Ahmad (Chosen Iranian Name, Aryo) Seraji, the Iranian blogger who escaped to Turkey faces deportation to the Islamic Republic by the Turkish authorities.
The authorities in Turkey (what Azeri separatist on Gunaz TV like to call "Turkish brothers") want to prosecute Aryo for illegal entry into Turkey. Aryo managed to escape Islamic Republic prison four months ago and cross the border into Turkey.
Aryo, an Iranian Azeri like myself, will face certain jail if he is deported back to Iran. He received 30 lashes and was beaten up severely, spent six months in Tabriz prison alongside drug addicts and common criminals. He was due to have been tried again for further charges and faced another 3 years in prison.
Previous Blog on Aryo.
This weblog was created to act as a platform for the voice of secular pro-democracy activists in and outside Iran who are struggling against the religious dictatorship of the Islamic clerics in Iran. Follow me on https://gettr.com/user/potkazar or My Telegram Channel https://t.me/SledgeHammerNews My favourite quote: "Evil only prevails when the good stay silent"
Friday, March 31, 2006
Thursday, March 30, 2006
VOA Persian Remove the Un-Iranian Emblem
Finally, after a lot of protests by Iranian patriots, VOA Persian decided to remove the trantula emblem of the Islamic Republic from their Iran related news website.
See: http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2006/03/iri-flag-on-voa-news-website.html
Iranian patriots should fight to remove this un-Iranian symbol, wherever they come across it, and whenever they can. Whether on websites, in shops, businesses, "cultural" events, sporting events, ... The un-Iranian trantula should never represent Iran or Iranians.
Well done to all those who took part in the protest.
See: http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2006/03/iri-flag-on-voa-news-website.html
Iranian patriots should fight to remove this un-Iranian symbol, wherever they come across it, and whenever they can. Whether on websites, in shops, businesses, "cultural" events, sporting events, ... The un-Iranian trantula should never represent Iran or Iranians.
Well done to all those who took part in the protest.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Clare Short Backs an Iranian Asylum Seeker
I have no knowledge of this case, and I can only repeat Clare Short's speech in the UK parliament made on 23rd March. However one thing which is obvious to me, is the immoral and the inhumane Islamic Republic law which allows girls as young as 9 to be married. The likes of Elaheh Rostami, Haleh Afshar, SWP and womenstrike8m@server101.com will of course never mention such wrongs, to them what is important is not the suffering of an innocent 9 year old girl who loses her childhood years, but that in their warped mind, the Islamic Republic is standing up to American Imperialism!!
we should all write a thank you letter to Clare Short for taking up this case. Clare Short also mentions, for the first time in UK parliament, the massacre of the Iranian political prisoners in the 1980s.
The exact transcript of Clare Short's speech :
23 Mar 2006 : Column 515 [6.1 pm]
"Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Dhanda.]
6.1 pm
Clare Short (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab): I want to raise the case of Omid Farivar and his family, who are asylum seekers from Iran living in my constituency. Over the years that I have been in the House, I have dealt with many hundreds and probably thousands of asylum cases. Some have been distressing, and some disturbing, but probably none has been worse and more worrying than this one. I have therefore written to the Home Office and the Minister on a number of occasions, and have asked for a meeting with the Minister, which he refused. I am therefore bringing the case to the Floor of the House to try to draw the Minister's attention to this case's extremely distressing features, which inspire compassion, in the hope that I can get him to reconsider.
All of us who deal regularly with asylum cases know that there has been a continuing hardening of attitudes in the Home Office in recent years, and a growing unwillingness on the part of Ministers to use the discretion given them by Parliament to deal with cases that truly arouse compassion. I still find it hard to believe, however, that any UK Minister, let alone one who claims to be a Labour Minister, can possibly refuse this case. If I do not achieve a reconsideration by the Minister, my concern is that the doctors of my constituent's 13-year-old daughter fear that she is unlikely to reach the age of 14 and extremely likely to commit suicide. I will come to the evidence of that in a moment. In addition, her father, if returned to Iran, is very likely to be executed.
I should stress that I am anxious not to identify the family too closely. I have given the name of my constituent, and I hope that that will not cause ramifications. The obvious reasons for my hesitation are those of privacy and concern for the mental health of the daughter, but also that the family are fearful of any consequences of publicity here for their family in Iran. My regional television company, Central television, was anxious to take up the case and interview the family. Although that might have helped them, they refused, because they fear what might happen at home if they draw attention to themselves.
My constituent is a graduate in chemical engineering. For a time, he was a lecturer, and then became a development and research manager in a substantial factory. His wife is also a chemical engineering graduate, production manager and part-time chemistry teacher. Obviously, the family are highly educated and were living comfortably in Iran.
In February 2003, however, my constituent was involved in a road traffic accident in which a child was seriously injured. That was obviously a tragedy, but it turned into a nightmare for the family, because the boy was the son of a high-ranking member of an Islamist group referred to in Iran as Hizbullahi—as I understand it, all such groups are fanatically supportive of the Government, but this particular group is especially fanatical, tends to enforce Government rules, and is known as Feshar. My constituent tells me that its members are hard-line militant enforcers of Islamist rules.
23 Mar 2006 : Column 516
After the accident the police went to the scene, talked to witnesses and took my constituent to a police station, where he was held for three days. The father of the boy then went to the police station and claimed that my constituent had knocked the boy over on purpose. He kicked and beat him. At first the police were inclined to stop that, but when the political-activist senior figure said that my constituent had knocked the boy over on purpose they joined in, and he was beaten very severely.
On the second day, my constituent was asked to sign a confession. He resisted, but was beaten more and then gave in. The confession stated that he had deliberately injured the boy because he was trying to harm the father, and that he had been drinking alcohol. That was all completely untrue, but he signed the confession because he was beaten. He was then taken to court, and was detained while they waited to see what would happen to the boy. He was in prison for two to three weeks; then the boy sadly died.
My constituent's family experienced great difficulty in getting any solicitor to represent him because of the political position of the boy's father, but eventually they found a solicitor who secured his release from prison on bail. When the boy died, however, he was detained again. The court then ordered him to pay blood money or be executed. Obviously he accepted the order to pay blood money, but in such cases the offended party must agree. The boy's family would not accept blood money, but said they would agree to accept it and would not demand execution if my constituent agreed to engage his 11-year-old daughter to the brother of the boy's father, a 42-year-old. The boy's father also went to see my constituent, and said that even if my constituent was executed he would follow his family and take the life of a young person to pay for the life that his own family had lost.
My constituent then talked to his wife and father about what he should do. He thought that perhaps he should accept execution to release his family from the pressure that they were under, but they said "No: agree to the deal. Then at least we can get you out of prison, and try to find a way forward." He therefore accepted the deal and paid the blood money, which he tells me was 15 million toman. I have no idea how much that is, but I imagine that it is a substantial sum.
Then the daughter was engaged to the brother, but whenever the man called at their house she would shake in fear. Her father felt absolutely dreadful, and decided that he could not do it: she was too young. Then his father paid a people-smuggler—one of those people who now run the asylum system of the world—to take the family out of the country. But the smuggler was arrested—I do not think that it was to do with this case—and put in prison, so the money was lost and that plan did not work.
The fiancé—the 42-year-old brother—kept calling at my constituent's house to see his daughter. My constituent said that he could not accept it any more. He dismissed the engagement, and returned the presents that the fiancé had brought.
Before the engagement, the family of the boy who had died in the accident had come to my constituent's house, broken windows and harassed and threatened the family. All that stopped when the engagement was on, but after it was broken off the attacks started again.
23 Mar 2006 : Column 517
That led to an invasion of the house. The invaders found the satellite television, which is illegal in Iran. They also claimed to have found political books and alcohol. My constituent tells me that he did have a satellite television, but did not have political books or alcohol. He was not involved in any political activity in Iran. However, the allegations were being made by a political faction, which made him into a political prisoner.
My constituent was then taken to the fanatical group's own prison, which he tells me was very nasty, like a cage, with sharp needle-like pieces of metal embedded in the cement of the floor. He was there for 10 to 12 days. There was no light, and he did not know whether it was day or night. He was taken out of the cage and beaten, then put back, many times. He was then released, because his father had paid a lot of money for him to be released, and told to report to the group daily. He tells me that there are special courts to deal with political offences—Islamic revolutionary courts.
Given the doubts of the regrettably misinformed adjudicator in the case, let me say that Human Rights Watch is very clear about the fact that there are political courts in Iran: there is no question about that. My constituent was not politically active, but he was accused by a political faction of being politically motivated, and was therefore treated as a political prisoner.
My constituent's father, having got him released from prison, looked for a way to get him and his wife, son and daughter out of the country. They found and paid a people-smuggler, who got them false visas on their real passports. By now, they were not staying at home but moving between friends and family. Then, they got the message to go to the airport very early on a fixed day. The smuggler gave them their passports and told them which passport check-line and door to go through. My constituent assumes that people were bribed to let them through. They did not know until that morning where they were going. They had no motivation to get to the UK; they just wanted to get out of the country and the danger that they were in. They were given tickets and told to rip up their passports on the plane and to apply to UK authorities when they arrived, which they did. My constituent knew nothing whatsoever of asylum or any asylum seekers before he came to the UK.
Since the family have been in this country, the daughter has had constant nightmares and will not eat. Her doctors have written medical letters to me; indeed, they are so worried about her that they have even come to see me at my advice bureau. They are extremely fearful that she will commit suicide. I have provided the Home Office with copies of those letters. Dr. Usha Jayarajan, clinical psychologist, and Dr. Irene Lampert, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, of Birmingham Children's hospital—a fine and prestigious hospital—say that the girl
"suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and associated Mood Disorders."
She
"has difficulty sleeping, waking frequently from frightening nightmares where she sees the cyclist who died in the accident in Iran, covered with blood and chasing her with knives in his hands, threatening to kill her and her family."
When she is awake
23 Mar 2006 : Column 518
"she sees people who are walking towards her as the cyclist covered in blood and becomes afraid that he is going to kill her".
She
"experiences many symptoms of acute anxiety; she is sweaty, dizzy, trembling hands, fidgety, palpitations and suffers from headaches."
On one occasion, she
"became dizzy resulting in her falling and breaking her leg in three places."
She
"is visibly very tense and has a constant sense of dread"
and
"is unable to eat as it makes her feel nauseous."
When she is awake,
"she reports finding it difficult to think about anything other than the events that led them to flee Iran and how terrible their situation is now, compared to the comfortable life that they had prior to the accident."
She
"has a sense of despair and hopelessness resulting in a persistent wish that she were dead. She has tried to persuade her mother to agree to a suicide pact for the whole family."
The letter continues:
"As we have already indicated, a strong feature of"
the girl's case
"is her persistent wish to kill herself. It is our strong belief that if"
she
"believed that she was to be returned to Iran she would make a serious attempt to kill herself, and would quite possibly succeed, before she ever reached there."
Since that letter was written, I have received a further letter from the doctors. It states that
"the situation has gone from bad to worse."
The father is now deeply depressed and there is a lot of blame between daughter and father for what has taken place. The letter continues:
"We have a very real worry, that if the situation is not swiftly resolved, i.e. the family are given permanent permission to stay, then"
she
"is not going to make a recovery."
The doctors have discussed the case with a senior hospital figure, and they are all worried that she
"will not see her 14th birthday. If this were to be the case, then the subsequent impact on the rest of the family is too horrific to contemplate."
As if that were not bad enough, since the family has been in the UK the son has developed leukaemia. A letter from a consultant paediatric haematologist at Birmingham Children's hospital—I have sent a copy of it to the Home Office—dated 7 June 2005 states that the son
"was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at the beginning of March 2004 and he received intensive chemotherapy until August 2004. He is currently in remission and on regular follow up. He is not requiring any active treatment at present although there still does remain a significant risk of disease relapse, particularly over the next two to three years . . . treatment was quite intensive and we are continuing to monitor him in the Outpatient Department for any sign of toxic effects following this treatment. He does have a significant risk of relapse and if this occurs he will need intensive further treatment and bone marrow transplant. Were he to return to Iran it is unlikely he would get the sort of follow up that would pick up complications following his
23 Mar 2006 : Column 519
treatment and secondly should his disease relapse, he will not have access to multi-agent chemotherapy and transplant as would be available in the U.K. Even should he relapse, he has a good chance of being cured with further intensive treatment."
The tragedy of the boy comes on top of the rest of the tragedy for that family.
Since they have been in the UK, they have kept in touch with the father and mother of my constituent. Their house has been invaded twice by that fanatical group and they have been beaten on both occasions. After the second invasion, the mother had a heart attack, but is still alive.
My constituent is a very intelligent, calm and reflective man. There is no doubt about the sincerity of his belief—I have been to their house and spoken with them at some length—that if he is sent back he would be sent before a political court, because he has been accused of political activity, and probably executed. His children would also be targeted, as was threatened.
I have written to my hon. Friend the Minister and asked for a meeting. His letter of 6 March relies on an adjudication that turned down the family's case. Some of the medical evidence that I have given today was not put before the adjudicator, but the adjudicator simply did not believe the story. There is no doubt in my mind that the adjudicator was simply wrong. The reason Parliament gives Ministers discretion is so that they have the right to overturn a decision when the adjudicator gets it wrong.
It is notable also that in October 2003, before the adjudication, the Home Office argued that the general human rights situation and freedom of speech in Iran were improving, and the country was in a state of transition. I hope it is accepted—it is certainly the rhetoric of our Government—that since the 2005 elections and the appointment, in particular, of Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi as Minister of the Interior, that is emphatically no longer the case. He was previously involved in a decision to execute thousands of political prisoners in 1983 [should be 1988 PA], an event that Human Rights Watch considers a serious crime against humanity under international human rights law.
That is the case that I am bringing to the Floor of the House and before the Minister tonight. I am sure that he is very busy and has many cases to consider. Perhaps he has not in the past had time to consider all the details of this case, but I ask him to please, please use his discretion to allow the family to remain in the UK on compassionate grounds because that would save their lives. They are a very nice and highly educated family and, if allowed to stay, I am sure that they would be very good citizens of our country.
6.18 pm "
we should all write a thank you letter to Clare Short for taking up this case. Clare Short also mentions, for the first time in UK parliament, the massacre of the Iranian political prisoners in the 1980s.
The exact transcript of Clare Short's speech :
23 Mar 2006 : Column 515 [6.1 pm]
"Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Dhanda.]
6.1 pm
Clare Short (Birmingham, Ladywood) (Lab): I want to raise the case of Omid Farivar and his family, who are asylum seekers from Iran living in my constituency. Over the years that I have been in the House, I have dealt with many hundreds and probably thousands of asylum cases. Some have been distressing, and some disturbing, but probably none has been worse and more worrying than this one. I have therefore written to the Home Office and the Minister on a number of occasions, and have asked for a meeting with the Minister, which he refused. I am therefore bringing the case to the Floor of the House to try to draw the Minister's attention to this case's extremely distressing features, which inspire compassion, in the hope that I can get him to reconsider.
All of us who deal regularly with asylum cases know that there has been a continuing hardening of attitudes in the Home Office in recent years, and a growing unwillingness on the part of Ministers to use the discretion given them by Parliament to deal with cases that truly arouse compassion. I still find it hard to believe, however, that any UK Minister, let alone one who claims to be a Labour Minister, can possibly refuse this case. If I do not achieve a reconsideration by the Minister, my concern is that the doctors of my constituent's 13-year-old daughter fear that she is unlikely to reach the age of 14 and extremely likely to commit suicide. I will come to the evidence of that in a moment. In addition, her father, if returned to Iran, is very likely to be executed.
I should stress that I am anxious not to identify the family too closely. I have given the name of my constituent, and I hope that that will not cause ramifications. The obvious reasons for my hesitation are those of privacy and concern for the mental health of the daughter, but also that the family are fearful of any consequences of publicity here for their family in Iran. My regional television company, Central television, was anxious to take up the case and interview the family. Although that might have helped them, they refused, because they fear what might happen at home if they draw attention to themselves.
My constituent is a graduate in chemical engineering. For a time, he was a lecturer, and then became a development and research manager in a substantial factory. His wife is also a chemical engineering graduate, production manager and part-time chemistry teacher. Obviously, the family are highly educated and were living comfortably in Iran.
In February 2003, however, my constituent was involved in a road traffic accident in which a child was seriously injured. That was obviously a tragedy, but it turned into a nightmare for the family, because the boy was the son of a high-ranking member of an Islamist group referred to in Iran as Hizbullahi—as I understand it, all such groups are fanatically supportive of the Government, but this particular group is especially fanatical, tends to enforce Government rules, and is known as Feshar. My constituent tells me that its members are hard-line militant enforcers of Islamist rules.
23 Mar 2006 : Column 516
After the accident the police went to the scene, talked to witnesses and took my constituent to a police station, where he was held for three days. The father of the boy then went to the police station and claimed that my constituent had knocked the boy over on purpose. He kicked and beat him. At first the police were inclined to stop that, but when the political-activist senior figure said that my constituent had knocked the boy over on purpose they joined in, and he was beaten very severely.
On the second day, my constituent was asked to sign a confession. He resisted, but was beaten more and then gave in. The confession stated that he had deliberately injured the boy because he was trying to harm the father, and that he had been drinking alcohol. That was all completely untrue, but he signed the confession because he was beaten. He was then taken to court, and was detained while they waited to see what would happen to the boy. He was in prison for two to three weeks; then the boy sadly died.
My constituent's family experienced great difficulty in getting any solicitor to represent him because of the political position of the boy's father, but eventually they found a solicitor who secured his release from prison on bail. When the boy died, however, he was detained again. The court then ordered him to pay blood money or be executed. Obviously he accepted the order to pay blood money, but in such cases the offended party must agree. The boy's family would not accept blood money, but said they would agree to accept it and would not demand execution if my constituent agreed to engage his 11-year-old daughter to the brother of the boy's father, a 42-year-old. The boy's father also went to see my constituent, and said that even if my constituent was executed he would follow his family and take the life of a young person to pay for the life that his own family had lost.
My constituent then talked to his wife and father about what he should do. He thought that perhaps he should accept execution to release his family from the pressure that they were under, but they said "No: agree to the deal. Then at least we can get you out of prison, and try to find a way forward." He therefore accepted the deal and paid the blood money, which he tells me was 15 million toman. I have no idea how much that is, but I imagine that it is a substantial sum.
Then the daughter was engaged to the brother, but whenever the man called at their house she would shake in fear. Her father felt absolutely dreadful, and decided that he could not do it: she was too young. Then his father paid a people-smuggler—one of those people who now run the asylum system of the world—to take the family out of the country. But the smuggler was arrested—I do not think that it was to do with this case—and put in prison, so the money was lost and that plan did not work.
The fiancé—the 42-year-old brother—kept calling at my constituent's house to see his daughter. My constituent said that he could not accept it any more. He dismissed the engagement, and returned the presents that the fiancé had brought.
Before the engagement, the family of the boy who had died in the accident had come to my constituent's house, broken windows and harassed and threatened the family. All that stopped when the engagement was on, but after it was broken off the attacks started again.
23 Mar 2006 : Column 517
That led to an invasion of the house. The invaders found the satellite television, which is illegal in Iran. They also claimed to have found political books and alcohol. My constituent tells me that he did have a satellite television, but did not have political books or alcohol. He was not involved in any political activity in Iran. However, the allegations were being made by a political faction, which made him into a political prisoner.
My constituent was then taken to the fanatical group's own prison, which he tells me was very nasty, like a cage, with sharp needle-like pieces of metal embedded in the cement of the floor. He was there for 10 to 12 days. There was no light, and he did not know whether it was day or night. He was taken out of the cage and beaten, then put back, many times. He was then released, because his father had paid a lot of money for him to be released, and told to report to the group daily. He tells me that there are special courts to deal with political offences—Islamic revolutionary courts.
Given the doubts of the regrettably misinformed adjudicator in the case, let me say that Human Rights Watch is very clear about the fact that there are political courts in Iran: there is no question about that. My constituent was not politically active, but he was accused by a political faction of being politically motivated, and was therefore treated as a political prisoner.
My constituent's father, having got him released from prison, looked for a way to get him and his wife, son and daughter out of the country. They found and paid a people-smuggler, who got them false visas on their real passports. By now, they were not staying at home but moving between friends and family. Then, they got the message to go to the airport very early on a fixed day. The smuggler gave them their passports and told them which passport check-line and door to go through. My constituent assumes that people were bribed to let them through. They did not know until that morning where they were going. They had no motivation to get to the UK; they just wanted to get out of the country and the danger that they were in. They were given tickets and told to rip up their passports on the plane and to apply to UK authorities when they arrived, which they did. My constituent knew nothing whatsoever of asylum or any asylum seekers before he came to the UK.
Since the family have been in this country, the daughter has had constant nightmares and will not eat. Her doctors have written medical letters to me; indeed, they are so worried about her that they have even come to see me at my advice bureau. They are extremely fearful that she will commit suicide. I have provided the Home Office with copies of those letters. Dr. Usha Jayarajan, clinical psychologist, and Dr. Irene Lampert, consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, of Birmingham Children's hospital—a fine and prestigious hospital—say that the girl
"suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and associated Mood Disorders."
She
"has difficulty sleeping, waking frequently from frightening nightmares where she sees the cyclist who died in the accident in Iran, covered with blood and chasing her with knives in his hands, threatening to kill her and her family."
When she is awake
23 Mar 2006 : Column 518
"she sees people who are walking towards her as the cyclist covered in blood and becomes afraid that he is going to kill her".
She
"experiences many symptoms of acute anxiety; she is sweaty, dizzy, trembling hands, fidgety, palpitations and suffers from headaches."
On one occasion, she
"became dizzy resulting in her falling and breaking her leg in three places."
She
"is visibly very tense and has a constant sense of dread"
and
"is unable to eat as it makes her feel nauseous."
When she is awake,
"she reports finding it difficult to think about anything other than the events that led them to flee Iran and how terrible their situation is now, compared to the comfortable life that they had prior to the accident."
She
"has a sense of despair and hopelessness resulting in a persistent wish that she were dead. She has tried to persuade her mother to agree to a suicide pact for the whole family."
The letter continues:
"As we have already indicated, a strong feature of"
the girl's case
"is her persistent wish to kill herself. It is our strong belief that if"
she
"believed that she was to be returned to Iran she would make a serious attempt to kill herself, and would quite possibly succeed, before she ever reached there."
Since that letter was written, I have received a further letter from the doctors. It states that
"the situation has gone from bad to worse."
The father is now deeply depressed and there is a lot of blame between daughter and father for what has taken place. The letter continues:
"We have a very real worry, that if the situation is not swiftly resolved, i.e. the family are given permanent permission to stay, then"
she
"is not going to make a recovery."
The doctors have discussed the case with a senior hospital figure, and they are all worried that she
"will not see her 14th birthday. If this were to be the case, then the subsequent impact on the rest of the family is too horrific to contemplate."
As if that were not bad enough, since the family has been in the UK the son has developed leukaemia. A letter from a consultant paediatric haematologist at Birmingham Children's hospital—I have sent a copy of it to the Home Office—dated 7 June 2005 states that the son
"was first diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at the beginning of March 2004 and he received intensive chemotherapy until August 2004. He is currently in remission and on regular follow up. He is not requiring any active treatment at present although there still does remain a significant risk of disease relapse, particularly over the next two to three years . . . treatment was quite intensive and we are continuing to monitor him in the Outpatient Department for any sign of toxic effects following this treatment. He does have a significant risk of relapse and if this occurs he will need intensive further treatment and bone marrow transplant. Were he to return to Iran it is unlikely he would get the sort of follow up that would pick up complications following his
23 Mar 2006 : Column 519
treatment and secondly should his disease relapse, he will not have access to multi-agent chemotherapy and transplant as would be available in the U.K. Even should he relapse, he has a good chance of being cured with further intensive treatment."
The tragedy of the boy comes on top of the rest of the tragedy for that family.
Since they have been in the UK, they have kept in touch with the father and mother of my constituent. Their house has been invaded twice by that fanatical group and they have been beaten on both occasions. After the second invasion, the mother had a heart attack, but is still alive.
My constituent is a very intelligent, calm and reflective man. There is no doubt about the sincerity of his belief—I have been to their house and spoken with them at some length—that if he is sent back he would be sent before a political court, because he has been accused of political activity, and probably executed. His children would also be targeted, as was threatened.
I have written to my hon. Friend the Minister and asked for a meeting. His letter of 6 March relies on an adjudication that turned down the family's case. Some of the medical evidence that I have given today was not put before the adjudicator, but the adjudicator simply did not believe the story. There is no doubt in my mind that the adjudicator was simply wrong. The reason Parliament gives Ministers discretion is so that they have the right to overturn a decision when the adjudicator gets it wrong.
It is notable also that in October 2003, before the adjudication, the Home Office argued that the general human rights situation and freedom of speech in Iran were improving, and the country was in a state of transition. I hope it is accepted—it is certainly the rhetoric of our Government—that since the 2005 elections and the appointment, in particular, of Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi as Minister of the Interior, that is emphatically no longer the case. He was previously involved in a decision to execute thousands of political prisoners in 1983 [should be 1988 PA], an event that Human Rights Watch considers a serious crime against humanity under international human rights law.
That is the case that I am bringing to the Floor of the House and before the Minister tonight. I am sure that he is very busy and has many cases to consider. Perhaps he has not in the past had time to consider all the details of this case, but I ask him to please, please use his discretion to allow the family to remain in the UK on compassionate grounds because that would save their lives. They are a very nice and highly educated family and, if allowed to stay, I am sure that they would be very good citizens of our country.
6.18 pm "
Monday, March 27, 2006
Saturday, March 25, 2006
IRI Flag on VOA News Website
Voice of America (Persian Service), this is a broadcasting media financed by the US government, but I wonder if those who finance it just realise what the VOA (Persian Service) staff are up to. I have written about it before: http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2006/02/voa-persian-versus-al-alam-tv.html
but look at what a friend of mine pointed out to me today:
http://www.voanews.com/persian/iran_news.cfm
To use the Islamic Republic flag or the true Iranian flag has become a symbolic statement amongst the Iranians. It illustrates which side you are on. Do you accept an un-Iranian flag with un-Iranian writing and symbol or do you hold dear the true Iranian flag. Sadly the VOA staff, perhaps through a Freudian slip, have decided to display the Islamic Republic flag.
Some may say, oh well that unfortunately is the present official flag, and VOA as an international public broadcasting service has to use the official flag. However there is actually no need to use any flag. For news relating to other countries, VOA does not use any flag but it uses a map representing the official boundaries. Similarly for Iran related news, VOA could simply use a map of Iran and thus at least stay neutral.
but look at what a friend of mine pointed out to me today:
http://www.voanews.com/persian/iran_news.cfm
To use the Islamic Republic flag or the true Iranian flag has become a symbolic statement amongst the Iranians. It illustrates which side you are on. Do you accept an un-Iranian flag with un-Iranian writing and symbol or do you hold dear the true Iranian flag. Sadly the VOA staff, perhaps through a Freudian slip, have decided to display the Islamic Republic flag.
Some may say, oh well that unfortunately is the present official flag, and VOA as an international public broadcasting service has to use the official flag. However there is actually no need to use any flag. For news relating to other countries, VOA does not use any flag but it uses a map representing the official boundaries. Similarly for Iran related news, VOA could simply use a map of Iran and thus at least stay neutral.
Nice Nowrooz Clip
Nowrooz celebrations go on for 13 days, so don't blame me if I keep going on about it. This is a really nice Nowrooz clip, hope you enjoy it:
http://clips.zendehrood.com/ShowClip.aspx?ClipID=127
http://clips.zendehrood.com/ShowClip.aspx?ClipID=127
Friday, March 24, 2006
BBC Coverage of Belarus Protesters
If there is one tax I hate paying most, its the BBC license. No one forces me to go and buy a newspaper whose editorial I detest, so why should I have to be made to pay for BBC news editors whom I despise and detest?
I wrote to the BBC complaint department during Ganji's hunger strike and asked as to why the hunger strike by this dissident was not covered on the BBC national news. The reply I got from them said, the editors had to fit what they judged to be the most important news within the limited program time they had, sadly the marathon hunger strike by the Iranian dissident was not judged that important.
So while Ganji was on hunger strike for more than 70 days, there was not a single day in which they could attach some importance to an Iranian revolutionary turned dissident and show the British public that there are dissidents in Iran. Perhaps the disillusioned UK Muslim youth for once could have been educated with the knowledge that many of Iran's revolutionary children have now seen the errors of their judgment and the Islamic government is no Utopia. But hey No! the BBC editors preferred to ignore Ganji's hunger strike for 70 days and instead broadcast the hungerstrike by the Guantanamo prisoners.
Today, the top world news on the BBC news site was the crackdown on the Belarus protesters. 200 protesters were removed after 5 days of protest. The news item gave coverage to why the opposition think the voting was rigged etc. Also at the end it asks anyone for pictures and films of the crackdown.
So why is it that a protest by 200 people in Belarus, gets such BBC coverage, but a crackdown on 200 Iranian women on women's day does not get a mention on the BBC news site? Why doesn't anyone in the BBC ask us for pictures and films of the event?
In Belarus, the candidates were not vetted by an unelected body, the opposition were allowed to contest the election. The Belarus authorities let the protesters who disputed the election results, to protest for 5 days before moving them, but all this gets mentioned by the BBC and I am not saying it shouldn't. Yet in Iran, where only approved candidates are allowed to stand and even then the votes are rigged and even then the interior minister publishes dubious figures where more than 100% of those eligible are shown to have voted in some districts, the BBC makes no mention of the flaws in the Islamic Republic "election" process?
What the BBC Didn't Report from Iran Elections
Complaint letters to the BBC editors by the likes of me will achieve very little if any. These wishy washy American hating editors are not persuaded by sound arguments in a letter, what we British Iranians need to do is an organised show of force where we burn our BBC TV licenses outside their studios and show them what we think of their biased "editorial judgment".
I wrote to the BBC complaint department during Ganji's hunger strike and asked as to why the hunger strike by this dissident was not covered on the BBC national news. The reply I got from them said, the editors had to fit what they judged to be the most important news within the limited program time they had, sadly the marathon hunger strike by the Iranian dissident was not judged that important.
So while Ganji was on hunger strike for more than 70 days, there was not a single day in which they could attach some importance to an Iranian revolutionary turned dissident and show the British public that there are dissidents in Iran. Perhaps the disillusioned UK Muslim youth for once could have been educated with the knowledge that many of Iran's revolutionary children have now seen the errors of their judgment and the Islamic government is no Utopia. But hey No! the BBC editors preferred to ignore Ganji's hunger strike for 70 days and instead broadcast the hungerstrike by the Guantanamo prisoners.
Today, the top world news on the BBC news site was the crackdown on the Belarus protesters. 200 protesters were removed after 5 days of protest. The news item gave coverage to why the opposition think the voting was rigged etc. Also at the end it asks anyone for pictures and films of the crackdown.
So why is it that a protest by 200 people in Belarus, gets such BBC coverage, but a crackdown on 200 Iranian women on women's day does not get a mention on the BBC news site? Why doesn't anyone in the BBC ask us for pictures and films of the event?
In Belarus, the candidates were not vetted by an unelected body, the opposition were allowed to contest the election. The Belarus authorities let the protesters who disputed the election results, to protest for 5 days before moving them, but all this gets mentioned by the BBC and I am not saying it shouldn't. Yet in Iran, where only approved candidates are allowed to stand and even then the votes are rigged and even then the interior minister publishes dubious figures where more than 100% of those eligible are shown to have voted in some districts, the BBC makes no mention of the flaws in the Islamic Republic "election" process?
What the BBC Didn't Report from Iran Elections
Complaint letters to the BBC editors by the likes of me will achieve very little if any. These wishy washy American hating editors are not persuaded by sound arguments in a letter, what we British Iranians need to do is an organised show of force where we burn our BBC TV licenses outside their studios and show them what we think of their biased "editorial judgment".
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Nowrooz Across the World
What is the least common denominator of people who have a connection to the Iranian culture? Its not speaking Persian, its not facial features, colour of skin, hair or eyes, its not religion, and its not border boundaries. Its celebrating Nowrooz.
[Uzbecks celebrating Nowrooz in Tashkent]
Imagine the Kurds, the Azeris, the Persians, the Uzbecks, the Aranis, the Tajiks, the Afghans, the Ossetians, the Armenians, the Iranian Arabs, the Turkomans, ....as a circle each. Where these circles all overlap is a segment called Nowrooz.
Yesterday I hopped through the satellite channels. It was so pleasing to watch news of Nowrooz celebrations across the countries. The Aranis, the Kurds, the Uzbecks, the Tajiks, all reporting the joyful Nowrooz celebrations of their people on their TV stations. There was of course one exception, Islamic Republic of Iran!!!
The Iranian TV showed no signs of celebrations or joyfulness. Yesterday coincided with the 40th day of mourning after the murder of prophet Mohammad's grandson, Hossein, by his Arab relatives 1400 years ago in the Arab lunar calendar. So while all the joyful Nowrooz celebrations were going on everywhere around the Iranian borders, the Iranian people were subjected to a depressing day of mourning broadcasts. What an irony, the very heart of the Iranian culture, where the biggest celebrations of Nowrooz should take place, was made silent!
[Armed Turkish police watch nervously as a Kurdish child tries to enjoy Nowrooz]
[Uzbecks celebrating Nowrooz in Tashkent]
Imagine the Kurds, the Azeris, the Persians, the Uzbecks, the Aranis, the Tajiks, the Afghans, the Ossetians, the Armenians, the Iranian Arabs, the Turkomans, ....as a circle each. Where these circles all overlap is a segment called Nowrooz.
Yesterday I hopped through the satellite channels. It was so pleasing to watch news of Nowrooz celebrations across the countries. The Aranis, the Kurds, the Uzbecks, the Tajiks, all reporting the joyful Nowrooz celebrations of their people on their TV stations. There was of course one exception, Islamic Republic of Iran!!!
The Iranian TV showed no signs of celebrations or joyfulness. Yesterday coincided with the 40th day of mourning after the murder of prophet Mohammad's grandson, Hossein, by his Arab relatives 1400 years ago in the Arab lunar calendar. So while all the joyful Nowrooz celebrations were going on everywhere around the Iranian borders, the Iranian people were subjected to a depressing day of mourning broadcasts. What an irony, the very heart of the Iranian culture, where the biggest celebrations of Nowrooz should take place, was made silent!
[Armed Turkish police watch nervously as a Kurdish child tries to enjoy Nowrooz]
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Will Nowrooz ever come back?
I can never forget the Nowrooz (Iranian New Year) celebrations while I was in Iran. There was that unforgettable spring fragrance and freshness all around. Although I am colour blind but even I could enjoy the sudden birth of colours in nature. It was as if an artist has finally coloured his preliminary pencil sketches. One could not escape the fact that the old had been replaced by the new. We all wore our new clothes, the house was made spotless after a thorough spring cleaning. Family, friends and neighbours visited each other unannounced. If there had been any personal fall outs, Nowrooz was a good occasion to patch things up, let the by gones be gone and new friendships to start.
Most important of all, the schools were closed for 13 days (hooray!) and we waited anxiously the night before the new year to open up our presents. On the new year day itself, we sat around the Haft-sin new year table. The table was decorated with all signs of life and new birth. Painted eggs, hyacinth, candles, frondescence, and colourful Iranian patisserie, and two gold fish in a large glass bowl. The actual time in hours and minutes for the earth to have revolved a full orbit around the sun is calculated and announced as the official new year time. So as the final seconds of the old year approached, we would shout aloud the countdown seconds. 10, 9, 8, ...0 Happy New Year!
Then we would jump up, kiss the other family members and friends and wish each other a healthy and happy new year ahead. For the next 13 days, it was a period of sheer bliss. No one expected us to do any home work, it was play, see friends and be merry.
On the 13th day, Iranians go out to parks and countryside for a picnic. We usually used to go to a distant relative, who had a house in the countryside with a big garden. The adults would play backgammon, bingo or similar games, while we the kids would play more energetic games like football and piggy in the middle.
What a horrible feeling though when we got back from the picnic. Suddenly it would dawn on me that from tomorrow, it was back to school again. What a horrible thought! I could never understand how 13 days would pass so quickly and now I would have to wait for another three hundred and fifty two days for Nowrooz again. I really hated the Iranian schools. We were treated like tape recorders. The teacher would come and repeat what was in the text books, and we basically had to memorise what we were told and read. The exams were all about what we could remember. In what year did so and so king come to the throne? In what year did so and so poet die? were our typical exam questions. We had to give black and white answers. There was no room for debate or creativity, no room for thinking for oneself. I firmly believe our education system was hugely responsible for producing the very low intellect intellectuals who steered the 1979 revolution and helped the clerics come to power.
Worst of all were the religious education classes, which I feared most. The number of times I was physically beaten up by the maniacs who taught this subject, I could not count. Two occasions are more memorable than others however.
Once the RE teacher kept going on about how the Almighty is capable of doing absolutely anything. I thought I could challenge him and asked him if the Almighty can create a stone so heavy that he couldnt lift himself? The answer was no in each case, so to me it was proof that the statement was false. To my surprise, rather than being congratulated for my power of logic, the teacher asked me if was a Bahaii?
"Certainly not!" I firmly replied.
"Because such questions are normally asked by Bahaiis" He shouted back at me.
Then grabbed my shirt and tried to pull me from behind the four man bench, that pupils sit on in Iranian schools. I held on to the bench as he was trying to pull me out, but at the same time he was hitting me on my back and head. Even my friends who sat behind the same bench with me but had nothing to do with my question received a few of his blows and had to stand back. When the maniac teacher ran out of breath from hitting me, he told me to apologise. For what? I only asked a question, but I did apologise and asked him to forgive me just to save myself from his strikes and my new shirt I had got for Nowrooz from being ruined.
Another occasion was when we had cornered the class prefect behind the classroom door by throwing at him everything we could. Suddenly the RE teacher walked in at the same time I threw a large piece of chalk. I aimed at the prefect but the teacher walked right into it. He saw me and asked me to come by the blackboard. He then started asking me the meanings of some Arabic words. I was never keen on the subject, pronouncing Arabic words hurt my throat and twisted my tongue, but on that day, everything he was asking me I knew. As I answered every word, I could see the disappointment in his face. I knew an onslaught was coming, I kept looking in his eyes preparing to block his blows while my heart was pounding in anticipation of the moment. Finally he asked me a word I had forgotten. What does Nessian mean?
"I can't remember that one Sir!" I said nervously. That was it, he was off like a raging bull. The RE text book he was holding and I loathed, became a weapon. In between his kicks and the RE text book being slammed on my head, I could hear him shout "I'll show you what you should remember and what you shouldn't". Finally a push kick up the arse threw me off the platform by the blackboard and out of the classroom. I learned later, Nessian in Arabic, actually means to forget and since then I have never forgotten what Nessian means.
Blatant proof perhaps that corporal punishment does work. It never did me any harm :)
Coming back to Nowrooz. Since coming to England and making this lovely country my new home, I have tried to keep up the traditions of my forefathers, but its not the same.
Tomorrow is Nowrooz, yet it is still freezing cold. None of that spring fragrance is in the air. Nothing is green yet, let alone any sign of blossoms. There is no 13 day holiday to look forward to. Even the hyacinth in my Haft-sin table looks pale and lifeless. Even in Iran, Nowrooz is not the same. The clerics have never been too kin on this "pagan" festival. In fact Ayatollah Khomeini attempted unsuccessfully to ban it shortly after the revolution. This year the Nowrooz celebrations again coincide with the Islamic mourning month of Moharram in the lunar Arab calendar and so the clerics are hoping for a muted Nowrooz festivity.
Will Nowrooz ever come back, the way we knew it? History has shown that Nowrooz is a survivor. Nowrooz will always overcome its enemies. Winters can be long and bitter, but Nowrooz will always prevail.
Most important of all, the schools were closed for 13 days (hooray!) and we waited anxiously the night before the new year to open up our presents. On the new year day itself, we sat around the Haft-sin new year table. The table was decorated with all signs of life and new birth. Painted eggs, hyacinth, candles, frondescence, and colourful Iranian patisserie, and two gold fish in a large glass bowl. The actual time in hours and minutes for the earth to have revolved a full orbit around the sun is calculated and announced as the official new year time. So as the final seconds of the old year approached, we would shout aloud the countdown seconds. 10, 9, 8, ...0 Happy New Year!
Then we would jump up, kiss the other family members and friends and wish each other a healthy and happy new year ahead. For the next 13 days, it was a period of sheer bliss. No one expected us to do any home work, it was play, see friends and be merry.
On the 13th day, Iranians go out to parks and countryside for a picnic. We usually used to go to a distant relative, who had a house in the countryside with a big garden. The adults would play backgammon, bingo or similar games, while we the kids would play more energetic games like football and piggy in the middle.
What a horrible feeling though when we got back from the picnic. Suddenly it would dawn on me that from tomorrow, it was back to school again. What a horrible thought! I could never understand how 13 days would pass so quickly and now I would have to wait for another three hundred and fifty two days for Nowrooz again. I really hated the Iranian schools. We were treated like tape recorders. The teacher would come and repeat what was in the text books, and we basically had to memorise what we were told and read. The exams were all about what we could remember. In what year did so and so king come to the throne? In what year did so and so poet die? were our typical exam questions. We had to give black and white answers. There was no room for debate or creativity, no room for thinking for oneself. I firmly believe our education system was hugely responsible for producing the very low intellect intellectuals who steered the 1979 revolution and helped the clerics come to power.
Worst of all were the religious education classes, which I feared most. The number of times I was physically beaten up by the maniacs who taught this subject, I could not count. Two occasions are more memorable than others however.
Once the RE teacher kept going on about how the Almighty is capable of doing absolutely anything. I thought I could challenge him and asked him if the Almighty can create a stone so heavy that he couldnt lift himself? The answer was no in each case, so to me it was proof that the statement was false. To my surprise, rather than being congratulated for my power of logic, the teacher asked me if was a Bahaii?
"Certainly not!" I firmly replied.
"Because such questions are normally asked by Bahaiis" He shouted back at me.
Then grabbed my shirt and tried to pull me from behind the four man bench, that pupils sit on in Iranian schools. I held on to the bench as he was trying to pull me out, but at the same time he was hitting me on my back and head. Even my friends who sat behind the same bench with me but had nothing to do with my question received a few of his blows and had to stand back. When the maniac teacher ran out of breath from hitting me, he told me to apologise. For what? I only asked a question, but I did apologise and asked him to forgive me just to save myself from his strikes and my new shirt I had got for Nowrooz from being ruined.
Another occasion was when we had cornered the class prefect behind the classroom door by throwing at him everything we could. Suddenly the RE teacher walked in at the same time I threw a large piece of chalk. I aimed at the prefect but the teacher walked right into it. He saw me and asked me to come by the blackboard. He then started asking me the meanings of some Arabic words. I was never keen on the subject, pronouncing Arabic words hurt my throat and twisted my tongue, but on that day, everything he was asking me I knew. As I answered every word, I could see the disappointment in his face. I knew an onslaught was coming, I kept looking in his eyes preparing to block his blows while my heart was pounding in anticipation of the moment. Finally he asked me a word I had forgotten. What does Nessian mean?
"I can't remember that one Sir!" I said nervously. That was it, he was off like a raging bull. The RE text book he was holding and I loathed, became a weapon. In between his kicks and the RE text book being slammed on my head, I could hear him shout "I'll show you what you should remember and what you shouldn't". Finally a push kick up the arse threw me off the platform by the blackboard and out of the classroom. I learned later, Nessian in Arabic, actually means to forget and since then I have never forgotten what Nessian means.
Blatant proof perhaps that corporal punishment does work. It never did me any harm :)
Coming back to Nowrooz. Since coming to England and making this lovely country my new home, I have tried to keep up the traditions of my forefathers, but its not the same.
Tomorrow is Nowrooz, yet it is still freezing cold. None of that spring fragrance is in the air. Nothing is green yet, let alone any sign of blossoms. There is no 13 day holiday to look forward to. Even the hyacinth in my Haft-sin table looks pale and lifeless. Even in Iran, Nowrooz is not the same. The clerics have never been too kin on this "pagan" festival. In fact Ayatollah Khomeini attempted unsuccessfully to ban it shortly after the revolution. This year the Nowrooz celebrations again coincide with the Islamic mourning month of Moharram in the lunar Arab calendar and so the clerics are hoping for a muted Nowrooz festivity.
Will Nowrooz ever come back, the way we knew it? History has shown that Nowrooz is a survivor. Nowrooz will always overcome its enemies. Winters can be long and bitter, but Nowrooz will always prevail.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Turkish Police Beat Iranian Refugees
Those handful of simple ignorant Iranians who may have been duped by the Pan-Turkist nonsense broadcast from Gunaz TV station, should take a look at this picture and see how the "Turkish Brothers" treat the desperate iranian refugees. This is how a peaceful protest outside the UN offices by Iranian refugees, protesting at the incompetent UN officials, is treated by the Turkish police.
To the corrupt Turkish police and the crooked Turkish authorities and the incompetent UN officials, the Iranian refugees are only a source of income and cheap labour. Iranian refugees have to pay to register with the UN and the Turkish police, they have to bribe the officials to be interviewed about their refugees status, and even after years of waiting for the corrupt UN to accept them as political refugees, if their refugee status is finally accepted and they are allocated a country to travel to, they then have to pay the Turkish authorities for the privilege of leaving Turkey!
Look at the Turkish police in the background grabbing the Iranian kid away from his mother.
Did our people ever have to go through such humiliation before 1979??
To the corrupt Turkish police and the crooked Turkish authorities and the incompetent UN officials, the Iranian refugees are only a source of income and cheap labour. Iranian refugees have to pay to register with the UN and the Turkish police, they have to bribe the officials to be interviewed about their refugees status, and even after years of waiting for the corrupt UN to accept them as political refugees, if their refugee status is finally accepted and they are allocated a country to travel to, they then have to pay the Turkish authorities for the privilege of leaving Turkey!
Look at the Turkish police in the background grabbing the Iranian kid away from his mother.
Did our people ever have to go through such humiliation before 1979??
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
John Hutton, A Failure on All Accounts
If you had to pick the worst performing British government cabinet member, who would be your choice? I don't even have to think about it. I will tell you straight away, John Hutton, Secretary of State for Department of Work and Pensions.
John Hutton, is responsible for the mess they call the Child Support Agency. He is responsible for an anti-father agency that acts as judge, jury and the executioner. An agency which does not have the best interest of the child at heart but is target driven to collect as much money from soft target dads. An agency whose staff are taught to lie, even about their own rules and regulations, to bear more pressure on the soft target fathers, so that the agency can massage their figures.
John Hutton is responsible for so much misery caused to so many children and to so many fathers.
Today, the Parliamentary Ombudsman, has found the Department for Work & Pensions guilty of maladministration, saying official guidance on company pension schemes had been "inaccurate, incomplete, unclear and inconsistent".
The Ombudsman's 254-page report, states that the government's "maladministration" had "caused injustice to a large number of people who, as a result, lost the opportunity to make informed choices about their future". It says DWP leaflets gave a misleading impression of the security of company pension schemes.
John Hutton audaciously says, "there was no evidence that these leaflets were inaccurate or incomplete."
What???
The leaflets told scheme members that they would receive the full value of their accrued rights if their scheme wound up and/or that the Minimum Funding Requirement was designed to ensure that schemes had enough assets to meet their liabilities in full.
How much more misleading does John Hutton want to be?
Its his Department of Works and Pensions that is also denying so many British victims of terrorist attacks overseas, adequate help or compensation.
John Hutton is responsible for having caused so much misery on so many people. He is completely out of his depth for the job. In fact he has hardly ever had a real job. The man has been a lecturer in NewCastle Poly before becoming a career politician. Hardly a job that would give him the necessary experience for running the DWP.
Rarely have I seen a public figure in Britain, who has been such a total failure on just about all accounts.
Vick and Finkel
Vick and Finkel finally provided the platform for the Islamic Republic, by publishing the story I foretold in my blog on : Islamic Republic uses Washington Post Instead of State TV for Propaganda Against Iranian Dissidents .
Just like I feared, the Washington Post became a propaganda tool for the Islamic Republic to equate the $75 million promised by George Bush with that of a workshop sponsored by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center at Yale University, workshops that merely discuss human rights or document human rights abuses and are funded by private money.
I just hope the Washington Post readers are smarter than the two reporters and will ask questions about the way the paper was used.
Just like I feared, the Washington Post became a propaganda tool for the Islamic Republic to equate the $75 million promised by George Bush with that of a workshop sponsored by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center at Yale University, workshops that merely discuss human rights or document human rights abuses and are funded by private money.
I just hope the Washington Post readers are smarter than the two reporters and will ask questions about the way the paper was used.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Iran Students Protest at Political Exploitation of the War Martyrs
Thousands of students at Sharif University, Tehran, are protesting at attempts by the authorities to bury empty coffins in the university grounds.
The Iranian authorities are claiming these are the coffins of the Iran-Iraq war martyrs. Such burials have become a routine procession by the authorities to exploit the genuine feelings, the Iranians have for their martyrs who sacrificed their lives and defended Iran against the Iraqi aggression, 18 years ago.
Burying these empty coffins in the university campus also gives the Baseej members an excuse for being present at the university campus, under the pretence of paying respect to the war dead, but in reality the presence of the Baseej is to implement an atmosphere of fear and terror in the campus.
The large placard above says "They like me dead so they can say, 'he was one of us and died for our sake' "
The smaller placard says "Stop political exploitation of our martyrs - Stop monopolising the Martyrs".
The Iranian authorities are claiming these are the coffins of the Iran-Iraq war martyrs. Such burials have become a routine procession by the authorities to exploit the genuine feelings, the Iranians have for their martyrs who sacrificed their lives and defended Iran against the Iraqi aggression, 18 years ago.
Burying these empty coffins in the university campus also gives the Baseej members an excuse for being present at the university campus, under the pretence of paying respect to the war dead, but in reality the presence of the Baseej is to implement an atmosphere of fear and terror in the campus.
The large placard above says "They like me dead so they can say, 'he was one of us and died for our sake' "
The smaller placard says "Stop political exploitation of our martyrs - Stop monopolising the Martyrs".
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Islamic Republic uses Washington Post Instead of State TV for Propaganda Against Iranian Dissidents
Staged Islamic Republic State TV confession shows of dissidents in Iran, extracted under immense duress, physical and mental torture are nothing new. The Islamic Republic has used such Stalinistic methods ever since its establishment. Hardly any dissidents have been able to resist the inhumane pressure put on them to appear on these shows and repeat the scenarios given to them to read.
These staged TV shows by now however, have little credibility amongst the Iranian population. The interrogators in the Islamic Republic prisons proudly tell their victims "We can make a bear confess to being a rabbit". The Iranian population knows too well how these confessions are extracted and pay no attention to the regime's propaganda. Hence the Islamic Republic is now shifting its focus to the gullible "liberal" audience in the US and the world. The stage is no longer the Islamic Republic state TV but Western media such as the Washington Post.
One year ago, two Iranian human rights activists attended a human rights conference outside Iran. These were Ali Afsahi and Kamali. The former was a seminary student in Qom who was defrocked by the Special Court for Clergy for his activities, and the later is the nephew of another well known Iranian human rights activist, Emadeddin Baghi. The two returned to Iran after the conference, one year ago, and were not harmed or questioned by the Iranian authorities.
Ali Afsahi was arrested on February 12th this year in connection with the conference one year ago, He was not charged, was denied visits by family and lawyer, and tortured heavily. He was forced to say the reason for him attending the conference was to receive cash and training for espionage from the US. Kamali received similar treatment. Both were forced to write down their false confessions.
Baghi's wife and young daughter were also imprisoned last week. In return for their release, Baghi had to reluctantly appear in an arranged "chance meeting" with Washington Post correspondent, Karl Vick and present to him the confessions made by Afsahi and Kamali.
Karl Vick, not seeing the full picture and how he is being used, is about to publish his "exclusive breaking news". The Islamic Republic will now use the anti-Bush liberal media as its latest propaganda tool. Its a great shame how some journalists, in their quest for "breaking news" and enjoying the anti-Bush support, can be duped in such a way as to harm peaceful and pacifist Iranian dissidents and cause so much misery.
These staged TV shows by now however, have little credibility amongst the Iranian population. The interrogators in the Islamic Republic prisons proudly tell their victims "We can make a bear confess to being a rabbit". The Iranian population knows too well how these confessions are extracted and pay no attention to the regime's propaganda. Hence the Islamic Republic is now shifting its focus to the gullible "liberal" audience in the US and the world. The stage is no longer the Islamic Republic state TV but Western media such as the Washington Post.
One year ago, two Iranian human rights activists attended a human rights conference outside Iran. These were Ali Afsahi and Kamali. The former was a seminary student in Qom who was defrocked by the Special Court for Clergy for his activities, and the later is the nephew of another well known Iranian human rights activist, Emadeddin Baghi. The two returned to Iran after the conference, one year ago, and were not harmed or questioned by the Iranian authorities.
Ali Afsahi was arrested on February 12th this year in connection with the conference one year ago, He was not charged, was denied visits by family and lawyer, and tortured heavily. He was forced to say the reason for him attending the conference was to receive cash and training for espionage from the US. Kamali received similar treatment. Both were forced to write down their false confessions.
Baghi's wife and young daughter were also imprisoned last week. In return for their release, Baghi had to reluctantly appear in an arranged "chance meeting" with Washington Post correspondent, Karl Vick and present to him the confessions made by Afsahi and Kamali.
Karl Vick, not seeing the full picture and how he is being used, is about to publish his "exclusive breaking news". The Islamic Republic will now use the anti-Bush liberal media as its latest propaganda tool. Its a great shame how some journalists, in their quest for "breaking news" and enjoying the anti-Bush support, can be duped in such a way as to harm peaceful and pacifist Iranian dissidents and cause so much misery.
Elderly Female Iranian Writer Beaten up at Rally in Tehran
Simin Behbehani, one of Iran's greatest contemporary poets and writers was amongst those women who were beaten up in yesterday's rally in Tehran.
"They were armed with guns, electric batons and other things. They attacked the young women, showing no respect or mercy, they punched and kicked us, it was mayhem and I don't even know why it happened. The few hundred women had gathered in the corner of the student park listening to a speech, in a peaceful manner. They would have left the scene shortly after, had they been left alone.
All of a sudden these policemen raided the park and dispersed us, however some of the women started a small demonstration and walked around the park and started singing, it was a beautiful scene; this did not last too long and police quickly dispersed them also by kicking them, using batons, etc.
The crowd were scattered in the Vali-asr and Jomhoori avenue with the police in the middle trying to seperate them.
I am not worried about myself, I am very upset however for the fellow young Iranians in my country who justified their animal-like behaviour by wearing police uniforms. Although I don't want to blame them all, there were a few of them who acted humanely, but most of them did not think before they acted.
It's regrettable that these young men behaved in such a savage way, we women will not be stopped by such attacks"
They Couldnt Tolerate This
More pictures from yesterday in Park Laleh, Tehran.
The clerical dictatorship could not even tolerate this small peaceful demo by women.
That is no surprise to us, but shame on the Western feminists and those "progressive" organisations who have shown no solidarity with the Iranian women.
Shame on those UK lecturers, like Elaheh Rostami, who claim "Women have more rights in Iran now than before the revolution".
The clerical dictatorship could not even tolerate this small peaceful demo by women.
That is no surprise to us, but shame on the Western feminists and those "progressive" organisations who have shown no solidarity with the Iranian women.
Shame on those UK lecturers, like Elaheh Rostami, who claim "Women have more rights in Iran now than before the revolution".
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Women's Day in Islamic Republic
This is 8th March in Iran. Less than a 1000 Iranian women have gathered in Laleh Park, holding placards asking for basic rights. Completely peaceful demonstration, what threat can they possibly be to the Islamic establishment? Yet look at the number of Law Enforcement Forces surrounding them. Soon the Baseej thugs, are about to turn up and attack the defenceless women.
Some lecturers in British universities, like Elaheh Rostami Povi of SOAS, however, think Iranian women have more rights in Iran now than before the revolution!!!
Monday, March 06, 2006
Tom and Jerry Lecture
Just have a look at this. Can you believe what the Iranian university professor is teaching the young impressionable minds?
Tom and Jerry Lecture by Iranian Professor
Is this helpful to stop an invasion? Can you believe when British university lecturers like Haleh Afshar and Elaheh Rostami - who call themsleves progressive -defend such a backward reactionary loony state?
Tom and Jerry Lecture by Iranian Professor
Is this helpful to stop an invasion? Can you believe when British university lecturers like Haleh Afshar and Elaheh Rostami - who call themsleves progressive -defend such a backward reactionary loony state?
Prague Weekend
I thought it was a good time to take a weekend break and see some friends in Prague. To be fair, I have been lucky in life and apart from a few upsets, I have enjoyed a fairly full life. One thing I am always very grateful about is having had the privilige to travel and see different people and cultures. The Czech Republic was the 24th country I have visited in my life, how can I not be grateful when most of my previous generation relatives were lucky if they just visited another town or city in Iran?
The plane was delayed for an hour and I tried to catch up with some sleep in the waiting lounge. I was woken up by the announcement that the plane has arrived. In fact I could see it from the large windows in the waiting lounge. Suddenly I saw the letters CSA written on the plane. I closed my eyes again, "has this incompetent anti-children agency driven me to the point where I imagine things and keep seeing CSA? " I thought to myself. CSA was in fact the abbreviation from CzechoSlavak Airlines, a left over from when the two countries were one.
On the plane I grabbed a copy of the Prague Post to read. On the front page, there was a story about Muslims complaining about a Czech TV documentary, threatening to raise the tensions to a new high. The cause of their complaint was that the undercover filming showed how Muslims in the Czech Republic really felt . According to the article, one Muslim in the documentary compares Islamic suicide bombers to Jan Palach, the Czech student who committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Another says Islamic law should be implemented in the Czech Republic, including the death penalty for adultery. I didnt even know the Czech Republic had Muslims, and reading the paper it seemed that when it comes to Muslim extremists, Czechs have the same problems too.
Another interesting article was about the Sudeten Germans in the Czech lands during the war. It examined the facts and myths about their support for Hitler. Let me just quote you this part from the article:
"The Nazis were masters at staging events. Every Hitler speech was accompanied by a folk fest with music, food and giveaways. It wasn't difficult to draw the masses to give the impression of unreserved support."
Now does that ring a bell? Which present state in the world do we know who is also masters at this kind of staging events? The SS-lamic Republic?
My host lived in Berno, another Czech town, and couldn't see me until Sunday but had arranged for his in-law, who spoke perfect English, to meet me on arrival and spend some time with me. I was greeted and driven to my hotel. I quickly checked in and without even unpacking properly, I wanted to see the city which I had heard so much about.
The hotel was bang in the City Centre, Prague 1 area, and so I could see most of the attractions, walking on foot. First thing I noticed however was the airline offices right outside the hotel, with big letters CSA on them, I ignored that but I couldnt ignore the sheer number of beggars on the street. As well as the beggars, I had at least two people who come up to me asking me to give money to charities I knew nothing about and had no idea if they were genuine representatives or not. My guess was they were not. It reminded me however that I had no Czech money on me.
I looked up a few exchange rates, they all seemed about 40 CK to a pound. So I decided to change £100, expecting to get around 4000 crons. Instead I got 3200!
"whats this?, should be around 4000" I asked and showed the advertised exchange rate. "I just gave you £100".
The Czech guy sitting behind the counter, showed me another small print, where it said "For transactions over 40,000 Krons."
"Ok, I dont want to change it then. Give me my money back" I said.
"Can't! the transaction is done" He said casually, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well you better undo the transaction then, I didnt see that small print" I answered him.
"Well, if you cant read then you shouldn't walk around with money in your pocket" He said.
That was it, I don't like being cheated as it is, but this guy was being rude as well as cheating me. I lost it. My host couldn't believe it either and tried to talk to him in Czech, while I was shouting and raving over their conversation. But the guy behind the counter wasn't listening to my host either. I thought talking with this prick was enough, I am going to get him out of his protected little environment and show him that cheating and being rude can have grave consequences.
So I started doing what Roy Shaw is famous for, and started kicking the locked steel door he was hiding behind, but unlike Roy Shaw, I was getting nowhere. My host said to me quietly "have you got your passport with you?" while the exchange scum bag was threatening to call the police and I was saying "Good, call them now" and still kicking, I replied "No, I left it in the hotel, why?" I said, puzzled as to why he is asking me that in a situation like this.
"You need an ID card all the time here, if the police come and you have no ID with you, they can arrest you." he said.
I didnt want to stop kicking, but I quickly thought, I just got here, do I want to be arrested and spend the night in a cell with some of the characters I have just seen? I came back to the front of the exchange kiosk. Pointed my finger at the piece of shit behind the counter and shouted at him "You are a disgrace to your country".
I was still roasting and fuming however. The cheat had got away with it. I tried to put it behind me but it was still in the back of my mind. We walked towards the Charles Bridge. It was a beautiful bridge, but perhaps because of what had happened, I wasn't enjoying it as much as I should. I bought a nice wooden chess set for my son, and a Bavarian sausage and a Czech Budweiser for myself and my host. Now the draught Czech Budweiser, that was nice. No complaints there. My host then took me to where the astronomical clock was. The people had gathered in the square in front of the clock, just before the hour. Every hour, on the hour, the clock was supposed to do something fascinating, presumably worth waiting for. The tension was building up, every one was excited, heads all pointing up at the clock, and cameras were every where. When the hour came, a skeleton, shook a bell, and a few statues behind the clock rotated around. The heads were still pointing up, and the cameras were still rolling. Surely more was about to happen. But no, that was it! gradually one heard disappointed whispers of "was that it?", "whats the big deal?" from the English speaking crowd. The clock however summed up my own feelings. I had heard so much about Prague, and hyped it up so much for myself, but so far, except for the beer, Prague was a bit of a disappointment.
On the way back to the hotel, I passed the cursed Interchange Exchange kiosk again. Some people were just about to change some money. Quickly I ran up and before they were fooled into changing their money, I pointed out the small print to them, and told them they could get a better deal at the next kiosk. They thanked me and left. I looked at the cheating Czech, he looked annoyed, but this time I was smiling.
The Hotel had a fantastic gym and a workout in the gym is always helpful when I need to get rid of some aggression. I got talking to some Greek guy who was staying in the hotel on some business trip, he had arrived in Prague only that day too. We arranged to go to town and eat something later.
Now I was convinced there was some fantastic night life in Prague. This was a Saturday night, in the middle of the city centre, but apart from the occasional groups of English yobbos, there was hardly anyone any where. We decided to go and try some genuine Czech cuisine. There were three people in the restaurant. The meal was cheap, the beer was good, but not much else to shout about. We carried on walking towards the Charles Bridge, it was almost midnight and we could hear some music blaring out of some club called Lavka. Judging by the noise, we thought there should be a fair number of people and some life after all somewhere in Prague.
There were about a dozen sitting at the tables, and no one in the disco downstairs. A young girl, not totally naked, but wearing a skimpy bra and a very very short skirt, with knee length boots was dancing unenthusiastically while chewing a gum. Next to her was a big screen showing an Ice hockey match. The half dozen men seemed to be watching the ice hockey and the three pairs of what must have been dykes, were watching the dancing girl with their tongues hanging out.
I felt sorry for the girl, how humiliating it must be for her. Surely she could get a more useful challenging job.
Half the way through the "performance", one of the light bulbs above the dancing girl went out. She tried to tighten up the bulb while she was dancing but she didnt realise the bulb was still hot and burned her fingers. By now I had finished my drink and I had had enough. Rarely have I seen anything as unentertaining as that "entertainment". Prague on the first night was a big disappointment.
On Sunday, I met my friend and his wife by the statue in Venceslav Sq. First thing he said, was "I am sorry you had a bad experience changing your money yesterday". I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "don't worry, there is good and bad everywhere."
Venceslav Square, is where some of the memorable scenes of the Velvet Revolution took place. My host, a young student at the time, walked me up and down the square, re-living some of the moments he went through. He described how the secret police would mingle within the crowd, pretending they are protesters, and identify the main instigators, then pounce on them, pull them out, give them a good hiding beofre the soldiers and uniformed police took them away. I must say the place was an ideal place to hold protests. The street was wide and long, and all the shops and side streets were ideal for getting away. I was as excited as he was when he was reliving all those scenes for me. It reminded me of the scenes I witnessed during the "cultural revolution" of the mullahs in Iran.
The avenue outside the main Tehran university was also wide with lots of shops and side streets, but we also had the joobs. The old narrow canals that ran parallel to the side of the streets, carried the water to the houses in the old days. They acted like trenches to hide from the flying bullets. I remembered how I jumed into a joob when the shooting started, face down with my hands clenched above my head to give it slightly more protection. I remembered how I was trembling with fear lying in the joob. Hearing all that noise and not seeing what was going on made it more frightening, and then there was the moment of making the decision to get up and run. After what seemed like hours of being stuck in the joob, at some point I had to get out. When I did, I just ran like the Marathon Man. Didn't know where I was going but I just thought if I stop running, my life will also stop too. Another vivid image stuck in my memory, was when a young student was being carried away by his comrades on a makeshift stretcher. His right eye was almost hanging out of its socket with blood all over his face. He must have been hit with a stone. As they were carrying him past me, he was holding his hands high, clenched together, rather than thinking about his eye, he was shouting "etteha^d, moba^rezeh, piroozi" - unity, struggle, victory. Why couldn't I be as brave as him? All I was thinking about was getting out of that place, I didn't want to lose an eye or die or get arrested.
As I was reminiscing my own memories, my friend said "Lets have some lunch, afterwards if you like we go and see the History of Communism mueseum."
The mueseum is off the main street, up the stairs and next to a place with a sign saying "Casino". It has all the images, the statues, and the usual memorabilia you expect to see in a mueseum, from those repressive years, but right at the end they show a great video, well worth watching. Its a documentary following the struggle of the people since the Russian invasion of 1969 right to the victory of the revolution. There was one scene in the documentary, where a young teenage school boy is held by the police for questioning. His nose is bleeding and he keeps wiping the blood with his sleeve but can't stop the bleeding. Somehow his age, simplicity and his angst reminded me of myself.
The police ask him "what were you doing here?"
"Just wanted to see what was going on." School boy answers.
"So you were just standing and watching?"
"Thats all, honestly".
He is then asked what his name is, what school he goes to and what his grades are. The last question is what grade he has for his "behaviour", He answers "A" and at that point he looks a bit more optimistic.
I really wanted a copy of that video, I was sure the mueseum shop would gladly sell me a copy, but no they had never thought of it. The girl in the shop couldn't even tell me how to contact anyone else to purchase a copy.
Outside, my friend asked me "So what did you think of it? You looked very emotional at times. You see some parallels with Iran?"
"I do, but there is one important difference I see too. The world press was there in all those scenes. Then the world wanted to report what was going on. You see in the documentary a fearless German ARD cameraman, who shruggs off the secret police's attempts to stop him from filming. With Iran, the world isn't interested and those fearless journalists are not there to report."
Next we went to the castle and the Golden Lane. Its an interesting historic small street, dating back to 15th century, lined by 11 historic houses. One of the houses exhibits the armoury of the past, and for 50 CK you can try your hand at cross bow shooting. At the end of the Golden Lane, there are some magnificent views of Prague.
"So what do you want to do for the evening?" I was aked. We laughed about the entertainment I witnessed the night before. "You want to see something better?" He asked me.
"I dont think I can see anything worse." I chuckled.
We went to see a sixty minute performance of the best of Carmen Opera and Ballet in the Municipal House. I am not an opera connoisseur by any means but I do like the music in Carmen. That, Tosca and Aida being my favourites.
And so we spent the rest of the evening drinking Czech beer and talking. A better day altogether than the day before. Perhaps I should give Prague one more chance, in the spring or in the summer.
The plane was delayed for an hour and I tried to catch up with some sleep in the waiting lounge. I was woken up by the announcement that the plane has arrived. In fact I could see it from the large windows in the waiting lounge. Suddenly I saw the letters CSA written on the plane. I closed my eyes again, "has this incompetent anti-children agency driven me to the point where I imagine things and keep seeing CSA? " I thought to myself. CSA was in fact the abbreviation from CzechoSlavak Airlines, a left over from when the two countries were one.
On the plane I grabbed a copy of the Prague Post to read. On the front page, there was a story about Muslims complaining about a Czech TV documentary, threatening to raise the tensions to a new high. The cause of their complaint was that the undercover filming showed how Muslims in the Czech Republic really felt . According to the article, one Muslim in the documentary compares Islamic suicide bombers to Jan Palach, the Czech student who committed suicide by setting himself on fire in protest of the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. Another says Islamic law should be implemented in the Czech Republic, including the death penalty for adultery. I didnt even know the Czech Republic had Muslims, and reading the paper it seemed that when it comes to Muslim extremists, Czechs have the same problems too.
Another interesting article was about the Sudeten Germans in the Czech lands during the war. It examined the facts and myths about their support for Hitler. Let me just quote you this part from the article:
"The Nazis were masters at staging events. Every Hitler speech was accompanied by a folk fest with music, food and giveaways. It wasn't difficult to draw the masses to give the impression of unreserved support."
Now does that ring a bell? Which present state in the world do we know who is also masters at this kind of staging events? The SS-lamic Republic?
My host lived in Berno, another Czech town, and couldn't see me until Sunday but had arranged for his in-law, who spoke perfect English, to meet me on arrival and spend some time with me. I was greeted and driven to my hotel. I quickly checked in and without even unpacking properly, I wanted to see the city which I had heard so much about.
The hotel was bang in the City Centre, Prague 1 area, and so I could see most of the attractions, walking on foot. First thing I noticed however was the airline offices right outside the hotel, with big letters CSA on them, I ignored that but I couldnt ignore the sheer number of beggars on the street. As well as the beggars, I had at least two people who come up to me asking me to give money to charities I knew nothing about and had no idea if they were genuine representatives or not. My guess was they were not. It reminded me however that I had no Czech money on me.
I looked up a few exchange rates, they all seemed about 40 CK to a pound. So I decided to change £100, expecting to get around 4000 crons. Instead I got 3200!
"whats this?, should be around 4000" I asked and showed the advertised exchange rate. "I just gave you £100".
The Czech guy sitting behind the counter, showed me another small print, where it said "For transactions over 40,000 Krons."
"Ok, I dont want to change it then. Give me my money back" I said.
"Can't! the transaction is done" He said casually, shrugging his shoulders.
"Well you better undo the transaction then, I didnt see that small print" I answered him.
"Well, if you cant read then you shouldn't walk around with money in your pocket" He said.
That was it, I don't like being cheated as it is, but this guy was being rude as well as cheating me. I lost it. My host couldn't believe it either and tried to talk to him in Czech, while I was shouting and raving over their conversation. But the guy behind the counter wasn't listening to my host either. I thought talking with this prick was enough, I am going to get him out of his protected little environment and show him that cheating and being rude can have grave consequences.
So I started doing what Roy Shaw is famous for, and started kicking the locked steel door he was hiding behind, but unlike Roy Shaw, I was getting nowhere. My host said to me quietly "have you got your passport with you?" while the exchange scum bag was threatening to call the police and I was saying "Good, call them now" and still kicking, I replied "No, I left it in the hotel, why?" I said, puzzled as to why he is asking me that in a situation like this.
"You need an ID card all the time here, if the police come and you have no ID with you, they can arrest you." he said.
I didnt want to stop kicking, but I quickly thought, I just got here, do I want to be arrested and spend the night in a cell with some of the characters I have just seen? I came back to the front of the exchange kiosk. Pointed my finger at the piece of shit behind the counter and shouted at him "You are a disgrace to your country".
I was still roasting and fuming however. The cheat had got away with it. I tried to put it behind me but it was still in the back of my mind. We walked towards the Charles Bridge. It was a beautiful bridge, but perhaps because of what had happened, I wasn't enjoying it as much as I should. I bought a nice wooden chess set for my son, and a Bavarian sausage and a Czech Budweiser for myself and my host. Now the draught Czech Budweiser, that was nice. No complaints there. My host then took me to where the astronomical clock was. The people had gathered in the square in front of the clock, just before the hour. Every hour, on the hour, the clock was supposed to do something fascinating, presumably worth waiting for. The tension was building up, every one was excited, heads all pointing up at the clock, and cameras were every where. When the hour came, a skeleton, shook a bell, and a few statues behind the clock rotated around. The heads were still pointing up, and the cameras were still rolling. Surely more was about to happen. But no, that was it! gradually one heard disappointed whispers of "was that it?", "whats the big deal?" from the English speaking crowd. The clock however summed up my own feelings. I had heard so much about Prague, and hyped it up so much for myself, but so far, except for the beer, Prague was a bit of a disappointment.
On the way back to the hotel, I passed the cursed Interchange Exchange kiosk again. Some people were just about to change some money. Quickly I ran up and before they were fooled into changing their money, I pointed out the small print to them, and told them they could get a better deal at the next kiosk. They thanked me and left. I looked at the cheating Czech, he looked annoyed, but this time I was smiling.
The Hotel had a fantastic gym and a workout in the gym is always helpful when I need to get rid of some aggression. I got talking to some Greek guy who was staying in the hotel on some business trip, he had arrived in Prague only that day too. We arranged to go to town and eat something later.
Now I was convinced there was some fantastic night life in Prague. This was a Saturday night, in the middle of the city centre, but apart from the occasional groups of English yobbos, there was hardly anyone any where. We decided to go and try some genuine Czech cuisine. There were three people in the restaurant. The meal was cheap, the beer was good, but not much else to shout about. We carried on walking towards the Charles Bridge, it was almost midnight and we could hear some music blaring out of some club called Lavka. Judging by the noise, we thought there should be a fair number of people and some life after all somewhere in Prague.
There were about a dozen sitting at the tables, and no one in the disco downstairs. A young girl, not totally naked, but wearing a skimpy bra and a very very short skirt, with knee length boots was dancing unenthusiastically while chewing a gum. Next to her was a big screen showing an Ice hockey match. The half dozen men seemed to be watching the ice hockey and the three pairs of what must have been dykes, were watching the dancing girl with their tongues hanging out.
I felt sorry for the girl, how humiliating it must be for her. Surely she could get a more useful challenging job.
Half the way through the "performance", one of the light bulbs above the dancing girl went out. She tried to tighten up the bulb while she was dancing but she didnt realise the bulb was still hot and burned her fingers. By now I had finished my drink and I had had enough. Rarely have I seen anything as unentertaining as that "entertainment". Prague on the first night was a big disappointment.
On Sunday, I met my friend and his wife by the statue in Venceslav Sq. First thing he said, was "I am sorry you had a bad experience changing your money yesterday". I tapped him on the shoulder and said, "don't worry, there is good and bad everywhere."
Venceslav Square, is where some of the memorable scenes of the Velvet Revolution took place. My host, a young student at the time, walked me up and down the square, re-living some of the moments he went through. He described how the secret police would mingle within the crowd, pretending they are protesters, and identify the main instigators, then pounce on them, pull them out, give them a good hiding beofre the soldiers and uniformed police took them away. I must say the place was an ideal place to hold protests. The street was wide and long, and all the shops and side streets were ideal for getting away. I was as excited as he was when he was reliving all those scenes for me. It reminded me of the scenes I witnessed during the "cultural revolution" of the mullahs in Iran.
The avenue outside the main Tehran university was also wide with lots of shops and side streets, but we also had the joobs. The old narrow canals that ran parallel to the side of the streets, carried the water to the houses in the old days. They acted like trenches to hide from the flying bullets. I remembered how I jumed into a joob when the shooting started, face down with my hands clenched above my head to give it slightly more protection. I remembered how I was trembling with fear lying in the joob. Hearing all that noise and not seeing what was going on made it more frightening, and then there was the moment of making the decision to get up and run. After what seemed like hours of being stuck in the joob, at some point I had to get out. When I did, I just ran like the Marathon Man. Didn't know where I was going but I just thought if I stop running, my life will also stop too. Another vivid image stuck in my memory, was when a young student was being carried away by his comrades on a makeshift stretcher. His right eye was almost hanging out of its socket with blood all over his face. He must have been hit with a stone. As they were carrying him past me, he was holding his hands high, clenched together, rather than thinking about his eye, he was shouting "etteha^d, moba^rezeh, piroozi" - unity, struggle, victory. Why couldn't I be as brave as him? All I was thinking about was getting out of that place, I didn't want to lose an eye or die or get arrested.
As I was reminiscing my own memories, my friend said "Lets have some lunch, afterwards if you like we go and see the History of Communism mueseum."
The mueseum is off the main street, up the stairs and next to a place with a sign saying "Casino". It has all the images, the statues, and the usual memorabilia you expect to see in a mueseum, from those repressive years, but right at the end they show a great video, well worth watching. Its a documentary following the struggle of the people since the Russian invasion of 1969 right to the victory of the revolution. There was one scene in the documentary, where a young teenage school boy is held by the police for questioning. His nose is bleeding and he keeps wiping the blood with his sleeve but can't stop the bleeding. Somehow his age, simplicity and his angst reminded me of myself.
The police ask him "what were you doing here?"
"Just wanted to see what was going on." School boy answers.
"So you were just standing and watching?"
"Thats all, honestly".
He is then asked what his name is, what school he goes to and what his grades are. The last question is what grade he has for his "behaviour", He answers "A" and at that point he looks a bit more optimistic.
I really wanted a copy of that video, I was sure the mueseum shop would gladly sell me a copy, but no they had never thought of it. The girl in the shop couldn't even tell me how to contact anyone else to purchase a copy.
Outside, my friend asked me "So what did you think of it? You looked very emotional at times. You see some parallels with Iran?"
"I do, but there is one important difference I see too. The world press was there in all those scenes. Then the world wanted to report what was going on. You see in the documentary a fearless German ARD cameraman, who shruggs off the secret police's attempts to stop him from filming. With Iran, the world isn't interested and those fearless journalists are not there to report."
Next we went to the castle and the Golden Lane. Its an interesting historic small street, dating back to 15th century, lined by 11 historic houses. One of the houses exhibits the armoury of the past, and for 50 CK you can try your hand at cross bow shooting. At the end of the Golden Lane, there are some magnificent views of Prague.
"So what do you want to do for the evening?" I was aked. We laughed about the entertainment I witnessed the night before. "You want to see something better?" He asked me.
"I dont think I can see anything worse." I chuckled.
We went to see a sixty minute performance of the best of Carmen Opera and Ballet in the Municipal House. I am not an opera connoisseur by any means but I do like the music in Carmen. That, Tosca and Aida being my favourites.
And so we spent the rest of the evening drinking Czech beer and talking. A better day altogether than the day before. Perhaps I should give Prague one more chance, in the spring or in the summer.
Friday, March 03, 2006
What is her crime?
What is the crime committed by this Iranian girl who is about to be kicked?
Is it because she is in favour of a US invasion? No.
Is it because she is aginst nuclear technology? No.
Is it because she is anti-Islamic? No.
Is it because she is a political dissident? No.
If it was any of the above she would have suffered much worse.
Its because she wanted to watch a football match!
So, can she go and complain to any one? No.
Can the Iranian press print the picture and force the government to have a an inquiry into the matter? No.
Four revolutionary guards rush towards the defenceless girl to perform their Islamic duty by kicking the hell out of her, in order to bolster the Iranian people's resolve against imperialism!
Another girl pleads for the guards to stop.
I can just imagine an SWP activist being there; he/she would have probably said:
"Yes I know they brutally kicked you for no good reason, but they are after all anti-Imperialist and not even American! "
See : http://axnevesht.ir
Is it because she is in favour of a US invasion? No.
Is it because she is aginst nuclear technology? No.
Is it because she is anti-Islamic? No.
Is it because she is a political dissident? No.
If it was any of the above she would have suffered much worse.
Its because she wanted to watch a football match!
So, can she go and complain to any one? No.
Can the Iranian press print the picture and force the government to have a an inquiry into the matter? No.
Four revolutionary guards rush towards the defenceless girl to perform their Islamic duty by kicking the hell out of her, in order to bolster the Iranian people's resolve against imperialism!
Another girl pleads for the guards to stop.
I can just imagine an SWP activist being there; he/she would have probably said:
"Yes I know they brutally kicked you for no good reason, but they are after all anti-Imperialist and not even American! "
See : http://axnevesht.ir
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Iranian Fury in the SWP Meeting
Yesterday, the Stop the War Coalition, and the Socialist Workers Party organised a meeting about Iran. Amongst the speakers were a couple of Trade Unionists, Iraqi author, Haifa Zangana, a mother from Military Families Against War, and the SOAS lecturer Elaheh Rostami.
We went along with leaflets which basically said "Oppose any Attack on Iran but Oppose the Tyranny of the Islamic Republic Too". We started handing out some leaflets outside and had a few discussions with the SWP members. It was amazing to find out how ignorant these so-called Socialist Workers activists were about what was happening in Iran. I asked a few of them what they knew about the 1300 jailed Iranian bus drivers and how the families of the Iranian bus drivers were beaten up, simply for demanding an independent trade union and better wages. None of them knew. So much for international workers solidarity they keep on about.
The meeting started with speeches by two Trade Unionists. They didnt say much about Iran but more about the plight of London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, claiming that the mayor was victimised because he was anti-war.
Then a mother who had lost her soldier son in Iraq spoke. I felt for her and passed her one of our leaflets with a note saying, "by supporting the democratic opposition in Iran we can avoid war and more suffering by families like you. My condolences to you. Your son did not die in vain". She read the leaflet and my note, and with tears visible in her eyes, whispered "Thank You" to me.
Then the chair of the panel stood up to speak. I can only describe her as a frustrated looking feminist who was craving for a little authority and attention. She was wearing the type of head band worn by domestic workers in hotels but it just looked completely out of place, making her look even more of a weirdo. Perhaps she thought she looked more working class by wearing the head band, but when she started speaking, her accent soon revealed she was some upper class drop out.
She started speaking some nonsense about Islamophobia in UK, and how she was on the side of the Muslims who felt insulted by the cartoons row. Amazingly she then went on about the erosion of freedom of speech by the UK government. She continued by going on about the horrors of the Guantanamo Bay prisons. Her nonsense was just too much for another Iranian in the room, who had suffered in Islamic Republic prisons.
"Why just Guantanamo? What about when I was in Islamic prisons and was beaten and raped with a bottle? Where were you lot then? You can have these meetings in UK but we dont have this privilege in Iran".
The SWP activists then surrounded the Iranian guy and told him to be quiet, showing no sympathy to what he had endured. This reminded me of how the old age pensioner was man handled by the security guards in the Labour Party conference for heckling Tony Blair. To these lot that old age pensioner was a hero for heckling, but when they get heckled themselves, it is a different story.
Next speaker was Elaheh Rostami. She continued and amplified the previous nonsense. First she talked about Afghanistan. She claimed nothing, not even one road was built for the Afghans since the Taliban overthrow but the Afghans had internet coffee shops where they watched porn on the internet.
I thought to myself "But at least girls can now go to school and women can work and wont have to die of basic illnesses for not being able to see male doctors" but I bit my lips and thought I will say all this in the question time.
Rostami then claimed that the majority of Iranians inside and outside Iran are in favour of having nuclear power. Again I thought to myself "What free poll did she use to come to that conclusion?"
When Rostami claimed that the Iranian women had more rights and family protection after the revolution than before, it was just too much for the Iranians in the room. There was an uproar of protest at her nonsense, especially from the Iranian women.
Another Iranian walked up to the panel and placed pictures of Islamic Republic crimes before each panel speaker. The chairperson with the headband, showed no sympathy and turned the pictures over, but another Iranian in the audience walked up to the panel, turned over the page and showed her the pictures again. The chairperson of the panel then tried to look away from the pictures of human rights abuse in Iran. I sort of sensed she felt if Americans were not responsible for human rights abuses, she was not interested.
I was innocently writing down my questions, thinking soon we will be given time to question the panel. I was perusing which questions I should ask. Some of which were:
"
- You have the privilege of protesting and marching against nuclear power in this country, do the Iranian people have this right too?
- You mentioned you are siding with the Muslims who felt offended by the cartoons, what about the Sufis in Iran who had their shrine completely raised to the ground recently and their members, including women and children who were beaten and maimed. Do you not think they were insulted too?
- You say you value your freedom of speech, are you not worried about Muslim extremists taking that freedom away?
"
But as I was ponderig over these questions, Elaheh Rostami finished and the chair declared the meeting was over. What? No time to question all this nonsense that was spluttered out at this poor English public? The Iranians were furious. Even I, normally a placid person, couldn't stop myself from going to the panel and shouting
"You talk about freedom of speech. You have a meeting about Iran and yet you don't let the Iranians in this room speak?" I roared at the panel.
By this time SWP activists were calling for more reinforcement on their mobiles. Elaheh Rostami finally had to be escorted out of the room surrounded by a ring of SWP activists, while Iranians were shouting "Shame on You, Shame on You" at her.
It is amazing that a party - SWP - based on teachings of Karl Marx, who said "religion is the opium of the people", is now siding with Islamic Fascists in Iran and worrying about cartoons offending the sensitivities of some religious people.
But I had to remind myself that the Left in Iran also made a similar mistake and helped the Islamists take control of power, and soon they became the very first victims of Islamist Fascists.
Elaheh Rostami, will also be speaking at the following event. It is important for all Iranians, who can, to attend this meeting and don't let her get away with disseminating misinformation to the unaware British public.
Imperial College Student Respect Society presents:
"Iran - Women, Workers and Islamic Republic" - a talk and discussion with Elaheh Rostami-Povy on Thursday 2 March 2006 at 6.30pm in Room 3,
Imperial College Union,
Beit Quad,
Prince Consort Road,
London SW7 2BB.
Interesting thing quoted in the poster of this talk was the following sentence:
"Most people in the West, including many on the left, still have an image of Iran as a theocratic state dominated by medieval mullahs. What is the reality today?"
We went along with leaflets which basically said "Oppose any Attack on Iran but Oppose the Tyranny of the Islamic Republic Too". We started handing out some leaflets outside and had a few discussions with the SWP members. It was amazing to find out how ignorant these so-called Socialist Workers activists were about what was happening in Iran. I asked a few of them what they knew about the 1300 jailed Iranian bus drivers and how the families of the Iranian bus drivers were beaten up, simply for demanding an independent trade union and better wages. None of them knew. So much for international workers solidarity they keep on about.
The meeting started with speeches by two Trade Unionists. They didnt say much about Iran but more about the plight of London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, claiming that the mayor was victimised because he was anti-war.
Then a mother who had lost her soldier son in Iraq spoke. I felt for her and passed her one of our leaflets with a note saying, "by supporting the democratic opposition in Iran we can avoid war and more suffering by families like you. My condolences to you. Your son did not die in vain". She read the leaflet and my note, and with tears visible in her eyes, whispered "Thank You" to me.
Then the chair of the panel stood up to speak. I can only describe her as a frustrated looking feminist who was craving for a little authority and attention. She was wearing the type of head band worn by domestic workers in hotels but it just looked completely out of place, making her look even more of a weirdo. Perhaps she thought she looked more working class by wearing the head band, but when she started speaking, her accent soon revealed she was some upper class drop out.
She started speaking some nonsense about Islamophobia in UK, and how she was on the side of the Muslims who felt insulted by the cartoons row. Amazingly she then went on about the erosion of freedom of speech by the UK government. She continued by going on about the horrors of the Guantanamo Bay prisons. Her nonsense was just too much for another Iranian in the room, who had suffered in Islamic Republic prisons.
"Why just Guantanamo? What about when I was in Islamic prisons and was beaten and raped with a bottle? Where were you lot then? You can have these meetings in UK but we dont have this privilege in Iran".
The SWP activists then surrounded the Iranian guy and told him to be quiet, showing no sympathy to what he had endured. This reminded me of how the old age pensioner was man handled by the security guards in the Labour Party conference for heckling Tony Blair. To these lot that old age pensioner was a hero for heckling, but when they get heckled themselves, it is a different story.
Next speaker was Elaheh Rostami. She continued and amplified the previous nonsense. First she talked about Afghanistan. She claimed nothing, not even one road was built for the Afghans since the Taliban overthrow but the Afghans had internet coffee shops where they watched porn on the internet.
I thought to myself "But at least girls can now go to school and women can work and wont have to die of basic illnesses for not being able to see male doctors" but I bit my lips and thought I will say all this in the question time.
Rostami then claimed that the majority of Iranians inside and outside Iran are in favour of having nuclear power. Again I thought to myself "What free poll did she use to come to that conclusion?"
When Rostami claimed that the Iranian women had more rights and family protection after the revolution than before, it was just too much for the Iranians in the room. There was an uproar of protest at her nonsense, especially from the Iranian women.
Another Iranian walked up to the panel and placed pictures of Islamic Republic crimes before each panel speaker. The chairperson with the headband, showed no sympathy and turned the pictures over, but another Iranian in the audience walked up to the panel, turned over the page and showed her the pictures again. The chairperson of the panel then tried to look away from the pictures of human rights abuse in Iran. I sort of sensed she felt if Americans were not responsible for human rights abuses, she was not interested.
I was innocently writing down my questions, thinking soon we will be given time to question the panel. I was perusing which questions I should ask. Some of which were:
"
- You have the privilege of protesting and marching against nuclear power in this country, do the Iranian people have this right too?
- You mentioned you are siding with the Muslims who felt offended by the cartoons, what about the Sufis in Iran who had their shrine completely raised to the ground recently and their members, including women and children who were beaten and maimed. Do you not think they were insulted too?
- You say you value your freedom of speech, are you not worried about Muslim extremists taking that freedom away?
"
But as I was ponderig over these questions, Elaheh Rostami finished and the chair declared the meeting was over. What? No time to question all this nonsense that was spluttered out at this poor English public? The Iranians were furious. Even I, normally a placid person, couldn't stop myself from going to the panel and shouting
"You talk about freedom of speech. You have a meeting about Iran and yet you don't let the Iranians in this room speak?" I roared at the panel.
By this time SWP activists were calling for more reinforcement on their mobiles. Elaheh Rostami finally had to be escorted out of the room surrounded by a ring of SWP activists, while Iranians were shouting "Shame on You, Shame on You" at her.
It is amazing that a party - SWP - based on teachings of Karl Marx, who said "religion is the opium of the people", is now siding with Islamic Fascists in Iran and worrying about cartoons offending the sensitivities of some religious people.
But I had to remind myself that the Left in Iran also made a similar mistake and helped the Islamists take control of power, and soon they became the very first victims of Islamist Fascists.
Elaheh Rostami, will also be speaking at the following event. It is important for all Iranians, who can, to attend this meeting and don't let her get away with disseminating misinformation to the unaware British public.
Imperial College Student Respect Society presents:
"Iran - Women, Workers and Islamic Republic" - a talk and discussion with Elaheh Rostami-Povy on Thursday 2 March 2006 at 6.30pm in Room 3,
Imperial College Union,
Beit Quad,
Prince Consort Road,
London SW7 2BB.
Interesting thing quoted in the poster of this talk was the following sentence:
"Most people in the West, including many on the left, still have an image of Iran as a theocratic state dominated by medieval mullahs. What is the reality today?"
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