Letters
Dec 7-11, 1998 / Azar 16-20, 1377
Today
* Immigrant: Can we accept
the fact?
Previous
* Soroush: It should
be remembered
* Marriage: Finally!
* Kerman: I wish I could
go
* Lost & found: Purposely
lost
* Politics: Where are the
"strategic thinkers" now?
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Friday,
December 11, 1998
* Can we accept immigrant status?
I would like to discuss an issue which has been somewhat problematic
for me and I like to see how other Iranians living abroad and particularly
in the U.S. deal with it. The fact is that after living in the U.S. for
almost 30 years I have not been able to fully Americanize myself and, as
they say, melt in the pot. I do not know whether the problem is they way
I look or my accent or maybe my name, but in either case, I still have
not been able to divorce myself completely from the land where I was born.
Should I even want to do that?
I still follow all the news and events happening in Iran very carefully.
I see a lot of other Iranian immigrants having similar problems, those
who came before the revolution and got their degrees stayed here and never
went back, and those who came after 1979. The picture that they have in
their mind is the Iran of 25 years ago. They cannot fully grasp the changes
that has been taken place. Those who came after the revolution in search
of a better life cannot let go of Iran in their minds and hearts. I wonder
if we ever will.
I guess the big question is: Can Iranians accept being immigrants? like
Italians or the Irish or so many other groups that have come to U.S. and
have, more or less, melted in the pot. Maybe it is too soon to tell or
perhaps our rich culture and ancestry prohibit us from accepting the immigrant
life-style and always yearning to go back.
Masood Rad
masood@eatel.net
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Thursday
December 10, 1998
* It should be remembered
Although it is nice to see Mr. Soroush also joining the ranks of the
disenchanted ["Beyond
words"], it should be remembered that at the begining of the revolution
he was one of its great advocates and tried to give it a respectable face.
He mercilessly criticized people of other convictions in radio and television
and held high office. How sad that we now forget and again give him room
to speak on the same platform as those that he oppressed with his views.
D. Nikkhah
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* Finally!
I am so happy that finally somebody is explaining marriage laws in Iran
to Iranian men abroad ["Tonboon-e
faati"]. I don't think they have the right to criticize a mother
who is thinking of nothing but her daughter's future. I wish there were
more parents like that. As a wife and a mother, I thank you.
Nana Farshad
nana_farshad@hud.gov
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Wednesday
December 9, 1998
* I wish I could go
Thanks very much for sharing those beautiful pictures from Kerman! I now
wish I could afford (both time and money) to visit Iran. I have always
heard interresting things about the mountains there.
If you'd like to look, I have some pictures from my
home state of California (USA) on my web page.
Tom Kenney
tkenney@bearcomp.com
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Tuesday
December 8, 1998
* Purposely lost
On the "Where
on Earth" stuff, could you ask that people who do know where someone
is just tell that person that they are being searched out and give them
the name and phone/e-mail of the seeker?
There are people, especially women, who are purposely lost, escaping
abuse. Whether you take my suggestion or not, I hope you take it seriously.
In the wrong hands, this wonderful and needed resource can be just too
easy.
C.D.
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Monday
December 7, 1998
* Where are the "strategic thinkers" now?
The tragic murder of Dr. Daryoush Foruhar and Mrs. Parvaneh Foruhar
did not get any reaction from all those highly-educated "strategic
thinkers" who regularly post their opinions on various issues concerning
"Democratic openings" under Khatami and his "Dovom-e Khordad
Miracle"!
It is indeed curious that those Iranian intellectuals, artists, professors,
politicians, journalists, and what have you who are trigger-happy when
it comes to condemning egg-trhowings at ex-hostage-taker-killer-of-political-prisoners-now-turned-into-democrats,
are silent on this criminal murder!
Why? Because this is how you can play a double role in exile: you can
play the role of a democrat who is for "dialogue" even with the
likes of Assadollah Lajevardi; and at the same time, you can float in the
heavens as a "strategist" who thinks in much bigger terms such
as the "future of Iranian nation, of oil, of ping-pong diplomacy,
of dialogue between civilizations" and a host of other such "khar
rang kon" issues.
In short, these "democratic intellectual stategists" have
bigger fish to fry than to care about the murder of the likes of Foruhars!
Hafez said: chon nadidand haqiqat, rah-e afsaaneh zadand! (because they
could not see the truth, they turned to fables!)
Roshanravan
roshanravan@excite.com
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