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.

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".

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!!!

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?

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.

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

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?"

VOA Persian versus Al-Alam TV

Most people are aware of the conflict between the US and the Islamic Republic at the moment. Part of this conflict is currently being fought on air waves via TV stations.

I won't even bother to talk about the thrash LA based Persian TV stations, as I have written so much about them before. These TV stations are on shoe string budgets and thats all one can expect from them. VOA Persian program however, does have a proper budget. It has around 200 employees, if I am not wrong, so one should expect more from it than Persian TV stations based in LA.

Similarly the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched Arabic language Al-Alam TV station immediately after Saddam was overthrown. Unlike VOA Persian however, Al-Alam is is broadcast terrestrially.

Let me just give you one example of how the two operate. Conclude for yourself how gutless one is and how bald the other is.

Its February 11th, the anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Iran. Iranian exiles in London have gathered outside the Iranian embassy in London. They are almost all dressed in black signifying a black day in Iranian history. They are handing out leaflets which state this day is the birth of global Islamic terrorism. They are showing the world that not all Iranians are supporters of Ahmadi-Nejad. VOA reporter comes to the demo. She records the demo, the placards, talks to some demonstrators, and the English public who are reading the leaflets and their reactions. Everyone is happy that their effort is receiving coverage, until they see that none of this is broadcast on VOA TV. Why? apparently the goody too good editors in Washington, have decided that the demonstrators and their slogans were too radical in asking for the overthrow of the theocracy in Iran!

Few days later, there is another demo in London in support of the jailed bus drivers in Iran. The VOA reporter once again goes against the norm of most Iranian exile journalists who prefer to receive news while sitting behind their desks, to cover the event. This time the demo does get a few seconds coverage, but none of the interviews with the protesters or the main representatives of the unions. Bizarrely the footage of this demo is also shown in the middle of an interview with some obscure Iranian figure resident in LA, who claims to have a large underground party in Iran, despite the fact that no one has ever heard of it nor does any one know any action ever carried out by this non-existent "party". But most of all what does the London rally in support of the bus drivers in Iran has anything to do with this self proclaimed Iranian opposition figure who obviously suffers with mental problems?

80% of the VOA programs are about non-Iran related news. News about the Philippines, Brazil, Congo... why would I want to watch this sort of thing on VOA Persian, when I can watch them on Euro News. Am I wrong in saying most Iranians want to watch a satellite TV like VOA Persian, to hear about Iran related news?

Now lets look at the other side, Al-Alam TV. An explosion has rocked the Askariya shrine in Samarra, Iraq. Al-Alam TV is quick broadcasting speeches by the Iranian president, blaming the attack on "intelligence agencies of the occupiers of Iraq and the Zionists."

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the powerful Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (Sciri), a movement aligned to Tehran, appears on Al-Alam and blames U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad for the attack. "Certainly he is partly responsible for what happened,".

None of the niceties of VOA Persian - oh we can not show footage when such radical slogans are shouted - boom, Al-Alam does not miss the opportunity, it goes for the jugular as the Islamists in Iran often do and channels all that uncontrolled anger against IRI's enemies.

The Islamists in Iran are winning the media battle on the whole any way. Look at the protests against the Danish cartoons, and how much coverage they got. How the Islamists got so much airtime playing the victim, saying how they felt insulted. Yet the attack on the Sufi shrine in Iran and the way it was flattened and its followers injured and maimed hardly got any coverage in the Western mass media. No one bothered to ask "Were the Sufis not felt insulted?", and no one in the mainstream media bothered to remember that the Islamic Republic has even got a proven track record in attacking its own holy shrine in Mashad for self political gains against opposition groups.

Watching the TVs on the two sides of the conflict, its like watching two boxers in the ring, one is a low IQ dumbo more worried about his nail manicure, and the other one a shrewd mean killing machine. Who would you back to win?

Shabbetai Zevi

I recently finished reading Balthasar's Odyssey by one of my favourite authors, the Lebanese author and journalist, Amin Maalouf; and I am almost through reading The Story of God by Dr. Robert Winston. By pure coincidence both books mention a self claimed Jewish messiah, Shabbetai Zevi.

Zevi with the help and provacations of a Svengali figure by the name of Nathan, formally announced on 31St May, 1665 to be the Messiah. As this maniac Messiah moved through the cities and towns on his route, mass hysteria followed him like a modern day celebrity icon. Meanwhile, Nathan, acting like today's PR agents, printed and distributed texts which announced Zevi's mission. All this was enthusiastically received in Jewish communities from Palestine to Northern cities of Europe. In Prague they fasted, in Frankfurt they took continual ritual baths to ready themselves for redemption. Many sold all their possessions and returned to Palestine and some shady businessmen profitted from selling non-existent package deals to the Holy Land.

Zevi set the date, 18th June, 1666 as the day of redemption and the end of the world. When the day came it passed just like any other ordinary day. In order to escape death from the Sultan, Zevi embraced Islam and adopted the name Aziz Mehmed Effendi.

When I was reading all this, I couldn't help but remember our own recent Iranian version of Zevi the saviour, a charlatan calling himself, Ahura Pirooz Khalegh Yazdi or as most people referred to him, Hakha. Like Zevi, Hakha also claimed to be the saviour, not for Jews but for Iran, and like Zevi, Hakha also liked setting dates for huge phenpmenons to take place. In fact he set two dates, one when he was supposed to return to Iran with his followers on 50 charter jets and when that didnt happen, he set another date when a national uprising would finally free Iran.

I can not begin to tell you how much I cringed at some of my compatriots who were mesmerised by this charlatan. The shame I felt when I watched wealthy Iranians, professionals, and others subscribe so foolishly to such an obvious conman. A handsome sum must have been spent just on his TV programs alone.

Just like Zevi, Hakha fizzled out after his deadlines passed without much fuss and most of us have now forgotten about Hakha and his gullible followers. I guess when despair sets and people see no light at the end of the tunnel, they become attracted to some notion of mystic saviour and devine intervention. Having read about Zevi the Messiah, I am glad that Iranians have not been the only ones with such embarassing flashpoints.

Photos of Rally in Support of Jailed Bus Drivers in Iran

Going Back to the Repression of 80s?

I am neither a Sufi nor an MKO supporter in any shape or form, in fact I am vehemently opposed to both cults, but only a few days ago I quoted the famous saying by Martin Niemöller :

"When they came for the communists
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out."

See : http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2006/02/another-cartoon-that-clerics-didnt.html

It seems the repression of the eighties in Iran, which we all expected with Ahmadi-Nejad's coming to power, is beginning to take place without much reaction from the international community.

The cruel beating of the bus drivers and their families, including their children, the destruction of the Sufi places of worship, and now the execution of the MKO supporter, Hojat Zamani, in the notorious Rejaii-Shahr prison. Hojjat Zamani's two other brothers and uncle were also previously executed by the Islamic regime.

There is also doubts as to whether the 20 year old, female jailed journalist, Elham Afrootan, committed suicide or died under torture. She was due to be shown on state TV in yet another one of Islamic Republic's "recant TV shows" and confess to her "crimes".
Did Elham die under torture? Did she commit suicide not to be subjected to the humiliation of Islamic state TV shows? The international community and the press are not even reporting these things.

The Islamic Republic is testing the waters. If we stay silent now, the clerics will get bolder and more savage than now.

International Solidarity for Irans Bus Drivers

Trade Unions are beginning to show solidarity with Iran's bus drivers, by organising action across the world.

Protests were held today by transportation unions in France, Britain, Spain, Austria, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Canada, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Chile and Bermuda.

The Western mass media however, still remains shy of showing any dissent against the mullahs in Iran.

Iran's Communists Attack Sun & Lion Flags in Rally to Support Bus Drivers

To me its so obvious that the Iranian Communists are the other side of the religious Fascists. To them Marxism-Leninism is just another religion. The text written by their holy men, Marx, Engels, ... is treated with the same feverish zeal, that religious fanatics treat their "holy" books.

Today, a rally was organised outside the Iranian embassy in London, by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, in support of the jailed Iranian bus drivers. The Workers Communist Party of Iran, acting in their usual monopolistic ways, were eager to pretend that this was their rally. They seem to think that they are the only ones who think about Iran's workers and only they are allowed to back Iran's workers.

When other Iranians with their Sun & Lion flags turned up today to support the rally, the Workers Communist Party of Iran members were enraged. They knew that even one Sun & Lion flag was enough to show in the reports that Iranians as a whole supported this rally not just the Left-wing ones. So just like fundamentalists, the WPCI members turned their rage into violence, they physically tried to attack those bearing the Sun & Lion flags in front of the Iranian embassy, and in front of the good people from the ICFTU. But little did they know that those who carry the Sun & Lion flags are not so easily intimidated. To the dismay of the Communists, the Sun & Lion flags remained high and up. Nevertheless, this was yet another embarassing episode by the Iranian Communists/Fundamentalists.

Rally in Support of Iran's Bus Drivers

International Transport Workers Federation is organising a demonstration in front of the IRI embassy in London on Wed 15th Feb at 11am in support of Tehran bus workers. If any one can attend it will be much appreciated.

If you are unable to attend please tell all friends and contacts to turn up. It is important now that non-Iranians are supporting our cause, we be there too.

Plight of Irans Bus Drivers Gets a Mention in UK Press

Surfing the internet at lunch time, suddenly I came across an article in the Observer. I was so shocked, I nearly fell off my chair. Someone in the British press finally mentioned the plight of 1300 Iranian bus drivers who were arrested for going on strike. The article even mentioned the harrowing tale of wives and children of the drivers who were beaten up by the Iranian police.

Could the UK press finally be seeing some sense? Could the UK journalists finally realise that Muslim extremists are not the only suppressed people in the world?

Observer's article: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1707972,00.html

And more Pics

Some more pictures from yesterday:

















Protesters hold placards of jailed Iranian bus driver, Mansour Osanloo.

A huge Sun and Lion flag dwarfs the IRI emblem
at the London embassy.















Iranian protesters outside the Islamic Centre in England
spoiling the celebrations inside.

Some Pictures

These pictures were sent to me by a friend of mine:



Iranian exiles demo outside Islamic Republic embassy.

A young Iranian showing his alleged torture scars at the hand of mullahs

The young man and his friends later broke the police cordon and
jumped over the wall to attack the Iranian embassy in London.
They are chased and arrested by the British police.





















Young zealots attack the British embassy in Tehran.
The Iranian police look on to see if the stones are
hitting the target.

Another Cartoon that the Clerics Didnt Like

I wonder how many people remember this cartoon? The Iranian cartoonist, Manouchehr Karimzadeh, had intended to show how the Iranian Football Federation was in effect cutting the arm and leg of the Iranian football players by cutting their training budget.

The cartoonist was sentenced to 10 years jail, massive financial fines and a life ban from working as a cartoonist. Why? because the clerics thought the figure in the cartoon resembled Khomeini!

Karimzadeh received very little international solidarity from the Western media, if any.

Also, does anyone remember who at the time was the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance? Jack Straw's and Western media's beloved "reformist" Prrrrresident Khatami ;) The initiator of "Dialogue Amongst Civilisations" :)))

When they came for the communists
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.
When they came for the trade unionists
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.
When they came for the Jews
I did not speak out;
I was not a Jew.
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.
Pastor Martin Niemöller

Snowboarding Pics

Finally got time to download some more pics:

Well, when you have such a healthy day, you dont feel guilty about drowning a few amber nectars and bratwursts:

One Law for Abu Hamzeh, One Law for Fathers

Here is a summary of British Justice system, and how the mainly pervert legislators in UK have lost the plot.

For seven years anti-terror police were aware of Abu Hamzeh's criminal activities, and evidence was sent to prosecutors "on several occasions" but no action was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Former anti-terrorism officer Charles Shoebridge said he thought no action was taken against Abu Hamza for so long because the authorities had a "misplaced fear of alienating mainstream Muslim opinion".

Now compare this complacent CPS attitude with how the British Justice System treats fathers. The British Justice system denies fathers access to see their children, so the greedy mothers get maximum payments. Fathers can be jailed, have their driving licenses withdrawn, be electronically tagged and soon have their credit card data made available to CSA.

If fathers in Britain get organised and fight back, may be for once the authorities will have a "fear of alienating mainstream male opinion".

Picture of the brave British father who rightfully pelted Ruth Kelly with an egg and shouted "Justice for Fathers not for Paedophiles". And before anyone, like the scum Sun Newspaper, calls this kind of thing extremist, remember how the women suffragates got the vote in UK.

Omar Khayyam is a Drug Dealer

It would be unfair to say the British police is not the best in the world. Of course that does not mean they should never be criticised. I remember in one of our demos, the police told us to bring down some of our placards. They showed pictures of public executions in Iran, and the police thought they were too offensive for the passers by. We also had to refrain from shouting, "Down with Terrorists", the word terrorist, we were told was too provocative. A friend of mine who was intending to travel to Iran, the month after, had his face covered with a scarf, in order not to be recognised, and bizarrely, the police chief in charge that day asked him to either remove the scarf or leave the demo. Police camera men were also taking photographs of us with their big zoom lenses, while we were shouting 'Long Live Democracy'! I was really bewildered by their demeanour on that day. "Do they realise who the real enemy is here?" I thought to myself.

Last week, Muslim extremists demonstrated too, with placards which encouraged to kill people. Most of them had their faces covered, and one of them by the name of Omar Khayyam, was dressed like a suicide bomber. The police did not show the same consistency they applied to our demo.

This morning, it was revealed, that Mr. Omar Khayyam, the demonstrator dressed as suicide bomber, is actually a heroin drug dealer and was on parole when he took part in the demo.
He is in fact serving a 5 year prison sentence for pushing a nasty evil drug on the kids in his neighbourhood. So much for the "noble cause of martyrdom" he was trying to demonstrate.

For me however, he is guilty of a much more serious crime. If I had the power I would have given him a 30 year sentence for bearing the same name as the Persian secular free thinker Omar Khayyam, and thus spoiling a good name. The original Omar Khayyam, loved life, and cared not for the promised paradise in the after life. He lived for the day and said we should treat every day as if we are in paradise. The parents of the British Muslim drug dealer, could not have thought of a more inappropriate name for their son.

Mountain Photos

I am downloading the pictures from last week, bit by bit. Here are some of the photos taken on the High Tatras mountains:

On the way to the mountains, beautiful snow all around:

Half the way up:



>

Didn't quite conquer the mighty Krevan summit,
but I think its better to go 3/4 of the way than nothing
at all:

A welcome break. The steaming garlic soup
and croutons is cold by the time you have paid for it,
but its the variety of spirits (this one plumb spirit)
that keep you warm. Very warm!

Finally getting ready for snowboarding:

The Janosic Koliba

There are many similar words to Persian over here in the High Tatras mountains. For example:

(what) is (chi) or (che) in Persian and they say (cho) .
(where) is (kojA) inPersian and they say (kde).
(woman) is (zan) in Persian and they say (Zhene).
The counting has many similarities too. (Jeden) is one, (Yek) in Persian, (dova) is two, (dow) in Persian and carrying on to 200 which is (divist) in Persian and (dovesto) in their language.

Another similar word is Koliba, a hut, what we call Kolbeh in Persian. There are many restaurants called Kolibehs in the middle of the mountains. They are literally, wooden huts where they serve food, while gypsies play a variety of folk music. They are absolutely gorgeous and cosey places to escape the cold, eat, drink and be merry. I just loved them. My favourite Kolibeh was named after the local hero, Janosic.

Much has been written about Janosic, from being a local Robin Hood, to a freedom fighter who joined the insurgents, with the motto, "Pro Liberate," emblazoned on their banner, to fight the feudal yoke when life became unbearable afer the death of the liberal monarch, "Matthew, the Just", right down to simply being an outlawed rebel who loved life as a free man and made love to as many women as he could.

I must say all versions about Janosic's life appealed to me.

Janosic was sentenced to death on March 18 in 1713, before a vast assembly of people. There the young rebel-chieftain was hanged on the gallows, and his lifeless body was buried beneath it as was the custom of that time.
According to popular legends, Janosic, though weighed down by his heavy shackles, danced the "hajduchy" (a lively folk dance) four times around the gallows, just before his death.

Another legendary story tells of a courier who came directly from the Emperor with his imperial pardon, but it was too late, for the daring youth, who had promised to recruit four regiments of soldiers for the Emperor , was already hanging on the rack. He refused the amnesty with the words, "Now that you have roasted me, you might as well devour me." He is said to have died after being suspended by his rib on the rack for three days.

All nature seemed to go into mourning for this youth, whose merry songs once resounded through the glen. The babbling brooks became silent, the animals in the forest ceased their activity momentarily in silent tribute to their departed hero. A sudden hush came over all, and his many friends, far and near, were overcome by sorrow at his passing.

That is the story in legendary accounts.

Evening Relaxation

After a hard day of snowboarding, skiing, or mountain climbing, how does one rest his sore and aching limbs and muscles. Well they have a very strange way of doing it here.

In the evenings when the temperatures reach -13 C, you run to an outside sauna with just a towel wrapped round your waist. If you are lucky enough and have not slipped on the icy surfaces with your bare feet, you stay for 15 minutes in the sauna with temperatures of 110 C.
After 15 minutes in the outside sauna, you run out again and jump, this time into a freezing pool of water and submerge yourself from head to toe. But believe me, you are out of it as quickly as you jump in it ( I think you die otherwise, well you should). Then its out in the cold again into a natural outside thermal water. This one is meant to be about 39 C. You sit in there and watch the stars in the skies. Something you want to prolong as much as you can, otherwise you have to face coming out again.

This strange relaxation custom is supposed to soothe your sore limbs and muscles. Does it work? I think it does, but I didnt get the chance to try any other alternatives. I was just glad, I didnt come down with a cold the next day.

Caves of Liberty

I gave up trying to use the slow internet connection and the fading computer screen to update my blog. So I made some notes and now that I am back, I am updating the blog.

The day after snowboarding, we drove up to the Demänovská valley, in the Low Tatras National Park. Unfortunately the Demanskova Ice Cave is closed in January, but not far from there is another cave, known as Caves of Liberty.

Entrance to the caves is in the Tociste valley at elevation 870 m. You can access it by zigzag foothpath ( a very icy one) leading from the parking lot, where a height difference of 52 m must be gotover. The cave is created in middle Triasic dark gray Guttenstein limestones of Kriznansky nappe, along tectonic faults by former flow of Demanovka and its lateral hanging ponor tributaries. It represents morphologicaly the most varied part of the Demanovsky cave system. The cave length is more than 8400 m, 7624 m of the cave were measured. Out of the rich flowstone filling, flowstone water lilies and other lacustrine forms / sponge, coral, grape / as well as eccentric stalactites are unique. Mighty flowstone waterfalls and columns, sphaerolithical stalactites and many other forms of stalactites and stalagmites are captivating. There is a thick onflow of white soft flowstone in the Great dome. Underground flow of Demanovka flows through the cave and gets to the surface by the Vyvieranie cave

Our guide himself lived in the mountain. His grey hair and bushy beard gave away his true age, but you would have never guessed it otherwise. All that walking up and down the mountain and the cave made sure he was fitter than the rest of us.

Apart from the cave and the atmosphere in the cave which is undescribeable, the view from the top of the mountain, where the cave entrance is, also breathtaking.

Snowboarding

They say one of the ways to keep happy and content is to learn a new skill every year. It can be a new spoken language, a new IT skill, joggling... Learning anything new can give you that feeling of contentment. This year I set out to learn snowboarding and the day of reckoning was today.

I was glad when they told me the ski resort has an instructor who speaks English, although I quickly realised the English was very little. He took me half the way up the hill and showed me how to strap the shoes on the snowboard, while we knelt down on the snow. Then he showed how to do a half turn on the hips to end up with the snowboard in front and the back pointing to the bottom of the hill. So far so good. Then he stood up and leaned slightly forward. I tried to stand up too, but before I knew it and he had finished saying "like this", I had involuntarily departed from him, sliding all the way down. I had done skateboarding when I was younger and actually managed to keep my balance on the snowboard while going down the hill. I was gathering up more and more speed, in fact I was going down quite fast. I still struggled to keep my balance, but how do I stop the damn thing?

I didnt wait long enough for the instructor to show me and he was half the way up the hill. At the same time I was approaching the bottom where people were queuing to get up with cable. Any second I would smash into the women and children. What do I do? Only one thing came to mind, fall! I leaned forward and crashed hard on my hands and knees. Ok I avoided running up to the people and I am now on the icy snow. What do I do now? I had to wait for the instructor to come down. Fortunately his English wasnt good enough to say what he thought. Other than "Wait, I tell you to go, then go". Yeah right as if I meant to go down.

We went up the hill again. I tried several times to get up without sliding off. The instructions were limited to "Not like this but like this". I gave up with him. As I was down on my knees again, the pist jockey started playing "Eye of the tiger", a song which has inspired for many years, every time I hear it. "Come on, Eye of the tiger Potkin" I said to myself. I also decided to ignore the instructor and learn things as I always have. Just think about what I have to do. Gin control of this damn wild board with the mind of its own.
"Have to learn this forward leaning balance", I said to myself. Few more tries and I was there. It all came together, I started going down the hill backwards, from side to side but with full control. Then as the control became second nature, I turned and aimed forward, leaning on my front leg, and then the most difficult part of the trick, using the shoulders to turn around the snowboard, then leaning slightly forward to stop in time.

Fantastic! I done it and it was so much fun. What a great day! Only one thing could top it. Bathing in the natural thermal waters at night in the open. Running like a maniac in the freezing cold with just swimming shorts and then jumping in this hot pool, soothing the earlier bumps and grazes, and then coming out and running back in again while still wet in sub zero temperatures. Fantastic :))

I will be trying the snowjets tomorrow.

Mountains

I have always had a reverence for the mountains, and 2200 m above the sea level in middle of the High Tatras, my reverence for the mountains has increased even more. There is something about the mountains that fascinates me. They are huge, steadfast and resolute. They look down with pity on the lesser beings down below that change direction with the wind while they themselves remain solid and eternal. Nothing can move them. They are there for as long as we have this planet.

All the white snow gives you a feeling of purity which goes hand in hand with the pure fresh air, and at night the skies reveal so many more stars that the false city lights hide.

I remember when I flew over the Iranian airspace two years ago. I had a seat by the window and as soon as the pilot said "we are now entering the Iranian airspace", I looked down. Thousands of thoughts and memories went through my head, and in particular the question of how strange it is that I can fly over this land I love but not land on it. Yet it was when I saw the mountains that I was overcome with emotions. Something about them stirred my passions beyond control and from then on I could not stop the flow of tears.

The people of the mountains are fascinating too. They are strong, fierce and resilient people. They defend their mountains with tooth and nail and yet they are so hospitable towards the guests that visit them. They are honourable people with strong family and friendship ties. The men are men and the women are women, the way nature intended it.

Snow, food, drink and happiness

Finally got away from all the stress in London. No congestion charging, no overcrowded tubes, no exuberant parking charges, no stress.

When I arrived last night, it was minus 13 degrees but it felt ok. It was a lovely day today. No clouds at all, just sunshine and snow all around. Tomorrow will be off to the mountains.

There is definitely less money here, but people seem to be happier. Now that the drab repressive years of Communism are over, people have hope. They eat, they drink, they talk and they celebrate just about everything.

The youth are respectful and the streets are safe to walk at any time. Nice time to be here.

Hamas Victory

I am actually quite happy about Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections. Lets face it, in all the Muslim Middle East countries, if there was a free election, the Islamists would win. Except that is, in Iran.

Almost 27 years ago, 98% of the Iranians endorsed the Islamic Republic. The process was slightly flawed because the voters had to cast either a green 'Yes' card or a red 'No' card in front of the intimidating eyes of the polling officials. Nevertheless, I am sure that even in a secret ballot, given the mass frenzy and hysteria at the time, the establishment of the Islamic Republic would have attained the majority of the Iranian votes. Now days if there was a free election in Iran, if Iranians were asked to vote again - Islamic Republic, 'Yes' or 'No'? - I doubt if even 10% would vote 'Yes'.

So why the difference with the rest of the region? The answer is simply this, Islamists in Iran came to power. The people gradually realised with their skin and flesh that the empty phrases and promises of "Free electrictiy, water, gas and buses" were just words. The disposessed in whose name so many atrocities were done, did not become any more posessed, they became more disposessed than ever. The corruption that the mullahs brought about, made the corruption in the previous regime seem negligible. The Iranian people saw the Islamists for what they were. Political Islam in Iran failed miserably.

Its easier to be in opposition. In government the realities hit you. Hamas will now have to deliver. What Palestinians must be careful about, is that unlike the Iranians, they be able to vote Hamas out. An option which the mullahs denied the Iranian people.

Now its Simon Hughes' Turn

They asked Karl Marx what the worst human vice was in his opinion and he replied 'servility'. If I were asked the same question, servility would be high on the list but hypocrisy would be at the very top.

I loathe hypocrites. I can even respect religious fundamentalists, if they practice what they preach to the others, but I can not stand a person who falsely pretends piety in public and lives a morally decadent life behind the scenes. I can not for example stand Iranian women who wear tons of make up, tight revealing clothing, drink and gamble and at the same time promote the Islamic Republic for personal gains.

that's why I was so motivated to act against the Lib Dems for calling the Islamic Republic "an advanced form of democracy". It was so hypocritical. Thats why I found it so repulsive when Mark Oaten ran for the Lib Dem leadership on a platform of "Family Values" but was found out to use the services of a rent boy. Thats why I get so mad at the Labour government when they deny access to so many good fathers to see their children but happily approve of perverts teaching children in schools.

When the news came out that Simon Hughes, another candidate for the Lib Dem leadership, is gay, it wasn't so much his private affairs that bothered me. That has nothing to do with me. It was the fact that he had previously, on more than one occasion, publicly denied he was gay. This shows the man can lie to the public.

Worse still, I remember how he won his Bermondsey seat in the 1983 by-election.
The Lib Dems fought a very bitter and dirty campaign against the openly gay Labour candidate, Peter Thatchel. Simon Hughes was described as the "straight choice" in the Lib Dem leaflets. Millions of leaflets were also distributed by Lib Dem supporters asking the Bermondsey voters, "Do you want a poof to represent you?". Now 23 years later, we find out the "straight choice" was as bent as a corkscrew! What hypocrisy! Despicable!

These Lib Dems refer to the Islamic Republic as an "advanced form of democracy", don't they realise that gays are executed in the "advancd form of democracy"?

I am Ready to Go :)

When I was younger, I thought I was invincible and live forever. The cold never bothered me, except in two situations. One was playing rugby on a frozen frosty hard ground and the other was receiving cuts and bruises in a brawl. Somehow I remember cuts and bruises hurt more and took longer to heal in the cold.

Now days however, I can not even face going out of the door without first having a hot bowl of porridge to warm me up.

Where I will be from this weekend however, the temperatures are said to be minus 25 degrees below zero! I am told "its a different kind of cold". I am not taking any chances though. I got myself kitted up with all the gear, as you can see in the photo.

Just to give me a little bit more encouragement as well, all the gear I bought, aptly have the label "No Fear" on them. :))

Collecting Signatures on the Internet

Some of the exiled Iranian opposition figures seem to know only one type of political activity, collecting signatures on the internet. To them the height of an effective political action is to write some long winded article and then email it to some website on the web, go back to their comfort zone and expect thousands to have signed it by the next day or two.

I often wonder, even if hundreds of thousands sign these appeals, how will those who called for the signatures actually use them to achieve their objective?
Perhaps thats why so many Iranians like me, have got fed up with this type of action. What do you do with these signatures after you collect them?

This frivolous act is being tried so many times on an almost daily basis on a variety of issues across so many Iranian websites that for me the whole notion of it, is becoming somewhat detestable.

Many traits of a typical exiled Iranian opposition figure can be seen by these appeals for signature on the web. Such as:

1- Narcissism : They think their article is so good and so well written and moving that millions will sign it.

2- Laziness : They either have no idea about effective campaigning or forgotten all about it.

3- Pomposity : You never see these figures in the community mixing with the ordinary plebs. Mixing with plebs is below these scholarly intellectuals. How often have you seen an Iranian opposition figure at an Iranian concert? At one of many Iranian youth clubs or events? At Iranian societies across the universities? Amongst the refugees? or even at a political picket or a demo?

4- Individualism : Exiled Iranian opposition figures do not usually like being part of a team and taking part in a group activity where they are blended in with the rest of the plebs.
If they do turn up at some congress, they must be placed in a distinguished position. Something like special advisor, political consultant, or at least member of the central committee. Thats why a lot of these gatherings have such large central committees, often larger than their entire membership or attendees :)

You often hear these "distinguished" exiles say with some haughtiness "I am not a member of any organisation, party or group, I am independent". As if being part of a group or an organisation is some sort of a vice :)

You even hear Iranian parents advise their children "don't join any group, organisation or party" in the same way they would tell them about avoiding drugs and alcohol.

Writing an article on the web and expecting everyone to sign it fits this trait well.

5- Future Self Justification : A lot of times these Iranian exile figures are not actually interested in whether their appeal achieves anything or even fails. Whats more important is that some time in the future they can say, I (and its a really big I) was the first to ask for this to happen but no one listened to me. Then they quietly expect the sighs and the whispers "If only the Iranian masses had seen the light when you showed it to them".

Young Iranians should pay no attention to these "distinguished opposition figures" or they will be put off Iran for ever. This old generation are the very ones who lost us our country to the mullahs. Both sides are just as guilty, whether they were part of the previous regime or in the opposition to the previous regime. Young Iranians should get together wherever they are and organise their own groups and pay no attention to these dinosaurs. Let them rot in their own condescending undeserved pride.

Lib Dems Exposed Again

It was mind boggling for us how the Lib Dem Baroness Emma Nicholson, described the Islamic Republic of Iran as an "advanced form of democracy". It was, however, even more mind boggling for us when we received some of the replies to our protests from the Lib Dem MPs, Lords and MEPs. People like Chris Davies, the leader of the Lib Dem MEPs, who seemed to have as much grasp of international politics as a nine year old, or like Baroness Ludford who would probably be shown up in a sixth form school debate for her lack of subject knowledge. There were also others who remained silent like Sir Ming Campbell, the Lib Dem shadow foreign secretary, or Charles Kennedy, the Lib Dem leader at the time, who simply did not dare to reply to any of our letters.

As more and more revelations were made about the Lib Dems, the clearer the picture became though. What sort of politicians would see the Islamic Republic as an "advanced form of democracy" and support the mullahs?

Well it turned out their leader, Charles Kennedy, was an alcoholic, and so was their leader in the house of Lords, Lord McNally. Had these two been caught drinking in the "advanced democracy", they would have been tied to a pole and flogged in public.

As if all this was not bad enough, it now turns out, Mark Oaten MP, their home affairs spokesman, a married man with two kids, and one of the Lib Dem candidates for the leadership contest on a platform of family values! has been hiring male rent boys!

These are the sort of people who think the Islamic Republic is an "advanced form of democracy".

These are the sort of people who have been legislating the break up of so many families, the legislations of kids being brought up without contact with their fathers in UK. The legislatives who deny children their fathers but approve of known paedophiles to teach in schools. The legislations that create money wasting agencies which fail everyone, like the CSA.

Following the revelations that Mark Oaten had been hiring rent boys, Sir Menzies Campbell told Sky News: "I don't think one should be angry about these things. "
What? Not angry about these things? Actually Sir Menzies, the people in this country should be bloody livid with your type of hypocrite politicians.

How much longer will the docile law abiding decent middle class in UK put up with such representatives?

Where are the rest of the Iranian Opposition

I was doing my usual googlenews search on Iran, and came across the headline "Iranian-Americans rallied in front of the White House to urge regime change in Iran". My initial enthusiasm however was soon dampened when it turned out the Iranian-Americans were in fact the supporters of the NCR, the umbrella organisation for the Mojahedin Khalq. A well organised Islamic cult group who helped the mullahs come to power in 1979, but were denied a share of the power by the Ayatollahs and the cult leaders later aligned themselves with Saddam Hussein, our country's arch foe at the time.

But whatever criticisms the likes of me have of this particular Islamic cult, the main question that comes to mind is what is the rest of the Iranian opposition doing? Until the Iranian population see a viable alternative to the Islamic regime other than this Islamic cult who sided with Saddam Hussein, can anyone expect them to go all out against the mullahs?

Now Debt Collectors Take a Cut too

Removing driving licences from fathers was not enough, putting fathers into prison was not enough, putting electronic tags on fathers was not enough and the "Child!" Support Agency in UK still spends twice as much as it collects, 25% of the CSA assessments are incorrect, CSA computers have lost thousands of files.... But what does the Labour government do? Do they try to understand the unfairness of the system, do they try to sort out the contact problems? Do they move towards equal parenting? Do they recognise the damage to society by all these kids being brought up without fathers?
No, Labour brings in the debt collectors! The debt collectors will also take a cut and will join the rest of the parasites, the solicitors, the barristers, the judges etc. and less money still will go to the children. The family pot will be drained further so the parasites can get richer. More misery and stress will be piled on to divorced families.

You dont need to be a genius but if Labour politicians really wanted to help the children; they would save the money CSA mis-spends and give it to the children.

The Root of All Evil?

What a marvellous series by Channel 4, the "Root of All Evil?". Some excellent questions were posed by the program maker, Richard Dawkins. Perhaps however the most poignant question was about religious schools. I have always abhorred the idea of sending young kids into a sectarian institue where the world is then engrained into their young minds as "them and us".

Richard Dawkins asks a very apt question "Would it be acceptable for parents to send their kids to schools based on their political leanings? Sort of Tory and Labour schools?" Clearly not, so why do we have religious schools?

I really wish Richard Dawkins' program would be translated into Persian and shown on the satellite TVs.

Contradictory Statements of the Ayatollah

If I were to list all the contradictory remarks made by Iran's Ayatollahs, I would be writing for ever. The statements below however are the latest ones made by Isfahan's Friday prayers leader, Ayatollah Tabatabii-Nejad, and they are amusing.

The Ayatollah stated last week, that 75% of the Iranian newly wed brides are not virgins.

Today the Ayatollah criticised the women in government offices, saying a lot of them are not observing the compulsory veil and the Islamic dress code for women. He added that this is a major problem for the country and observance of Islamic duties are the top priority for 85% of the country's population.

So we have 85% of the Iranian population worried about the strict observance of the veil by women in government offices and 75% of the newly wed brides are not virgins! Either 75% of Iranian brides who are not virgins are marrying 15% of the population or 85% of the population are pre-occupied with the Islamic dress code in offices but marry non-virgins!

AI Calls for the Release of Bus Drivers Leader

Amnesty International has called for the release of Mansour Osanloo, the Head of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed), yet sadly I am still unaware of any UK Left-wing groups showing the "international workers solidarity" they always claim. It seems the Left in UK has lost the plot completely.

Guantanamo terror suspects and other Muslim fundamentalists seem to receive more attention from the UK Left than the Iranian bus drivers who simply want to have their own independent union.

Text of AI statement on Osanloo:

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 13/002/2006 09 January 2006
UA 08/06 Arbitrary arrest/possible prisoner of conscience/medical concern

IRAN Mansour Ossanlu (m), Head of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed)


Mansour Ossanlu, the Head of the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sherkat-e Vahed) has been detained since 22 December 2005 in Section 209 of Evin Prison in the capital, Tehran. He may be a prisoner of conscience, detained solely on account of his peaceful trade union activities. He is said to be suffering from a serious eye complaint, and could lose his sight if he does not receive immediate medical treatment.

Mansour Ossanlu was among 12 officials from the Union who were reportedly arrested by police at their homes on 22 December 2005, apparently in connection with their peaceful trade union activities. Four of the 12 were released shortly afterwards. On 25 December, members of the Union were arrested while staging a bus strike in Tehran, demanding the release of their colleagues. On 26 December, all those who had been detained were released, with the exception of Mansour Ossanlu and six other members of the Union's Executive Board. These six were released two days later, leaving only Mansour Ossanlu in detention. Mansour Ossanlu has not been granted access to a lawyer, and reports suggest that he may be facing charges including contact with Iranian opposition groups abroad and instigating armed revolt against the authorities.

On 31 December, reports indicated that seven Union members including Mansour Hayat Ghaybi (or Ghaybati); Ebrahim Madadi; Reza Tarazi, Gholamreza Mirza’i; Abbas Najand Kouhi and Ali Zad Hossein had been summoned to appear before a Revolutionary Court in Tehran the following day on charges including public order offences. However, following protests by Union members outside the court on 1 January, the seven were reportedly told that their trial had been postponed.

On 7 January 2006, Bus Company workers staged another strike, during which five drivers were reportedly detained. All were later reportedly released.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company is said to have been founded in 1979 and resumed activities in 2004 after a 25-year ban. It is still not legally recognised.

Iran is a State Party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 22 (1) of which states: Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Article 26 of Iran’s Constitution states: The formation of parties, societies, political or professional associations … is permitted provided they do not violate the principles of independence, freedom, national unity, the criteria of Islam, or the basis of the Islamic republic. No one may be prevented from participating in the aforementioned groups, or be compelled to participate in them

Greedy Mothers Support Agency

In England there is an organisation set up by politicians by the name of Child Support Agency. In fact this agency has nothing to do with the welfare of the child. It is an inefficient organisation with simple rigid guidelines without any flexibility. The guidelines are simple and rigid because the politicians who head the agency have never had any experience of large scale project management and need to keep their computer systems simple. Even so the CSA computers are always breaking down and files continuously go missing.

The best interest of a child after a divorce, if possible is equal parenting. If the parents live near each other and near the child's school, and are both of good character, there is absolutely nothing in the world that can justify to me anything other than equal parenting. Yet the CSA guidelines deliberately or otherwise encourage the greedy mothers to deny the child overnight access with their father. If they can deny the overnight access they can get more money.


John Hutton, in charge of the CSA, refuses to listen to any suggestions on how to make the system a fairer one, instead he is preoccupied with how to bring more draconian measures against the fathers. Until now the CSA has had the power to remove driving licenses and put people in jail, but that hasn't made the system any fairer or more efficient. So what does John Hutton think of next? He wants to put electronic tags on people.

Yet these PC politicians don't seem to want to do anything to protect the children from paedophiles.

The Observer revealed on Saturday that the Education Secretary, Ruth Kelly, had approved the appointment of a registered sex offender as a PE teacher.
Kelly's decision - in the full knowledge that the man had been placed on the register by police, for having accessed paedophile websites - has astonished children's charities and triggered calls for politicians to be prevented from deciding who should be barred from working in education.

So there you are, UK's elected representatives deny thousands of fathers from equal access to their children. So many British children are now brought up fatherless, but its ok to approve of a registered sex offender to be a PE teacher at school! Deny children their fathers and have paedophiles teach them, thats the Labour way of pretending to have the child's best interest at heart!

Gunaz TV Twaddle

Have you ever had the feeling when you are so outraged by the twaddle you hear on a TV station, that you wish to put your boot through your own TV set? Well I had one of those rages yesterday when I was channel hopping the TV stations on my satellite.

An Azeri speaking television by the name of Gunaz TV has been operating for a while. I have no idea how their finances are provided, but there seems to be no commercials on this station, so someone or more likely some government is behind it. I have watched the bombastic presenters on this channel a few times not knowing whether I should laugh at their nonsense or cry. Yesterday however they really pushed the limits of absurdity to outright baloney balderdash.

Being an Iranian Azeri myself, it was unfortunate that I could understand the words of these traitors. The presenter, a major league arsehole delinquent by the name of Ahmed Beig? was calling the father of us Iranians, Cyrus the Great, a blood thirsty savage!! He was saying Iranians falsely think Cyrus was the first founder of a human rights charter, where as actually Hammurabi of Babylon was the first lawmaker and Cyrus was a bloodthirsty savage who started a world war and even likened Cyrus to Hitler.

Can you believe the audaciousness of this illiterate apology for a man who does not understand the difference between a code of laws and a human rights charter?

Lets just compare a few items on Hammurabi's code of laws with the charter set by Cyrus the Great:

Hammurabi Code of Laws:

- If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.

- If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.

- If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.

- If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.

and if you read on Hammurabi's code of laws describes more ways in which men can be put to death and slavery.

This is however Cyrus' charter of Human Rights:

Now that I put the crown of kingdom of Iran, Babylon, and the nations of the four directions on the head with the help of (Ahura) Mazda, I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them until I am alive. From now on, till (Ahura) Mazda grants me the kingdom favor, I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it , and if any one of them rejects it , I never resolve on war to reign. Until I am the king of Iran, Babylon, and the nations of the four directions, I never let anyone oppress any others, and if it occurs , I will take his or her right back and penalize the oppressor.

And until I am the monarch, I will never let anyone take possession of movable and landed properties of the others by force or without compensation. Until I am alive, I prevent unpaid, forced labor. To day, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job provided that they never violate other's rights.

My numerous troops moved about undisturbed in the midst of Babylon. I did not allow anyone to terrorise the land of Sumer and Akkad. I kept in view the needs of Babylon and all its sanctuaries to promote their well being. The citizens of Babylon ................. I lifted their unbecoming yoke. Their dilapidated dwellings I restored. I put an end to their misfortunes.


So Ahmad-Beig or whatever your name is, You are an ASS, a traitor and an illiterate delinquent.

Funny thing is after his utterance a "viewer" from Baku rang and suggested how all "Azeris on both sides of the border" should unite against our common enemey, the Armenians!

First of all those on the other side of the border who call themselves Azeris are nothing to do with us, their land was always called Aran and they were not referred to as Azeris until they changed to Azerbijan on May 28, 1918. The people on the other side of the Araxes river were always referred to as Caucasian Tatars, Transcaucasian Muslims, or Caucasian Turks.

Just like when we were attacked by Iraq, those on the other side of the Araxes river did not see the conflict as anything to do with them, we too see their conflict with Armenians as nothing to do with us. Not only Armenians are not our enemy, they are our friends and esteemed compatriots with whom we share thousands years of history and traditions.

So finally to whoever is behind financing the Gunaz TV and pulls the strings of puppets like Ahmad Beig, you are barking up the wrong tree. Iranian Azeris are Iranian through and through. Just analyze the name of Azerabadegan, or in its very original name Aturpatekan and find out for yourselves. The land of fire temples has been and will always be Iranian.

12 Year Old Boy Becomes Local Lib Dem President

How on earth can anyone take this party seriously? On the one hand their MEPs refer to the Islamic Republic of Iran as an "advanced form of democracy" and on the other hand they elect a 12 year old boy to be their local party president:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derbyshire/4581716.stm

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read the opening paragraph:

"Oliver Smith joined Amber Valley Lib Dems in Derbyshire when he was eight. He became their president on New Year's Day after being elected in November.

He succeeds out-going president Keith Falconbridge, who being in his mid-50s, is more than four times his age."

Perhaps however, this 12 year old boy will have more sense than his elder party members. Perhaps he will be more sympathetic towards all the minors who have been executed by the "advanced form of democracy". Perhaps he will be more sympathetic towards the pregnant women and their unborn babies who were executed in the Islamic Republic or the "advanced form of democracy".

One thing is for certain, this 12 year old boy can't do any worse than the Lib Dem leadership right now.

Expansion of Havana-Tehran Ties

Its one day before going back to the daily grind of work. From tomorrow its back to commuting on the over crowded, dirty and often late London underground trains. Trying to forget the stressful day ahead, I occupy myself with reading the news about the old country on the internet. The bus drivers leader, Mansour Osanlou is still in prison, two more publications have been banned, and then I come across Rafsanjani's meeting with the Cuban ambassador to Tehran, Fernando N. Garcia. Rafsanjani stresses the expansion of ties between the two countries. Suddenly my thoughts wonder towards thousands of Iranian Marxists killed and imprisoned by the Islamic regime.

Many of my friends and class mates from the teenage years were amongst the victims. Ordinary fun loving kids who were suddenly swept by the hysteria of the mass frenzy in 1979.

Friends whom I played football with in the back streets, friends who had suddenly become active sympathisers of the revolutionary Marxists groups of that period in Iran. Many of them had little knowledge of Marxism-Leninsm, they had read a handful of pamphlets, but in the unnatural zeal of those days where everyone had to belong to some revolutionary trend, they were the unlucky ones who had drawn the short straw to help lead the Iranian proletariat, or so they thought.

Many of them had swapped pictures of their favourite footballers with posters of Che Guevara and Fidel Castro in their bedrooms. They regarded the Cuban revolution as the ultimate ideal. They regarded Cuba as the utopia they were after. The Cuban leaders in their eyes were the uncompromising figures whose examples they wanted to follow.

When the brief post-revolutionary honeymoon of freedom in Iran was over and the clerics quickly took control of all power and the crackdown started, the Iranian revolutionary Marxists who had helped the mullahs to power were amongst the first victims. It was not however only the leadership of the Marxist groups who were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and executed. The Islamic justice recognised no discrimination in age and size. Ordinary teenage kids, boys and girls, who may have only been involved in handing out some leaflets or sold publications of the Iranian Left-wing groups on street corners were rounded up and taken away. Ayatollah Khalkhali, the mad mullah, would visit prisons and round up prisoners just to satisfy his daily quotas for executions. For Khalkhali those in prison were not kids or human beings, he treated them like lottery numbers. He even killed one innocent teenager who had unknowingly approached his car to sell a Left-wing newspaper. Khalkhali took a simple attitude, "If they are innocent they will go to heaven after execution, so whats the big deal?". Those who were rounded up in the early eighties and survived the sadistic desires of Khalkhali, were mostly killed later in the 1988 massacre of Iranian political prisoners. Even if the survived they had lost the best years of their lives in prison.

During all these arrests and killings, no Cuban official ever raised an eyebrow, no Cuban ambassador lodged a protest against the mullahs, no Left-wing group marched in the streets of Europe to protest. Fidel Castro never mentioned the imprisoned innocent Iranian kids who idolised him in any of his long fiery speeches.

Political thinking of the masses is very much like fashion trends. Ideas become fashionable at certain times and then fade away. Just like you may look at some old photographs and cringe at seeing the old jumpers and flare trousers you wore many years ago, you can look back and think, how on earth did I believe in all that nonsense?! In the West you have the luxury of adopting controversial views during your student years, go on marches, heckle officials, and as you grow older and wiser you can simply write it all off by saying that you have seen the errors of your judgement. Such luxuries do not exist in an Islamic regime led by those who think they represent God on earth.

I think back and think of those friends, had they lived, how would they have reacted seeing all these friendly ties between the Islamic Republic and their utopian state, Cuba? How would they react reading about the Cuban ambassador meeting someone like Rafsanjani? or Fidel Castro walking hand in hand with Hassan Khomeini?

I feel so sad for those innocent kids who were duped by all that Marxist propaganda. They died for nothing. They died for wrongly idolising hypocrites disguised in guerrilla fatigues with fancy slogans who like all other dictators are only interested in one thing, remaining in power.