Iranian Truth - حقيقت ايرانى

It is becoming more and more clear that the so called Reformists in Iran are making themselves fast irrelevant. Look at this article that boasts about the “heavyweights” Khatami and Rafsanjani challenging Ahmadinejad:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gPqMYnqyxTq03-q9jk9jHvAqg6oA

What is truly strange about these people is that they are finding nothing to challenge Ahmadinejad except for his policy regarding nuclear power and the increasing economic sanctions. Nothing about the jailing of students, nothing about the convictions of women’s rights activists, nothing about the jailing and killing of labor leaders and the list goes on.

Fact is that the Western economic sanctions are pulling the rug from the criticisms of Ahmadinejad’s internal failures. So challenging him on this issue is a spit in the wind that will haunt them more than him. Who in Iran will blame Ahmadinejad for rising prices, when the US is forcing economic sanctions on the whole country? Furthermore, Ahmadinejad is cleverly using the issue to show the Reformists as weak, ineffective, un-principled and Western stooges. And, unfortunately, he seems to be right.

Who is it that these “Moderates” represent? Certainly not those who are fighting for political reforms. It seems like these “heavyweights” are moderate only when it comes to the question of Iran’s right to nuclear energy, but no less moderate when it comes to safeguarding Iran’s civil society. To put it mildly: is Mr. Rafsanjani truly worried about the direction that the country is going, or is he worried about his pocket and the economic dynasty that he has built in the past three decades? I think that Messieurs Rafsanjani and Khatami are doing more to destroy the movements for strong civil society in Iran than Ahmadinejad. At least Ahmadinejad is clear about where he stands and grassroots activists are constantly challenging him. But then come the “Moderates” saying that Iran should bow down to Western pressure that most everyone in Iran sees as unfair. And they do so in the name of moderation and reform.

Will anyone vote for these people in the upcoming elections? SHOULD anyone vote for them in the upcoming elections?

The CBC has produced a documentary titled ‘Prostitution Behind the Veil’. It follows 2 single mothers who are prostituting themselves in order to support drug addiction and their children. It’s political (though not subtly, judging by the title) since it blames Islam and the government entirely for the day-to-day problems these women must face. While I think the legal system in Iran definitely hurts these women more than it helps them, I think this movie grossly simplifies the issue of prostitution (internationally) and ignores a laundry list of other issues that contribute to why these women are forced into this lifestyle. It also fails to present prostitution in the appropriate context which is human rights, not politics.

Media like this can be helpful in showing how people abroad can help (especially those who regularly visit Iran). However, such videos can be dangerous too. An example of this danger is how US politicians will exploit the plight of the poor in order to boost their otherwise shady political agendas. Rob Sobhani did this. In the past, Sobhani has been closely linked to Reza Pahlavi (they are also childhood friends) and was quoted as saying the following:

An extreme interpretation by Rob Sobhani of this argument has drawn angry criticism from students at Georgetown University, where Sobhani is an adjunct professor. They charge that Sobhani has on at least two occasions (one being at the AEI forum in 2003) made the following statement: “There’s a young lady here in the United States who is in her mid thirties. She’s a deputy secretary of education in the United States, an American Iranian. That same 30-something in Iran has to prostitute herself to make ends meet.” In a complaint to the university administration, the critics charge: “Mr. Sobhani’s irresponsible and inappropriate statement implies that Iranian women are prostitutes, however competent they might be. His allegation is both false and malicious … His manner of argument uses the degradation of the image of Iranians to that of a helpless, backward people as a tactic to gain support for his political agenda.” (5)

I think this is significant in light of the fact that people like Sobhani and Pahlavi are working to influence President Bush to press the regime change button on Iran. As a woman, what would cause me to object to Sobhani in bringing attention to this problem? The primary reason is that Sobhani is a self-serving politician. He has never worked at the grass roots level and during his bid for US Senate he did not demonstrate any interest in the social problems of Maryland. That is why he was unsuccessful in getting elected and it is probably what led him to make the statement above.

Another reason I oppose Sobhani and others in their view of prostitution, is because the regime change policy actually increased the number of Iraqi women who turned to prostitution. Below is a report by NBC’s Brian Williams about this. Pay close attention to the part about child prostitution, which is the worst kind of exploitation. The hard lesson is that such naive policies will do little to help the poor who these exile politicians claim to be concerned about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0-NZLkaHy0

Here is part one of the CBC video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDja_ym8sSE

I came to write my thoughts about an e-mail that I received from IRQO (Iranian Queer Organization) advocating the ending of executions in Iran. Take a look at their website:
http://www.irqo.net/IRQO/English/pages/101.htm

But when I came to the homepage of Iranian Truth, I noticed that a similar call is made on this site. So I guess what I have to say will concern the organizers of this site as well as IRQO.

In one sentence: this advocacy is politically meaningless if not completely irresponsible.

From the outset, I should say that I am against the death penalty as a principle : in the US, Iran, and anywhere else it is practiced. I fundamentally do not trust ANY government to be able to carry out executions justly. There will always be innocents, prisoners of conscience, etc. that will get executed and a truly just and civilized society will keep its government under control enough to NOT give it the power to kill people.

But that being said, I do wonder what it means for these ex-pat Iranian groups in the US or Europe to advocate ending the death penalty inside Iran.

As far as IRQO is concerned, this call seems to be more for the consumption of their Western audiences than a real attempt at changing Iran’s criminal codes and human rights record. And if that’s the case — if IRQO is raising these political demands in order to raise its own profile in the West — then they are directly buying into the anti Iran hysteria and probably ruining any chance of a dialogue inside Iran about this issue.

A few questions for people who are thinking about this cause:

Who are you making these demanding to?
Who are you moblizing in order to acheive this goal?
Are you in touch with anti-death penalty advocates in Iran and are you coordinating this international call with those local activists in Iran?

I am serious about these questions because I want to see an end to executions, but I also want to support a campaign that is serious about it and doesn’t have a hidden agenda. So please respond.

As per my former post, here’s greater evidence about Ledeen’s lies. Here’s an excerpt from his new book, The Iranian Time Bomb:

“the relationship between Iran and al Qaeda over the years has been so close that it is difficult today not to conclude that Iran was involved in the 9/11 attacks.”

Can the Iranian-American community advocate against this manipulative liar? Faster please.

If you want a better understanding of how “Fox News” actually distorts the news, specifically with reference to Iran, then you don’t need anymore evidence than this. In a news article today, Fox News reported that Hashemi Rafsanjani stated the following: “Hitler Wanted to Rid World of Jews Because ‘They Were a Pain in the Neck.’” The article cites to a sermon translated by Memri.org, an organization founded by a former Colonel of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). However, even the Memri translation of Rafsanjani’s speech never came close to how Fox News interpreted it. The sermon, which you can view here, simply stated that one of the reasons Hitler felt threatened by Jews was because of political Zionism. There is no reference, whatsoever, as Jews being a “pain in the neck” and that that was the reason why Hitler sought to have them eradicated.

This is the type of blatant mistranslation and mischaracterization of speeches which demonstrates Fox New’s actual agenda and why it truly is a tool of propaganda and far from being a vehicle from news. Ironically, if Fox News has anything in common, its with the National Socialist radio in Nazi Germany and RTLM during the Rwandan genocide.

I’m not a big fan of the American Iranian Council. I think they are a bit too much into self-promotion and don’t really reach out to the Iranian population in the US, which they claim to represent. That makes them shady in my book. But I will give them credit if the following is true. Apparently, they were influential in persuading Iran to free Ali Shakeri, one of the four Iranian-Americans who were imprisoned in Iran. Is this 100% true? I don’t know. But I do think Shakeri has some affiliation with AIC and AIC did have a meeting with Ahmadinejad while he was in New York (albeit after Shakeri was released). Nevertheless, something still sounds shady in all this.

Of course this is something the Iranian community in Los Angeles actually likes about Iran:

Tanning session: $11
Botox injections: $200
Nose job: $5,000
Breast augmentation: $10,000

And for those of you who this this is only something wealthy Iranians care about, think twice:

“It gives me confidence to have a nice face because it is the only part that I can show off,” said middle-class housewife Hasti, 30, who sold her car to raise $5,000 to have her nose altered.

This from the Associated Press:

An estimated 100 students staged a rare demonstration Monday against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling him a “dictator” and scuffling with hardline students at Tehran University.

GayCityNews.com has published the perspective of a gay Iranian man who is a member of the Queer Iranian Alliance. I think its a fantastic article and well work reading in whole. In pertinent part:

In Iran, the president’s comments denying the presence of homosexuals have been generally ignored or censored in the mainstream media; however the issue is debated and discussed publicly and on the Internet. It remains to be seen if activists and progressives in Iran will make any inroads in gaining greater public visibility and support as a result of this discussion.

This issue could easily become a major ideological and political test for a regime that rests on the basic notion that Iran is a proud independent nation resisting Western and especially US imperialism. The idea that homosexuality is a Western phenomenon is, of course, the main government line on the issue, and if the movement for gay rights is seen as a Western agenda, or a part of Western imposition on Iran, it will make it that much harder for the many brave gay activists inside Iran to continue their struggle for visibility and acceptance.

In the US, on the other hand, Ahmadinejad’s comments regarding gays have been blown up and discussed ad nauseum to the point of becoming one of the primary ways that he is being increasingly discredited and vilified. And here is the danger that we in the West can easily fall into - if this issue is used to further antagonize Iran, it could mean a disaster for the situation of gays in Iran.

The sudden emergence of sympathy, even love, for gays by the likes of Fox News is not just cynical, it is dangerous. If left in the hands of those who couldn’t care less about gay rights, the situation of Iranian gays will become a part of American war propaganda that aims to create justifications for military intervention and deepen the idea inside Iran that gays are a dangerous fifth column.