بسی‌ رنج بردیم در این سال سی‌

بسی‌ رنج بردیم در این سال سی‌
by David ET
11-Apr-2011
 

خوب بسلامتی آمار دقیق تعداد ما ایرانی‌‌ها در آمریکا و کشور‌های دیگه داره میاد بیرون

مثلا تو آمریکا ۱۵% بورلی هیلز و ۱۲% در صد گلندل را ما ایرانی‌‌ها اشغال کردیم. شهردار هم که داریم.

همه اومدیم بیرون، بساط رستورانو و مهمونی‌ و سفره و کلاب و ماهواره و بیزیننسمونم هم که جوره، بچا هارو رو ماشااله همه فرستادیم دانشگاه‌های خارج، دلمونم مثلا تنگه و هر روز به داخلیا میگیم لگش کن..سالی‌ یک بار هم میریم تظاهرات دعوا سر کدوم پرچم و عکس و رنگ از این حرفا..تازه تو فیس بوک هم اکانت و‌ا کردیم و پشت کامپیوتر داریم مبارزه می‌کنیم

بعدشم قر می‌زنیم چرا جمهوری اسلامی‌ها اونجا موندن و دارن بخور بخور می‌کنن

. وقتی اون نوبل پرایزیمون شوهرشو گذاشته و در رفته اومد بیرون، وای بحال بقیمون . بقیه هم اگر فرصتشو داشته باشن میان بیروم

(البته اینها همه فقط تقصیر جمهوری اسلامیست نه ۹۸% رای‌مون و زود چارقت سر کردنمون)

سیزد بدر کدوم پارک، فرهنگ ایران رو درصف کباب زنده نگه داشتیم. مهرگان هم خیلی‌ خوش گذشت

که از ماست که بر ماست


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more from David ET
 
Mehrban

Let's see how much power Iranians (gheyr e khodis) have

by Mehrban on

They are the ones that turn all the wheels in Iran.  Gheyr e khodis are turning the wheels of factories, they make the government offices run, many are teachers, physicians, musicians, film makers, bakers, construction workers, oil workers, farmers, transportation specialists, etc.etc.  IR is alive only because it relies on the ghyre khodi power.

And that is just inside Iran. 

Great quote PW. 


David ET

EXATCLY P.W.

by David ET on

I have been saying , the day Iranians believe they can, is that the that they can come out in MILLIONS and take over what is taken away from them. No force can stand (or will stand) in front of such numbers.

That is why I started the solutions for Iran with:  "believe in ourselves"

ttp://iranian.com/main/blog/david-et/solutions-iran-101   

 

 

 


persian westender

By Alice Walker

by persian westender on


 I just came across this quote: " the most common way people give up their power, is by thinking they don't have any...." 

 


Mehrban

Khodi va Gheyr e Khodi

by Mehrban on

Khodis are basically the insiders of the Islamic regime.  They are ones that either by relation, ideology and or loyalty are connected to the inner circles of IR.  For example the Presidential elections in Iran is basically (at best) a race between a number of khodis.

Members of general population (no matter how qualified) are excluded.  This exclusion is a common ground among all opposition groups and a potential unifier.   

 

Ps.  Of course I know that you are aware of this fact.  But I think protesting this prejudistic approach has not been on the forefront of dissent.  


David ET

Mehrban

by David ET on

I am not sure I understand what you meant by Khodi, gheyr khodi. Can you expand a little on that? Thank you


Mehrban

One more thing David

by Mehrban on

One item that receives little attention that can be a huge mobilizer as it encompasses all opposition;

end of the Khodi and Gheir Khodi Apartheid.  Which is the building block IR.

I am not sure how it can be included in your list maybe as Free Elections (?) I don't know.


David ET

Great points

by David ET on

Indeed with so much oppression in Iran, and considering that sooo many Iranians have left their homeland, today MORE THAN EVER, and a much bigger responsibility is on the shoulder of EVERY IRANIAN WHO LIVES in a free country.

In fact Iranians outside of country if united and caring enough can make all the difference today and by creating a united front lead the nation out of the current deadlock and that was really the ultimate point of this blog. Are we being responsible enough? or as Anahid mentioned , some of us do not even want to hear about Iran and our responsibility anymore or just use politics as passtime more than anything else.

Every voice counts but not effectively untill its all joined and focused at the right direction.

I still say the same thing that I said a year before the 2009 coup:


//iranian.com/main/blog/david-et/solutions-iran-101  

SOLUTIONS FOR IRAN

BELIEVE in ourselves 

UNITE based on the common principals that brings us together instead of distractions and exclusions that divide us

ORGANIZE

 

PRINCIPALS OF UNITY OF ALL IRANIANS 

  • Territorial integrity
  • Independence
  • Separation of Religion and State
  • Freedom of Expression
  • Gender Equality
  • Human Rights 

 


Anahid Hojjati

David, some people don't even want to hear about Iran too much

by Anahid Hojjati on

I was in a concert this last December in Las Vegas. Yes, Farshid Amin, Sattar, Omid, Faramarz Assef and Noosh Afarin sang. It was one of the best concerts that I have been to. Farshid Amin sang many songs about Iran, including one named "heyf" that I have seen on facebook and I like. There was this lady sitting next to me, who had left Iran less than a year ago. After Farshid Amin sang few of his songs about Iran, her comment to me was:"hala cheghadar darbare eeran meekhone", she said it with ekrah, and like she was not happy about it. Any way, some of us, don't want to even hear about Iran a little bit too much in a concert.


Mehrban

Dear David, I think we cross posted

by Mehrban on

I just expanded my last comment.  Size is there (I believe) it is just not directed (focussed) enough yet.


David ET

Mehrban

by David ET on

So true, every little step adds up, but size matters.


Mehrban

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Mehrban on

Dear David, I have not read all the comments but I have to say that what ever we (inside and out of Iran) do towards change gets us a little closer to the tipping point.   You really never know when the Tipping point maybe. 

The tipping point for Iran maybe when many still confused issues become clearer.  Issues such as identity, understanding of a need for transparency, organization, implications of human rights, real implications of separation of church and state etc....   

In this age of viral ideas and information, I believe people outside of Iran can have a very large effect on the outcome. 


David ET

ariane

by David ET on

yes its ok to live and want the best for one and family. In fact America was built by those who ran away from religious prosecutions in europe and in the hope of better life .

But then we should not from now comfortable distance, keep blaming those that we left , why they do not risk their lives and topple the government, something that we too didnt have the courage and unity to do.


iamfine

You can contribute from here

by iamfine on

It is true that we are sitting next to our computer, here in LA, and keep criticizing the government back home. Nothing is wrong with that if: 1) Contribute $ to folks back home as much as you can afford 2) Teach your hamvatan the technical knowledge that you accumulated for years here in this country By doing that you are free from guilt.

 


persian westender

I agree that unique

by persian westender on

I agree that unique socio/historical events may have affected our levels of political activism, as well as our responsibility toward others.

Ironically, the famous saying of Saadi “cho ozvi be dard aavarad roozegaar……” has no political implication for Iranians! 


default

Too harsh

by ariane on

There is nothing with living a bit! Why do we have to struggle all the time?


David ET

P. W. you bring up a great a question

by David ET on

..and I am going to take an incomplete shot at answering it!

We come from a tribal and feudalist background and it was only during the two Pahlavi´s that, (3 generations) that this started to change.

Such cultures are very primal and primarily deal with survival of self, the family and the tribe (and in that order); ruled by dictators of one kind or another for 1000´s of years.....and therefore we tend not to connect as much as the Western nations , the connection between well being of one to the well being of all.

So we take what we can and move on and only join hands when we have no other options left and are desperate.

When there is a group of us , we do not naturally form lines to get the food or handout or getting on bus, train or bus but we want to get in first with disregard to others.

You can best see what I said above in the way we drive in Iran, meaning we have no sense of if we all drive properly , respecting the right of one another, we get to the destination faster but instead we turn left, right , cross lines, lights or whatever to get to where we want to be regardless of what discomfort it can cause others and as whole to ourselves too.

It takes time but we will learn as we have been the hard way.

The concept of democracy started in Athens 


persian westender

I really wonder if we are

by persian westender on

I really wonder if we are more passive than other nations in terms of political activism. It seems very complicated to me.   


David ET

Late Bloomers!

by David ET on

Yes Leaders stay in front and that is why the word is called leader , not follower ! Leader= A Person that Leads! In this case reformists lead themselves and the nation to where they and the rest of nation is! If they had stood up like the rest , the fundamentalists would not have taken over everything until there is nothing left to take! 

Just because you or other reformists just foundd this out (In Iran or outside Iran) that does not mean that people were not against Islamic Republic all along!!!

Somehow some revisionist (yes the ones inside Iran too, not here and there ) act like nobody was against IR until they found out after 2009 election!! As if the prisons were not filled with political prsoners and others were not turtured and executed until the reformists were attacked too.

Many opposed the revisionism from the Era of Bazargan and Banisadr to Rafsanjani and Khamenei while reformists were the first ones who argued (and still some do as you seem to) that reform was the only way !! 

 This is what Ebadi thought in 2008!:


Q. “The Islamic Republic has been in power for 30 years. Do you think with its current constitution which gives absolute power and say to the spiritual leader and the council of experts, there is any hope for the true democracy in Iran?”

Ebadi replied:

"When we speak about reform, we are thinking of the gradual improvement of the situation. If we want everything to change overnight, that is called a revolution and not reform....There are certain rights recognized in the constitution of Iran, but unfortunately they have never been enforced. For example with regards to the political prisoners, there is a constitutional provision that they must be tried by a jury. However this law has never been enforced and there has never been a Jury trial.

Therefore in the first stage we must demand implementation of those rights which are to the benefit of the Iranian people and have already been recognized in the constitution. Thereafter and in the next stage, we should think of amendments to those parts of the constitution which prevent progressive democracy in Iran such as the Guardian Council who has the veto rights over the bills passed by the Iranian parliament.”

Anyway this blog was not meant to be about Ebadi but all of us, here there and everywhere !

 

 


 


Mammad

David: Beforre conguratulating

by Mammad on

ourselves, we must remember that we lived here and they lived there. They dealt with facts on the ground, as opposed to romanticism, grand standing, and hollow slogans that a lot of people have here. Your view of Ebadi goes back to 2008. But, by 2006 people understood what Ahmadinejad stood for, ahead of you and the rest, because they had a basis for comparison. That is why they voted overwhelmingly in 2009, after sitting out in 2005.

And, unlike what you say, a true leader is not someone who is ahead of the people. He/She is someone who has a realistic assessment of everything. That does not put him/her ahead or in the back.

Mammad


David ET

Westender

by David ET on

That is my point Westernder:

IR figured it from it's early years: let them go, there is not much they can do from outside once they are gone

So we still keep leaving while whinning, and asking those inside to do what we didn't do!


David ET

Mammad

by David ET on

 8 years ago and much more, some of us were saying the same thing about IR not being reformable,.... it was Ebadi's, Ganjis's, revisionists and reformists who have NOW learned the truth the hard way, although they do not even have the honesty to confess to it and move on...

 Here are some  blogs where I gave my opinion on Ebadi. My position has not changed, although she has...and today more than ever what I had been saying is proven to be right.

As for 85% who voted , they did not win any prize , she did. Leaders should be a step ahead of the people or at least beside them and not lagging behind them. 

 Ebadi's mirage May 12, 2008

"It is time that the reformists such as Ebadi recognize that one can not live in a home built on a shaky foundation by simply adding extra walls and a fresh paint job. (keh een khaaneh az paaybast viraan ast) "

Ebadi for separation of religion from state  May 21, 2008

Mrs. Ebadi still needs to make the next leap of reality check that the current system and regime will never voluntarily reform and planting such expectations in the minds of the so many Iranian who look up to likes of Shirin Ebadi will only lengthen the rule of the current rulers of Iran.  

Ebadi, IR , Israel and all...! Jan 03, 2009

 " I will not be surprised if Islamic Regime does not let her back in after one of her foreign trips ."

 

 


persian westender

Thanks David!

by persian westender on

I wonder if any government has been changed by Diaspora in modern history. Let’s face it! Diaspora cannot do much (don’t get me wrong! I’m not saying it with a disappointing tone, but just to limit our expectations in this regard). The most dramatic events such as demonstration in front of embassies, organizing socio/cultural activities and lectures to demonstrate brutal face of this regime, petitions,… cannot much affect IRI, let alone toppling it (remember, this regime by its nature does not care much about its credibility among westerners).

So there is a finite line in terms of what we can do? And why we do not do…..? I might have some answers to the first proposal; but the latter is beyond me…!

 

 


Mammad

David

by Mammad on

You and people like you always speak with hindsight, which is true 100 percent, and that is exactly the problem.

In 2003 Ebadi was not the only person who wanted reform. Many others did. When in 2009 85% of the people voted, they also did so with reform in mind, not revolution, and only the aftermath of the election and the violent crackdown on the peaceful demonstrators radicalized a part of the population. One cannot force people to do something when they are not ready for it.

So, criticizaing someone for her stance 8 years ago under completely different conditions and extrapolating it to now, is not fair, even if it is as "tanz."

Mammad


MM

David, Thanks for saying

by MM on

David,

Thanks for saying what is in your mind in the form of tanz, but I would have been more critical and serious.  It is true that many Iranians are just content in doing the activities you mentioned.  Meanwhile, the activists in Iran are suffering tremendously. 

Iran's women activists: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF9z_zKz4nk&feature=player_embedded

Iran Feature: The List of 1900 Political Prisoners by Iranfirst

I am not sure why we are so content.  1. are we in a good place outside of Iran and do not want to rock the boat?; 2. years of a-potitical activity has made us apolitical?; or maybe 3. have we all built our castles and only respond if someone knocks on our door?

While I agree with mammad that Shirin Ebadi and her family/friends are under a lot of pressure, however, she can be such a positive force in binding the freedom-lovers in Iran and in the Diaspora.  I also do not know why she is not organizing the opposition more.

Shifteh has a point that the Diaspora supports the artists and hence the culture, but the regime stays intact.  Everytime we have had a writing campaign, only a fraction of the Iranian Diaspora participated in saving someone in the IRI jails,  Imagine the results if a cohesive Iranian Diaspora got into the act.  We should remember that while IRI does not care about anyone outside their circles inside Iran, they do care about their image outside of Iran and have responded to outside pressure either from the Amnesty Int. or from foriegn friendly dignitaries (cf., Brazillian request for Sakineh).  
 


Bavafa

On the contrary...

by Bavafa on

I think this is very sad since it speaks of the truth, the state of Iranians mind and priorities that is.

Thanks David for putting such sad fact in such humorous way

Mehrdad


David ET

Shifteh aziz

by David ET on

But let's face it, we all left that place called Iran in 1000's instead of trying to fix it.


Shifteh Ansari

David ET

by Shifteh Ansari on

Thanks for this blog. It was very funny.  As a population of note, both in terms of our numbers and our contributions to the communities in which we live, Iranians outside Iran have a lot of shortcomings in their unified approach to their motherland, that's true.  I believe that minus the opportunists who continually try to hijack Iran's civil rights movement from Iranians inside Iran and prescribe actions for them, a good number of Iranians abroad have done quite well by their fellow contrymen over the past two years, supporting their actions inside Iran and disseminating information on their behalf, more or less all that Iranians inside Iran want them to do.

Please also remember that over the past 32 years, Iranians outside Iran have done a considerable amount of work to introduce Iran, Iranian people, and Iranian culture as one independent from the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Furthermore, I believe Iranians outside Iran have done invaluable service to Iranian arts by supporting Iranian artists who have traveled abroad, and have funded many cultural projects which would not have been able to survive without their help.

Just in the past year, two large donations have started departments and centers for "Iranian Studies" in different universities in California, adding to a growing number of such programs in the United States.

Iranians abroad have helped charities inside Iran and have supported and funded causes which could not have been effective without this help.

The children of Iranians abroad, the ones who have gone to good universities, are a different generation than ours.  Their philosophy on Iran may not be as romantic or emotional as ours, but it is a weighty and substantial dedication, which is not deterred by political preferences and emotional outbursts.  In time, the growth of this population in numbers and depth and educational mass will be a source of help for Iranians inside Iran, providing expertise, knowhow, capital, and international support in order to rebuild Iran.

As for social consciousness, human rights, and political activism, you will just have to live with the fact that only some Iranians are up for this.  You will always have to work 20 hours a day on this, David, to fill the gap for at least five other Iranians who don't see it as their priority.  Khasteh nabashi and keep it up Mr. ET!


Mash Ghasem

...

by Mash Ghasem on

David jan words of wisdom.

"So many have been talking and writing , but as good as that is until we
actually organize and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT, those will be just books,
articles, blogs, twitts.  Majority of opposition lack organization,
unity and effective ACTION."

Tis a humble suggestion, as an introduction and a minor step towards resolving the issue refered to above:

//iranian.com/main/news/2011/04/11-1

 

 


Anahid Hojjati

David, I am not being kind, just saying the truth

by Anahid Hojjati on

I am just saying it as it is and give credit where it is due. You have been very active with campaign for Secular Iran, have written articles with great analysis regarding Iran. You had good points that if opposition had followed, we may have been in better shape. You have not been party of baad like some others in opposition. Every one always knows where you stand regarding different events.


Faramarz

بسی بحث کردیم در این سال سی !

Faramarz


 

بسی بحث کردیم در این سال سی

که رهایت کنیم ای ملت پارسی

فراوان نوشتیم ایمیل و تومار بلند

چو گویی ز تبریز تا کوه سهند

یکی از رضا گفت دیگری ازنیاک

که اینانند رهاننده این پاینده خاک

یکی گفت نفت گیرید و بمباران کنید

دگر گفت نه آقا، فقط فکر یاران کنید

سر انجام چو ملت نهد پای پیش

زین یوغ رها گردد به پیکارخویش