RIGHTS

Knight in shining armour

Where are those "humanitarians" now?

by Nasrin Amirsedghi
16-Aug-2007
Fascism can only do the one thing: exterminate what it doesn't like. Be that in the name of racism, nationalism, communism or Islamism. Sometimes it's the turn of the Jews, sometimes imperialists, sometimes Armenians, sometimes so-called unbelievers (atheists, Christians, Baha'i, gays, lesbians, adherents of free love etc.). And the masses just stand, stare and remain silent. History always repeats itself: today the grotesque setting is Iran and a grotesque silence prevails in Germany and Europe.>>>

TERRORISM

Another step toward military confrontation

Labeling of the Revolutionary Guards

by Daniel M. Pourkesali
15-Aug-2007
The unprecedented move by the United States to designate a branch of another sovereign nation's armed forces, in this case Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist" organization [1], is only the latest episode of a menacing plan that has taken years to implement. Most commonly accepted definition for "terrorism" is "the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, civilian population, or any segment thereof, in order to achieve specific political, social, or economic objectives".>>>

MEDIA

BBC's best-kept secret

Really impressed with "Rooze Haftom"

by Nazy Kaviani
15-Aug-2007 (one comment)
My friends tease me endlessly about my fascination with the radio. Many of them think radio to be a dying or a dead medium, seeing very little use for it. I beg to differ. I love the radio on two accounts. One is that listening to radio is a convenient pastime. You can do other things when you listen to the radio. You can move around and do house chores, write bills, and exercise as you listen. Another is that listening to the radio can be both an entertainment and a good source of news and information. As compared to the internet, radio programming on more official stations supported by large teams of reporters and analysts could provide a much more reliable source of information.>>>

WAR

Eyes on Iran

But surely America does not have the soldiers for another illegal and immoral war?

by Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
15-Aug-2007 (one comment)
We were ‘told’ that we, the civilized world, are fighting the ‘uncivilized’ terrorists’. So it is that Dick Cheney whispers into Mr. Bush’s ear to attack Iraq, confident that with her children buried, the parents too weak from mourning and disease, she will surrender – quickly. He made sure America stayed on track; track of deception. Prior to the invasion, Cheney was confronted with a report from the IAEA which threw doubts on the administration’s allegations about Iraq’s WMD, and he responded: “We know he has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons. And we believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. I think Mr. ElBaradei frankly is wrong" The demon of greed never seems to get enough. Over 1 million dead Iraqis – with Dick Cheney’s old company KBR/Halliburton being the prime benefactor of theft, Mr. Cheney now has his eyes on Iran� >>>

IDEAS

بازگشت به خويشتن براي گذار به دموکراسي

در اين ره دره ها راهند/ بدين سو کوه ها صافند

by Ali Salari
15-Aug-2007

وجود حکومت هاي استبدادي شاه و شيخ، که بطور گزينشي تاريخ ايران را سانسور و يا مصادره به مطلوب کرده اند، مانع از آن بوده است تا ايران و ايراني، با شناخت و اتّکا به هويت تاريخي خود، جايگاه شايسته اش را در دنياي مدرن امروز باز يابد. بويژه در دوران مدرن، دنباله روي از ايدئولوژي هاي وارداتي شرق و غرب مانع از بازيابي و احياي سنت هاي حيات بخش نهفته در فرهنگ غني و سرشار ايران، که راز شکوفايي و تأثيرگذاري اين کهن ديار در گذشته، و بقاي آن تاکنون است، بوده اند. گويي اين داستان فراق و جدايي، قصهً پرغصه و تکراري ما ايرانيان از گذشته هاي دور است.
>>>

IDEAS

قانون ظروف مرتبطه و اسلام زدگی

اگر صبر داشته بايم، شاهد فرو نشستن توفان نيز خواهيم بود

by Esmail Nooriala
15-Aug-2007
اکنون جهان اسلام، در قالب «طلبکار»، برخاسته است تا گستاخانه به جهان بگويد که دارای ارزش هائی برتر از ارزش های غرب است؛ زنانش از زنان غرب مرفه تر و مصون ترند؛ قوانين بيابانی شکنجه و قطع دست و سنگسار و اعدامش در راستای ريشه کن کردن جرم و جنايت از روند پيچيدهء دادگستری در غرب کارآمدترند؛ و تازه دری گشوده به ملکوت خداوند هم دارند که، در چشم کسی که چيزی برای از دست دادن ندارد، مرگ را خار و حقير می کند و زندگی در گلشن رضوان و همآغوشی با حوری و غلمان را تضمين جانفشانی توده ها می سازد.
>>>

RIGHTS

What happened?

Why is the Middle East stuck in the Middle Ages?

by Ben Madadi
14-Aug-2007 (one comment)
Sometimes comparing Iranians, Arabs, Turks and other Middle-Easterners to Westerners I thought there may be something wrong with Middle-Eastern genes or something that makes people be so much more aggressive, so much less honest, and altogether far more impulsive. Just an innocent thought! Never reached any conclusion to prove the hypothesis. However it is a fact that peoples of the Middle East are not usually trustworthy, get angry very quickly and usually act emotionally. This is all beside other defects such as arrogance combined with gullibility and so on>>>

PERSIAN

No, you're Iranian

Facebook culture wars

by Roozbeh Shirazi
13-Aug-2007
There are more people from Persia than Iran on Facebook. Yup... Many young people of Iranian origin in the US construct 'Persian' as an alter-ego to being 'Iranian' because Iran has been reconstructed as something unattractive, backward, alien, and terrifyingly Muslim by their families, other Iranians in their social networks, and not least by American media and foreign policy ever since the Revolution. It is a defense mechanism against the (perceived) enormous social cost that comes with identifying as Iranian. I am fully open to the prospect that maybe it's not an "either-or" proposition, and some use the terms interchangeably-but looking at some of these group names, there seem to be a significant number of people that have crystallized Persian vs. Iranian into a dichotomous cultural struggle>>>

FREE SPEECH

A threat to all of us

If someone could silence whatever he or she didn't like we are all going to be in big trouble soon

by Hossein Derakhshan
13-Aug-2007
While everyone is on holidays, a new blow to online free speech has taken place and I would like to share it with you and ask for help. Last Friday, my blog was shut down by my hosting company (Florida-based Hosting Matters), as a result of a legal notice sent by Mehdi Khalaji, an Iranian fellow at a neo-conservative think-tank (Washington Institute for the Near East Policy with Richard Perle, Paul Wolfowitz and James Woolsey on its advisory board). Khalaji's lawyer has sent a notice to my hosting company and also my domain registrar, Go Daddy, asking them to a) remove any 'defamatory' material about him, b) make me publish an apology, and c) pay $10,000 for the claimed damages>>>

HODER

Price of baseless accusations

Hoder was not aware of the terms and conditions of writing on the web

by Kianosh Saadati
13-Aug-2007
TORONTO -- One of the most controversial and maybe most read Persian blogs has finally been shut down. It belonged to Hossein Derakhsan, aka Hoder. No doubt, many of his enemies and those who did not like him very much may be very happy. But only a few may even ask why this has happened. The following is a brief account about the rise and fall of the so called THE GODFATHER OF PERSIAN BLOG. I think one of his biggest mistakes was lack of knowledge and skill in the field of journalism and professional writing. Hoder was not aware of the terms and conditions of writing on the web. He simply accused anyone who did not think like him. Maybe this is why he called his blog: EDITOR MYSELF.>>>

FREE SPEECH

Stalin alive and well!

These people are bringing Iranians Democracy?

by Sheema Kalbasi
12-Aug-2007
Hossein Derakhshan's blog is suspended by Mehdi Khalaji! Apparently Khalaji having had worked for and under the current regime of Iran before he was revolutionized has brought his Mullah mindset to the United States. I by no means defend Derakhshan for I have observed his actions and his support for the current regime of Iran but am surprised at Khalaji. He is supposedly promoting a democratic Iran?! He too can write and express his opinion but to shut down a blog is nothing short what we observe in today's Iran where newspapers and blogs are shut down or filtered every day>>>

RIGHTS

All this hoopla over nothing

All in all, the NIAC human rights conference was definitely not sympathetic to the mullahs

by Mansour Elahi
12-Aug-2007
Recently, I have over and over again heard a small group of Iranians attack the National Iranian American Council (NIAC); each time with a new charge. At an information meeting about Goli Ameri's new lobby group, they accused NIAC of being too critical of the Bush Administration. Iranian monarchists have for several years accused the organization of being a front for the mullahs. And of course, pro-Israeli neo-conservatives like Kenneth Timmerman have been on NIAC's case for calling for diplomacy with Iran. So far so good. Any group that infuriates Goli Ameri, the neo-cons and the monarchists must be doing something right.>>>

TURKEY

Slander in black & white

What have you learned from living in a democracy?

by Fariba Amini
10-Aug-2007 (one comment)
My observations were about Istanbul and a few other towns I visited and the people of Turkey. Now, when one compares Reza Shah to Ataturk, the differences are striking. On the one hand we have Reza Khan Gholdor, (surely there was a good reason why he was given this nickname) who put his foot on every piece of land, confiscated it for himself and his newly named Pahlavi family, and then distributed it. How noble of Reza Khan! History has taught us that he was a malovolent dictator, who was ruthless towards his opponents and in the end sided with the Nazis. Let us name some intellectuals, poets, high ranking men who were incarcerated, shot at or killed at the order of Reza Khan:>>>

IDEAS

عقل، دین و خشونت

باور کردنی نیست که ما در ابتدای قرن بیست و یکم خود را در چنبره خشونت جهانی به نام دین می یابیم

by Ahmad Sadri
08-Aug-2007
پاپ بندیکت شانزدهم (کاردینال راتزینگر سابق) در سخنرانی پارسال خود ( تحت عنوان ایمان، عقل و دانشگاه) در روزنبرگ تلازمی بین دین غیر عقلانی (به زعم او: اسلام) و خشونت دینی قائل شد. فحوای این سخنرانی بخودی خود اسلام را به چالش میخواند ولی آنچه موجب بر انگیختن احساسات فراوان شد اشاره او به امپراطور بیزانسی مانوئل پالیو لوگوس دوم (1350-1425 میلادی) بود که علی ما نُقِل در مباحثه ای (که به سبک رایچ در تمدن یونانی بشکل دیالوگ نوشته شده و واقعیت تاریخی آن محل تشکیک است) به یک عالم مسلمان ایرانی میگوید: >>>

WOMEN

Democratic culture

A campaign for equality

by Ali Akbar Mahdi
08-Aug-2007
Finding itself in a new environment, the women’s movement had to look for new tactics and strategies compatible to the narrow avenues available within a theocratic system. Under such circumstances, the movement found success galvanizing support around grievances affecting a broad array of the female population—not simply single constituency issues. Given that women comprise nearly half of the Iranian population, relying on group identity and grievances offered a smart approach to building solidarity and mobilization. Issues such as custody for children, the right to divorce, legal equality, and opposition to violence against women were as important to secular, educated middle-class women as to poor, conservative, and working women.>>>
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