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Middle ground

Dr. Aslan’s rigorous examination of the key factors that transform young men into zealous Muslims willing to sacrifice their lives, determined to challenge the existing world order, and serving as the conduit for horrific attacks against innocent human beings helps us to better understand Jihadism and why it should be considered a social movement. The author argues that it is the demonization of Muslims in many Western countries like the UK that changed otherwise peaceful Muslims like Hasib Mir Hussain - one of the four terrorists who carried out a suicide attack by detonating a bomb on a bus that exploded inTavistock Square in London killing 13 including himself - into violent Jihadists.>>>

Meeting Mahbod

Last Friday, I visited the “Book Soup” on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles to attend a book reading by Mahbod Seraji, the author of Rooftops of Tehran. Given the recent events in Iran, the atmosphere at this gathering started off somber. However, the heaviness melted just as soon as Mahbod took to the podium to tell us about his journey from a young reader on the rooftops of Tehran, poring over Jack London, to a writer of his first novel which promises to become a bestseller. Mahbod’s positive energy and impeccable delivery put me at ease immediately. Together with Sepi Seraji, his better half, the couple managed to inject just enough genuine camaraderie to the atmosphere in order make it an enjoyable evening for all>>>

سئوال اينست، چه بايد کرد؟

در شرايط کنوني طرح اين سئوال از آنرو حياتي تر شده که بنابه گزارشاتي که از داخل کشور مي رسد، بيش از پانصد تن از نخبگان فکري و روزنامه نگاران، و عدهً زيادي از جوانان و دانشجويان معترض در داخل کشور بطور بي سابقه اي دستگير شده اند و مردم عادي، گروههاي مرجع اجتماعي، و گروههاي سياسي بيش از هرزماني با اين مسئله مواجه اند که واقعاً چه بايد کرد؟ اين نوشته تلاشي است براي يافتن پاسخي درخور به اين سئوال حياتي. براي شناخت شرايط کنوني لازم است نخست به اهمّ رويدادهاي چند روز اخير نظري اجمالي بيافکنيم: اول، خامنه اي بعنوان ولي فقيه مطلقهً نظام، در دعواي بين دولت و ملت، جانب دولت را گرفت. او با اين کارش، ماهيت دروني خود را بارزساخت، پرده از رخ کشيد و برخلاف خميني که مي گفت من به کمک ملت توي دهن اين دولت ميزنم، به حمايت از دولت انتصابيش شتافت تا به خيال خام خود به دهان معترضيني، که اکثريت ملت ايران را شامل مي شوند، بکوبد. >>>

The Blank Shenasnameh

The first memories I recall of my life are snapshots of our home with the lights out after dusk, loud protests and demonstrations heard from the streets of Tehran, and the huddling around a light bulb with a makeshift cardboard shade plugged into the wall. These were the days that culminated in the 1979 revolution in Iran. The streets were unsafe for children due to violence and there was a relative period of lawlessness at the time of transition. As children, my sister and I sat in the glow of the small light bulb and heard the reassurances of our parents. I remember vividly the conversation that my father had with his childhood friend who was an assistant professor in a university in Isfahan>>>

It’s a New Bam

Arash Arjmand and his family made the day’s drive from Shiraz to wonder what this room with no roof and no door might have been. The family sidestepped mound after mound of ruined terracotta as they toured the ghost fortress of Bam Citadel, just five years ago a 25-century-old monument but now merely ruins. At the UNESCO World Heritage Site in the ancient Silk Road city of Bam, Iran, engineers from around the world are attempting to piece together what used to stand as the world’s largest adobe structure and best example of a fortified medieval walled city>>>

Victimized

Give me any episode of Ironside, Law and Order, or Murder She Wrote and I’ll happily turn into a couch potato. Courtroom scenes have always fascinated me. What does it feel like to be innocent yet be dragged into an incriminating situation with no apparent way out? Well, I recently was in such a position and, let me tell you, none of that TV watching had made me the wiser for it. Last week, on a boring hot afternoon, I was checking my E-mail when I came across this message: “Ladan Khazai wants you to be her friend”, which I thought was not a problem. Ladan is my sister, she is already my friend, so what’s another click worth to me?>>>

Life in Iran and America

Reza Varjavand arrived for the first time in the United States from Iran - a country with a long and rich history of accomplishment - in 1973. He attended the University of Oklahoma and received a Ph.D. in economics. Reza came from humble surroundings in what he describes as the Misery Alley. He had seven siblings and was the youngest of four brothers. Their father was a farmer and mother taught Quran to a few girls in the Reza's neighborhood. Fortunately, because he did not have to work alongside his brothers and father on the farm, Reza was allowed indulge his curiosity and desire for an education>>>