.

Because where a man was born and to what kind of family is hardly reason enough for us to disregard everything he says. don't you think? Many of history's great thinkers were born into priveledge. That didn't mean that they had nothing else to add to the collective knowledge of mankind.

I would really appreciate a response.

And I am glad ....

... that you are not obsessed:)

Calm down and relax. I am asking this guy to be fair. You say that is meaningless, and that we should demand the truth. Truth, fairness, whatever. We object!

I think it is fair to demand the truth, so I have no beef with you either.

btw, truth also has different meanings for different people also. (I can already see the barrage of corrections coming my way:))

sigh....

FAIR

You have got the wrong end of the stick!

Mr or Mrs fair! In choosing this ID for yourself, you seem to have assumed that you are the final word in fairness. Hardly so! If you knew the first thing about being fair, you would have known that there is no standard measure or definition to determine what is fair and what is not fair. Fairness can mean different things to different people. A court ruling in Saudi Arabia is fair under the Saudi law and another court ruling in Switzelrand is deemed fair under the Swiss law. Therefore your insisting on throwing this word in whenever and wherever you can is purely obsessional and has no content. Your asking Hooman Majd to be "fair" is akin to asking to asking Saddam Hussein's minister of Indormation to give a more balanced statistics about the Iraqi casualties! In the face of such outright blatant lies hugely distorted views as uttered by Majd a demad for fairness is, to say the least, meaningless. Here you are dealing with lies of such enormity (e.g. "... people of Tehran go about their daily lives free from the fear of morality police") that the only thing that can be demanded is TRUTH, the whole TRUTH and nothing but the TRUTH. This situation is a far cry from even being considered as fair or unfair. But my beef is not with you Mr/Mrs Fair! It is with a charlatan and a two-timer who is misguiding the American audiences into thinking that you can be a Iranian mullah's son and crack jokes with that other idiot on a tv chat show.

I leave you with your object of obssession to play with.

Oh I see.. everybody is

Oh I see.. everybody is entitled to YOUR opinion.

I am not taken by this man's charm or eloquence or anything. It is fair to say that he is eloquent (as you just did too), but that doesn't mean he has won me over. And How exactly am i giving him the "benefit of the doubt"? I am calling him disappointing! I am disappointed in him. Benefit of the doubt would be that I say 'let's hope that he is is against this regime, and then I won't be disappointed".

You go further to say that when it comes to the Islamic Republic in Iran, the "question of fairness" cannot be applied". Well I have news for you. Fairness is ALWAYS to be applied.

You make no sense at all.

You need to learn to be a little more...

FAIR

It is UNfair to be Fair

Your lame critique of Mr Majd is no better than his lame apology on behalf of the Islamic Republic. Is there anything left to be fair about? Fairness can only find meaning when there is a delicate balance between good and evil. When it comes to the Islamic Republic in Iran, there is such a drastic imbalance toward evil that the question of fairness cannot be applied. And I am surprized that you and some other Iranian-Americans on this blog are so swiftly taken by Mr Majd's charm and eloquence. Are there such shortage of slick, charming, sweet talkers in the US that you should be swept off your feet by the likes of Majd? Unfortunately, it seems, in America, where everything is about looks and physical charm, Iranian community has got the bug too. Such superficiality of analysis as is expressed by Majd is beyond imagination and yet there are people, yourself included, who are still giving these characters the benefit of the doubt and say that they were disappointing!! Is this all you could say about him?

Publicity seeking is a family characteristic among the Majds of Ardekan - like their own cousin Khatami!!

A very eloquent, yet disappointing man

Both on this show and on his recent interview with NPR, he was very eloquent, and in fairness seemed like he is doing is best to give a fair assessment of Iranian society.

But for such a talented writer who has written for such big publications, it is what he DOESN't do that disappoints me.

He doesn't spend any time acknowledging all the activists who have been jailed, raped, tortured, and executed by this regime.

In fact, he:

1- says clearly that he is NOT an opponent of the regime, that the regime "has good things as well as its flaws", and that he is only opposed to some of its policies, which should change "organically". Very disappointing, since people like him could be helping our people free ourselves from this regime. How this "organic evolution" can happen in an Islamic republic is beyond anyone's common sense, and has proven to be a failure under Khatami.

2-plays down completely the fiery statements of Ahmadinejad, and is just downright misleading. He goes to great lengths to say that Ahmadinejad said "Israel will vanish from the pages of time" rather than "should be wiped off the map", and that he was merely "quoting Khomeini", as if that is an excuse. Fact is, Ahmadinejad clearly follows Khomeini's line on this, which is "Israel bayad as beyn beravad", i.e. Israel "must be destroyed". And the public events and displays with military parades with large banners of "Death to Israel" are held with him presiding. Majd even tried to redefine simple words, by claiming that "Marg bar" actually means "down with" and not "death to", which is just complete fabrication on his part. "Marg bar" literally means death to, and no amount of redefining will change that. He also said that the regime's people put down and beat gays and other "offensive behavior" (I guess this includes beehejabi?) because if they don't, the people will themselves do that. Again, he has no way of proving this, and I certainly don't believe this.

3-He claims that the majority of Iranians are very religious, and that the private vs public life difference was always there, and that it was partly because some of the private life was making its way into the public that the revolution happened. Where he gets his statistics and information is very questionable, to me it is just specualation. Before this regime, you could see the diversity in society, modern vs traditional dress, behavior, etc. The private vs public dichotomy is mostly a result of this regime, and he fails miserably to recognize that.

And all this soft tone from him, who actually supported the revolution! I guess for him this regime is much more acceptable than the previous one, and if it changes, it will be through "evolution" and "organically", but when it came to the previous regime, he supported "Death to" oops- I mean "Down with the regime".

And today he lives in Manhattan and writes for GQ, NY Times, etc.

Why is he not taking every opportunity to stand with our sufferring people, and blast Ahmadinejad, instead of translating for him and spinning his statements?

In my opinion, everything our country suffers from is due to "educated" people like him, who despite having received the immense gift of education (boarding school in England, university education in the US, etc) from their country, chose a violent opposition to the "brutal dictator" Shah, but today choose acquiescence and explaining away and hoping for "organic evolution" when it comes to Mullahs. And then while they sit back in the nice life in the good ol' US of A, they explain to the outside world that the majority of Iranians are religious, traditional, and that this system is the right thing for "them".  As if he knows...  He should just move back there and suffer with his fellow countrymen, and then come out here and tell us the spin that he is telling us now.

In short, all I ask is that this man be ....

FAIR

smooth

OK. Iran have the right to any things he desires on his soil but not the I.R.I; thats what these thugs do not get,
these sweet talker and dble. eaters (from akhoor and tavileh)will not give Iranian the assumoption that Mullahs are rocking.
get the grip.

FINally some common sense about Iran

Living in the US and watching the news/distortions is getting revolting. We need a common sense approach. Terrorist this and that won't change Iran or it's government. Thank you HOOMAN! Brilliant. You've got my $$

Khatami, liberal? liberal my

Khatami, liberal? liberal my ass! He is the one who at the end of the war took Khomaini's order of killing all prisoners to Montazeri to get his confirmation!! His hands are as bloody as the rest of them. They can kill us all but not our hope!

Finally

We needed a man or woman who understands that the Islamic Republic of Iran is the government of Iran and the system that will remain rather than the empty slogans coming from uneducated Iranians in LA.
Finally voice of reason that allows Americans to truly understand Iran rather than listening to the enemies of Iran and those who sell their land for tiny price.

Great guy. Hope this is the beginning of the era of more realization of what (IR) Iran is and how the world needs to respect us.

Very Attractive!

He is very attractive and what a sexy voice. I liked him!

I will Miss the Mullah's LOL

Who will we be able to blame for all our troubles when they won't be in Power ?

Farrokhzad Explains AYATOLLAH Khomeiny's Green Book:

Fereidun Farokhzad in London(Part1

Fereidun Farokhzad in London(Part2)

LOL

Baleh Aghayoun MA FARAMOUSH NAKARDEEM !

Yade Iran bekheir Farrokhzad

Marjane :

Khanoumha Rahayiroh Dad Bezaneem Adama roh Khabar Koneem

Darius Kadivar, AFAREEN

Darius Kadivar, AFAREEN be SH0MA, Well said.
To Siffon, Exactly Right, well said too.
Iranians are Hooshyar!

Yah Emam Hussein ;0)

Mullah Crying Fake about Imam Hussain (a.s

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QY1T-2f_KM

And Ayatollah Khalkhali Speaking that ISLAM is Superior to Iran amongst other ineptitude comments 

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9Fk4CONStk&feature=related 

Khomeiny Hichi ( Some Revolution by the Way: Wonder what Gobtzadeh thinks now in Paradise, I guess they are having a fist fight) :

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPpB-r5mMCI&NR=1

Some Glorious Revolution ...

LOL

Sifoon

A journalist who lives and works in west (i.e. has freedom unlike his counterparts in Iran), and doesn't speak of truth needs to be put in a "mostrah" and pull the sifoon on him.

In one statement,he claims that there is no moral police in Iran to stop people and warned tham about their outfit (particularly women's outfit). If he lies about such a simple fact that one only needs to refer to Youtube to see opposite then imagine what lies he will spew when it comes to important issues.

A More interesting interview of Majd

On September 26, 2008 the New America Foundation's American Strategy Program hosted Hooman Majd to discuss his recent book, The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran

watch video : 

Untangling the Paradox of Iran

Old spolit brats, New experts and activists!!

There appears to be a rising trend among the sons (and sometime daughters) of the former regime's political figures (if this is what they called themselves) to sing and dance, in varying degrees, to tunes of the Islamic regime - in simple terms becoming the regime's unlikely apologists. Examples are abundant. On this site alone, among the trend setters were such shining champions as Guive Mirfenderski, Setareh Sabety and recently Soraya Sepahpour Ulrich. On a national and international stage we have figures like Vali Nasr and Ali and Ahamd Massoud-Ansari. The latest entrant in this thriving market is the subject of this page, Hooman Majd. These so-called experts have many common features. They have enjoyed a privilege and pampered upbringing and later were dispatched to private and expensive European and American schools and universities. Their parents, in spite of their high positions in the Shahs regime, have harbored a deep grudge against their former paymaster usually on the grounds of being let down (in going up the promotional ladder) in favor of a more privileged competitor - but hey, the Shah's was not a meritocracy so why the grudge?

But what is amazing (and at the same time admirable) is that the grudge is genetically passed down to the next generation!! Due to their fluency in the language of their foreign audiences (but not in their own mother tongue), they are passed off as experts in the field of Iranian politics. But if you listen to (or read) what they say, you find that they have no insight into the inner echelons of the Islamic regime. All these "experts" have got to say is a glamorized and sometimes humorized version of what you may hear on the Fox News or CNN. The academics among them develop their own arm-chair theories (often influenced by their parents vindictive opinion of the former regime - e.g. Majd's support for the Islamic revolution).

They are also great publicity seekers. You won't find them turning down an invitation to a tv interview (unless it is LA-based Iranian station as they can't speak Farsi properly - yet insist on being experts!).

But sadly for them, the market for such "experts" is so crowded these days that their 15 minutes of fame does not last longer than 15 minutes, sometime literally. The trouble for them is that the regime, on whose behalf, they are trying to apologize knows too well that these characters are not committed to the cause, hence no long-term investment is made on them. The celebrity apologists are ephemeral.

The more lasting ones are those whose background, unlike Mr. Majd, are not so well known.

Halah Sabre Kon ... ;0)

Agha Kojasho Deedeen, wait till they come and sell us Khatami as the new Gorbatchev for a second term.

I don't mind having such open minded people as Hooman Majd as the new spokesmen for the regime. Even if I don't think he is really pro IRI, what as Iranians we have to be aware of is that the regime is trying to adapt itself to the fact that once they obtain nuclear capability they will be faced with higher demands for change within the country. Give them the diplomatic victory, granted they played and won for the time being.

BUT DON'T BE FOOLED: Khatami no more than Ahmadinejad ARE MOSSADEGH's Even Less Gorbatchev. But if Khatami and the reformist do take over they will HAVE TO DELIVER to demands and face critics Just as Gorbatchev if this so called Islamic Perestroika does occur.

watch Abbas Milani's Great conference and Q& A ( and I share his views Entirely)

Abbas Milani's talk will be "Nuke, Kooks and Democracy in Iran: a discussion of Iran's current political situation, and the prospects of democracy, and a resolution of the country's nuclear program:

//fr.youtube.com/watch?v=UHLd-dfrrsk

And By the way why are Iranians so Pro American after all ? Isn't America responsible for the most Bloody Dictatorship in the history of Humanity according to all these IRI apologists ? How did we discover the virtues of America and American people may I ask if it weren't for the Shah's regime that sent so many Iranian students for a decent education abroad only to turn these ungrateful namak nashnas' into die hard revolutionaries now turned respectable reformists like Aghayeh Mohtaram "Dr." Ibrahim Yazdi ? Mr. Green Card who even comes to America to be operated for cancer when he did everything in his power to force the American government of jimmy Carter to extradict the Shah from a New York Hospital while in exile.

Yazdi during Tibunal of General Rahimi 1979

and his excuses for hoveida's execution :

Ebrahim Yazdi - Amir Abbas Hoveida

Now They Want to speak of Democracy and Human Rights.

Listen to Dr. Bakhtiar they sent to the butchers of the IRI death squads

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jKXWRzs-Mg

And IRI Apologists don't waste your saliva accusing me with your false lies and highjacking technics claiming that I like other anti IRI people are calling for Bombing Iran. Shoma Dorogouha are and have always been members of the Hezbeh BAD ... LOL

WE ARE AWAKE !

And

IRAN HARGUEZ NAKHAHAD MORD !

Whatever, I'm just happy

Whatever, I'm just happy someone is taking against the anti-Iran rhetoric. I don't think it's my right - as an Iranian living in the U.S., or ANYONE'S RIGHT, to bomb and force anything on Iranians living in Iran. Also...PAKISTAN got to have nuclear enrichment. PAK-IS-STAN...dang, enough said.

let me rephrase that

i dont think even the most anti-IRI type is in favor of all out war. ( if they actually have to take part in it) especially when reformation is still possible.

aaah Jon Stewart one of my fav Jews

i mean one of my favorite dudes... i really dont give a spit about the elitist mind set of who his daddy was . God bless America that you can come from nothing...etc. but yeah i think aghaayeh Majd is a good represenative of Iranians. as far as the regime in Teheran is concerned i dont think even the most anti-IRI type is in favor of all out war, when there is still a possibility that there can be a reformation.

It's quite sickening, the

It's quite sickening, the way that shallow comedians such as John Stewart try to make people like him, a self-professed Islamists Reformist, seem to be experts on Iran. He might be an expert on the Islamic Republic but not certainly on Iran.

I just don't think this man is capable of holding his Islamist bias and his background (grandson of a grand ayatollah)in check and being fair to do an unbiased book on anything Iranian, and I suspect he doesn't want too either.

Another ludicrous Aghazadeh capitalizing on the naivete of the American liberals.

Strange!

I completely agree that change should start by the people from within Iran. But somehow I don't like this guy. He is living high off the hog with one foot in Mehrabaad and one foot in JFK: interpreting for Mullahs, publishing for Americans, donning a beard, wearing a pink tie. whichever way the wind blows, set sail!

Worth to be read

I didn't know Mr. Majd but he seems to be an open minded man who knows what he's talking about. I'll definitively read his book. Thanks PG for posting.

"Hooman Majd's grandfathers

"Hooman Majd's grandfathers was a grand ayatollah. His father was a diplomat for the shah's pre-revolutionary government, and Majd himself was raised and educated entirely in the West. He is forthright about his youthful enthusiasm for the Islamic Revolution. He spent most of this time working in the entertainment industry and working with Iranian political groups."

//www.encyclocentral.com/27451-The_Ayatollah_...

Vali Nasr:

He was born in 1960 in Tehran. His father, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, is an Islamic philosopher, historian of science, and a University Professor of Islamic Studies at The George Washington University. He was educated at Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and M.I.T., where he received his Ph.D. in Political Science in 1991.

Origins of his father:
Nasr was born in 1933 in south-central Tehran to Seyyed Valiallah, who was physician to the Persian royal family, and one of the founders of modern education in Iran. His parents were originally from Kashan.

He is a descendant of Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri from his mother's side, and is the cousin of Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, and the father of American academic Vali Nasr, a leading expert on political Islam.
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vali_Nasr
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seyyed_Hossein_Nasr

Too many ayatollah progenies have infilterated the American political and higher education system. Coincidence? Hardly!

I actually read big portions

I actually read big portions of his book.
His descriptions of Iranians and current Iranian social mores and culture is well done and often funny.Nevertheless, he admits himself to be sympathetic to the reformers in Iran and doesn't want a regime change.

I like the guy

He's older than I had heard he was... translating for Khatami and Ahmadinejad is not reason to diss the guy. I like how he's showing an open mind and he is making good points that people should learn about Iran and its government.

I would definitely consider reading his book. Thanks Amir for the recommendation.

Jon Stewart rules and you Party Girl: you rock! :0) 

thanks again

IRANdokht

Great guy - exposed Israel lies inadvertantly

Israel is having such a bad time these days. Everybody is finding out about their lies and deceit. Just look at our resident ZioNazis going crazy! Time to celebrate. Long live Iran. Not much can be said for an apartheid anomaly though - doomed to collapse.

Iran is not Iraq to be quashed like an ant. Iranians, well educated and informed, do not allow Israel/neo-cons/criminals to stump on it like they did on Iraq. Israel arms dealer in trouble!

It is a great book

He is a wise man. he has great knowledge.

I like to recommend another book that I really enjoyed and it is called: The Persian Puzzle, by Kenneth pollack another great book.

Enjoy reading the books

Amir

IRI man

Huffington post intro;

""He often writes on Iranian affairs, and travels regularly to Iran. He has also served as an advisor and translator for two Iranian presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on their trips to the United States and the United Nations, and has written about those experiences.""

The mullah men have crawled in every media hole they can find by cash...Before I would think Jon Stewart is only a leftist. Add Gullible to his list too...cheers!