Protest the Ohio Daily Disptach Cartoon

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alitabesh
by alitabesh
14-Sep-2007
 

To the Editor: Columbus Post Dispatch For over four decades, Fidel Castro has been considered one of the most odious leaders in the Western hemisphere. After he took power, hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled their island home for Miami (where I live and work), and where they have prospered. Many of them have been among the most vocal opponents of any moves by the US government to normalize relations with Cuba. Even now that Castro is old and sick, and at death's door, he remains a hated symbol of a revolution gone wrong, that rapidly morphed into a detested enemy of the interests and values of the US.

Nevertheless, no Florida newspaper would ever dare to depict Cuba as a sewer, with cockroaches from it spreading out across North and South America. The outrage expressed, even by the regime's most vociferous opponents, to the insult to their Cuban identity and beloved homeland, would put the police on crisis alert, and make headlines throughout the entire country.

Yet in an editorial cartoon, published on Sept 4. the Columbus Dispatch had no compunctions about portraying Iran as a sewer, and Iranians as cockroaches. Its decision to do so--regardless of the political motives of the editorial board, of the artist, or the message they were trying to convey--is unfortunate, and reflects more shamefully on the values and integrity of your newspaper than on the Iranian people, both in Iran and those who have made their home in this country and other parts of the world, that this cartoon (whether intentionally or unintentionally) maligned and demeaned. I hope that every organization that considers itself a champion of civil and human rights will express its outrage at the publication of this cartoon. Had the "cockroaches" been designated Jews, Blacks or Hispanics, the cartoon never would have made it into print in a respectable newspaper. And if it did, the objections and the fury generated throughout the community would have been loud, swift and resonant. Anyone who would not want to see themselves and their ethnic group depicted in this way by a cartoonist is morally obligated to vociferously object to its publication. While the rights of a free press may extend to the promotion of racism, hatred and dehumanization, this does not mean you, as a newspaper, are obligated to exercise that right, or that decent people everywhere should not denounce your decision to do so when you do. Your disgusting representation of Iranians--irrespective of their regime--deserves nothing less than nationwide condemnation. Sincerely,
Marsha B. Cohen
Miami, Florida

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I am just a regular person,

by Anonymous on

I am just a regular person, just like all of you. A regular person as in someone who is trying to survive in this world without harming someone in the process. Regardless of my nationality, my heritage, where I live, who is in my circle of friends, what I do for a living, my own personal goals, my dreams and ambitions, I am just like you.

Firstly, I do not agree with either side (American or Iranian government). Each side has blood on their hands and each has thrown stones. One is no better than the other.

What I do know. Iran is filled with people of different cultures and is rich in history that pre-dates the Greeks. It is a land where many different moments in the written history of humans has made its mark. It is a land filled with beauty, a land and people who have contributed so much to the human race. Amongst people I call my friends, there are many who are Persian, as there are many who are Arab and as many from other different cultures and nationalities. America is also filled with people from many different cultures, and its history is only a split second in time compared to the histories of many different nations and civilizations. In its brief and current history, many of its contributions have had a profound effect on just about every part of our lives, whether we like it or not. It is a land of beauty and is filled with beautiful people, just as Iran is.

It is not my intent to regurgitate all that is known, but to remind you and to remind the two governments that this world we call Earth does not belong to us. At the moment, we are just merely placeholders in time. Even as miniscule as we all look in the space of time, we have the ability to destroy everything. For every good person that exists or could exist, there are just as many evil people or those who are capable of being evil. We seem to be pre-occupied with who has the better way of life or who is practicing the one true religion or which faith carries a higher place next to God. All of this is materialistic, and the friction and the harm that comes from all of this just sets us all on a course to hell and extinction. The only survivors of mass annihilation are cockroaches. The everyday run-of-the-mill, in your kitchen cockroach. Kind of makes you think, doesn't it? The children of today and tomorrow- this world and it's well-being belongs to them. We had our chance these few generations that exist today, and you know, the children are more mature than we are. So, stop thinking just of yourself and think of those who depend on you to do good and to make a positive difference. Stop thinking that the so-called leaders or current government or hate groups or murderers who kill in the name of my God are going to make a positive change. They've done nothing but demonstrate their capacity to cause death, sorrow, hopelessness and deprivation. Stand up and make a positive difference and tell them that you and your children will not stand for this kind of madness anymore, and just maybe our childrens children for a thousand generations ahead will read of how a world that was so capable of killing it actually reversed the course and saved it.


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Re: DEAR HAMVATAN WE HAVE A

by Truelyyours (not verified) on

You said:"IF IRAN WAS A DEMOCRACY AND ITS GOVERNMENT REPRESENTED ITS PEOPLE, THEN YES, I WOULD SIGN THE PETITION ALSO", if that was the case we wouldn't be here and aruguing my Hamvatan! The key is we need to solve the issue within and with support (NOT Bomb) from outside world. That how Eastern Europe became free that what Iranian People overthrew the last King and brought this disaster to power.

You and many others may sign the petitions but we in the West need to be united, not in name of Shah or Mulla but in the name of Iran. Iran is what I am talking about.

When US put all Japanese in the camp in WW II didn't ask are you pro and against the regime. Many many Neo-Con wants to see that my friend, that's what the media is preparing the public.

I hate this regime personally but I prefer this over what I see in Iraq!


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DEAR HAMVATAN WE HAVE A

by TRUE-IROONI (not verified) on

DEAR HAMVATAN

WE HAVE A REGIME THAT WE BOTH AGREE IS CANCEROUS TO ITS OWN PEOPLE, THE REGION, AND FOR THAT MATTER THE ENTIRE WORLD.

LETS COMPARE IT TO NAZI GERMANY. A CARTOON DEPICTING GERMANY WITH A SEWER AND COCKROACHES SPREADING THROUGHOUT EUROPE...LETS SAY THIS WAS PRINTED BY THE SAME PAPER IN EARLY 1940S. WOULD YOU THINK THAT IT WAS IMPLICATING GERMANS OR ITS NAZI REGIME? WHY IS IT SO DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN THE REGIME AND ITS PEOPLE?

IF IRAN WAS A DEMOCRACY AND ITS GOVERNMENT REPRESENTED ITS PEOPLE, THEN YES, I WOULD SIGN THE PETITION ALSO. BUT IN THIS CASE ANY OPPOSITION TO THIS CARTOON IS INDIRECTLY A SUPPORT OF THE REGIME, WHETHER INTENDED OR NOT. IF YOU HAD READ MY PREVIOUS REPLIES YOU WOULD HAVE NOTED THAT I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT ALL WHO SIGN THE PETITION ARE PRO-REGIME (ALTHOUGH SOME ARE), I STATED THAT MANY OF THEM ARE OFFENDED DUE TO THEIR FALSE AND MISPLACED SINCE OF NATIONALISM. A TRUE GERMAN PROUD OF HIS HERITAGE WOULD NOT IDENTIFY HIMSELF WITH HITLER'S REGIME...JUST AS A TRUE IRANIAN SHOULD NOT FIND OFFENSE AT A CARTOON INTENDED TOWARD THE IRANIAN REGIME NOT IRANIANS.

THE UNFORTUNATE TRUTH IS THAT IRAN HAS BECOME A FESTERING SEWER OF FUNDEMENTALISM AND FASCISM, BUT IRANIANS ARE PROUD PEOPLE WHO WITH SOME HELP WILL BE ABLE TO OVERTHROW THIS REGIME AND START A NEW CHAPTER OF REBUILDING ITS INTERNATIONAL IMAGE.

IF YOU TRULY READ MY PREVIOUS POSTING YOU WOULD HAVE NOTICED THAT I RECOMMENDED SANCTIONS FIRST, FOLLOWED BY FINANCIAL AND COMMUNICATION SUPPORT FOR RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS INSIDE THE COUNTRY. BUT IF THIS REGIME IS TO HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS (WHICH WOULD MAKE IT THEN IMPOSSIBEL TO OVERTHROW)THEN STRATEGIC BOMBING OF THOSE FACILITIES IS A NECESSITY NOT ONLY FOR OUR COUNTRYMEN'S SAFETY, BUT ALSO THE SAFETY OF THE ENTIRE WORLD.

I DONT WANT IRAQ EITHER...WE ARE A UNITED NATION PLUS OR MINUS A FEW GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS...IRAN WILL NEVER BE IRAQ. I DO NOT SUPPORT INVASION AND OCCUPATION, BUT I DO SUPPORT ALL POSSIBLE MEANS OF OVERTHROWING THIS REGIME. ALTHOUGH I AM NOT A SUPPORTER OF ENDS JUSTIFYING THE MEANS...IN THIS CASE THE ENDS IS A NECESSITY TO END 27 YEARS OF OPPRESSION AND CRUELTY.

TRUE IROONI


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Re: I WOULD LIKE TO CLARIFY SOME

by True Iroon (not verified) on

I have no doubt that everyone here love Iran. But, I AGREE that this regime is cancer, but I look at the alternative: the help that you are suggesting only can come via BOMB from 30000 feet, which has minimum accuracy. When someone has cancer, we take the person to right specialist. Not any doctor? Thousands of people wanted to overthrow the Shah at any cost; here are the results we got evil!

Further, when I look at the people who signed the petition or have written articles on this subject I feel shamed that my Iranian fellows are against it. See what Charles E. Butterworth, prominent journalist said in the petition, he added: “I am also offended by the rude, dismissive responses of the newspaper's editor to those who wrote to complain about the cartoon. Clearly, the offense was intended.”

See the letter from Professor Marsha Cohen.

Let’s not to go far, see what Dr. Mehdi Zarghamee, former Chancellor of Araya Mehr University wrote in the same petition. Dr. Zarghamee was in jailed by this fascist regime, but he is patriotic and signs the partition. Also, Fatema Soudavar Farmanfarmaian (her name by far is very distinguished and paid heavy price for her name).

See what James Wagner wrote. He said: “The comments in the petition express my general thoughts on the matter, but mere words can not approach communicating the extent of my shock and revulsion upon viewing the cartoon. I believe it is quite worthy of publication in any overtly racist literature--and guess it will soon find its way there. I'm embarrassed that this was published in the daily newspaper of the town I've called home for three decades, and I've heard about it from friends around the country. I'm boycotting the Dispatch, and urge all others to do likewise.” Check James Wagner’s credential in Google.

Well, when some of our folks think those who signed the petition are pro-regime they only think I can say to them is “YOU ARE DEAD WRONG”. We don’t want Iran to become Iraq!


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I WOULD LIKE TO CLARIFY SOME

by TRUE-IROONI (not verified) on

I WOULD LIKE TO CLARIFY SOME POINTS:

I HAVE BEEN ACCUSED OF BEING A TRAITOR (KHAEN) FOR STATING THAT THE CARTOON IS LEGITIMATE BECAUSE ITS IMPLICATIONS ARE TOWARD THE REGIME OF IRAN NOT IRANIANS.

I LOVE IRAN...I AM PROUD OF BEING AN IRANIAN...AND I WISH THE BEST FUTURE FOR IRAN.

THE IRANIAN REGIME IS A SEPERATE ENTITY FROM THE IRANIAN PEOPLE. LET ME USE A MEDICAL ANALOGY...IF YOU HAVE GANGRENE OF THE ARM OR LEG OR YOU HAVE CANCER OF THE LUNG...THAT PART OF YOUR BODY IS HARMFUL TO YOU..IT NEEDS TO BE EITHER RADIATED OR SURGICALLY REMOVED..YOU NO LONGER THINK OF IT AS A PART OF YOU THAT NEEDS TO REMAIN.
ALTHOUGH RADIATION, CHEMOTHERAPY AND SURGERY ARE NOT WITHOUT RISK OR HARM, IT IS NECESSARY..THEREFORE YOU ACCEPT IT. GOING BACK TO THE REGIME, THE REGIME IS LIKE A CANCER ON THE PEOPLE AND COUNTRY OF IRAN. OUR COUNTRYMEN CAN NOT FIGHT THIS DISEASE ON THEIR OWN AS IT HAS BEEN NOTED FOR THE PAST 27 YEARS. I DONT BLAME THEM, THERE IS NO WAY TO FIGHT THIS MONSTER...THERE IS NO WAY TO REASON WITH IT, THERE IS NO WAY TO REFORM IT, MS. SHIRIN ABADI, YOU CAN NOT REFORM FASCISM.
I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY TO THE REGIME SUPPORTERS...I CAN NOT TALK WITH NAZIS. BUT THOSE BLIND NATIONALIST WHO SCREAM AGAINST ANY WAR OR ATTACKS AGAINST IRAN. I TELL YOU THIS, SOMETIMES PEOPLE NEED HELP FROM OUTSIDE TO FREE THEMSELVES OF THEIR OPPRESSORS. THE POOR JEWS IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS COULD NOT FIGHT AGAINST ARMED NAZIS, THE BLACKS IN THE SOUTH COULD NOT UPRISE AGAINST THEIR ARMED LANDOWNERS..AND SO ON. AT TIMES LIKE THIS A FORCE FROM OUTSIDE (RADIATION, SURGERY..) IS WELCOMED TO RID US OF THIS CANCER.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WILL ARGUE THAT WE DONT NEED HELP FROM OUTSIDE...LOOK AT THE PAST 27 YEARS. OUR POOR YOUNG STUDENTS WERE MASACARED IN THE STREETS, OUR SISTERS AND DAUGHTERS ARE PULLED BY FORCE INTO POLICE CARS FOR HIJAB VIOLATIONS...OUR ELDERLY FIGHTING FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS ARE BEATEN AND IMPRISONED...YOU THINK WE CAN HANDLE THIS MONSTER ON OUR OWN...I THINK NOT.

I HATE BLIND STUPID NATIONALISM, THESE SAME PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT IRAN SHOULD HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS. WHO DO YOU THINK THIS REGIME WILL USE THIS WEAPON AGAINST IF THEY NEED TO SURVIVE...OUR OWN PEOPLE. WHY ARM A MONSTER, A DISEASE, A CANCER THAT ABUSES YOU.

SO WHAT DO I RECOMMEND. I THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE SANCTIONS AGAINST THE REGIME SO THAT IT BUILDS ENOUGH PRESSURE INSIDE THE COUNTRY WHICH WOULD LEAD TO AN IMPLOSION. I THINK EXPATRIOTS AND FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS NEED TO FINANCIALLY SUPPORT RESISTANCE MOVEMENTS INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF THE COUNTRY. I THINK IRANIANS NEED TO BE ARMED AND THE REGIME TARGETED BY OUTSIDERS.

THIS CANCER DOES NOT BELONG TO ME, TO US...WE NEED TO GET RID OF IT. IF YOU LOVE IRAN, DONT LOVE IT BLINDLY, KNOW WHEN A ROTTEN PART OF IT NEEDS TO BE CAST OFF. I KNOW SOME OF YOU WILL THINK THIS IS BLASPHEMY, BUT I WELCOME ANY ATTACK AGAINST THIS REGIME, BECAUSE I DONT THINK THAT THESE MULLAHS ARE GOING ANYWHERE ON THEIR OWN WITHOUT FORCE.

SO MR. CARTOONIST, YOU DID NOT OFFEND ME BECAUSE I KNOW I AM NOT A COCKROACH, BUT THE IRANIAN REGIME IS FILTHIER THAN A COCKROACH, SO YOU ARE BEING TOO KIND WITH YOUR CARTOON.

TRUE IROONI


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My comment was meant for

by Nay (not verified) on

My comment was meant for Ohio Editor. Sorry.


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The problem is that most

by Nay (not verified) on

The problem is that most Americans and Westerners having had democratic traditions identify the government and the people of a counntry as one and the same.

Iranians don't define themselves in terms of their gov't because they've have never really had a democracy with democratic tradtions and institutions for centuries.

In the ME, people should not be defined in terms of their relgion or government since both are used as political tool by corrupt governments throughout history. As President Bush said in one his speech, " A minority of brutal clergies have taken the whole country as hostages"...Paraphrasing, of course. I hope this explains it a little bit.


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What's the difference between an Iranian and a IR Iranian?

by Editor Ohio Dispacth (not verified) on

I would apologize to the Iranian people for printing the sewer cartoon. But I can’t tell the difference between a citizen of Iran and a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Iran! Can you explain to me the difference?

Thank you,
Editor of Ohio Dispatch


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Re: YOU FAILED TO UNDERSTAND THE

by TRUE-IRAN (not verified) on

Well it seems defending Iran is either Shahi or Khomeini, right. So it appears this True Irooni, who is nothing but a khaen is suggesting we deserve it. Speak for yourself.


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Re: It seems the only ones

by Hamid (not verified) on

No, the Mullah lovers are not the only one. The most patriotic ones are the one who are offended. Wake up my friend!


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Re: cockroaches

by Ali (not verified) on

This cartoon DID NOT differntiate between IRI and you and I in the US. Wake up, it meant all of us. The Editor refuse to apologize to Iranian people and clarify their target "the Mullah".


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Re: Get a life .... Sen McCain said the same...

by Ali (not verified) on

The sad part of the whole thing is the reaction of some fellow Iranian and their comments published above. This is cartoon, we call it a “Cartoon and Get a Life”, when Sen. McCain said the same "Bomb, Bomb Iran". Then he said the same, that was a "joke, get a life". When they start bombing Iran, they don't ask which street our grand-mothers and grand-fathers live. They bomb it all and funny part is the the Mulla are the one who move to basis which can protect their lives. May be it is time that we learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters and act in the national interest. Remember, Iran doesn't belong to Mullah, as it didn't belong the royal family. It belongs to you and I.


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cockroaches

by maziar alanoor (not verified) on

are we trying to hide or deny the devilish side of the Islamic regime ?come on, get over it...
they are the cockroaches....


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people are getting mad about

by Anonymous_Flowers (not verified) on

people are getting mad about a cartoon again; please, let's quit it with the sensitivity. it's just a cartoon by some fellow apart of the American media...need i say more?


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It is also so sad that the

by Nay (not verified) on

It is also so sad that the bombastic and empty rhetoric of the Iranian regime and their paid lackeys will eventually lead to more hatred and will provide more excuse for the destruction of Iran and Iranians. They just can't see how much damage their hateful rhetoric against America is doing. They think America is California or Berkeley. I hate to break it to you, the real America is not San Fracisco or the california Lala land.


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THE US GOVERNMENT IS

by TRUE-IROONI (not verified) on

THE US GOVERNMENT IS SPENDING 75 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR TO HELP ANTI-REGIME MOVEMENTS ABROAD...WHAT MOST PEOPLE FAIL TO REALIZE IS THAT THE IRANIAN REGIME IS SPENDING WELL OVER 200 MILLION DOLLARS TO COUNTER THIS BY SUPPORTING SYMPATHIZERS ABROAD. WHAT IS INTERESTING ABOUT THIS NEW BREED OF SYMPATHIZERS/SPIES/SCUMBAGS IS THAT THEY ARE USUALLY WELL EDUCATED, LONG TERM RESIDENTS IN THE US AND ON THE EXTERIOR SEEM VERY WESTERNIZED. THEY HIDE THEMSELVES VERY WELL. THEY USE THE EXCUSES OF NATIONALISM, COLONIALISM, IMPERIALISM TO OPPOSE ANYTHING THAT MIGHT SHORTEN THE LIFE OF THE CURRENT REGIME AND THE MULLAHS...THE CURRENT SITUATION AT HAND IS A GREAT EXAMPLE. THIS CARTOON HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACISM, YET IN ORDER TO INCITE ANGER IN THE IRANIAN POPULATION, HE CALLS IT RACIST. THEY OPPOSE ANY ATTACK AGAINST IRAN NOT BECAUSE THEY ARE SUCH GREAT PATRIOTS, BUT BECAUSE THEY DONT WANT TO LOSE THE HAND THAT FEEDS THEM. THESE NEO-SPIES HAVE THEIR CHILDREN'S TUITIONS PAID AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES BY THE MULLAHS. HAVE MIDDLE CLASS JOBS YET TEND TO LIVE MORE COMFORTABLY THAN OTHERS. THEY MINGLE WITH ALL IRANIANS AND HIDE THEIR INTENTIONS UNDER THE GUISE OF NATIONALISM. I CANT WAIT TILL THE DAY THAT THEIR NAMES ARE MADE PUBLIC...AND TO SEE THE LOOK OF SUPRISE ON MANY FACES. BY INCITING EMOTIONAL RESPONSES FROM IRANIANS ABROAD THESE SPIES TEND TO REACH THEIR GOALS OF SHUTTING UP ANY OPPOSITION.

TRUE IROONI


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I think we should focus some

by Tahamtan (not verified) on

I think we should focus some of our anger towards the artist who came up with this racist cartoon. Mike Ramirez a Hispanic who thinks by kissing necons ass would be allowed in the Anglo-American circle and become one of the good ol' boys. This is not the first time he has drawn cartoons agains Iranians under the cover of insulting IRI. Maybe it is time for a mullah to issue a "fatwa" against Mike Ramirez. This would be the only time I'd be happy such a fatwa is issued and even carried out...


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Racism Sucks, exactly. Now

by pardiso (not verified) on

Racism Sucks, exactly. Now go tell that to the supremacist mullahs (the most racist bunch of all) who teach school children in their textbook as young as 6 how to hate America and the West; chanting "Death to America", "World without America" do not exactly inspire friendship.

Americans are not blind and can see how much Iranian hate them. All they have to do is to read some of the commenters on this site...


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It seems the only ones

by thinkForYourself (not verified) on

It seems the only ones offended are the "mullah lovers". Everyone else sees this as an attempt to show the world what mullahs have done to Iran. A great nation, culture and history is turned into sewer.


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Racism sucks!

by JJ2007 (not verified) on

You do not yet seem to get the fact that such articles do not distinguish between the innocent people and the politics; they are using a broad brush, demonizing every Iranian. Just look at some of the other comments. The redneck hillbillies using the "N"-word about Iranians, the way their fathers used the term to refer to African Americans. When you take the time to put such bigoted expressions into the historical context, you will see that what they are doing will lead to continued discrimination, harrassments, racial profiling, etc. and giving encouragement to racists like the clown below to channel their hate.


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The Roaches represent

by Adonis (not verified) on

The Roaches represent Islamic Supremacist thugs and their treasonous supporter like K.A who are the most un-Iranian ever set foot on Iran's land. The world is not going to take this militant, racist, hate-filled virulent ideology lying down. The Islamic surpremacist movement will be crusehd. The more radical you Islamists become, the more radical you will make the un-Islamic world to rise against you. You ask for this fight and you will get one.


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Every Emamzadeh, every mosque, every cave and hole

by General Xerxes (not verified) on

the IRGCs are hiding in must be bombed. All mullahs must be killed. Every mullah thug, every commie, every mujahed, everybody and anybody that stands on the way must be bombed and destroyed.


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Get a life...

by soWhat (not verified) on

So what if an idiot draws a crtoon? This is a free world. Everyone is free to express what they think. In this cas you must accept the fact that the freakin mullahs have turned Iran into sewer. Don't get mad at the pereson publishing the cartoon. If you want your image back, get rid of mullahs. You can thank Islam for turning your homeland into sewer!


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YOU FAILED TO UNDERSTAND THE

by TRUE-IROONI (not verified) on

YOU FAILED TO UNDERSTAND THE CARTOON...NOT INTENDED TO BE RACIST. IRAN IS A SPONSOR OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, THE ROACHES REPRESENT THAT WIDESPREAD SPONSORSHIP OF TERROR, RADICALISM, AND ISLAMIC-FASCISM. YOU ARE EITHER BLIND TO THIS FACT (WHICH I DOUBT) OR A REGIME APOLOGIST/SYMPATHIZER/SUPPORTER/SPY...SHAME ON YOU FOR TRYING TO GET AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE FROM IRANIANS...YOUR TRUE INTENTIONS ARE VERY CLEAR.
I CANT WAIT FOR THE DAY THE REGIME CHANGES SO WE CAN GET A LIST OF ALL THE SECRET GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS ABROAD, JUST LIKE AFTER THE REVOLUTION WE GOT THE LIST OF ALL THE SAVAKIS...PEOPLE LIKE YOU....YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED ONCE THE REGIME IS OVERTHROWN.

GO TO HELL

TRUE-IROONI


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Please sign the petition

by Ali Tabesh (not verified) on

Please sign the petition below:

//www.petitiononline.com/Iran110/petition.htm...


alitabesh

Asia Times Articles on Dispatch Cartoon: Cartoons aid US lynch m

by alitabesh on

Cartoons aid US lynch mob mentality
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

Here is a clue why, despite billions spent by Washington on its global public relations campaign, the image of "ugly Americans" still persists in many part of the world, particularly the Muslim world. Just look at the vicious demonization of Iran and everything Iranian in Hollywood, the US media and, of course, the political rhetoric of American politicians.

A distasteful odor of hate ideology, repelling rational thought, is

discernible everywhere, with Iran-bashing in vogue and evincing the darker side of US political culture, ie, the imperialist, xenophobic, intolerant and repressive sentiment of politicians and media pundits toward Iran.

Thus, whereas the enlightened Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton takes her opponent, Barack Obama, to task for ruling out a tactical nuclear strike on Iran, insisting that all options must be "on the table", her Republican rival, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, has penned an article in the "influential" Foreign Affairs suggesting that as president he would consider a tactical nuclear strike on Iran. He writes: "The theocrats ruling Iran need to understand that we can wield the stick as well as the carrot, by undermining popular support for their regime, damaging the Iranian economy, weakening Iran's military, and, should all else fail, destroying its nuclear infrastructure."

And that is exactly what the US military planners are cooking up, per a recent report in the London Sunday Times, namely the decimation of the "entire Iranian military" and the "select" targeting of some 1,200 sites.

Such incendiary rhetoric, infecting the discourse of right-wing European politicians as well, has been a good sell to the gullible US public, but not to the more sophisticated Europeans, who have expressed their opposition to any war on Iran in a recent opinion poll.

Unfortunately, in the United States, the tight interplay between government policy and what the German philosopher Jurgen Habermas refers to as "public opinion formation" simply means that a systematic media campaign to demonize and even to dehumanize the Iranians, as part and parcel of a brewing "politics of exterminism" vis-a-vis Iran, has been raging unabated, often led by pro-Israel Jewish pundits such as Michael Ledeen and Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, both enthusiastic advocates of "bomb Iran".

But other than several Iran-bashing motion pictures by the Hollywood "culture industry", [1] perhaps the most flagrant, and ugliest, manifestation of this phenomenon in US politics and media has appeared in that vital compartment of opinion-making we call political cartoons. Notwithstanding the recent controversies swirling about European cartoons denigrating Islam's Prophet, or a German cartoon showing the Iranian soccer team dressed as suicide bombers, the right-wing American cartoonists have been making their own contribution - by depicting Iranians variously as dogs, beasts and, in the case of one published last week, by Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Michael Ramirez as cockroaches. [2] (Ramirez' syndicated work has a subscription/distribution base of about 400 publications through Copley News Service.)

The latter recalls a similarly insensitive cartoon that appeared in a Tehran daily last year depicting an Azeri-speaking cockroach, which led to huge protests by Iran's Azeri minority. That cartoon was denounced by the government's cabinet ministers as "an offense to the Iranian people as a whole".

Sure, cartoons take a satirical look at news and gossip, and political cartoons add humor to an otherwise sterile topic, but they also serve as propaganda instruments, particularly in times of (and leading up to) war and (international) crisis. The editors of the Columbus Dispatch, which published the Ramirez cartoon, defended it as "freedom of expression" and dismissed a letter sent by the Council on American-Islamic Relations comparing it to Nazi cartoons.

In his reply, the newspaper's editor wondered aloud why the council was silent about Iran's cartoon contest on the Holocaust (which, as it turned out, was shunned by all of Iran's dailies). However, the council's record, available on the Internet, shows that it did denounce that cartoon contest and sent a letter to Iran stating: "Now it is the time for responsible people of all faiths to avoid inflammatory actions that are clearly designed to incite hatred." The letter also stated: "One cannot demand responsible behavior from others while at the same time acting irresponsibly."

Comparison to Nazi propaganda
Sadly, there are strong resemblances between the current anti-Iran propaganda in the US media and that of the Third Reich. As a case in point, the cartoon by Ramirez mentioned above is analogous to the Nazi propaganda film Der ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew), which showed maps of Europe teeming with rats and included the following script: "Whenever rats appear they bring ruin ... just like the Jews among human beings."

This recalls what sociologist Ervin Goffman has referred to as media's "framing" ability, ie, "labeling" the hostile other, in the Nazi case the Jews and in the current case the Iranians, as sub-human candidates for extermination, subjected first to a combined intense animosity and ritual humiliation through shame and ridicule.

Indeed, it is axiomatic that extreme prejudice, propagated through a gratuitously offensive media campaign, goes hand in hand with war fever. Political cartoons mirror political discourses, and pro-US-administration cartoonists such as Ramirez are now helping with the media mob lynching of Iran. That the mainstream US media publish such extremely offensive and racist visual images of Iran and Iranians, worthy of the notorious Nazi paper Der Stuermer, speaks volumes about the obscene anti-Iran climate sweeping the US today.

Some may see this simply as just a matter of poor taste, or stooping to new low levels, but the appearance of such cartoons in hundreds of US newspapers, almost on a weekly basis, indeed reminds us of the Nazi analogy, that is, how in the Nazi era the task of the art was to shape the population's attitude by carrying political messages with set negative stereotypes promoting a politics of eradicating the "enemy" in part with the help of cartoons' symbolism and metonymy, ie, the trope, in which one word or image is used in place of another that suggests it.

Of course, the comparison to Nazi propaganda has its own limitations, and the US and European cartoon wars on Iran have transpired in the context of Western democracies and what Habermas refers to as "pathologies of mass media". To add to Habermas' insights on manufacturing consensus and "friendly fascism", the Iran-bashing cartoons are symptomatic of a political pathology rooted in US irrationalism, the same irrationalism that, 60-plus years after dropping the bombs on Japan, still refuses to apologize for such nuclear barbarism, or that bestowed a medal on Captain William C Rogers III, the US naval commander of the USS Vincennes who shot down Iran Air Flight 655 with 290 civilian passengers aboard on July 3, 1988. (Rogers remained in command of the Vincennes until May 27, 1989, and in 1990 president George H W Bush awarded him the Legion of Merit medal for his tenure as commanding officer of the Vincennes and made no mention of the downing of the Iranian airliner.)

Until and unless Americans confront the roots of their irrationalism, rooted in their unique history, their exceptional wealth and power, their stupefying intellectual discourses, such as clashing civilizations and/or "end of history" and the like reflecting the age-old problem of America's intellectual paucity, and their fears of losing their grip on the post-Cold War unipolar moment, this problem will surely be aggravated in the years to come.

In conclusion, a question: What is the antidote to this pathology? The answer is an alternative vision of America's role and responsibility in the world, together with an accented focus on a pedagogy of tolerance, listening, reciprocity, [3] dialogue and intercultural and interfaith understanding. That is wishful thinking, however, as long as the war drums against Iran are getting louder and louder.

Notes
1. For more on this see Afrasiabi, Axis of evil seeps into Hollywood, Asia Times Online, March 15, 2007.
2. Controversy arises over dispatch 'Iran sewer' cartoon, Progress Ohio, September 6, 2007.
3. Ironically, compared with the Ohio paper's Iran-bashing, Iranian people have a warm feeling toward the state of Ohio because one of its sons, Howard Baskerville, gave his life while fighting alongside the constitutionalists against despotism at the turn of the 20th century. For more on this see the author's Ballad of Howard Baskerville, Iranian.Com, September 6, 2007.

Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD, is the author of After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (West view Press) and co-author of "Negotiating Iran's Nuclear Populism", Brown Journal of World Affairs, Volume XI, Issue 2, Summer 2005, with Must Imbroglio. He also wrote "Keeping Iran's nuclear potential latent", Harvard International Review, and is author of Iran's Nuclear Program: Debating Facts Versus Fiction.

(Copyright 2007 Asia Times Online Ltd


alitabesh

This is to fight recism

by alitabesh on

This is to fight recism against people regardless of their faith and the country of orgins.