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The Reawakening
30-Mar-2011
Islam, a monotheistic, albeit multi-sectarian and ethnically diverse religion emerged in the western Arabian Peninsula, formerly called Hijaz, in 7th century BCE, i.e., 600 years after Christianity. Islam was the driving impetus for progress and domination in its first five hundred years of existence, but has been inwardly dormant, due in part to mysticism and European awakening, since the 12th century. As evidenced by the lingering struggle for technological modernizations (and not necessarily Hollywood style westernization) and religious and cultural reformations in Iran and Turkey in particular since the mid 19th century, and further, as influenced by the rapid proliferation of electronic communications, social media and the widening gap between the majority disenfranchised poor and the select rich elites, the people in the so called Middle East (Southwest Asia and North Africa) have re-awakened to once again take hold of their own sovereign destinies and to play the critical role expected of them domestically and in the family of nations.
The current grassroots uprising against the theocratic scrooges or autocratic puppets and their hegemonic linchpins, spanning from North and the horn of Africa, to Southeast Asia supports such a re-awakening paradigm. The fundamentalist crypto-theocracy has also remained an impending predicament in several countries against the organic aspirations of the masses yearning to establish the rule of law, security and sovereignty, modernity, justice and equality, transparency, equality, and peace.
In Iran for instance, the 2,500 year old absolute monarchy was finally replaced with a modern constitutional monarchy by 1906 revolution, which again was by and large violated blithely by the Pahlavi kings. This led to the revolution of 1979 which was hijacked by Shiite clerics and politicized theocracy that has only become ubiquitous since the Safavid Dynasty of 1500’s. As a result, most people’s aspirations have remained unfulfilled. Paradoxically, the subversive instigations by the Neoconservatives of the far right in the west, and as manifested for instance by the recent propaganda movie IRANUM, has only rationalized the tightening of the grip of power against the people in Iran and the rest of the region.
The rapidly growing Islamic world spanning from Southeast Asia to Northwest Africa, is currently comprised of over 1.5 billion inhabitants, i.e., 25% of the world population. Approximately 350 millions of them are classified as the Arab world; however, this designation is somewhat misleading and not as monolithic as perceived by the west naïveté. Although Arabic, one of the Semitic languages of the Aramaic family (which includes Hebrew, Assyrian and Coptic), is spoken in 22 of the 55 so-called Islamic countries, the actual Arabs, more united by the use of the language rather than by their distinct ethnicity or creed is perhaps half their declared population. The Arabs are those whose origin is from the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. The North Africans, especially the Egyptians, and the Iraqis/Syrians/Lebanese are not Arabs per se; however, they have adopted an “Arab” common culture and language throughout the past 1,500 years. The Iranians are most definitely not Arabs and are of Indo-European “Persian” lineage.
Amongst the predominantly Muslims and the Arabs in this region, there are still distinct historical cultural/religious groups of Christians and Jews, as typified by millions of émigrés in diaspora to the west, Israel and Armenia, and the millions of Copts in Egypt and the Armenians of the Indo-Persian stock and the Assyrians in Iraq. The non-Arab Persians of Iran, Afghanistan, Azarbaijan and Tajikistan, and the multi-ethnic Turkey have a significant number of other religions; Armenian and Assyrian Christianity, Baha’ism, Judaism and Zoroastrianism are eminently present. In fact, Iraq with its close historical, non-Arab ethnic and cultural ties with Iran is comprised more of the Persians due to its 65% Shiites (many originally from Iran) and 25% Kurds than its Arabs (Sunni) minority of no more than 15%.
Fareed Zakaria’s retrospectives on the past 1,000 years of history of the so-called [Muslims and Arabs] in Middle East, albeit more appropriately referred to as merely Southwest Asia and North Africa is indeed insightful.
Zakaria is correct to state that although the region was enlightened and prosperous through the eleventh century, it all of a sudden went into a state of reactive ambivalence and inward dormancy for the subsequent millennium. This inward dormancy coincided with the Magna Carta of 1215 in Europe (the commencement of the Europeans crawling out of the dark ages which bore fruits 300 years later in the Renaissance) and the emergence of Islamic mysticism and the invasion of the East Roman Empire. This was followed by invasions of the Mongols, the Persians, the Ottoman Turks, and finally the European colonialists (mainly the British and later the Americans) in the 18th through the early 20th centuries for oil, gas and natural resources. And so, now in 2011 we may have the first reawakening of the Arab/Muslim word after nearly 1,000 years. Again, although there are as many as 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide (about fifty millions in the west alone), only less than 350 million of them, roughly 20% are Arabs bound with a common language and not necessarily with common race or ethnicity. And among the Arabs, there are still distinct historical cultural/religious groups of Christians and Jews, as typified by millions of émigrés in diaspora to the west and Israel, the millions of Copts Christians in Egypt, the Armenian and the Assyrian Christians in Iraq, and Zoroastrians, the Jews, Christians and Baha’is in Persian Iran.
As evidenced by three decades of failed totalitarian rule of Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, the unpopular and undemocratic political pro-western autocrats and/or the fundamentalist [Islamic] theocrats in the Near East have remained rather ubiquitous for too many decades. The current rapid development which was finally pluralized due to socio-economic and political impasse, removal of subsidies and austerity budgets, and continued repression of human rights, was inextricably inevitable. This reform movement will undoubtedly be reverberated, emulated and intensified through this region and beyond for years to come. The current uprising of the populace in Bahrain, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Yemen, Algeria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the non-Arab Persian Iran is just the tip of an iceberg.
Continued unequivocal support for the ruling tyrants from the west (in particular the U.S.) rationalized by the [oil] strategic stability doctrine circumvented the genuine organic aspirations of the indigenous peoples for freedom, democracy, justice and equity in the region. This has had paramount ramifications, including the compromise on the long-term interests of the U.S., since World War II. The ubiquitous social e-media and ease of e-communications have truly made a decentralized e-democracy paradigm possible for all.
In fact, mass repression of political dissent in the region intensified when the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, Dr. Mohammad Mosadegh was violently overthrown in 1953 by a CIA covert insurgency to reinstate the Shah, the absolute peacock throne timid monarch that had previously fled the country. Iran under its elected leadership, through a favorable verdict in the International Court in The Hague, had nationalized its natural resources, but this was unacceptable to the Anglo-American oil consortium.
The puppet dictators in the region, with carte blanche, i.e., military and intelligent support from the west/U.S., have always exploited the boogie man diversion schemes such as communism, Islamism, nationalism, anarchism, ethnicism, etc. as a means of repressing their nationals through imprisonment and torture, summary and mysterious disappearances and executions, and pushing the oppositions underground or into exile. There are currently in excess of one hundred million nationals from the Near Eastern regions, mostly of affluent and, or highly educated statures, who have [involuntarily] emigrated and settled in the European and the American continents since the mid-fifties.
And according to the colonial practice of “divide to conquer and rule“, there are also local puppet lackeys within every country, and linchpins within and beyond every nation in the region who resort to exploiting the ethnic and religious divergences to serve their own ulterior motives, greed, power, and absolute control.
Amongst all auto-theocratic establishments in the region, the Saudi “royal’ family comprised of 60,000 self promoting egotistical clan members, remnants of 1932 first time ever government, remains unrivaled due to its exclusive collection of trillions of dollars of wealth and absolute power. Most terrorists on September 11, 2001 and many terror incidents that have occurred since then have been committed and financed by the Sunni (Vahabi-Salafi) sect members, many of whom are from the Royal family of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi regime is only tolerated by its own citizens through its chronic repressions and violations of human rights, especially against up to its 25% Shiite second class serf citizens. It also creates pseudo-legitimacy for itself through hand outs to less impoverished regimes and radical groups (Al-Qaida) in the region, while giving lucrative oil contracts, and purchasing outdated military hardware from the west. The Saudi regime has built a rather sophisticated propaganda and public reactions infrastructure especially for swaying the public opinion in the west. After all excessive expenditures, their annual budget surplus of nearly $150 billion dollars has recently led to the biggest purchase of military hardware from the U.S. in the amount of over $60 billion dollars. Such massive military capabilities have and will be more used to repress political and minority dissent within the country. For instance, Saudi Aramco, the metamorphism of the Anglo-American Oil Company in the Arabian Peninsula, has been in existence in one name or the other for nearly 100 years. It maintains one of the most costly and effective public relations [propaganda] and image building arms any conglomerate or a government could ever yearn for. Saudi Aramco World Magazine, has been produced, published and disseminated in Houston, Texas, U.S.A. since 1949.
Aramco World Magazine purports an egocentric agenda for the Saudi Arabian Sheikdom (formerly Hejaz till the early 20th century) under the pretext of Arab and/or Islamic Nationalism. Anchored on its vast financial resources as drawn from Aramco’s nearly 200 billion dollars of oil and gas revenues annually, the magazine relies on its large number of mostly British “freelance writers,” and Anglo-American editorial boards to generate its articles. Every single article printed or placed online is geared toward fabricating an Arab albeit Saudi Arabian cultural and historical identity, thereby giving the [falsely bogus] impression to a novice reader or a reader that whatever is presented was generated or contributed by the past generations of Saudi Arabians.
The so-called freelance (lucratively paid and exquisite living) authors, many with vested financial interest as employees or stakeholders at Aramco or with hefty remunerations for their “contributions”, are directed to focus on specific themes, but selectively and subjectively attribute contributions to world civilization (many discoveries of the distant past) retroactively to Saudi Arabians. As such, they convolute or discount the national heritage of others in the region portraying them all as the Arab, albeit the Sunni/Vahabi/Salafi historical heritage. The fact that the government of Saudi Arabia is basically a one clan family (sixty thousand cousins) auto-theocracy where its nearly 20% (fast approaching ten millions) Shiite population remain impoverished and non-existent, and that there is blatant violation of human rights (it ranks among the top three for the number of executions each year) and lack of democracy and individual freedom in Saudi Arabia, is immaterial to the Saudi Aramco World Magazine and the public relations arms of the “kingdom!”
The magazine, one of the many official publication organs of the Sheikdom of Saudi Arabia avoids the use of the historically accepted name, the Persian Gulf for instance, and instead resorts to the fabricated superficial misnomer Arabian Gulf. It very rarely gives credits to other nationalities like the Persians, the Jews, the Turks, the Indians, etc. and avoids their contributions or clumps them as Arab and Islamic contributions. For instance, by carefully reviewing a recent article titled, Roads of Arabia in the March/April 2011 issue of this self aggrandizing megalomaniac magazine, the reader’s attention is immediately drawn to a map of the region, where the name Saudi Arabia an many roads stretching across the continents by ending to it is prominently displayed. Again, Persian Gulf is wrongly named Arabian Gulf, and the names of many other countries including IRAN and Israel are not even printed!
For more evidence of journalistic and “freelance writing” adulteries, lease read the following two articles in the recent issues:
When on its surf engine, a search for Persia and Iran yields less than 300 hits. However if you search for Arab or Saudi, you will have more than 3000 hits! Let me once again suggest your reviewing the various article in the percent or past issues of the magazine here.
In summary, the paradigm shift for the indigenous peoples of the Near East, one after another, to reform themselves through education and socio-economic and religious reforms and empowerment is happening NOW. The commonality among the peoples of the region is their spiritual humanism, and cultural rituals and not sectarian or ethnic divides. The west should re-strategize to wind up in the end on the side of the peoples and not unpopular puppets. This will ultimately serve the much anticipated and far overdue interests of the sovereign nations in the region, while affording us in the west the benefit of the strategic stability and mutually beneficial and enhanced economic partnerships and cultural exchanges. Status quo or any other alternatives are doomed to catastrophic failure for all concerned beyond this historical juncture.
AUTHOR
Davood N. Rahni is a professor of chemistry in New York. He writes on affairs in the U.S, Near East, Iran, and the environment.
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Dear Afshin, history talks itself, no need for explanation
by Siavash300 on Tue Apr 05, 2011 09:40 AM PDT"
On July 16, 1952, Mosaddeq resigned after the shah refused to accept his nominatation for War Minister. Mosaddeq appealed to the general public for support, but Tudeh press continued to attack him, describing his differences with the shah "as merely one between different factions of a reactionary ruling elite."[26] It was only after the explosion of popular support for Mosaddeq in the street that "many rank-and-file" Tudeh party members "could see first hand Mosaddeq's popularity",[26] and came to his aid.
According to one observer:
although diverse elements participated in the July uprising, the impartial observer must confess that the Tudeh played an important part - perhaps even the most important part. ... If in the rallies before March 1952 one-third of the demonstrators had been Tudeh and two-thirds had been National Front, after March 1952, the proportions were reversed.[27]
The above statement has been written by central committe of Tudeh party backed Soviet Union. This is vivid document that shows how rapidly number of Tudeh members were increased after oil was nationalized.
Now, Mullahs contribution to our history is his sperms. They are promoting prostitutions by making Segheh from our sisters. One of them has 16 Segheh. C.I.A agents didn't mnake segheh, mullahs did it.
Mullahs and stinlky Islamic criminal gangs robbed our country and accomulated their money in Swiss and Canada banks. Look at this link.
//ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-421699
These are NOT C.I.A agents. These are Islamic bastards who destroyed our country and robbed our people for last 32 years.
Now, Iran would be like Libya or Iraq If and only IF people who are on payroll by these Islamic bastards would NOT take a side with their people. Only if they prefer to take a side of stinky mullahs. In this senario the story of Iraq and Libya will be repeated again. Now, it is our duty to assure them that their pay check would NOT be stopped once the regim change. In fact, Pay would be much better. Hope you don't think mullahs supporters are supporting stinky mullahs because they like their body odors. I am sure you know what I mean. Once they convince the pay would be better in our new establishment, the transition would be bloodless and smoth. The story of Iraq and Libya would happen. In addition, these people would be happier because they take a side with their own people, not on the side of half breed arab bastards so called Sayyed such as Ali Geda.
Sincerely,
Siavash
Siavash 300 Jaan
by Afshin Ehx on Mon Apr 04, 2011 12:59 PM PDTMark J. Gasiorowski is not the only author who has written on the 1953 coup. As I said in my earlier response, “lately, there has been a concerted effort to rewrite the history of the 1953 coup so that it would fit political platforms of saltanat-talabaan and America-talabaan in California and their fans inside Iran”. You can be an “honest” American, and still do things in order to help the U.S. pursue its imperial goals in the middle-east. A lot of people who work for CIA or other agencies that advance the interests of the Western powers are “honest” people. The drone pilots who kill civilians are also “honest” people. After killing a few innocent people as collateral, they come home, kiss their children, and pray to Jesus Christ before eating their dinner. There are a lot of Iranians who think or behave the same way in helping the empire. The CIA documents de-classified in the mid 1990s showed clearly that the U.S. and British intelligence service staged a coup and deposed the democratically elected government of Iran. It is that obvious. As I said in my earlier response, if you want to believe that the Western powers overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran because this was the wish of the Iranian people, or that they wanted to advance democracy in Iran that is your business: believe whatever makes you happy.
Also, if you think that the Vietnam War was about supporting democracy, or other imperial adventures of the U.S. in the post-WWII era were motivated by spreading democracy and freedom, believe these as well. (It is a wonderful world out there. Isn’t it? Just buy into the mindset and ideology of the empire, and all will turn out well in the world. And then we all will live happily ever after.)
Finally, you say: “things have been changed in 21 century. Nowadays no one is talking about colonization and slaverly. Those are old terms. New generation are concerned about "Freedom" and "democracy". Now the president of U.S is black man whose ancestors were once slaves in U.S. By seeing a black man as a president any rational person can see how U.S has been changed over the centuries.”
My response would be to say: believe this as well. It is obvious that it makes you happy. You are not the only one who is seduced by Obama. My only fear is that people who think as naively as you might become instrumental in bringing about a situation that could turn Iran into another Iraq or Libya, or worse, lead to the territorial disintegration of Iran.
Truth hurts dear Afshin Ehx
by Siavash300 on Mon Apr 04, 2011 09:37 AM PDTSeems you didn't read what I wrote for you in previous comment. I mentioned " you may read more about the event in work of Dian Goldsmith and Mark J. Gasiorowski".
These people are NOT Iranians and they are not Saltant talabaan. These are honest Americans who did indepth research about the event in 1953. Specially Mark Gasiorowski who has access to all presidential papers and document files. He has conclusive work on all these events. These people's views are with NO bias and prejudice. In fact, Mark Gasiorowski is not from California, he is professor at Louisiana state University in Louisiana. He has nothing to do with California and pro-shah people in California. Dian Goldsmith is also has none-bias view about the event in 1953. She clearly says that U.S intevention was part of their agenda of helping pro-democracy people around the world. Not always pro-democracy previal. For example, in Vietnam those forces defeated by communists. In last phase of battle over 600 military officers were executed by communists backed Soviet Union. In Angola, again pro-democracy forces were defeated. Fidel Castro sent troops in there fighting with pro-westerners. Look when left intefere no one speak out but once west interven eveybody keep talking about it. In Chili, pro-westerners got upper hand and defeatd left wings in 1973. In Afghanistan 1978 again pro-communist prevail over people who were pro-west and the county went under supervision of Soviet Union Union for 20 years. Now, it is your choice to open your eyes to the reality or choose to stay in your world and your fantasy.
"those who don’t know the history of the West’s adventures in the region in recent centuries, or to those who don’t understand the nature of colonial and imperial powers" Afshin Ehx
Yes, I do know the history of west and history of their colonies in Africa or some third world counties. Was Iran colony? how long Iran was colony of west and I didn't know. please indulge me if I am mistaking. As far as I know Iran has always been powerful nation especially during shah's days. Iran was dimond of Persian Gulf. Iranians were well respected around the world. We have over 5000 years civilalization and the beauty of our history is that over 5000 year we have never had any history of slaverly. Unlike west history I am proud my ancestors had never been slaves, neither they had ever been slave masters. No guilty conscious and no history of Nokari. We have never been colony of westerners. So why should I care about those history that my people has never been part of that history.
Secondly, things have been changed in 21 century. Nowadays no one is talking about colonization and slaverly. Those are old terms. New generation are concerned about "Freedom" and "democracy". Now the president of U.S is black man whose ancestors were once slaves in U.S. By seeing a black man as a president any rational person can see how U.S has been changed over the centuries.
Siavash
Siavash 300 Jaan
by Afshin Ehx on Sun Apr 03, 2011 12:18 PM PDTFirst, lately, there has been a concerted effort to rewrite the history of the 1953 coup so that it would fit political platforms of saltanat-talabaan and America-talabaan in California and their fans inside Iran. Some have gone as far as claiming that it was Dr. Mossadegh who had staged the coup, and the U.S. interfered to undo his coup!!!!????. You can believe whatever you choose. If you want to believe that most Iranians at the time were pro-Shah, or most Iranians feared Tudeh Party, and hence backed the U.S. intervention, it is your business. Believe whatever makes you happy.
Second, in your response, you engage in reasoning along the lines of common-sense thinking to the effect that if something benefits Iran, why should we care if it also benefits the U.S. This line of reasoning might sound convincing to those who don’t know the history of the West’s adventures in the region in recent centuries, or to those who don’t understand the nature of colonial and imperial powers and their motives. Colonial and imperial powers do not act or behave as honest partners. Rather, they dominate and use nations towards their own interests.
oh.... wait a minute buddy you're going so fast Afshin Ehx
by Siavash300 on Sat Apr 02, 2011 12:16 AM PDTEach establishment support their own sympathiziers. For example, Moe was supporting Paykar Organization inside Iran and Soviet was supporting their own sympathizers, means Tudeh party and westerners were supporting their allies such as shah and those who believe in democratic society in western style. Similary Islamic gang who occupied Iran were also supporting their own kind of people in southern Lebanon and Syria. That is normal.
Now, in 1953 during cold war we were witnessing rapid increasing number of Tudeh members. Iran were heading toward Soviet Union and became part of Soviet block. Pro-shah and pro-democracy were about to lose the battle to Soviet Union and their sympathizers. They needed support of their allies, means western block. Brits were weak to provide that help,but U.S could do it. Similary pro-communism were getting support from their allies, means Soviet Union. There was ongoing battle between these 2 major forces inside Iran and as you know pro-democarcy got upper hand. Now, how much the role of lampoons such as Shabaan Jafari was important is just a matter of guess. The main structure of society were pro-shah. I can assure you that even shabaan wouldn't interfer, the pro-shah forces would have been gotten upper hand. In any society lampons can't determine the destiny of the nation. Lampoons impact on history is very slim. History doesn't get structured around lampoons, it gets structured around deprived people who can't feed their families. Always remember each establishment look for the profit of their own people. They are not concern about foreign countries and what the people of those countries are thinking. Their own people comes first. They base their foreign policy on what is good for their own people. America, China, Russia and all other nations first care about their own people. Now, what is benefiting Iranians is important regardless of whatever U.S agenda is. Demolishing Tudeh party in 1953, bashing it's members benefited Iranians. Now, did it benefit American? Why we have to concern about that question? it benefited Iranians and that was important. Similary U.S intervention to overthrow mullahs benefits Iranians. Sure Iranians benefit mullahs get overthrown. Now is it benefit americans. May be yes, may be no. (for example in case of Iraq, it didn't benefit americans and brought debts to america, but it benefited Iraqis to get rid of tyranny of Saddm). who cares if it benefits America or not? what is important if it is good for Iranian. This is how we have to look at U.S intervention.
sincerely,
Siavash
Siavash 300
by Afshin Ehx on Fri Apr 01, 2011 07:26 PM PDTIn the first part of your response, you say:
U.S involvement in supporting pro-shah forces versus Mosaddeq and his followers were related to rapid influence of Soviet Union through Tudeh party.
Actually, here you prove my point that Western powers are not interested in the sovereignty of the people in the region. The U.S. overthrew the popularly elected government of Iran because the U.S. was engaged in the cold war against the Soviet Union. If the Iranians wanted Tudeh party, it was their business and not the U.S.’s. Yet, the U.S. did not care about what Iranians wanted because it had a bigger fish to fry---again, you proved my point. Thank you! Yes, there were pro-Shah forces in Iran, a small minority largely bought by cash and organized by people like Shabaan Beemogh, and a tiny minority of very wealthy Iranians whose interests were tied to England's. The Western powers interfered to overthrow a democratically elected and popular government, and put in its place a small minority which ruled Iranians through dictatorship. I guess this is what you call in the West “being on the side of the people” and respecting their national sovereignty.
In the second part of your paragraph, you spew hate, and propagandize for Obama. Yet, you fail to respond to my argument. Do you think Obama is genuinely interested in the sovereignty of the Iranian nation? Do you think he is on the side of the Iranian people?
Afshin Ehx and fantasy
by Siavash300 on Thu Mar 31, 2011 11:11 PM PDT"Western powers have no interest in being on the side of the people, or in respecting the sovereignty of the nations in the region. The overthrow of Dr. Mossadegh is a glaring example of this" AfshiEhx
U.S involvement in supporting pro-shah forces versus Mosaddeq and his followers were related to rapid influence of Soviet Union through Tudeh party. You were being misinformed my friend. you may read more about the event in work of Dian Goldsmith and Mark J. Gasiorowski. Mark Gasiorowski gives details account of the event. Yes, the barbaric republic of Iran violating human right and must go to dumpster of history, as the Taliban in Afghanistan did. There are certain values which are universal such as respecting human dignity. Stinky mullahs in Iran violate respect for human dignity by stoning people to death or lashing people in public like an animal. Obama mentioned about those universal values frequently in his speech. Time for overthrowing mullahs is tickling.
Reality Vs. Fantasy
by Afshin Ehx on Thu Mar 31, 2011 02:21 PM PDTThe author ends the article by suggesting that:
The west should re-strategize to wind up in the end on the side of the peoples and not unpopular puppets. This will ultimately serve the much anticipated and far overdue interests of the sovereign nations in the region, while affording us in the west the benefit of the strategic stability and mutually beneficial and enhanced economic partnerships and cultural exchanges.
This is rather a naïve and idealistic sentiment. The history of the region since the rise of colonialism has shown abundantly that Western powers have no interest in being on the side of the people, or in respecting the sovereignty of the nations in the region. The overthrow of Dr. Mossadegh is a glaring example of this. Moreover, the main problem of the Western powers with the Islamic Republic is not that they think IRI is a theocracy or it does not respect “human rights”, but primarily because it insists on its sovereignty, and shows no interests in acting like a puppet, or in taking orders from the West. It is time to wake up and stop fantasizing.
Excellent article
by Maryam Hojjat on Thu Mar 31, 2011 08:05 AM PDTabout current affairs. Thank you