Azam Nemati, Iran and minorities

I am always interested in reading about minorities lamentation about how they have been persecuted because, I want to be compassionate and see if I need to redeem myself in anyway as an Iranian. Although Ms. Bastanian's article “Sad & shameful” is quite sad and hurtful to read, I have a tough time believing the majority of what she has said. I grew up with Jewish and Christian friends in Iran as a child because my father who is truly spiritual always said we were all Iranians and shared the same nationality which was the most important thing.

I however, even as a child noticed that these non-Muslims did not act as though they were “Iranians” and that began to bother me and by the time I got to high school, I was devoid of any respect for these people who insisted in speaking their own language and acted as though they lived in another country. I had been taught we were all from the same nation so we had to act that way. I began to distance myself so I would not get into heated arguments and end up calling them “vatan foroosh” which means traitors.

To the best of my observation it was the members of minority groups themselves who acted indifferently and paranoid. I vividly remember wanting to discuss books with someone who was a Bahai (I found out later) in my high school and she insisted on speaking about religion which I have always found boring and not really an stimulating subject for me personally. The Armenians speak to each other in their own language even when they were around us. They celebrated Christmas as their real holiday and that infuriated me.

I never felt sorry for the minorities because I never saw injustices to them. I do not recall anyone around me, in school or in college say anything derogatory about non-Muslims. On the other hand I often heard the Bahais bragging about Bahaullah and never really wanting to play with us as kids or hang out and participate in mischievous stuff we wanted to do. Again they always seemed liked Iran was not their motherland.

Just before I left in June of 1978, I attended an engagement party an the three of us were the only non-Jews. They made me feel uncomfortable because for some reason all their women were unattractive and their men even more unattractive to look at and they kept flirting with me an women looked at me with envy. That was not the worst part. Every single one of them (as they were being introduced) asked me if I were a Muslim which I answered I were Iranian.

Then in 1977 I saw they were all beginning to send their money abroad and talking about migrating. I thought they were cowards and stayed away form them. In 1978 I began yelling at the registration office of the school a group of us had gathered. The administrator asked us where we were from and every single one except the Armenians said Iran. When I heard one of the girls say “I am Armenian”, I called her a traitor and wished all those ungrateful Armenians to be expelled from Iran and stripped of their Iranian birth certificate. To this day you do not see the Armenians participate in any Iranian event and they can kiss my big and fat Iranian rear end for all I care.

In 1980 I got married and longing to be around Iranians, I began to go to several parties a week. Well, the majority were Iranian Jews and it did not escape me that that had bought many hotels on the ocean, furniture stores, apartments on the ocean and expensive homes on the intercoastals and all boasted that they were told by Jewish organizations to liquidate their assets in Iran in 1977 (they had exchanged 7 toman for each dollar). In the entire crowd, there was one man (a Columbia graduate) who insisted he was Iranian and would go back to live there as soon as he could. I am not even going into details of what I did for a woman who did not tell me she was a Jew until she became successful an moved to LA (I let her stay with me for 6 months before she left). Once in Beverly hills, she forgot all about me!!

I personally do not care what religion one follows and don't care if one is an atheist. However, if you were born in Iran and speak Farsi but do not consider yourself Iranian, you get on my shit list. If an Iranian does not come to a cultural affair on Friday night because he has to go to mosque or temple, I will despise him or her.

It 9s not a coincidence that when I ask people to help a cause from cultural to humanitarian, I have yet to see a dime from an Iranian Jew, Bahai, or Christian. There is a rich Iranian Bahai here and his wife always kisses my big Iranian ass by flattering the hell out of me but despite their wealth she has never given a dime to any of Iranian causes. However, they donate big money to Bahai causes and her sister has donated an expensive house for Bahais to gather. I would have had no problem if she had said the house could be used by any Iranian and for any Iranian event. They have the audacity to send me stuff about Bahais which they hope I will share with several hundred people on my list which I share materials relating to Iran (never religious material or articles).

So Ms. Bastanian, I am sorry to say that I am getting pretty sick and tired of your kind who is always bitching that they have been victim of injustice and expect my compassion where in fact I have never experienced or witnessed such acts and do not know of anyone who does not consider minorities Iranians except the monitories themselves which feel we all owe them.

I am the most liberal Iranian I know (I am pro choice, pro gay marriage and adoption and having the right to make fun of religion and God) and yet time and again, I am let down by these so called minority members. Yet, I do not feel in my heart that you are as committed to justice for all as you claim. I worked hard to arrange an exhibit for a Bahai artist who was not known in my area and even bought a poster from her but I was outraged when I realized she is dedicating her life to so called documenting the “persecution of Bahais”. Give me a fucking break. Generation of young and talented Iranians perished under crown cannibal and continue to perish and you people want us to feel remorse for your imaginary suffering? Until you and your kind steps up to the plate and shows me that they are part of the Iranian community, I think you should all be officially stripped of the name “Iranian” because you are not worth it.

This coming form an Iranian who helps people of all colors, race and religions but when it comes to being Iranian, I consider you ungrateful people unworthy of being considered Iranians because your loyalty is to your damn religion and not your historical and cultural heritage. I can not believe I am even acknowledging you but for too long I have kept my silence and let you people paint this horrible picture of Iranians where in fact you all begin your article about what religion you are from instead of stating that you are an Iranian.

I warn anyone who is going to defend this bullshit story of being mistreated, I am not going to even answer your e-mails because as far as I an concerned if you agree with these type of horse shit you are traitor as well. We have injustice being committed to our people (Iranians) everyday so the last thing I want to hear is some spoiled little Jewish princes telling me she got her faced slapped because she was a Jew.That is the biggest lie and it comes right through.

If it makes you fell better, despite being the star of my high school (in every arena from sports to academic to literature etc.), at age 14 I got paddled in my palms along with two other students, for mischievous behavior and this was under the rule of the crown cannibal who prided himself in wanting to have healthy minded children for the country. I am not even going into telling you stories of grown boys being kicked and humiliated in front of other kids in high schools. So none of your stories can top those humiliating and painful memories. So get a life, and do something that makes me see you as an Iranian.

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