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BEWILDERMENT
Ku Klux Fux

It really bothers me when I see them humiliated before the world with such a scandalous event taking place in their midst
Lance Raheem

A number of people have recently expressed their disgust and revulsion toward the Holocaust Revisionist Conference held in Tehran. With perhaps the exception of a few nutcases living in the mountains of rural Idaho, I think one would be hard pressed to find many people who would challenge the veracity of the mountains of evidence that verify the historical fact of what we have come to know as the Holocaust.  Our illustrious president, Ahgaye Mamoon ImaWeinerJob, has taken great pride in the fact that many of the participant-scholars attending conference are foreigners.  The truth is that these so-called intellectuals, who've been feted to V.I.P. treatment as guests of the Islamic Republic, constitute a veritable Who's Who of Losers, Weirdos, Outcasts, Freaks, and Psychos >>>

HOLOCAUST
Republic of Shame
Fariba Amini

The recent Holocaust conference in Tehran was yet another attempt by the Islamic Republic to distract the Iranian public and world attention from the many issues facing them.  It was also a provocation coupled with militant ignorance, and as such an all too familiar aspect of this regime. With this conference, designed to cast doubt on the veracity of a well documented monstrous crime and attended by revisionist “scholars” and a former head of the racist Klu Klux Klan, the Iranian regime under Ahmadi Nejad has once again managed to insult our nation as well as the nations of the world >>>

NUCLEAR
Deal and no deal

U.S. threatens sanctions against Iran while signing nuclear deals with India and China
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

It should come as no surprise that President Bush has put one of the worst disasters in American history on the back burner. Having disregarded the Iraq Study Group findings, and mindless of the dead-count both at home and in Iraq, he is busy outdoing himself by making deals that would affect not only America, but effectively deprive world citizens of their trust and dependence in international institutions... Can the world sit by passively and accept the irrationality of the United States imposing sanctions on Iran citing the NPT while at the same time it calls the NPT ineffective in order to reward those states that do not abide by it? Can sanctions be imposed on firms or nations for the transfer of dual usage technology while the United States violates the NSG agreement? >>>

FREE SPEECH
I will talk

Censored ex-CIA analyst on
options towards Tehran

The following is a transcript of Flynt Leverett's remarks at the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, on U.S. diplomatic options toward Tehran. Leverett, who is a former CIA analyst and National Security Council official, as well as another former U.S. government Mideast expert, have accused the White House of "abusing secrecy rules to block the publication of an article they had written for the Op-Ed page of The New York Times that criticized Bush administration policy toward Iran." >>>

ELECTIONS
Vibrant political life
Asghar Massombagi

The recent municipal elections in Iran and the apparent defeat of most ultra-conservative and pro Ahmadinejad candidates prove two things: Firstly, in spite of severe restrictions on political freedom and suppression of true dissent, the political life in Iran remains vibrant. The repeated attempts by the ruling clergy to frustrate the democratic process have failed to produce an indifferent electorate, at least until now. Iran is no monolithic, hermetically sealed society and bundling it with North Korea is wrong and dishonest. Secondly, the silly rhetoric of President Ahjmadinejad regarding the Holocaust has more buyers outside of Iran than inside. Anyone with an ounce of awareness of Iran's political scene knows that Ahamdinejad's narrow victory in the presidential election was due to his image as an anti-corruption reformer and the champion of the poor. He is not the only demagogue who ever got elected on a populist agenda and outstayed his welcome >>>

VIEW
U.S. vs. Iran

War is not correct solution
Ali Ghaemi

The current hostile relationship between Iran and the United States is governed by a grave lack of trust rather than a logical and mutually beneficial set of policies between the two countries... Even if Iran did have a secret nuclear weapons program and were to develop nuclear weapons, history has shown that they serve only as deterrents and that many countries voluntarily give them up as their security concerns are eased. What good would an Iranian nuclear bomb be in the face of the estimated 200 Israeli nuclear warheads or the immense American nuclear arsenal? An interesting and encouraging development is Ahmadinejad's demands for direct talks with the United States. Under Ayatollah Khomeini's Iran, this would have been unthinkable. This shows that the conservative elements in Iran are heeding the sensible cries of the pragmatic and reform-minded populace that does not want the country to be dragged into yet another conflict, let alone against the world superpower >>>

ELECTIONS
The world isn’t Florida and the U.S. isn’t its Supreme Leader

On municipal elections in Iran
Behrooz Ghamari

On December 15, more than 60% of Iranians cast ballots in municipals elections. With the mounting pressure of reformist coalitions, a remarkable number of their candidates survived the draconian vetting processes of the clerical establishment and turned this election into a popular vote of confidence in Ahmadinejad’s administration. Whether they succeed in wining the majority seats in city and town councils in Tehran and other parts of the country is not known yet. But the mere act of the electorates’ massive participation once more exhibited the resilience of democratic institutions under the Islamic Republic in spite of abundant social, legal, and political impediments. Had this election occurred in an allied country of the United States, it would have been celebrated as the highest achievement of American foreign policy. But the Bush administration and the mainstream media disregard elections held under an alleged “totalitarian” state as a nonevent >>>

STONING
The world is watching us
Marjan Abdi

Having inherited the foundation of Human Rights from a just emperor, Cyrus the Great 2500 years ago, we must be able to rather teach the world how to develop human souls to eradicate crime; whereas, shamefully enough, we are witnessing the fact that today all the basic human rights are simply being violated in the very land of the founder of them! Stoning is a destructive encouragement to potential inclination to crime, which is hidden in every human being by nature. We must provide a healthy education to all to avoid crimes from happening in the first place. Stoning is indeed a failure in our spiritual education >>>

IRANIANS
Maybe we desrve it
Faramarz Fateh

Anyway, as usual after discussing the LA real estate market and how much money folani had made or lost, the inevitable political discussion got started. Someone said that we should ALL buy the new book by President Jimmy Carter because for the first time in history, someone famous in U.S. politics has dared to write the truth about the Jews and Israel. And maybe now the Israeli apartheid can be stopped and the Jews can be put in their place and may be now the Palestinians can have their rightful country. What?!! Stop the presses!!!! What is this guy talking about and why a few of these men I know and respect are all of a sudden praising Jimmy Carter?! Let me remind ya'll of a few facts: 1) Jimmy Carter was the cause for the demise of the Pahlavi regime and return of the pile of scum called Khomeini back to Iran. As much as I disliked the Shah, I won't trade a gram of crap from that era for the entire Islamic Republic of Iran >>>

GENOCIDE
Our sense of right and wrong

The trouble with denying the Holocaust
Ari Siletz

As a leader of a predominantly Shiite country, President Ahamadinejad understands the utility of politicizing grief. For over thirteen centuries Shiism has found sustenance in mournful rituals commemorating the death of its Imams. In the mind of a Shiite politician, the Holocaust story is a familiar emotional device for amplifying and channeling political power. However, this interpretation of the Holocaust as an instrument of manipulation is behind the times. In the modern world, the Holocaust lesson serves civilization by helping prevent atrocities that would occur otherwise >>>

ELECTIONS
Challenges and challengers

Iran’s Assembly of Experts elections
Meir Javedanfar

On December 15th 2006, more than fifteen million Iranians went to the polls, to elect the members of the Assembly of Experts. The main job of this assembly is to review the performance of Iran’s supreme leader, and to replace him, if he dies or becomes incapacitated. In the Western world, the task of this assembly can best be compared to that of the Vatican’s College of Cardinals, who is in charge of choosing the pope. Its 86 members are all clergymen, who stand for elections every eight years. In terms of importance, the assembly elections eclipse Iran’s Presidential elections of 2005. Iran’s resident Ahmadinejad, despite all his fiery talk and bravado, only holds 10% of power, given to him by the constitution. The supreme leader however, is the most powerful person in all of Iran. He is the person with the last say over Iran’s internal and external policies, and its nuclear program >>>

UCLA
In Nokia, we trust

Before some Iranians decide the motto of our union ought to be changed to "liberty, but tasing for all," remember that there is a legal system that demands accountability for the bad guys
Nazanin

There are bad cops all over the world who mistreat the little guys. But I don't view Mostafa like I do the victims in Tiananmen Square, the Soviet Union or student activists in Iran. And I most certainly don't take the actions of these officers as a threat to freedom in the United States. They don't deserve that much credit. So before some Iranians decide the motto of our union ought to be changed to "liberty, but tasing for all," remember that there is a legal system that demands accountability for the bad guys. They can also be comforted by the masses who are ready to help the legal system, armed with youtube and videophones. Bad guys, you'd better watch yourselves >>>

OPINION
Circus of hate

The Holocaust conference shames Iran
Amil Imani

We have been telling the world that the present clique of Islamofascists ruling Iran is not Iranian in the world-view. And with each passing day fresh evidence supports our claim. The recent gathering of some of the world's fascists in Tehran, at the invitation of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Islamofascist President Ahmadinejad, provides further support to our claim. Iranians have never had any animosity toward the Jewish people. In fact, our friendship with the Jews goes back thousands of years. You have to be a fascist to pick, with no justification at all, on any people to persecute and aim to annihilate. True Iranians are among the world's staunchest supporters of universal human rights. The circus in Tehran, billed as "a conference", was nothing more than a disgusting attempt by the savage inheritors of Muhammad's dogma of hate to continue in his tradition of wanton attacks on all unbelievers, particularly the Jews >>>

IDEAS
Ayaa democracy badtarin noe hokoomat ast?

Is democracy the worst form of government?
Houshang Pirnazar

RIGHTS
Hoghooghe madaniye Bahaiane Iran

Iran elections, constitutional reform & Bahai rights
Kavian S. Milani

CRITIQUE
Coleman Barks and Rumi's Donkey

The essential problem lies in the fact that Barks intentionally changes Rumi, perhaps for the better, but at the expense of distortion and misrepresentation
Majid Naficy

Barks who does not know Persian, first rewrites some of the old translations in English. Then, by using an unpublished John Moyne's translation on one hand, and with the blessing of a Sri Lankan sufi saint living in the US, Bowa Muhaiyaddeen on the other hand, Barks publishes a new English version of rumi in free verse. No doubt that Coleman Barks's version of Rumi has released these poems from the confines of Departments of Near Eastern Studies but unfortunately, as we will see, he has tied them in the cage of his personal taste. He approaches Rumi's poetry as sacred texts, which need to be dusted from the passage of times by a touched devotee and prepared for the Post Modern, New Age market in the West. The New Age movement finds a remedy for modern alienation in old recipes, such as horoscope, Extra-Sensory Perception and divination >>>

DISGUSTED
We are indestructible
Jewish Irani

Ahmaghinejad and his hateful clan have opened a 2-day so-called conference on Holocaust denial, in Tehran. Of course, they are selling it as an academic conference to some 67 foreign researchers (read anti-Semites) from 30 countries. In the name of the six million who were perished Al Kidush Ha-shem; sanctifying the Almighty's name, I tell you Mr. Ahmaghinejad that there have been many others before you who tried to hurt the Jewish people, but they themselves were wiped off the map. Take your ancient countryman for example Mr. Haman who like you had such sinister dreams. What happened to him? He was hanged on the very same gallows that he built to kill Mordechai the Jew >>>

HOLOCAUST
Death to stupidity

Why would you want to reduce the biggest, most horrendous crime committed by a Western/Christian power in history if you are out to show the world that Islam and its anti-Westernism can lead the world to a better place?
Shahla Azizi

When I first heard about the student protests I thought they were protesting the Holocaust Denial Conference. But no Muslim or Zoroastrian will defend a Jew in Iran -- not at the cost of imprisonment or torture.  I, myself, am using a pseudonym and am as timid as the next collaborating Iranian.  At least, though, I spent a good few hours pondering my own cowardice and trying to build enough courage to put my real name to this. That is more that most people do. You can hate Israel. You can hate the Zionists. You can resent the Jews being given Palestine instead of East Germany but to deny the Holocaust is idiotic.  Not only is it historically inaccurate but it is tasteless and self-defeating as well.  It would be easier to deny the martyrdom of Imam Reza, for example, whom even the more devout seem to think, died of over-eating rather than poisoned grapes >>>

VIEW
Khak bar sare opposition

A generation of post-modern youth who has no interest in politics and society
Tina Ehrami

A friend's friend returned from Iran a couple of weeks ago and of course I had to have the full report on social, political and developmental issues in Iran from her. I wanted to hear about the Iranian Student Movement, about the vastly growing Woman's Movement, about the Shirin Ebadi's, about censored journalists and writers who fought back through publishing online, or brave men and women who organised underground meetings or demonstrations and strikes. All these stories remained untold. Nothing was said about the three-star students who were sent to jail for the third time during their study or the numerous under-aged women who were hung or stoned to death. I was disappointed. Not because I was so eager to hear about atrocities in my "vatan", but because I knew that all these things existed but nobody in Iran seemed to care >>>

IDEAS
Jaaygaahe "kherad" dar noandishiye dini

Rationalism in contemporary religious thinking
Esmail Nooriala

REPLY
Siaasat va veghaahat

On Ahmadinejad's letter to Americans
Massoud Noghrekar

FATWA
Death sentence without borders

Journalists, bloggers, and writers protect yourselves!
Jahanshah Rashidian

It started in Tabriz and Tehran with the organised demonstrations of IRI’s followers against an Azeri writer, Rafiq Tagi, who wrote an article, "humiliating" Prophet Muhammad. The Azeri writer is accused of portraying Christianity and Europe as superior to Islam as and the Middle East. The fatwa calls for the death of the writer and also the person responsible for publishing his article. Another Iranian Mullah offers his house as a reward to anyone who executes the writer. The article published last month in the newspaper Senet prompted an unsanctioned protest in a village north of Baku by angry observant Muslims and rapidly became a fervent topic of Islamic media in Iran >>>

VELAYAT
Moderate possibility

Upcoming elections for the Iranian Assembly of Experts
Razi Ahmad

If reformists have a strong presence in the Assembly of Experts, the next Leader who succeeds Ayatollah Khamenei, the incumbent Supreme Leader, can be expected to be more moderate or liberal. In such a situation, the Guardian Council and the judiciary are also very likely to be more liberal. Currently, both are dominated by hardliners that proved to be frustrating for reform initiatives taken by the Khatami government. The reformative laws passed by the Majles were repeatedly vetoed and blocked by the Council. A number of newspapers that sprang up following Khatami’s election were banned by the judiciary. In spite the fact that it is very unlikely that it would have an opportunity to select next Supreme Leader, this situation could change even during the next term of the Assembly provided reformists were elected on it >>>

POLITICS
Time to unite

One issue all Iranians came to agree on over the past couple of years was being firmly against regime change through American military force
Cyrus Mossaddegh

First of all I do not think it is fair to brand Mr. Pahlavi guilty because of his father's actions. As for Mr. Reza Pahlavi making the mistake of being associated with the CIA and the neocon warmongers that can be written off as political immaturity and being a victim of a life long conditioning program so that one day he would be ready to rule as a benevolent dictator. Breaking free of this programming and finding a way to alter his conditioning will require tremendous will and sincere dedication to finding his real self. And I think this will be a hard struggle for him. Maybe he will succeed in waking up and discovering that in order to be honest with himself and honest with the Iranian people he needs to throw off all the strings that have been attached to him and also break free of the shackles that are around his ankles >>>

VIEW
Disastrous policies

President Carter and Hamas
Sohrab Ferdows

Recently, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter once again has managed to put himself in the spotlight of media attention after making some interesting comments about Palestine and other issues. View points of Mr. Jimmy Carter on Palestinian election in particular, drew my attention in which Mr. Carter complained about Palestinian people being penalized for democratically electing Hamas to represent them in Palestinian government. Mr. Carter complained that Palestinians should not be punished because of this democratic election which he insisted, was in fact in direction of spread of democracy in the region. Believing that Hamas was elected by Palestinian people in a truly democratic process is one thing but spreading of democracy in the region is something else >>>

PERSIANS
Our place in history

The world is discovering the contributions of the Iranians to humanity, and high time you did too
Shahriar Mostarshed

First a misconception, that has confused many, and judging from your article, you too. Iranians have always referred to their land as Iran, the land of Aryans, but Westerners have always referred to it as Persia, since their Greek and Roman sources referred to Iran as persis or the land of the parsian. Reza Shah, did not like the fact that the British referred to Iran as Persia and wanted to change the international name for Persia to Iran. This would be equivalent to the English insisting that we call their country England and not Engelestan. Needless to say, his attempt failed and has caused confusion, the world over. In Western literature the Persians are the Achamanid and the Sassanid and are distinct from the Parthians. The country of Iran after Islam is called Persia with no attachment to the pre-Islamic meaning. To complicate matters more, we call our language Farsi (Arabized for Parsi) but in English it is Persian and there is no substitute for it, although the seemingly enlightened want to call it Farsi (Bill Gates being one) >>>

STUDENTS
Forum for improvment

Defining an agenda on paper is far easier than implementing it in real life. To implement it in real life, friendships have to be formed and cliques must disappear
Nezam Rabonik

Promoting the mission statement listed above, is an extremely difficult task. Before progress can be made where members (and officers) of ISF stubbornly work towards promoting the Iranian culture, an over-haul of the organization must be made. I made the suggestion to Rana Rabei -- to create a new Iranian organization at UMD -- because I don't believe it's within ISF's power to promote the agenda as defined. HOWEVER, Nazanin's words have given me new hope and perhaps in the future, we as old officers and members of ISF can work with ISF's current officers and members to formulate a plan to create an organization that can promote the above agenda. Before we embark on this, however, we have to realize the social dynamics at ISF and the difficulties in bringing students of different walks to follow the same agenda >>>

HOLOCAUST
Banalization of history

Let's not play with words for it is a DENIAL of the Holocaust under the coverage of so called search for historical truth
Darius Kadivar

I am amazed by some so-called self-promoted intellectuals like you who fail to see a bigger danger, not to say picture, than Pahlavi or the American neo-cons who have inevitably failed in the military campaign in Iraq. Americans have recently proved through elections that they will not give George Bush or his foolish administration a second chance to invade Iran or anywhere else on this crazed up fundamentalist-infested region. Why don't people like you draw attention on what Ahmaninejad is doing to our country Iran and to the young generation of Iranians with no connection with the past, be it Monarchical or even Mossadeghi? Why aren't you shocked by the fact that someone like Ahmaninejad can initiate an international conference of denial of the Holocaust? >>>

POLITICS
The donkey and the date

Upcoming municipal council elections in Iran
Behrooz Ghamari

On December 15 Iranians will cast their ballots for municipal elections. Reformist candidates across the country, particularly in Tehran, have a credible opportunity to win, if their constituents emerge from their hibernation and actively participate in these elections. The government has hindered the domestic media’s attempt to generate a celebratory environment for the electorates to exercise their constitutional right. Iranian media around the world need to realize that a dampened down election will only perpetuate the status quo and will reinforce a growing messianic belief that Iranians need to be rescued. The famous American sociologist Harold Garfinkel observed that people become conscious of the order of things around them only when that order is disrupted. The taken-for-granted thus exists invisibly until its existence is breached >>>

IRAN-U.S.
Blind ambition

Reza Pahlavi is so eager to have a place in history and in Persia that he pleads with warmongers to make the innocent Iranian people suffer
Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich

Perhaps the only merit I see in your letter is the fact that you have found yourself a better  writer; your letter reflects improved articulation and clarity of style, something lacking in your previous addresses.  However, the message you convey remains the same: ambition and betrayal. You write “I have repeatedly opposed any form of military action against  my country as unjust and counterproductive”.  I assume you mean Iran?  In which case, you either have a short memory, or you delibertately lie hoping that the rest of us have a short memory.   After the 9/11 terrorist attacks when the Unites States was bombing Afghanistan in retaliation for the tragedy that had befallen it, you had this to say: “[T]errorism is like an octopus whose weakness is the eyes –in Tehran.  [I]f the U.S. wants to kill this octopus, it should start in Tehran.” >>>

FOOTBALL
FIFA offside

Dadekan had his chance and harmed Iranian football
Mohammad Ala

The majority of Iranians in Iran and outside of Iran are passionate about sports, especially Football (which in the US is called soccer where they do not want the US football, which is more like a handball, to be confused with International Football). In August 2006, FIFA and the AFC gave a deadline of November 15, 2006 to IFF to reinstate its elected president (Mohammad Dadekan), and to comply with the relevant provisions of the FIFA statutes. An informal polling of over 300 Iranian football fans confirmed that officials were responsible for this ban.  The president of IFF can be dismissed if his performance is not satisfactory, but the rules do not allow any political power (in our case, Sazmane Tarbyat Badani) to get involved >>>

ANSARI
Naghsh dar aab

Any Iranian woman who becomes famous does not necessarily deserve praise, especially not Anousheh Ansari
Fariba Moghadam

IDEAS
Capitalism, socialism, yaa....?

Capitalism and socialism have failed
Houshang Pirnazar

IRAN
There will be no revolution

Then what will happen to the Islamic Republic?
Ben Madadi

It would be naive also to under-estimate the popular support that the Islamic regime enjoys. Would the majority of Iranians vote for a non-Islamic, secular, republic if they had the choice? I'm not so sure they would. But maybe even the majority of Americans would vote for a Christian republic if they had the choice, which they don't, for the joy of the liberals, and the Iranians who live in the US. America is far ahead in democracy and it seems absurd to imagine a religious system in the US. But Iran is not like that. Let's not forget that modern Iran, as we now know it, was built on the basis of religion, and that religion was Shia Islam. Modern Iran is not, and was not, the pre-Islamic Iran. Modern Iran was a religious state from the start. Iranians have been bound on Shia religion for about 500 years >>>

RELIGION
Dar-ul-Aman

America is the closest country to a true house of safety in the broadest sense
Amil Imani

People are familiar with Islam's classification of the world into the Dar-ul-Solh -- the hose of peace, meaning the house of Islam -- and the Dar-ul-Harb -- the house of war, meaning the house of non-Islam. Ironically, the self-proclaimed house of peace, from its early years, has waged war against the house of war. Also there is a little-known third "house" according to Islam -- Dar-ul-Aman -- the non-Islam house of safety where Muslims find refuge. We already know which of the three houses America is to Al Qaeda, the Iranian mullahs, the Taliban, the Muslims Brotherhood and their ilk. We are posing this question to the rank and file Muslims, particularly to the arrivals of recent years who are finding refuge in the non-Islamic world, including the United States of America: Which house America is to you? >>>

STUDENTS
Don't blow off a challenge

Iranian Students Foundation parties are at the expense of the culture it was founded to promote
Nazanin

A few years earlier, I had to type the ISF constitution for the University of Maryland, as an officer. I remember typing a very clear sentence concerning the goal of ISF: to promote the Iranian culture within and without the Iranian community. To me, that means as officers of ISF, you are responsible for promoting Iranian culture - not to be concerned with large-scale parties. It's easy to gather a large group of people and that isn't necessarily commendable. Besides repeatedly offering dinner and dancing and even sometimes a singer at your events, how is all your hard work remembered? By consistently seeing the attendance of 200-300 Iranians at your events, you have so-far proven that there are lots of Iranians in Maryland. Don't be afraid of a challenge or criticism, or worse, a "boring" culturally oriented event >>>

HOVEYDA
Double life

Fereydoun Hoveyda hobnobbed with arts and culture grandees in Europe and America while serving a regime that at best had a contemptuous relationship with the intellegencia
Asghar Massombagi

I first came across Fereydoun Hoveyda's name in the archives of "Setareh-e Cinema", the pioneering film magazine that was published in the early Sixties in Tehran. I read translations of his pieces originally published in Cahiers du cinema and although I didn't know anything about Mr. Hoveyda save for a vague suspicion that he might be related to the then Prime Minister, seeing his name alongside the likes of Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Trauffut, an Iranian presence in the centre of European culture, was, I must admit, exciting and inspiring. And then there was his tepidly received novel, Qurantine, written in the same existential pitch as Camus' and Sartre's works. In hindsight, tepidness seems to have defined Hoveyda's cultural life.  Although his range of interests was impressive, he was less the Renaissance man his admirers have claimed him to be than a jack of all trades and master of none >>>

AHMADINEJAD
A good look at hypocrisy
Reza Rezvani

Why did Ahmadinejad write this letter? Seriously, what gives him the right to write a letter to someone else where there is censorship and closures of papers? He can write letters while Evin Prison is one of the largest prisons for journalists. People who write articles on Iran and the life there but no their mouths are closed and shut by this regime. Notorious under the Shah and now under this current regime. This letter that he wrote is in my opinion a lecture and a good look at the hypocrisy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. He talks about Katrina and at the same time is being a hypocrite. He criticizes American policy towards Israel and all the support and the money pouring into Iraq BUT Iran gives $100 or more million dollars a year to Hizbollah, ships them arms and helps them but at the same time, people still do not have a home yet that was destroyed 3 years ago from the Bam earthquake. This is hypocrisy >>>

STUDENTS
Have a problem with our agenda?

Run for office or start your own group
Nezam Rabonik

One cannot overlook the many friendships and cultural exchanges that are created because of the Iranian Students' Foundation (ISF) of the University of Maryland. In addition, as far as I have seen, very few entities have been able to fortify the Iranian community in the DC area as ISF does. For Chahar Shanbeh Souri last year, we were able to bring over 5000 Iranians together!!!! In fact, all events sponsored by ISF are typically sold out, with attendance in the 200-500 range for each event. This is no small feat. And I agree, while the group does not sponsor enough cultural, political, and weighty Iran-related events, it still fulfills a niche that the community needs -- bringing people together. For this reason, this group is successful and a huge plus for our community >>>

AHMADINEJAD
Oppression, injustice and indignity
Faramarz Fateh

This morning I started reading the letter from Ahmadinejad to the People of the U.S. I read the first 7 or 8 paragraphs and after cleaning the vomit, which had come up uncontrollably, from my face and clothing I felt inclined to write a few paragraphs. The useless excuse of a human being, the uglier than the butt end of a dead monkey writes: "Both (U.S. & Iran) value and readily embrace the promotion of human ideals such as compassion, empathy, respect for the rights of human beings, securing justice and equity and defending the innocent and the weak against oppressors and the bullies." I can only comment on status of 2 groups of blue blooded Iranians, living in Iran, who have been subjected to oppression, disrespect, injustice and indignity for the past 26 years. These 2 groups are the Iranian women and Iranian religous minorities, most specifically the Jews and the Bahais >>>

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