Jahanshah Javid has been a pioneering journalist ever since he created
Iranian.com. This site has had one unique feature that, thus far, has
remained unrivalled to the chagrin of all other competing and copycat sites
that tried, and failed, to emulate his example: unmitigated irreverence.
The motto of “Nothing is Sacred” has been tested to it limits and although.
at times, was bruised and battered, it emerged from each test with
resounding success. Tens of thousands of Iranians and non-Iranians have
visited Iranian.com everyday, not to read and view a collection of
carefully selected and sanitized opinion pieces, pictures and videos, but
to enjoy a freedom that they had never experienced before. The freedom to see and the freedom to say. The freedom of which they were denied on all other sites. The freedom to fire a letter of protest, sometimes in
unsavoury terms, to the author of an article whose opinion would conflict
with those of the letter writers. The freedom to insult and be insulted.
To this end alone, Jahanshah Javid deserves the highest accolade one could be bestowed upon for his tolerance and a competent management of a most popular journal.
Now, with the launch of the new structure of Iranian.com, earlier this
year, Javid scored another first, fitting to the pioneering spirit that has
driven him since the creation of his web journal. The new structure of
Iranian.com, has pushed the ceiling of journalistic freedom to such heights
that some find it uneasy to come to terms with. But who are these people?
Are they not those who find their safe and established status no longer
unassailable? Are they not those who are only accustomed to a sanitized
debate with no heckling, no shouting and no yelling? I tell you who they
are. They are titans of toy towns whose heroics are measured against the
toys they come against. They are paper tigers who are afraid of being
attacked by scissors. They prefer a comfortable and clean debate with no
ugly remarks or suggestions. Let me be more specific. They purport to fight
for equality of rights in a civil society but readily forfeit that right
when a train guard orders them to move to free up space for a white woman. They hide behind their girl friends and shout at the guard for treating them unequally. Compare them with Rosa Parks. She did not move nor did she hide behind any one. She did not write a pompous protest article a few days later to object to her treatment. She created history. All our paper heroes did was histrionics. This is why we need real people to write and comment on Iranian.com. All the swearing and the abusive commentary that are not written under each article or blog are part of our true Iranian identity. Iranian.com belongs to Iranians all over the world. It is not a private property of Iranian-Americans or Iranian-Europeans or whoever. What you see under each article is the true picture of our compatriots from Iran to Australia. Those who live in the ivory towers of the sanitized and censured journalism should consider climbing down from their safe seats and join the real people. The people who may not have a name but have a voice. Let their voice be heard.
