An open question to IC contributors on differentiation.
“Let’s come out of our shelves”: What action-items by the Iranian.com community can affect public policy and opinion outside the confines of Iranian.com? How do we differentiate the Iranian Diaspora from the Iranian Islamist agents as well as Al-Qaida operatives? OK, I have to say that I am nostalgic towards our King Cyrus-type heritage. King Cyrus, whose replica of “The Rights of Nations” cylinder resides at the United Nations Hall as the first human rights charter in history and whose name appears in the scriptures as God’s Anointed. I am nostalgic because I see where we were 2500 years ago and where we are now. I think that we all are a bid nostalgic unless brain-washed in MKO or Basij camps. However, while not a Monarchist like DK, I have to say that Reza Pahlavi had good points in his recent France24 interview on how the Iranian passport or even the place of birth on my American passport are viewed by the authorities if we travel via planes. Who can blame the outrage from the public to forget about being politically correct and just screen everyone with Muslim names, Muslim looking persons, …………..first and foremost. And, I am speaking in general, beyond airport screening.
You may say that not a single person of Iranian origin has been involved in these plane terrorist acts. OK, maybe not on a plane, but we see plenty of nut-jobs in Tehran who ceremoniously sign suicide-bombing pledges and there are other terrorist acts that are attributed to the Ghods force of the Paasdaar Gaurds, ranging from bombings in Kobar towers, Argentina, Israel,….. via Ghods operatives and their alleged foreign agents; Hezbollah and Hamas. We are fighting a court case, right now, here in the US to protect the loaned University of Chicago Persepolis Treasures from being confiscated by the Israelis/Americans who lost loved ones in a horrible bombing attack in Israel that was attributed to Iranian agents.
The problem I see is that we, as the Iranian Diaspora, are content and have not done much to differentiate ourselves from what I call Islamists. OK, XXX has a different name for what I call Islamism, and he will argue for a long time on this point alone. Or, we can argue for a year whether Islam conquered with sword 1400 years ago (sorry, Q). Or, XX will write world famous manifestos on Monarchy over and over here at Iranian.com and others…….(sorry if I left anyone out). Furthermore, I have to say that I have only seen one common denominator in the majority of the political/ideological arguments in Iranian.com; mainly the disposal of IRI and the sidelining of MKO. Going beyond, I see lots of stow-piping around different ideologies, and the arguments start. While I agree that argument / debate is a good way to reach consensus, you see, we can argue/complain for a long time within ourselves in the confines of Iranian.com, but I do not think that a single thing will change around us, outside the confines of our shelves, the Iranian Diaspora at Iranian.com. Ohhhhhh, you say that wait until this IRI regime is gone and we shall be set free? Well my friend, look at the Iraqis, who were liberated 6 years ago, taken off the terrorist nation list and her citizens are still treated just as bad as us in the airports.
Yes, we have done a little bid, like taking small ads in NY-Times or candle vigils in Tehran after 9/11, but is that enough? What else can we do for differentiation, just like the Cuban Diaspora is treated differently than the terrorist government of Cuba, and ohhhh, if you are a Cuban citizen that risks 90 miles of shark infested waters between Florida and Cuba on a log-raft and reach the shores here, …….automatic Green Card.
Again, I would like to emphasize that we can argue and complain for a long time within ourselves in the confines of Iranian.com, but I do not think that a single thing will change around us, unless we affect changes collectively with action-points that reach outside the confines of Iranian.com. I will throw in a few ideas, some that we are already doing but maybe not enough, some intentionally controversial in nature, to stimulate debate on what we can do collectively and solicit ideas from you, ……yes, you. So, feel free to say that I am full of it and you have a better idea.
Here we go:
* Wear thin spandex-type cloths with no carry-on luggage when going through airport security (an idea from an IC.com contributor).
* Get fatwa’s from Islamic scholars that Jihad is outdated and no longer needed in Islam, and publicize it. Good luck with that one.
* Declare that Islamism/fanaticism/extremism and especially killing of innocent people are Un-Islamic and urge the west to do what it can to combat it, and publicize it. Or, declare that fanatic religion is the source of all evil and recommend religion only in moderation. Hmmmmmm.
* Take out several front-page ads in NY-Times/Guardian/LeMond to denounce …….isms and all the ……..ists and pledge our allegiance to …… Some of us have already done this pledge in local naturalization ceremonies.
* Send electronic form-letters as a collective Iranian.com Diaspora to various organizations (media and embassies) or issues, periodically. For example, positive encouraging electronic form-letters to the Czech Republic embassy / NY-Times when we see them ban the sale of pepper spray to Iran, or negative form-letters to the Chinese embassy / LA-Times when we see expedited sale of anti-riot trucks by China to Iran and call a boycott of Chinese goods by the Iranian Diaspora and the American public……(more on form-letters in later blogs).
* Organized large-scale Marches and Demonstrations, especially when nuts like AhmadiNejad speak at the UN to lower the stink of his speech. A definite yes, in my book.
* Organize conferences / meetings on Iranian-related items with rational discussions of the opposing views on “this and that” issues. AIPAC and the neo-cons organize conferences often on Iranian-related issues (one-sided, may I add). Hey, why not us, as the Iranian Diaspora? Who better than us? And, then publicize the results as …..
*As the Iranian Diaspora, support the election of Iranian-American / Iranian-French or ……representatives to government positions? Cuban-Americans elected Senator Bob Menendez in New Jersey, not Florida, the hob of the Cuban-Americans.
* As the Iranian Diaspora, support the efforts of individuals like ramintork, who plan to organize global human rights committees that bring attention to the plight of Iranians inside and outside of Iran. Sorry I asked a lot of questions first, Ramin. His action-points will appear later.
*……?
*……?
* OK, you say that none of these items does it for you? Then, quit complaining, give us ideas and tell us how to do it (sorry to be a straight shooter, but that is just me).
Again, the emphasis is on action-items by the Iranian.com community that affect public policy and opinion outside the confines of Iranian.com. Let’s come out of our shelves, from our comfort-zone we call Iranian.com, and reach others outside. Merci.
