A few Blogs ago our good friend SIAVASH300 put on a very important blog (http://iranian.com/main/blog/siavash300-6) asking al the fellow Iranians to go to the Google voting site ( http://www.persianorarabiangulf.com/index.php) and cast their vote for preserving our identity and history by making sure that the name Persian Gulf will stay PERSIAN GULF and not to let any country or company to undermine our identity and national right for their own short term political or financial gain.
Although many fellow bloggers were in agreement with such proposal a fellow blogger were stating his/her utter disagreement to such proposal and each time I or anyone else tried to engage with him in a logical conversation he dismissed it point blank and accused us of being bigots, racist, ultra-nationalist and even fascist (I think these were the main few words in his vocabulary anyway LOL).
Furthermore, it was also suggested by other people that we Iranians might from time to time come around as having a cheap over our shoulder
In spite of the fact that I responded to both these claims one of our friends came back with more insult and accusation of not only me (which I do not mind anyway) but he also went much further an insulted all Iranians their culture, their history and even their religion. However, since I did not get any logical answer there and because I think the subject is very important I am posting my response here for the main audience in IC to judge it for themselves. Also to take the opportunity and ask them to not only go to this link and vote for the name Persian Gulf but also send this like to as many people as they can and ask them to do the sameAfter that you can read the following argument and judge in a non bias tough but fair manner.
Firstly I must say that to some degree I also agree with the notion that many of us Iranian including yours truly, may from time to time come across as suspicious or as it was being put, having a chip over our shoulders. However I think this issue has more of a historical root rather than a genetic or even cultural one.
Please let me elaborate. All during our 3000 years of history we have been victims of foreign aggressors invading our country looting our assets burning our cities raping our woman and drawing lines of division along ethic and regional fault lines in our country and breaking up our land.
From Babylonians to Alexander, from Romans to Greeks, from Arabs invaders of Ghadesyyeh to Mongols and Teymoor and not to mention the new colonial powers like British, French and Russians the same trend have continued. Just by looking at events like Treaties of Torkmanchay and Golestaan or Allied invasion of our country during WW2 and most recently the Iraq war and the support that Saddam got from the West and other Arab countries, any fair person could see some of the reason behind such mindset and this deep suspicion towards the rest of the world. In a way we are not so different to any other nation on this matter.
As a person who lives in US you should also be able to confirm that America after 9/11 is a totally different society compared to the one before it. I bet you that now a days they are more suspicious less open and even more patriotic. As I have read a report stating that right after 9/11 the sale of American flag boosted in US and today one can see more flags on the top of buildings and their door steps than ever.
However the subject of this article was something else and hence I am going to take you on your word by trusting you and putting the same questions that I asked our friend to you. Please be honest in answering these questions and more importantly in case you see any hint of racism in these questions please do not hesitate to let me now as I am always open to accepting my errors and improve myself.
1- Do you think that the name of geographical landmarks like mountains, seas oceans and Islands have and should have some historical bearing behind them which could and should reflect the history of people and nations behind these places and their contributions or sacrifices, or do you believe that these are just arbitrary names without any historical bearing and could be changed one the fly by rulers seeking cheap publicity, people seeking to pump up their own eager or even companies (in this case Google) seeking to boost their profit.
2- In case you think that these name do not have any historical bearing and could be changed on the fly then should not the same rule or rather lack of it apply all across the board and hence should not we be allowed to asked for the name of Gulf of Amman to be changed to Gulf of Iran or at least to its original name of Tetis Sea. How about changing the name of Indian Ocean or English Channel or for that matter Gulf of Mexico.
3- Do you think that when a country signs a treaty agreement (like the one Emirate signed and accepted Iranian ownership of the tree Islands in1961) then they have an obligation to honour it for ever or do you think that they can change their mind on the go and waver all their obligation when ever they feel like it, when the rulers of these nation seek cheap publicity.
4- In case you think that they can change their mind every day then shouldn’t the same rule apply all over the board and hence we should also be able to change our mind and ask for Bahrain, Azerbaijan and Caucuses to be returned to the motherland. Similarly shouldn’t UK evacuate Falkland Islands and return it to Argentina or shouldn’t US hand Hawaii over to a closer country .
5- Do you think as the country that occupies the whole northern coast of Persian Gulf we actually have some authority and rights there or at least a partial ownership of that body of water and the oil under the seabed or do you think that this is an international body of water with us having no right of ownership over any part of it.
6- In case you think we have no right over the Persian Gulf at all in spite of having the longest coast line and not to mention our historical ties, then why should the smaller countries to the south with much less coast line and nor history have any ownership.
7- Why is it that these very same countries who boast about internationalism do not even allow Iranians to own a land a house or even an apartment in Dubai, Bahrain, Qatar or any other state to the south of Persian Gulf in spite of the fact that most of the asset there belong to Iranians, and how come a country like Saudi treats Iranian pilgrims in such aggressive and racist way every year.
8- Do you regard guarding ones national identity and restoring our heritage as an act of patriotism and cultural enhancement or do you regard it as a fascist act..
9- Why should there be one set of rule for us and another for the rest of the world and how come when other countries like US wage war all over the world to protect their national interest it is called patriotism but when we are defending ours interest in our region suddenly we are racist ultra-nationalist racist or even fascist . As I told before we have no intention to deprive other nations of their right or to steal and occupy their land and as history is our witness we are always ready to extend a hand of friendship towards those nation who are willing to deal with us fairly openly and on a level ground.
Furthermore we have never in our history started a war as aggressors and have always been the ones under attack and had to raise and defend our self and national interest. But make no mistake when I say any one ruler or nation who tries to steal our land, deny our identity or diminish our right will get a hard smack in the mouth and if that is regarded as racism then so be it.
