Archive - Apr 2010 - Article

غیبت و ظهور

بینش تاریخی حكومت اسلامی مخلوطی است از سه عامل ناسازگار: برداشت خمینی از انقلاب، مفهوم نوین انقلاب و بینش کلاسیک شیعی از حرکت تاریخ. از خمینی شروع کنیم. وی تا وقتی كه هنوز گردونۀ انقلاب به حركت نیافتاده بود، از جمله در ولایت فقیهش، صحبت از «انقلاب سیاسی اسلام» میكرد ولی بعد مانند همه عبارت «انقلاب اسلامی» را پذیرفت و مورد استفاده قرار داد. تفاوت بین این دو عبارت كه كوچك مینمود و از دید بسیاری پنهان ماند، تفاوت بین دو بینش دوری و خطی تاریخ بود>>>

Fabricating news

In its desire to build citizen to citizen contacts as a prelude to promote official dialogues and ultimately establish a normal diplomatic and commercial relation with the U.S., the Iranian government threw its doors open on U.S. individuals and groups who appeared wanting to allay the differences between the two countries. Although the majority of the peace groups and activists who visited Iran were well-intentioned, there were quite a few who were motivated by the idea of supporting certain political trends against the Iranian government>>>

روز کارگر

یادم است وقتی دبیرستان می رفتیم، دبیری داشتیم که می گفتند افکار چپ دارد، هر از چند گاهی ساواک دستگیرش میکرد ولی دوباره سر وکله اش پیدا می شد. ریاضیات درس میداد. وقتی تازه از زندان آزاد می شد، همه اش مدح شاه را می گفت ولی کم کم که خاطرات زندان یادش میرفت، دوباره شروع میکرد آخر کلاس از اوضاع بد گفتن و انتقاد کردن. ما دیگر عادت کرده بودیم و یادم است که می گفتیم : دوباره واکسن یادآوری لازم دارد تا مجدداً تبدیل به آدمی شاه دوست گردد. بر خلاف اغلب چپ های دو آتشه ایرانی آن دوران، با استالین بد بود. >>>

Sherlock Holmes' Daughter (4)

I double checked my voice mail and found the school principal’s message. Finally, after days of trying to get a hold of someone at my daughter’s school to grumble about her verbal scores, someone had bothered to reply. I wondered if the school would have bothered to return my call at all if she hadn’t done whatever she was supposed to have done. “Test scores are the least of her problems right now,” the principal barked. She sounded furious. “I’d like to discuss the smaller problems first, “ I said. “About the test scores…” >>>

شب سرود

به فانوس و شمع
عادت مکن
که قامت عشق
ازاین روزنه ها
.نتواند گذشت >>>

Come along to Hong Kong

When we got there it was cloudy. I could hardly see the peaks standing tall all around the airport. It was exciting. The girl helped us take our suitcases to our ride. I offered her ten US dollars, which is over 70 HK dollars. It’s a lot of money. She refused! The ride was smooth and the driver was speaking non stop about how he hates the Chinese government and that they live like Western people in Hong Kong. He said that China’s policy wouldn’t work. I asked what he meant by that, “Nothing, China is not democratic like Hong Kong”. I thought that I needed to learn more about Hong Kong>>>

Fault-Lines and Hem-Lines

Boobquake was rightly making a mockery of a comment made by a moronic cleric in the Islamic Republic. Brainquake’s - HEY EVERYBODY WE HAVE BRAINS! – project is further unpalatable because of its pandering to a challenge that women should not even be engaged in; we should not have to sell ourselves and our accomplishments, we should not have to sell our boobs or our brains; if after more than a century of struggle for our inalienable rights we are still shouting these banal and insipid statements as women - perhaps it is us and our movement that needs a shaking at the core, and not mother earth>>>

War propaganda, Obama style!

The challenge that the Obama administration faces is creating a second and third phase in their approach that could take away any kind of comparison with the war on Iraq. It would by then even be necessary to focus on other aspects of the Iranian government, other than their nuclear program, to create a more legitimate political narrative in support of a military intervention. Perhaps the Obama administration will use a different principle of Anne Morelli, namely the focus on the humanitarian need to a military intervention>>>

Iranian Diaspora Needs to Act

The Iranian Diaspora has so far led a very symbolic and largely ineffective role in what is happening in their country because of these self-imposed restraints. True, there were many protests in the few months after the June 12 election. However, thus far there are very few PACs, lobbying groups and such to work to promote the cause for Iran's democratization. Furthermore, few intellectuals are willing to openly come out and declare their support for the Green Movement And let's not underestimate the power of political involvement>>>

راههای طی شده (3)

در قرون 16 و 17 در اروپا پس از جنگها و قتل عامهای گسترده میان فرق گوناگون مسیحیت اصل تحمل مذهبی به کرسی نشست. یعنی همۀ طرفهای مبارزه دریافتند که هرچند دست تا مرفق به خون مخالفان آلوده داشته باشند قادر به حذف خشونت بار رقبا از میدان نخواهند بود و برای ختم نبرد بی پایان دینی به اصل "بیائید بپذیریم که عقائد یکدیگر را نمی پذیریم" گردن نهادند.2 این تحملِِِ ِ حد اقل، هر چند کشمکش بین ادیان را از جنگ گرم به جنگ سرد تبدیل کرد اما گامی معنا دار به سوی تفاهم در میان مذاهب به شمار می آید>>>

Back to the Torture (Part II)

"They pulled out my toenail
then clubbed me until I fell."
"I asked why am I in jail?
in answer, they fractured my head."
"In solidary confinement
for weeks I thought I was dead."
>>>

The Question of Violence

If Iran’s Green movement has a godfather, the Iranian religious thinker Abdulkarim Soroush recently said, it is Gandhi: “We are insisting adamantly that democratic, nonviolent change is at the heart of this movement.” Echoing Soroush, the Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo has called the post-June 12 period “a Gandhian moment in Iran.” “Iranian public discourse has changed by drinking deeply from the well of nonviolence,” he observes, pointing to parallels “between the civil disobedience movement in today’s Iran and successful nonviolent movements led by Gandhi in South Africa and in India.”>>>

The City of Joy and Protest

In the evening that I arrived in Kolkata, the musician A.R. Rahman was giving a concert in the city’s Salt Lake Stadium. “He is our double Oscar winner,” the receptionist at my hotel said with obvious pride. “More than one hundred thousand people are expected to attend the concert.” Dubbed India’s Mozart, the multi-talented Rahman excels in Hindustani and Carnatic music, as well as Western classics. Presently, the din of another kind of music attracted me to a night club on the other side of the lobby>>>

Art for Free

what music or musicians are worth for people! And in specific; for Iranians! Are Iranians art lovers or are they art owners? In order to answer this question, let’s study the generations. The generation that has grown up with Internet and is familiar with the accessibility it brought with itself, is generally unfamiliar with the concept of paying for music. It is not only not paying attitude for music that is important but also the culture this generation brought with itself>>>

For What Good is Life

Conscience seared,
Innocence lost,
Manhood morphed,
Into the brute force,
Of a soldier ready,
And willing,
To kill,
Upon command >>>