Prize for courage
Ebadi's Nobel prize is the revival of the spirits
of those who perished under injustice
October 14, 2003
The Iranian
While many articles
will be written and many interviews will be conducted on the 2003
Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, yet "peace"
remains one of the scarcest commodities in our world. Perhaps the
Nobel Prize for Humanity and Freedom would have been a better name
for it, since peace is achievable even under oppression and is
attributed mostly to a state of non-violence and absence of war.
Try
to visualize how far would one have to go in order to achieve
such a great accomplishment and win a Nobel Prize in Peace
representing a nation and a country that is lacking peace in
terms of tranquility of life, freedom and human values. Only when
we compare the peace prize with other prizes such as in
medicine or chemistry, can we better appreciate the risks that
Ebadi had to take and the very narrow line she
had to walk for the sole purpose of reinstating full humanitarian
standards and dignity for Iranian women and children.
As Iranians
in the US, when we decide to go in front of any Federal building
such as the one in Los Angeles to make a defiant statement
against the regime in Iran or any adverse US policies against Iranians,
many of us wear dark sunglasses and some wear scarves so that we
won't be recognized by secret agents of either governments!
Here in the United
States, the freest country in the world, many of us are still dubious
about our level of freedom and liberty. We are somewhat paranoid
that our phone lines may be tapped and trashcans searched and
bank accounts audited. But step back for a few minutes to better
appreciate of how much courage and valor it takes for someone like
Ebadi to be who she is in today's Iran.
There are
those among us that remain defiant towards the regime in Iran,
yet there are also those who make
sure that there is a picture of Khomeini in their purse or in wallet
when they go for a visit to Iran and when arriving at Tehran airport
to show their allegiance to the regime in
order to protect themselves in case something goes wrong. And then
there is Ebadi who has continuously questioned the authority
of the despotic regime and risked her life many times.
Her Nobel prize is an honor for every Iranian,
every Muslim and every man and woman in the Third World.
It is an honor to learn how someone inside the den of this
savage regime
dares so courageously and risks everything in the name of freedom
and basic human rights and comes out successful. Then she graciously
shares the prize with all of the other heroes who are fallen.
Ebadi's
Nobel prize is the revival of the spirits of those innocent men
and women who perished
under the bloody claws of the satanic and corrupt system in
Iran. It is a recognition of the brave souls who perished while
fighting this foreign installed cluster of backward,
anti-Iranian deceivers for the past 24 years.
She is a lesson for all of us, to
take advantage of the freedoms we enjoy in the US
and not
waste it by remaining silent and paranoid. We also paid
our dues in this country like any other good citizen and
our silence
is an insult to the rare flower of freedom that blooms
in the arid land of oppression and theocracy.
Ebadi's accomplishment
is also a slap in the face of those brainwashed men who consider
women inferior to men and chastise women for their emotions and
other stigma. Yet, Iran remains
the only
nation in the Middle East with the highest potential
to become a model among Muslim nations -- the first nation
to expel the monotheistic approach to government and allow
all religions
live alongside each other in peace and discourage
social standards based on religious texts that written centuries
ago.
This is not intended to mean that religious texts are wrong,
but social interactions have changed so much
that today none of the holy books can govern the
entire
affairs
of human beings without inhibiting some aspect
of freedom for some other groups who hold different opinions
and beliefs.
Besides, of the 65 million who live in the Islamic
Republic, the governing thugs seem to be the ones who
do
not believe
in God or their holy scriptures. Thus the
nation's struggle is against both theocracy and the
evil of corruption
and
treason.
Together Iranians can cultivate the garden of peace, liberty
and freedom for all women, men and children. Speak
up for your country and propagate the seeds of freedom for
Iran to clean itself from drug abuse, prostitution, foreign intervention
and domestic
idiosyncrasy. Don't let this flower die; keep
that flame burning.
Offering the Nobel Peace prize to an Iranian
is not a complimentary gesture to us as a nation. It's a reminder
that liberty
is a rare commodity that has to be earned; no one will
offer it to us in a silver platter.
Author
Farrokh A. Ashtiani is the founder of PersianParadise.com
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