Thursday
Nov 5, 1998
dAyi Hamid
... GO TO FEATURE
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Wednesday
Nov 4, 1998
Iran-U.S.
19 years later
Rally in front of former U.S. embassy shows shift toward
domestic issues
Posted on Columbia University's Gulf2000 academic listserve by an
observer in Tehran:
Today (November 2, 1998), there was a demonstration and rally in Tehran,
organized by the leftist Islamist student group called Unity Consolidation
Office [Daftar-e Tahkim-e Vahdat], commemorating the 19th anniversary of
the U.S. Embassy takeover. The event was announced in the Salam newspaper
a couple days ago and also in the posters on the walls in the universities
and streets en route.
The organizers were the leftist activists. The group's origin goes back
to the so-called Students in the Imam's Line [Daneshjouyan-e Peyro Khat-e
Imam], i.e. those who took over the U.S. Embassy 19 years ago. Judging
from the slogans they shouted, however, many of the participants were more
enthusiastic in expressing their support for President Khatami, than their
opposition to the U.S. In other words, the event was significant mainly
in terms of domestic politics here, i.e. as a demonstration and rally in
support of the Khatami administration... GO TO FEATURE
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Iran-U.S.
From confrontation to modus vivendi?
Iran-U.S. relations 19 years after the hostage crisis
November 4, 1998
The Iranian
Lecture by Hooshang Amirahmadi, Rutgers University
professor and president of the American-Iranian Council at the Graduate
Institute for Strategic and International Security Studies in Geneva, Switzerland,
October 12-13, 1998:
I wish to begin with the proposition that U.S.-Iran relations have entered
into an irreversible normalization process: the question is no longer if
but when.
As many of you know, several openings in the past were reversed leading
to an exacerbation of the spiral conflict between the two governments.
We are of course in the beginning of a very protracted process and surprises
of a positive or negative consequence for the relations in both sides,
in the side of Iran in particular, should not be discounted. Nonetheless,
I believe, the future will witness more reduction in tension between the
two countries. Where do we stand in the normalization process is hard to
tell as contradictory signals and policies in both sides make a determination
complicated... GO TO FEATURE
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Tuesday
Nov 3, 1998
Identity
How to become an American
...with just minutes of practice a day
By Iraj
I have been an Iranian for 60 years. I'll try something else for the
next 20 years. I'll try to be an American. A North American, I mean.
As an American, I'll speak English fluently. I'll make American
linguistic mistakes instead of Iranian mistakes and I'll call it slang.
As an American, I'll have a credit card or two. I'll use and
misuse them and I'll have to pay the fees. I'll apply for other cards right
away.
As an American, I'll buy a car -- a Great American Car -- but
it will use too much gasoline, so I'll sell it and buy a smaller German
car, because it is reliable and doesn't use as much fuel. Later I'll sell
it and buys a smaller Japanese car equipped with a computer. Then I'll
sell it and buy a camper to enjoy the outdoors and the open space. I'll
sell the camper and buy a bicycle because it will not pollute the air.
As an American, I'll buy a dog, a cat, a goat, a white whale
and some big stones as pets and adopt a pot hole or two... GO
TO FEATURE
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Monday
Nov 2, 1998
Cover story
The education of Mahdiyeh
From bubblegum to Bahais
By J. Javid
November 2, 1998
The Iranian
A few weeks ago I was talking to my daughter Mahdiyeh on the phone.
She lives with her mother in Tehran and I'm in Washington, DC. I said,
"Mahdiyeh...?" and before I asked my question, she said, "Jaanam..."
I paused for a moment.
She used an expression that's usually heard between adults. Generally
the English equivalent would be, "Yes dear," or "Yes love."
More often adults say it to children as a show of affection. Or when they
grow up, children say it to their parents when their name is called out.
Mahdiyeh will turn 16 next month. And I guess she has grown quite a
bit since I last saw her three years ago. Just recently she told me she
had cut her hair.
- "How short?"
- "Very short."
- "How very short? Like Sinead O'Connor?"
- "Who's Sinead O'Connor? I barely have any hair left. I sort of
look like Maddonna when she had short hair." ... GO TO FEATURE
