Letters July 2006 July 25 Israel's actions are tantamount to state terrorismIn response to Meir Javedanfar's "Iran's Lebanese blunder": Reading his recent analysis of events unfolding in southern Lebanon, one has to wonder if Mr. Javedanfar is stuck on planet Murdoch with his TV stuck on the Fox News channel. First, the assertion blaming Hezbollah entirely for triggering the current crisis is utterly dubious. Assuming that the arrest of the two Israeli soldiers which Mr. Javedanfar parroting the US/Israeli line labels as "kidnapping", took place inside Israeli territory, a point challenged by latest reports that the two soldiers were captured in Aita al Chaab close to the border inside Lebanon; those actions were taken against a purely military target. Second, let's get our facts straight -- Israel's disproportionate reaction by engaging in an all out bombardment of villages in southern Lebanon which led to slaughter of many innocent civilians including children is what preceded Hezbollah's rocket attacks on northern Israel. Then the news flash -- "Iran is defiantly backing Hezbollah since the outbreak of the current conflict with Israel". Well sir, there are all kinds of insolents and as a horrified Jan Egeland, the UN emergency relief coordinator after touring the ruins in Beirut left by devastating Israeli air raids on residential areas said yesterday Israel is in clear violation, i.e. defiance of the humanitarian law and committing crimes against humanity is a far more defiant behavior in anyone's book. Let us also be fair and not chastise the few in the Iranian leadership who have responded with their letters of moral support when both houses of the U.S. Congress expressed their overwhelming and unyielding support for Israel and as reported in New York Times the Bush administration is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel so it can continue its barbaric campaign of misery, death, and destruction on Palestinian people whose only crime was to vote for the wrong party and the Lebanese who offered their just support. Israel's actions are tantamount to state terrorism which definition as described by the United Nations is the use of violence against a civilian population in order to intimidate or coerce a government in furtherance of a political objective. As correctly stated the current conflict will not yield any positive results for Iran, nor will it for Israel which continues to create its own worst enemies. Hamas was formed as a counterweight to Fatah movement and Hezbollah was a reaction to the savage attack and occupation of Lebanon in 1982. History is not on Israel's side and the current campaign of bombings and mass destruction will only serve to strengthen both and create new enemies further undermining its security. Stop lying so muchIn response to Meir Javedanfar's "Iran's Lebanese blunder": You wrote: "This can be witnessed by the fact that Iran felt the need to embark on a disinformation campaign, whose validity could so easily be questioned." Both sides must be held to account for their actionsIn response to Sholom Deen's "No hope, no chance, and no future, unless...": Sholom, Thanks for the response. I can't keep this up if each time we have to write so much to each other! Quick clarification, I am not Muslim. No offense taken, as I am sure none was intended, but in the spirit of our exchange, I hope that you will not simply assume that next time you engage with someone from an Iranian background. In any event, I enjoyed reading your letter--and think you make many interesting and valid points. Some points, I disagree with you on, notably the role of organizations such as campuswatch.org in keeping academic conversations honest, the equality of Israeli treatment of its Arab and Jewish citizenry, and your depiction of Arab governments as 'racist' because they deny Jews the right to practice their religion. While this is true, remember that Arab governments, as a general rule, are authoritarian and continue to deny a great deal of human and political freedoms to their own (Muslim) citizens; these same regimes are rewarded and sustained by the US. Arab governments do have a part to play in educating their citizenry, but so long as the current regimes are sustained by the US, which turns a blind eye to the state-sanctioned human rights violations and Israel-hate mongering in exchange for stability and unfettered access to oil, such expectations are unrealistic. What of the US's role? Israel too, must educate its citizens and children not to hate blindly; permitting/encouraging students in writing inscriptions on missiles doesn't achieve this objective. On the issue of anti-Semitism, we agree that Jews have historically been (and currently continue to be) depicted in a negative light, often bordering on outright bigotry (I do not say racism because there is no Jewish 'race' anymore than there is a Muslim race; Jews hail from all corners of the world, in a variety of ethnicities and complexions and are very much cosmopolitan citizens of the world). I also agree that criticisms (on both sides) should deal in truths and facts, not ideology or hate-mongering; that is the only way criticism can be constructive. What I meant by raising the issue of charges of anti-Semitism is that criticisms of Israel are often taken to mean attacks against Jews and Judaism. Criticisms of Israeli policies can be and often are preempted by the 'anti-Semite' tag. As a student of political science and Middle Eastern studies, I see this happen all the time in academia, more so than I see intimidation of pro-Israeli views by faculty or students. I would argue just the opposite in fact, that many legitimate criticisms of Israel are often circumspect because of the overwhelmingly pro-Israel/anti-Muslim/Arab/Iranian climate in US policy, the media, in academia, and in popular representations of Jewish/Israeli history in many mainstream films >>> Full text Work for reconciliationIn response to Nader Davoodi's "Stop the bombing NOW!": Mr. Davoodi, How times have changedIn response to Nader Davoodi's "Stop the bombing NOW!": "Stop the bombing Now", photo essay by Nader Davoodi shows how times have changed. After 27 years, the west has come around. A female without hijab standing beside the photo of former Basiji, former Pasdar, and now President of Iran, Engineer Ahmadinejad. I hope this photo is seen throughout Los Angeles. They need a breath of fresh air with all that smog there. No sense of humanity at allIn response to Siamack Baniameri: I have been reading Siamack Baniameri's comments and writings in the past few months.It appeared to me that he might have a very good knowledge of English, but no sense of humanity at all. First of all, he appears to have the most pessimist mind I have ever seen in my life. There isn't a single positive sentence in his comments. Then it comes to his struggle with his nationality. OK, if he doesn't like to be called Iranian he can easily change his name to what ever he likes. It's so easy to do in UK and I don't think it's being difficult in US either. However, the geeks like him not only don't like themselves but also do not like where they are originated from and that applies to their parents and family which in his case remembering his past-life and his Iranian family seems to be very depressing for him. I really can not understand why he is writing for an Iranian website while he doesn't like US, and by that I mean Iranians. Quite coincidentally he describes himself in the best way possible on this one sentence and referencing to his previous writings . It also appears that he hasn't lived for more than 27 years, so does not know that there was a world before his time as well with a very complicated history and more particularly in a land called IRAN now-a-days, where quite unfortunate for him he was born in. I really did not want to use this kind of language, but people like him, Iranians who are Iranian when with Iranians and devils against them when not with them, make me feel sick to death. I tell you what; it's people like Baniameri, geeks who can not believe in what they are as a nation, people with no past and future, people who are ashamed of their parents and family and people who think because of what they might have learned in universities and colleges they are different to their own people, are ruining our reputation as a nation. It is so easy to understand the difference between these new-comers and people who were settled in West years ago. Those were civilised people, some of them without having been gone to any schools, comparing to the new uncivilised but educated new-comers who are trying to make westerners feel sorry for them. What people like Baniameri had done is something we must be aware of and do not let them go any further. they have ruined our reputation. They gave us bad name. And they DO want to destroy us and they are doing it. Ganji has proven himselfIn response to Hossein Derakhshan's "Is Ganji joining Sazgara?": Mr. Derakhshan: I have read some of your articles and frankly have not paid much attention to them but this one is quite out of line and it only serves one and only one regime in the world, the one which is ruling our country now. Mr. Ganji has never accepted to meet with any US officials let alone the President of the US. if he were to meet them he would do it publicly however there is no need for such meetings. To write and make false statements and spread rumors is not the job of a responsible journalist. In fact this could be grounds for a law suit in this country. I recommend you think twice before you make assumptions about individuals, spread lies and false propaganda and label individuals who have sacrificed a great deal to help bring about the rule of law and democracy to Iran so that people like you can write without being persecuted. Mr. Ganji cannot be branded by anyone for anything. I think he has proven himself, his intentions and his sacred goal to the people of Iran and the world. Please refrain from making any such accusations, for I would then conclude that you are the mouthpiece of the Islamic Republic which in the past 28 years has done nothing except to send the best sons and daughters of this land to jail without due process of law and then label them as agents , working in the interest of foreign and western powers. It is getting old now!! Read and read and read historyIn response to Siamak Kiarostami's "Moral and humanitarian disaster": Thank you for having the courage to discuss this issue openly. I think after the Mearsheimer/Walt paper ("The Israeli Lobby and US Foreign Policy"), the threat of that anti-semitism label being placed on anyone critical of Israel is slowly but surely being diluted. Norman Finklestein also wrote a great book discussing just that issue: Beyond Chutzpah: Overuse of Anti-Semitism ... . Indebted to the white manIn response to Javad Fakharzadeh's "Fighting terrorism since 1492": Ironically, Javad Agha, was it not for the same (white man) terrorism against the red Indians, you and millions of others wouldn't have had the opportunity to work in the US or become an American citizen! Taraneh ShokouhiBonjour. Je cherche depuis des années, une amie très chère qui était avec moi au lycée Razi au nom de Taraneh Shokouhi. Merci de me donner des nouvelles, si vous en avez. Tell them how proud we areIn response to Sudabeh Siavashan's "Selling out to sell a book" & Yalda Hakimian's "Shame on you": I read the two articles in Iranian with such surprise and confusion [See ] . For a moment, I couldn't believe what two of my fellow Iranians were saying. Were they really attacking Persis Karim and a group of most sensitive and brave fellow Iranian women for their work in Let me Tell You Where I've Been? One of them screams "Shame on You" and the other one picks up where the other leaves and goes on a long-winded tirade of insults. Some of the others who have replied to these articles have already pointed out the embarrassing fact that neither of the two "critics" seem to have read the book in question, so I won't go into that subject any further. I would like to point out that this book is a collection of work by a group of women who have one thing in common: their love and interest in Iran, its culture, and its values, as quirky and unreasonable as we all know some of those values to be. These Iranian women have taken the time and heart to write about experiences which have formed and shaped their lives in America. In doing so, they convey such courage, beauty, love, and pain. Reading their work makes me proud to be an Iranian. In their effort I find such love and humanity that I would love to invite each and every one of them into my home to be my friend and to tell me more about what they have written so poignantly about in their poems or stories. Though I doubt the sweeping accusation that all of these women were from wealthy families is true, I don't have any jealousy towards the ones who may have attended Iran Zamin or whose fathers may have had property or positions under the Shah. None of that makes them wealthy in my eyes. The stories they have, though, and their courage and pride in telling them, make them wealthy in my eyes and I want to know more about each and every one of them. Contrary to the unfair attacks made on the contributors, those who actually read this book will see many protests to the violation of human rights in Iran. I think just because in a promotional interview a contributor cannot talk like a political activist, doesn't mean that they she is not a good writer or that she doesn't have a worthwhile story to tell. Who says a writer must also be an excellent public speaker or a political activist who can talk fast on her feet? Certainly none of the two critics gave me the impression that they are either good writers or of sound political judgment in the articles they wrote. Shame on you is hardly what these women and particularly Persis Karim deserves. In my opinion, we should all tell them how proud we are of them and to encourage them to write more and to share it with us. As readers and potential critics of such works of literature, we must also learn to curb a potential desire to be cruel and vindictive in our criticism. After all, haven't most Iranians fled Iran after the revolution just to protest the same lack of tolerance and respect for those who might think differently from those in power? Let's celebrate the freedom a democracy affords us in expressing our opinions without disrespecting and insulting others' opinions. Nazy Kaviani Dishonest analysisIn response to Meir Javedanfar's "Iran's Lebanese blunder": Regarding Mr Javedanfar's claim that it is "almost certain" that Iran instigated the current conflict between Israel and Lebanon: Leaving aside the ambiguity of "almost certainties", MrJavedanfar conveniently forgets to mention that Israel's assault on Lebanon had been planned long ago: "More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations, on an off-the-record basis, to U.S. and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail." Mr Javedanfar should also note that other more objective analysts have dismissed these sorts of claims which seek to shift the blame of Israel's aggression on Iran, as mere fiction: "There is no evidence that [Iran] dominates the Hezbollah or has more control than Syria. ... Until there are hard facts, Iran's role in all of this is a matter of speculation, and conspiracy theories are not facts or news." Secondly, Israel's intentional targeting of civilians is not a VEVAK disinformation campaign as independent UN officials have openly castigated Israel for committing war crimes -- and CNN has shown all that needs to be seen about the destruction of civilian infrastructure, including milk factories in Lebanon. In fact, an analyst writing in the New York Times has characterized Israel's intentional targetting of civilians as a means to "punish" the Lebanese population: "Israel is gambling that the right strategy is to make the people who elected Hamas and a government that includes Hezbollah reckon the costs of their representatives' recklessness. That is why Israel has targeted not only Hezbollah leaders and strongholds but has also bombed infrastructure that sustains daily life for everybody in Lebanon. From Israel's standpoint, this is no longer a fight with nonstate terrorists who are holding their fellow citizens hostage to their tactics. It is, rather, war between Israel and countries that are pursuing (or tolerating) violent policies endorsed (or at least accepted) by their electorates." It is hoped that those who presume to speak on behalf of Iran and characterize themselves as Mideast analysts should not be so dishonest in their analysis, and failing that, they should at least not discount the intelligence of their readers so readily. Ants winIn response to Meir Javedanfar's "Iran's Lebanese blunder": Please unless you dont currently work for Iranian or Israeli intelligence don't write your article as though it was fact. What I think happened is that there was currently a lotta chit chat in malls between Israelis Lebanese and Persians for months now about 82 n 83 and how Hezbollah F'd them with Sepah support, you know how men gossip. So anyways two guerillas probably saw some Israeli soldiers getting stoned and shook'em down... The probably drunk Isreali general wanted to bomb the women in children so that the men become fearful and drop there guns... didn't happen... so they sent comandos... got nowhere then they invaded. I guess Israel isnt enough... they are movin' on up to the nice plussshhhh hills of Lebnon... Just because half a century is passed since zionists occupied Palestinian lands by the force of guns, it doesn't mean now they're legitimate. If anyone feels sorry about Israelis it's because of 2,000,000 Jews who have moved there to have their own stolen country and live in it happily, but other than United States and few of Western countries worried about their image, the rest of world has not forgotten how Israel became Israel. Israel owns that land just as much as Americans own Hawaii and Alaska. If this is the jungle and the lion with big teeth and paws wins, then so be it, let's scratch each other and see what happens. My guess is, ants win. Maybe not now, not even tomorrow, but world has this perfect balance that makes the right always win over wrong, long-term. Hezbollah and the regime in Iran are by-products of these "wrongs" on Earth. The 2 wrongs being 2500-year dictatorship of kings in Iran and the occupied land named Israel. This doesn't make them "right" but they are masses who are trying to right the wrong (and sometimes these masses can make a mess trying, themselves! ) Only enemies would encourage attacing IranIn response to Jerry Quill's "Middle East peace made easy": Puting this article on this site, sounds like the Iranian traitors blowing the Neocon's horns, which we see a lot of, these days. Only the enemies of Iran, and Iranian traitors would encourage an enemy to attack Iran. Putting such article on an Iranian site sounds like supporting such an idea. No justification for Israel to continue its killing and destructionIn response to Leila Farjami's "Feeding the fire": Thank you for echoing the feelings of so many people who are outraged by this unjustifiable war unleashed on the people of Lebanon. The approval of so many western countries of this murderous war is unbelievable. There is no justification for Israel to continue its killing and destruction campaign. We need an immediate ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to end the conflict. Killing civilians must stop! Peace only through dialogueIn response to Joseph Milani's "Labeling as a way out of a complex conflict": Mr. Milani -- Solve Iran-U.S. disputeIn response to Shalom Deen's "Comparing Israel to Hitler utterly outrageous": Dear Mr. Deen, I saw you response on Iranian.com and felt compelled to respond this particular comment, "I've often wanted to believe that the majority of Iranians do not harbor the racist, anti-semitic, fanatical Islamist positions of the current Iranian government. But articles such as those by Ms. Farjami leave me with little hope." Please read this. Please don't make such insulting comments about any people you hardly know. Also remember, within every group of people, there are extremest (Jews, Persians, Americans, French etc.). Does Le Pen (the right-wing extremist) in France represent ALL French people? Does the Neo-Nazis in Germany represent all Germans? Do the Mullahs represent all Iranians? Also, you don't really grasp that Iran doesn't really care about the Arabs or the Jews. You think Israel has been fighting the Arabs for a long time. Why don't you look at Persian history! And guess who Iran has never fought? The Jews! Persians and Jews are both greatly outnumbered by Arabs in the region and therefore (in the long term) they make obvious strategic allies. So why is Iran so against Israel currently? Anti-Semitism? NO! Do they love the Palestinians? NO! (FYI, the Palestinians fought against the Iranians during the Iran-Iraq war; AND GUESS WHO WAS ONE OF THE FEW COUNTRIES THAT SUPPORTED IRAN DURING THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR? ISRAEL!!! So what is the reason? This is fundementally a conflict between America and Iran. Solve this dispute and Israel and Iran will no longer be "at war".... NEED PROOF? "Just after the lightning takeover of Baghdad by U.S. forces three years ago, an unusual two-page document spewed out of a fax machine at the Near East bureau of the State Department. It was a proposal from Iran for a broad dialogue with the United States, and the fax suggested everything was on the table -- including full cooperation on nuclear programs, acceptance of Israel and the termination of Iranian support for Palestinian militant groups " How to save IslamIn response to Guive Mirfendereski's "The vulgar American": Mr. Mirfendereski portrays the Bahai religion as a great Shiite achievement (Something that Bahais would disagree with and Shiites would disagree with violently). He also seems to think that when someone says, "cut this shit out" he actually means "Cut this Shiite out". This maybe strange to the uninitiated but this clearly comes from the unusual obsession the Shiites leaders have had about shit. A large part of every Ayatollah's Towzih Al-Masael (PHD theses) is dedicated to the study of shit. They cover complex topics such as: What kind of shit is dirty, how to detect shit (visually, Olfactorily, or through flavor), how much shit will make you dirty, how to clean your ass from shit, how to shit, in what direction to shit, whether to shit facing or with back to Qibla, sun and the moon, how long can one take to shit, what to say when you are shitting, whether to eat or drink while shitting, whether or not to cover head while shitting, with which hand to clean the shit, with what foot enter the shithouse, with what foot to exit the shithouse, whether to shit facing the wind; or on the road side, or in lanes, or in front of a doors of a house or under the shade of the fruit-yielding tree... Mr. Mirfendereski claims that the Shiites reformed Islam the way Protestants reformed Christianity. In some ways he is right. Shiites attempted to reform Islam. It took a few centuries but they were able to shift the focus of their Islam from waging murderous Jihad on the world to shit. That is how Ayatollah Khomeini initially started his clerical life too, by focusing on shit. But alas he lost his way and ruined it all by focusing on Koran, the life of Mohammad and Jihad. We have seen the results. The only way to save Shiites is to refocus on the shithouse, literally. If this fails we will all be in it. Baha'i faith not a sect of Shi'ismIn response to Guive Mirfendereski's "The vulgar American": I have read many of Guive Mirfendereski's articles and find it surprising that in this article he claims that "Shi'ism can count among its sects the progressive Ismailiyya, the Bahai...". The Baha'i Faith is not a sect of Shi'ism, but an independent religion, as its followers are not followers of Muhammad nor do they live by the ordinances of the Koran. Bahai's are followers of Baha'u'llah, who is believed to be the latest of God's manifestations in a process characterized as progressive revelation. While they believe in the divine station of Muhammad, they also believe that Abraham, Krishna, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Chirst, and the Bab were all divine messengers of God. More specifically, the relationship between the Baha'i Faith and Islam is the same as that of Christianity to Judaism, in that it was born within a society that was Shiite Moslem. (see www.bahai.org) Mr. Mirfendereski's characterization of the Baha'is is an indication that despite his profession, his studies in this regard cannot be regarded as informed. While most Iranians have heard about the Baha'is, through the milieu of family and society, few are actually informed through independent investigation. Inside Iran, the options for independent investigation may be limited, but such is not the case for the Iranian Diaspora living outside of Iran. Could this lack of desire to investigate the Baha'i Faith be the result of the "seeds" of bias planted in many Iranians at a young age? For regardless of education or skills in the scientific method , objective knowledge of the Baha'i Faith, appears to be not limited by lack of access to multiple sources of information. In closing, I would like to thank Mr. Mirfenderenski for highlighting a question that needs individual reflection. The response to this question will ultimately define and perhaps resolve the crisis of identity that multiple generations of Iranians face today. Mr. Islamboli is an Iranian patriotIn response to Bruce Roshanravan's "New standard in arrogance and betrayal of ones own nation": Dear Mr. Roshanravan, Your labeling of Mr. Islamboli as an arrogant betrayer of his own nation is very puzzling. I don’t think you are being Roshan-fekr when it comes to Mr. Islamboli’s comments. Mr. Islamboli’s comments with regards to Iran’s achievements as compared to Israel’s achievements are limited to Iran as a modern nation. We all know the greatness of the Persian empire with Cyrus & Darius. We all love the poetry of Omar Kayam, Ferdosi and Hafez. We all love the voices of great classical performers like Shajarian & Sima Bina. We are all proud that Shirin Ebadi has received a Nobel Peace prize. I believe that every Iranian on this site is proud of their Persian heritage/culture. However, I don’t think that every Iranian on this site is proud of Iran as a nation state. Please list Iran’s achievements in the past century as a modern nation state and lets see how much we have to be proud of Iran. Please list them for us. I have a list of Iranian achievements in the past century for you: 1) The majority of great doctor’s and scientists you talk about have left the country ( I do admit that there are great scientist in Iran as evidenced by the nuclear program but we are using this great brain power that is left in Iran to give the mullahs nuclear weapons which is a complete waist of resources and energy) 2) The world (not just the US & Israel) considers Iran as a terrorist exporter and supporter 3) We can all, as Iranian’s, be proud of our Islamic style democracy. The Veyalateh Faqih (Mr. Khamenei today) and the Council of Gaurdian’s can single handedly choose who runs for the presidency, who is fit enough to run for Majlis; and as a notion of fairness we have one Jew, one Christian and one Zarosterian to represent their groups in this great Majlis. 4) Iran can not refine the majority of its oil and has to send it out. Even though Iran is the 4th largest oil producer in the world, it has to ration oil because of its refining capacity. 5) Iran’s major exports other than oil are pistachios, saffron, rugs and donkeys. Yes Donkeys. Khar is one of our major exports 6) You talk about the declaration of Human rights by Cyrus the great- What about today? What about Mr. Akbar Ghanji’s human rights? What about those woman who were brutally beaten last month in Tehran? What about the Bahais? What about Human rights in Iran today? Please see Iran’s Human Rights record on Amnesty International: 7) Iran’s unemployment rate (go look at the reports on internet) 8) Iran’s economy (go look at the reports on internet) 9) Iran’s judicial system (go look at the reports on the internet) 10) Iran’s freedom of press (we all know what happened there) I think Mr. Islamboli is an Iranian patriot because he is not blinded by his Persian heritage and does not defend Iran at any price as a consequence Additionally, Mr. Islamboli did not call anyone an Anti-Semite as you claim. He was just questioning this crazy obsession Iranians have with Israel and the moral equivalency people try to make between Israel’s actions and the Nazis. It is perfectly OK to critisize Israel and her actions but comparing it to what the Nazis did just kills the validity of any justified critisizim. Everyone here should remember that the turban heads in Iran who say they hate Israel so much were willing to put Zionisim aside for a while and conveniently forget the Palestinians and purchase weapon’s from Israel during the Iran/Iraq war. Potato photographyIn response to Jahanshah Javid's "Highs & lows": Nice job. I prefer it when there is some writing on the pictures because then I get a flavor of the time and place. Amsterdam looks interesting, but if I had to deal with such distance, I'd rather go somewhere exotic that hasn't even heard of potato chips! Baaese nange tamaame IranianIn response to Hossein Hajiagha's cartoons: Hajiaghaa,
>>> More July 2006 letters Part 2 -- Part 1 |