Archive - Jan 2, 2009 - Article

A Tale of Two Lunatic Fringes

When I wrote “From Cordoba to Mumbai” criticizing Islamic terrorism and urging moderate Muslims to rise up in protest against shameful spectacles of Islamic terrorism, I fully expected to take flack from both the Islamist and anti-Islamic fringes. And, like clockwork, first the Keyhan gang of Tehran and then the anti-Islamic peanut gallery of the exile neverland have chimed in with the identical refrain, best summed up by one of my loyal detractors at the Iranian.com site: “Islam = Quran = Mohammad = Terrorism.” Usama Bin Laden could have produced that formula – indeed, his lieutenant, Ayman Al-Zawahiri occasionally does say things very close to that. But you could hear this very sentiment echoed in the studios of every neo-con-inspired shock jock and from the ringmasters of right wing radio from Rush Limbaugh to Michael Savage>>>

Root causes

Mr. Kazemzadeh details some terrorist attacks by Hezbollah and claims that I have attempted to “save” them from the designation of “terrorist”. I invite the reader to look at my definition of terrorism. There I specifically stated that terrorism is defined “independent of the identity of its perpetrators”. I made it perfectly clear: even Al-Qaidah, an undisputed terrorist organization may engage in non terrorist (paramilitary) activity (like its attack on USS Cole). Hezbollah of Lebanon, too, have attacked Israeli military convoys in southern Lebanon or the US Marine compound in Beirut. Those are not instances of terrorism, according to my definition, because their objectives were military in nature. Please notice that my discussion, unlike my critic’s, is precise and specific.>>>

The True Story

We have seen an unprecedented but expected propaganda attack against Israel in recent days going over to pure anti-semitic hatred every once in a while. Israel is being condemned for protecting her citizens against continuous rocket strikes and provocations by Hamas, and as usual being charged for "crimes" she has not committed. As the one-sided propaganda against Israel is being waged on all fronts, including on this website, it is important not to forget that there is another side to all this that is being deliberately ignored, silenced and covered up by the sheer amount of one sided attacks. >>>

We have to do it

The Free Gaza Movement (FG) aims to use the power of civil resistance (non-violent direct action) to physically break through the Israeli blockade of Gaza, in order to draw attention to the human catastrophe this siege has caused, and increase international pressure to shatter the siege once and for all. FG began in Lebanon, during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. A group of Lebanese and international activists formed an organization called the Civil Resistance Campaign, combining humanitarian projects in South Lebanon with political actions against the Israeli aggression and in support of Lebanese solidarity. After the bombing stopped in August 2006, Israel maintained a blockade against Lebanon for several weeks>>>

The good fortune

Two months ago I had an opportunity to see Claus Strigel’s film MOON SUN FLOWER GAME at the Iranian Film Festival in Chicago. It was a fascinating experience! I must admit that I have been deeply engaged and obsessed to learn about Hossein Mansouri's life -- a great poet living in Munich now-- since Forough Farrokhzad’s death. I wrote a review... then I decided to interview Claus... In 1962 the young poetess Forough Farrokhzad visited the lepers at the end of the earth to make a film about their world. Her film, “The House is Black”, was to become world famous, and, by and by, change a small world too: the world of a small boy who had the good fortune to meet her. >>>

The Land of Living

I see you walking past
wearing the news on your feet
words of wisdom as dust in the wind
bring no mircale
war continues through the streets of dark shadows playing guns taking land, building endless walls
No  pain counts, no views, no history, no beliefs, no faces of humans eating dust in the streets of disaster, >>>