Media in Tehran // PressTV and George Galloway

Because we don't speak Farsi/Persian and we were in a hotel (read: no satellite) we only had two English options for news. One of those options was Iranian run PressTV. I was super impressed by the speaking skills and level of consciousness that one particular newsman offered (though I watched him for probably less than 2 hours total). I'd never heard of him, but George Galloway is apparently quite famous. A member of British parliament who had many call-in fans from around the Middle East (check out his Facebook fan page to get an idea of his fanbase) as it turns out, he was also involved in the UN Oil-for-Food scandal (YouTube testimony below) and US pundits have their own opinion about him.


(This wasn't a clip I saw, but the date it was uploaded is closest to when we were in Tehran.)

(hit permalink just below for more videos)

Believe it or not, it did totally surprise me to find out that some politicians in the US House of Representatives wanted to brand PressTV a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' (SDGT) organizations (House resolution 1308). It seems pretty out of line, considering what I was seeing. PressTV even has a story about it here.




(This is what I found when I got back to New York and googled this guy.)




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Scholar Day in Iran - تجمع روز دانشجو در دانشگاه تهران

Iranian Students Protest Dictatorship and Gender Apartheid




Two days ago, Sat. December 6, was the 55th anniversary of the killing of 3 students at University of Tehran.

In honor of the anniversary, between 3000-4000 students (according to this blogger) rallied to protest dictatorship and demand equal rights for both men and women. Oh, snap.


Read more at Global Voices.





....click here for full article/permalink.


Zionism // Part... oh, jez, again?

It's official. I've decided that one can't discuss the 'Islamic Republic of Iran'... that is, Modern Iran, without giving equal attention to Israel. Iran, a Muslim country, was a collective response to the founding of Israel... a Jewish country.

This article came across my desktop today, and it was hard to ignore.

This post makes a great companion piece to this one I did a couple days ago.

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The Roots of Christian Zionism Part I, The Cause of the Conflict
Charles E. Carlson Dec 08, 2008

America’s war based economy depends on Christians’ support
Christian Zionists, by whatever name, are the primary public enablers of serial wars upon Islamic states. Why? Because they have been conditioned to think of Islam as an anathema to them, much as many of us were trained to consider communists our ideological enemies a generation ago. Most Christian celebrity media leaders have allowed themselves to be used as propagandists against Islamic states with independent governments, including Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan, Somalia, Bosnia, and in the future, Islamic states of Iran and Sudan. Our purpose is to examine why and how this has been done, why it is wrong and what can be done to correct it.


The Christian Right’s world war on Islam was observed as early as 1983, and became official in 1991 with the first destruction on Iraq. Only Christian Zionists (known by many names) believe war is an inevitable part of their religion, so they do little to resist it. Due to this un-Christ like error, they have become the primary cause of our conflict, a conflict that has become perpetual.

Christian Zionists, by whatever name, are the only remaining faction of any size that supports the war in Iraq. Therefore, they are largely responsible for the economic and social disaster, and due to the distortion of their own faith, they are the seeds of their own destruction. We find them among our friends, families and associates. This is a problem because we can not just turn our back on Christian Zionists, despise them, and call them fools; they are among our best friends, bosses, even our wife or children, so we need to learn to deal with them. In their formidable numbers we find them our best hope for the positive change from the warmaking state.

Endless wars always have, and always will result in the destruction of both the morality and the currency of the aggressor and are historically destructive to religious freedom. High priced gasoline and food can be accurately laid at the feet of those few industrialists and politicians who see war in their own interest. They deceive Christian Zionists, making them enablers, believing that war is necessary to their faith. Judeo-Christians can be easily swayed to support conflict, so long as a Muslim is on the receiving end of our bombs and bullets, and so long as the state of Israel is perceived to benefit from it.

I am in no way excusing cowardly Congressmen for knuckling under to the war lobby. We know some few gain a lot financially from war, and work for it. But these professional Warmakers are far too mercenary to believe that a God controls their eternal destiny. I also do not dismiss the influence of Jewish Zionists, who consider war in the Middle East in their national interest. But for every Jewish Zionist in America there are ten or twenty Christian Zionists doing the work of the former.

It is my belief, as a follower of Jesus Christ, that Christians who turn from Jesus’ words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, and love your brother…even your enemies, as you love yourself”…these “Christians” deserve the hottest places in hell, as Dante put it. For if those who claim they follow Christ fail to stand for justice and protection of the innocent, who will?

Change can only come from understanding the Roots of Christian Zionism. To this end it is urgent that all Americans of all religions understand why Christian Zionists believe what they do. Those who try to follow Christ need to rescue decent souls to more orthodox Christianity, one by one.

Most Christian Zionists don’t know they are Zionists and might deny it. They usually describe themselves as Evangelicals, Dispensationalists, pre-Millennialists, or a “Born Again Christian.” Very few are comfortable with the radical elements of Christian Zionism if they stop to think about it, but they do not. Their church is to most, a comfortable social outlet, especially for their families, and a society that they desire. Their societal links are much better defined than the theological ones which most do not understand and can not recite.

Restoring the walk to Jesus’ Way can save America.

If Christian Zionism can be correctly exposed as a warring religion, America may be restored to peace, justice, and at least to some of the prosperity which we have lost. Many of us are all beginning to suffer economic distress as a result of the very wars Christian Zionists have supported, supposedly because these wars please God and are necessary for Jesus’ return to earth.

At the apex of the Christian Zionist sect (which is only 100 years old) are leaders who include media personalities such as John Hagee, Rod Parsley, Pat Robertson and the late Jerry Falwell, Benny Hinn, Joyce Meyer, and hundreds more. Each has openly expressed the view that war upon Islamic states is necessary and welcome. Currently, most of these call for America’s next planned serial war against Iran. Sudan is also on the war agenda.

Dispensational bible students can be found in almost any church of any denomination because of the effectiveness of radio churches and giant international bible studies in homes and churches that transcends denominational descriptions. For instance, some Roman Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans are Christian Zionists because of their outside Bible studies and are ignoring the contradictions to orthodox Christianity espoused by their own church. In this sense, Christian Zionism is a disease or a parasite upon orthodox or traditional Christianity.

The sixty-four dollar question is how do you identify a Christian Zionist, and how do you know if you are one? We have developed a 10 word litmus test that is non-invasive and usually welcome, so you can ask any churchgoer without hurting his feelings or starting an argument: "Do you believe the state of Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophesy?"

Tens of millions of Americans need to face this question, for if they believe Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophesies, then where does Jesus fit in? Simply stated, either Jesus or Israel is the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, but there is not room in Christianity for both. If you have been taught that political Israel is in any way involved in your spiritual life, you are infected!

Orthodox or traditional Christians have always believed that Jesus, not Israel is the correct answer. Only Christian Zionism (by definition) assumes that political Israel is in God’s plan for the future, and that in spite of its intolerance, racism, and constant wars, political Israel is the chosen people of God.

Today about one-third of the 210 million American adults who identity themselves in polls and census as Christians, are influenced by Christian Zionism. That is about 70 million, most of whom vote, making Christian Zionists the most powerful and coveted voting block in the world, as can be clearly seen during an election year, translating into some 26 million votes! This means they are much coveted by every political candidate.

The most obvious example was John McCain’s reckless pursuit of Christian Right support that had led him to gross embarrassment at the pulpit of both maniacal Zionists, John Hagee and Rod Parsley, both of whom call for nuclear destruction of Iran.

The teachings of Jesus Christ inescapably demand peace and love of one’s neighbors. This has been America’s one badge of righteousness. In the mid-19th Century, America’s churches led the cry for peace in a world where wars were all too common. It was later, at the turn of the 20th Century that Christian Zionism first took root.

The French author Alexis deTocqueville wrote of churches while he traveled here in the first third of the 19th Century. He sang the praises of America’s invulnerable strength and spirit which he attributed to our citizens sense of morality, and even to the abundant church attendance he observed in America, which of course he would not find in his native France.

DeTocqueville wrote: “America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.” He could not know that the churches he saw as the source of conscience were under a moral attack aimed at the very sense of justice he observed within them.

War seeds immorality
The first attack on the churches came with the War Between the States in 1861-65, which scarred the sense of justice and morality and diminished and divided churches as only a brutal war can. The terrible slaughter called the War Between the States taught moral Christian men about mass killing. But it did not change their New Testament Bible; it simply allowed men to ignore it.

The most powerful theological attack on Christianity came from Oxford University Press in England, which in 1908 published a false and intentionally misleading reference Bible called the Scofield Reference Bible aimed at creating a new religion, with the future state of Israel a semi-God in it. The term “dispensationalism” was taken from Scofield’s book, and is an assault on orthodox Christianity. Oxford did not just publish the book; it promoted it into the key places of study in America where opinion could be molded to cloud the peacemaking tradition of Christianity.

Most pastors and teachers were unaware of any danger. A few foresaw the consequences of the heresy that to most seemed foolish, outlandish, and embarrassing. Few guessed it would come to dominate American Christianity when in 1948 the State of Israel came into existence.

This new religion that chose the friendly pseudonym “evangelicalism” is the topic of our discussion. Religion scholars on both sides often identified it as “Dispensationalism” or “Pre-millennialism,” and “Judeo-Christianity” which are popular synonyms. We will presently explain some of these changes in detail, but first I want to show you how world-Zionism sold its stepchild to Christians.

The World Zionist movement was in full charge toward occupying Arab Palestine by 1913. It was given a huge financial and promotional boost through Oxford University Press in England, which to the amazement of Biblical scholars published a new bible of Christian Zionism in 1908 called the Scofield Reference Bible. This book would be used as the launching pad for a methodical and spiritually deceptive growth of the new sect. Its leading was to be subtly used to help lure America into two unnecessary world wars.

Not all mainline Christians were asleep.

One of the few who saw the warmaking and heretical danger of the new sect, and actually called it “Zionism” was a well-known attorney, Phillip Mauro, turned scholar, who wrote a brilliant critique of the new cult in his 1927 book, Gospel of the Kingdom. Mauro wrote:

“Through a recent occurrence I was made aware of the extent- far greater than I had imagined – to which the modern system of dispensationalism has found acceptance amongst orthodox Christians; and also the extent- correspondingly great- to which the recently published “Scofield Bible” (which is the main vehicle of the new system of doctrine referred to) has usurped the place of authority that belongs to God’s Bible alone.”

Mauro went on:
“Let it be understood at the outset that my controversy is solely with the doctrine itself and not at all with those who hold and teach it, or any of them. Indeed I was myself of their number for so long a time that I can but feel a tender consideration and a profound sympathy likewise, for all such.”

Phillip Mauro has been an encouragement to your writer, and to all those who support We Hold These Truths. He was a dedicated scholar with an engineer’s logic, and a lawyer’s tenacity that allowed him to foresee errors in 1927, that many like myself took five decades to recognize.

This writer must admit and echo Mauro’s confession; for I, too, was “of their number” and like Mauro, I share “profound sympathy” for those caught up in dispensationalism. As his words suggest, we are not fighting Christian Zionists; we are trying to reclaim them.

Dr. F. Furman Kearley was another who saw the path to war in the errors of dispensationalism. He was head of graduate studies at Adeline Christian University in 1983 when he wrote of Christian Zionism’s evil fruit of perpetual war in the Middle East. His short book, The Middle East Crisis in Biblical Perspective, takes sharp issue with those he calls Israel First Millennialists. He names radical prophet Hal Lindsay, and the late Jerry Falwell, whom he said would lead us into endless war with Islamic states.

Kearley noted: “When the concept of Armageddon, as in Revelation 16:16 is raised, those who believe in a literal war at Armageddon often feel that Christians should work to start this war, and should vigorously participate in it. Those in particular who view this present situation as Armageddon…believe that Christians should support Israel with vigor and urge our government to take an active part in the conflict in the Middle East.”

Kearley saw Christian Zionist’s support of Israel’s brutal occupation of Palestine as a precursor to more war in the Middle East. He concludes:
“One needs to be absolutely certain that the doctrine he follows is God’s and not of men before he advocates a doctrine that would put the blood of other men on our hands.”

Dr. F. Furman Kearley explains the neo-Christians’ love affair with war as a religious fixation, correctly stating: “Christians must (as a matter faith) pray for peace in the Middle East. Premillenialists must pray and work for World War III, so Armageddon will come. They cannot pray for peace.”

If a follower of Christian Zionism would only examine the simple teaching of Jesus in the New Testament he will find not a single passage or phrase that would give a follower of Christ cause to take the life of another man, or another man’s child. Certainly we must not kill a man’s wife in a far away country. No such permission exists.-End Part I


In Part II: We examine the bitter fruit of Christian Zionist's error...how followers of Christ were detoured to accept a false and anti-Jesus doctrine of Christian Zionism that leads to the death of millions in the name of Christianity.

The Roots of Christian Zionism DVD (this is the beginning of the audio part) is a documented and sometimes dramatic one hour movie written by Chuck Carlson and edited by Tom Compton. It can be purchased from We Hold These Truths website Bookstore, and is ideal to be shown to concerned audiences of all faiths. http://eshop.cp.whtt.org/eshop.php?id=22 


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Iranians' = Pro-American

When Michael and I introduced ourselves as Americans in Iran (which was always, by the way, we never even considered claiming we were Canadian), we were always embraced with a sincere love and admiration. We were taken a back... in fact, we started to go out of our way to let people know we were from New York because we knew that people would light up and open up far faster than if we were from, say, Australia. "We love Americans", we'd hear often. Way different than traveling through the Czech Republic, where it was almost impossible to avoid being lectured on the incompetence of George Bush.

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The following was lifted straight from here, check out bibijon's page on Iran's Image:



Middle East is dotted with anti-American populations led by unstable but friendly governments. The exception is Iran, with a pro-American population governed by a stable regime openly critical of American self-defeating policies in the region. Although, on cooperating with U.S. efforts against al-Qaida, there was little daylight between Iranians and their government.

Based on surveys taken in Iran in early 2008 by WorldPublicOpinion.org and Terror Free Tomorrow:

“While Iranians, like many other Muslim populations, have negative opinions of the U.S. government and U.S. foreign policy, they have a mildly positive image of the American people, and believe "common ground" can be found between the two societies. Most Iranians desire closer ties with the U.S., including more trade, investment and tourism.”

The jaundiced opinion of U.S. policies, however, is not an affliction exclusive to 'Muslim populations'. For example, as Cathy Young, the contributing editor of the Reason magazine, puts it: “A staggering 43 percent of Russians agreed in a poll last year that “one of the goals of the foreign policy of the United States is the total destruction of Russia.””

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The New York Times: The Best of Enemies? By Thomas L. Friedman, Jun 12, 2002

Quick quiz: Which Muslim Middle East country held spontaneous candlelight vigils in sympathy with Americans after Sept. 11? Kuwait? No. Saudi Arabia? No. Iran? Yes. You got it! You win a free trip to Iran. And if you come you'll discover not only a Muslim country where many people were sincerely sympathetic to America after Sept. 11, but a country where so many people on the street are now talking about -- and hoping for -- a reopening of relations with America that the ruling hard-liners had to take the unprecedented step two weeks ago of making it illegal for anyone to speak about it in public.

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International Herald Tribune: Many in Iran bear the U.S. no ill will by Michael Slackman, Feb 11, 2008

America’s image in the Middle East is arguably as low as it has ever been. From the occupation of Iraq to the Israeli bombing of Lebanon to the prisons of Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the United States has been cited in polls as the gravest threat to peace in the region. But Iran is different, even the Iran of bearded fundamentalists …

Generally speaking, Iranians like Americans, not just American products, which remain very popular, but Americans. While that is not entirely new - Iranians on an individual level have long expressed desires to restore relations between the two countries - the sentiment seems much more out in the open now. 


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Huffington Post, the sponsor of this video, is banned in Iran.

Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour from huffpost on Vimeo.

Read the full article here.

From the video @ 4:45 "The one who forces Israel into a peace treaty with the Arabs is the one who is.. you've got to watch out for." The interviewers says "is the Beast" and they agree.

And @ 6:24 “Another reason that we support Israel is that we have a common enemy, the Muslims. We are fighting what is behind the Muslim people, which is Satan. Satan is actually the one who is trying to destroy the human race.” 


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Israel/US article by Robert Weitzel

The US relationship with Israel is fundamental in understanding the US relationship with Iran.



The foundations of modern Iran (1979) were built upon self-identification- Muslims standing up for Muslims, an opponent to recently established Jewish Israel (1948) and its lifeline, the United States of America. The rallying cry of Khomeini was in support of Arab Muslims, Palestinians, who were, in his words: "...oppressed by the Israelites".

Israel’s Settlement on Capital Hill
by Robert Weitzel

Soon after the sand settled following the Six Day War in 1967, Jewish settlements began dotting the hills in the occupied territories. These settlements are typically located on the high ground to better control the surrounding landscape. Today there are 127 Jewish settlements with a population exceeding 468,000 in the West Bank, the Golan Heights and in the suburbs of East Jerusalem—the last of nearly 8,000 settlers were removed from the Gaza Strip in 2005.


According to a recent Amnesty International report, “In the first six months of 2008 Israel has expanded settlements in the West Bank/East Jerusalem at a faster rate than in the previous seven years.”

Unbeknownst to most Americans, Israel’s westernmost settlement is not located in Palestine-Israel, but is 6000 miles away on the high ground overlooking Foggy Bottom in Washington D.C.

This Capital Hill settlement of pro-Israel lobbies and think tanks strategically controls the high ground overlooking the United States’ Middle East policy landscape by having made kibbutzniks of most members of the executive and legislative branches of the government—including President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden (a wannabe Zionist), and future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (a born Zionist).

While Israel’s hilltop settlements in the occupied territories—violating over 30 UN Security Council resolutions since 1968—are “facts on the ground” that make the two state peace solution unlikely, their hilltop settlement in the center of the world’s only superpower makes it equally unlikely that Israel’s right-wing government will feel compelled to end their “self defensive” brutalization of the Palestinian people, which has been condemned by the international community (UN, EU) as crimes against humanity.

John Holmes, UN Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, said that Israel’s blockade of vital supplies to the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rocket attacks “amounts to collective punishment and is contrary to international humanitarian law.”

Collective punishment is forbidden by Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which states, “No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed.” A “protected person” is someone who is under the control of an “Occupying Power of which they are not nationals.” Only the most ideologically blinkered individual would fail to recognize the Gaza Strip as occupied territory.

Israel’s current blockade of Gaza, which began on November 4, is resulting in what the UN Relief and Works Agency is calling a humanitarian catastrophe. Before the blockade, 1000 truckloads of food, fuel and essential supplies per day were necessary to sustain the 1.5 million Palestinians imprisoned behind the concrete and barbed wire of the 25-mile long border. Eighty percent of Gazans live on two dollars a day and depend on international aid to survive. Since the border crossings were sealed, less than 100 truckloads have been permitted through.

The imprisoned Palestinians—50 percent of whom are younger than 15—are slowly starving. They lack the fuel to generate electricity for lighting, water purification, and sewage treatment. The erratic, intermittent electrical power puts the lives of patients in intensive care wards and those who are connected to live-sustaining equipment in grave peril. The lack of basic medicines such as antibiotics and insulin pose an equally fatal threat.

Twenty human rights organizations and all Israeli and international journalists have been barred from entering the Gaza Strip since the blockade began. A letter of protest signed by most major news organizations was sent to Prime Minister Olmert. Israeli Defense Ministry spokesman Shlomo Dror responded to the letter by saying that Israel was afraid journalists would inflate the Palestinians’ suffering. No one is allow to speak out on behalf of this beleaguered population.

President-elect Obama has been speaking out “swiftly and boldly” about the economic catastrophe threatening our 401Ks, but his silence regarding the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe threatening the lives of Palestinians is both deafening and telling of the price he’s willing to pay to maintain his status as kibbutznik-in-good-standing in Israel’s westernmost hilltop settlement.

Obama’s unconditional support for Israel’s policy of “self defense,” preemptive attacks, and repressive occupations is not one iota different from that of George W. Bush, an internationally recognized war criminal. This is not an encouraging beginning for a man whose battle cry was “change we can believe in.”

By any rational, humanitarian standard, Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians amounts to collective punishment and crimes against humanity. Perpetrators of such crimes, whether they are individuals or governments or willing allies, are criminals who should one day sit in the dock of the International Court of Justice in The Hague—just as defendants sat in a Nuremberg court 60 years ago—and be held accountable for their crimes.

Until Israel’s hilltop settlement in our nation’s capital is dismantled, allowing for the possibility of a just and lasting peace in Palestine-Israel, its influence on both branches of our government and its insidious affect on US Middle East policy will continue to make willing—or unwitting—kibbutzniks of all Americans. We will be held as complicit, and as culpable, as the citizens of the country whose leaders sat in the dock at Nuremberg.

The world will ask, “Why didn’t you do something to stop it?” The majority of us will reply, “We didn’t know!”

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People and the Land:



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U.S. Protest Group points to Media Seeding

World Can't Wait, an aggressive U.S. protest organization (that focuses largely on George Bush and his administration), has sent out a bulletin encouraging readers to contact editors of various U.S. newspapers in response to their assertions that Iran already has a nuclear weapons program. (In the article, they are explicitly referring to a 'weapons' program, rather than an energy program). Theisen compares this to drumming up support for the Iraq War by seeding papers with implications of Iraq WMD's.

From the bulletin:

Challenge the Renewed Bush Regime Lies About Iran! Follow Ken Theisen's example:
12-05-08 From Ken Theisen, World Can't Wait Steering Committee:

This article in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle which originated with the Baltimore Sun. It appears it was in many papers across the country under different titles but with the same content. The article asserts as fact that Iran has a nuclear weapons program and goes on to detail how Obama may deal with it. I think we need to counter this article and others like it. I am relatively sure this story was planted by the Bush regime. It is similar to the propaganda put out prior to the Iraq invasion. It reminds me of the Judy Miller stories in the NY TIMES.



I have written the letter below to the Chronicle in the hope that they print it. (It is 199 words long.) I am also going to write a letter to their ombudsman to raise the same point and hopefully get him to do a piece on it. If people in other cities that have papers that printed this article want, they can use my letter as a sample to write their own letters. Ken Theisen

Dear Editor:

Please consider publishing this letter to the editor.

"There is no credible evidence that Iran currently has a nuclear weapons program. Despite this, the article "A Visit to White House can't even hint of enormity of job" (12/04/08) basically assert that Iran has such a program. The article states that Obama intends to halt Iran's nuclear weapon program. The author further says Iran is "rushing headlong toward building" a nuclear arsenal. He also refers to Iran's race to build a nuclear arsenal." Where did the author obtain these "facts?"

Both the Bush regime's own National Intelligence Estimate and numerous reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency contradict the above assertions. The "news" article makes no mention of these facts.

Prior to the Iraq invasion, numerous media stories appeared with propaganda from the Bush regime about the weapons of mass destruction in the hands of Saddam. Judy Miller of the New York Times often scooped other reporters with the "details" of Iran's [Ed. He may mean "Iraq's"] non-existent weapons programs. It turned out that her scoops were based on leaks from the Bush administration in it attempts to mislead the public. Is this happening again, but now with Iran the intended target? If so, why is the media going along with this deception?"



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US Congresswomen request meeting with Iran's female parliament members

I wish I would have read about this on CNN, NYTimes, or Washington Post... Reuters? but I didn't.

From PressTV:

Iran parliament: Time to talk to US
Dec. 01, 6:42pm

The Iranian Majlis (parliament) says the time has come for the Islamic Republic to engage in dialogue with lawmakers in the United States.

Iran's Majlis Speaker, Ali Larijani, told reporters on Monday that the parliament is mulling over the letters received from members of the US Congress and Senate, who had put forward a request for initiating parliamentary dialogue between the two countries.

Earlier in November, Hossein Taqavi, a member of the Majlis National Security Commission, said "US congresswomen have requested a meeting with female members of Iran's Majlis."

Iran had also made public another official US request for talks between American congressmen and Iranian parliamentarians.

While attending the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in October, Iranian lawmakers reportedly received a letter from US officials in Washington, asking for a meeting.

"Majlis is currently studying the letter and we think that the time has come to hold talks between the two countries," Larijani said on Monday.

Washington-Tehran relations were cut in the aftermath of US embassy takeover in Tehran in 1980.

The two countries broke a 27-year diplomatic freeze in May 2007 during Iraq security talks and have so far held three rounds of negotiations on an ambassadorial level over the issue.

Under President George W. Bush, the US has pursued a carrot-and-stick policy toward Tehran over its nuclear program.

US President-elect Barack Obama, however, has vowed to engage Tehran in direct diplomacy in order to resolve the country's nuclear dispute.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has on many occasions expressed willingness to hold talks with US officials.

Earlier in 2006, the Iranian president wrote an 18-page letter to President Bush that touched on religious values, history and international relations. The letter was widely viewed as a offer extended to the United States for dialogue.

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p.s. LADIES! would love to see this happen. 


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Photos // Biennial Tehran in Berlin

In honor of the Biennial's closing events, enjoy yourself some photos from the opening.




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Sex Changes

During the Q&A at our 1st "Show & Tell" our friend Mika asked about our experience with transgendered folk in Iran. We had none, but we had to assume they were there... probably hiding. I told her I'd look into it, and indeed I did. It turns out that they were not hiding at all, and Iran is second only to Thailand in sex change operations. The logic there is that being gay is a sin, but switching genders is a legitimate way to correct that... the state helps to pay for operations.

Though I've only seen clips, Be Like Others is a documentary that enters the world of transgendered Iranians and their families-- it had its world premiere at Sundance this year. Woo! Media. Totally amazing.
Check out the films website for more videos.




p.s. Happy Birthday, Mika! 


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Iran's Culture Cops // Short Documentary

Kouross Esmaeli is a New York filmmaker who has contributed a few doc pieces to Current TV's repertoire. His 'Tomato Unrest in Iran' was my first media experience of everyday Iranians.

This one, Iran's Culture Cops, seems refreshingly transparent as he was granted unheard of access to the group on the condition that he not manipulate their words.



I bet their words and intentions, if not actions, probably resonate with a number of people- and the insight this video brings is beyond compare. Nice one, Kouross. 


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Biennial Tehran // Berlin, Germany

(pictured: Dario Fariello, Italian performance artist adds to Polish cellist KOSTJA PICUNDA 84 's aural offerings)

I had the opportunity to be a resident artist @ Taktkunstprojektraum in Berlin while Biennial Tehran opened in select venues across the city. Both the residency and the exhibition proved to be legendary international creative ventures that will be forever carved into my own personal timeline... Beyond that, as far as this project is concerned, it was crucial for me to interact with Iranian artists away from the rules of an Islamic society.

@ Biennial Tehran, I met up with the curator, who I'd also visited while in Tehran. Our second encounter was decidedly more relaxed. Artists from Iran, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, Australia, Serbia, Poland and other environs descended on Berlin in an unquestionably celebratory tone. It almost felt like a reunion of people who hadn't met yet. I had a piece in the show that needed particular curatorial attention and I was especially pleased at the way it was displayed, re: the lighting tricks required for the full effect of the ink variations. My opening was on Day 3 @ Wallywoods and that night has definitely made my Top Ten life experiences list. (Re: Wallywoods: "This underground artspace, freshly relocated to a derelict GDR "Kulturhaus" in Berlin Weissensee is the closest thing to Warhol's Factory to be found in the city. Its director, British artist Paul Woods, heads about 150 maladjusted unrecognized local talents.") The atmosphere was charged as people poured in from the streets to see Iranian bands play and drink and smoke without repercussion.

The other Biennial events, held at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, West Germany and Ich Orya, also hosted musicians, 2D, and audio/visual installations/performances. Their next station is Belgrade and I'm already looking at flights to Serbia-- meeting Iranian artists out of their element is almost as rewarding as meeting them in Tehran.

@ the Takt residency I was able to screen my "Sign at Ground Zero" piece (along with showing a handful of other digital works) to a very receptive and interactive audience at their Open Studios. My colleagues hailed from the US, UK, Canada, Azerbaijan, Mexico, Italy and Serbia. 


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Article | Citizen Diplomacy in Iran

Citizen diplomacy in Iran: peace group finds a culture that belies many American presumptions

Rev. Dr. Ellen Francis Poisson
National Catholic Reporter
September 22, 2006

The crisis over the development of Iran's nuclear capability is complex. Although the evidence suggests that Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapons program, the Western media subtly imply that Iran's intentions are aggressive--and nuclear. In general, the news media in the United States seem to relish painting a negative picture of Iran, when the reality is more nuanced.

It was against this background of hostility between the United States and Iran that the Fellowship of Reconciliation sent an international, interfaith delegation of 18 to Iran last December. Because I speak Farsi and had lived in Iran in the 1960s and '70s, before the Iranian Revolution, I was asked to be one of the co-leaders. I was also a co-leader of a second Fellowship of Reconciliation delegation of 23 this past May. The purpose of both delegations was to have direct dialogue with Iranians, to present a friendly and respectful American face, and to continue to learn, talk and write about Iran when we returned home. All of this reflects the mission of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. An international, interfaith peace and justice organization founded on the eve of World War I, the fellowship sponsored peace delegations to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, to Vietnam during the 1960s, and to Iraq before the present conflict. It's hard to say how much of a difference such citizen delegations make, but they are designed to change the world one person at a time.

From one trip to the other, I noticed a difference in the interactions our delegations had with Iranians. In December, Iranians were quick to engage with us, but the talk was casual and curious. In May there was a heightened urgency to the conversations, and the Iranians we met asked what we thought the United States would do, whether the U.S. government might attack Iran, why shouldn't Iran have nuclear energy, and why did we think Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons.

Our delegation in May arrived just days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent his letter to President Bush requesting a meeting, and there was some misconception that our little citizen delegation was some sort of a response to that letter. We were quick to dispel this notion, and found it even a bit funny since our trips had been planned many months in advance and we were definitely not emissaries of the U.S. government. Nonetheless, our May delegation attracted a great deal of media attention within Iran, both positive and negative, and we had interviews with BBC, CNN, Reuters and The Associated Press, as well as a number of Iranian news agencies.

There were many surprises in store for the members of our delegations, and some misconceptions about Iran were corrected. For example:

* Iranians hate Americans.

Without exception, the Iranians we met were extremely hospitable to us. Everywhere we went, we were told, "We love Americans. Please tell all your friends to come to Iran. Only--we don't like your government." The last night that we were in Tehran, during the May delegation, we went to dinner in a large, traditional restaurant with live music. During the evening the announcer said in Farsi, "We welcome our friends from America who are here on a mission of peace." When he said this, there was loud and sustained applause.

* Iran is a Third-World country.

The members of our delegations were amazed at the evidence of a high level of development: sophisticated road systems, cell phones, safe drinking water from the taps, advanced medical care, comprehensive elementary education and a high level of literacy, higher education including doctoral studies and original scientific research, many high-rise buildings in Tehran, up-to-date and locally manufactured vehicles. After seeing all this, one delegate said right out, "This is not a Third-World country." I noticed some significant changes from the 1960s and '70s; perhaps the most noticeable was the high level of air pollution in Teheran.

* Women are oppressed and forced to wear black covering.

Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, it's true that women in Iran have been required, by law, to wear the hijab or modest covering in public, This means that women (including non-Muslim Iranians and foreigners) must cover arms and legs, wear modest, long tops, and also cover at least part of their hair. In most cities of Iran, however, women wear light scarves that cover some of their hair, but they also wear light or even bright colors and not only black, and some wear clothing that is quite tight-fitting. As one Iranian woman said, "We are very romantic," and Iranian women find ways to make the veil alluring and lovely.

Many Iranian women would prefer to choose whether or not to wear the veil. I was helping one of our delegates with her scarf on the street one day, and some women passing by exclaimed, "Oh! You are fixing your hijab!" We chatted a while and I said, "We are not accustomed to wearing the hijab." An Iranian woman answered quietly, "No, we aren't either."

When we were in the holy city of Qom, we were advised to cover all of our hair, and we wore borrowed chadors when we went to the courtyard of the Shrine of Hadrat-e Fatima Ma'sooma, the daughter of one of the twelve Imams of Shiism. The chador is a large semicircle of cloth, worn with the center on the crown of the head and held under the chin. Getting ourselves properly covered in these chadors drew a crowd of women to help us and caused considerable amusement.

Women are involved in education and public life, and make up approximately 60 percent of college students. This number is even more impressive than it sounds because entrance to a university is extremely competitive and only about 10 percent of the applicants are accepted.

* Religious minorities are oppressed and persecuted.

We visited the Vank Armenian Cathedral in Esfahan, a Jewish synagogue in Tehran, and a Zoroastrian temple in Esfahan. We learned that these religious minorities have complete freedom of worship, and religious schools for Armenian and Jewish children are paid for by the Iranian government. The Jewish representative to the Majlis (Parliament), Mr. Morris Motamed, told us that there is, by law, no discrimination in employment. Religious minorities serve in the armed forces, and each has representation in the Majlis.

There are some difficulties for religious minorities, but we did see thriving communities and active places of worship. To the amazement of the Jews in our delegations, we saw Jewish Iranian men walking down the street in Tehran wearing yarmulkes. We saw the houses of worship clearly marked from the street as church, synagogue or temple. One of the Armenian clergy told us that during the Iranian Revolution there had been a riot in Esfahan, but when the mob came to the doors of the cathedral, someone said, "No, this is the Armenian church," and they passed by without touching anything.

There is freedom of worship, but conversion from Islam to any other religion is prohibited, and the indigenous religious minorities do not proselytize Muslims. The Baha'is are considered apostates because Baha'ism was an offshoot from Islam and Baha'is accept another prophet who came after the Prophet Muhammad.

* Iranians are all highly religious.

The members of our delegations were amazed to learn that Iran is a highly secular society, with relatively low attendance at Friday prayer services. A low percentage of Iranians follow Muslim practices such as the daily ritual prayers, fasting during Ramadan, going on the haj to Mecca. The young people in Iran are generally even less observant than their elders.

* The United States can promote reform by providing assistance to dissidents.

Many Iranians do want a loosening of social and political restraints. Approximately 70 percent of Iran's population of 70 million are under the age of 30, and many of them desire political and social reform. Some social restrictions are gradually lifting: We saw young couples walking and talking together, dating, holding hands.

However, all the Iranians we met said that they want reform to come about from within: "We do want reform, but we don't need U.S. help. We want to do it ourselves." Iranians still have a deep resentment against the United States for the CIA-led coup in 1953, in which Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh was removed from office and the shah was returned to power. External efforts to support dissidents will be counterproductive, increase distrust, and will be certain to result in increased repression within Iran. One Iranian asked me directly whether the Fellowship of Reconciliation had received any funding from the U.S. government.

* Iranians want to bomb Israel.

Iranians are quick to point out that Iran has not been a military aggressor in modern times and that Ayatollah Khomeini had declared nuclear weapons un-Islamic. In a sense, this is a stronger prohibition on developing,' owning or using nuclear weapons than signing any international treaty.

Iranians do not have animosity toward Jewish people, but rather toward aggressive Zionism and injustice to the Palestinian people. It seems to me that some of the political rhetoric against Israel and in support of the Palestinians is a reaction against the friendship with Israel of the late Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and also against the U.S. support of Israel at the expense of support for the Palestinians. The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has not actually said the famous words, "wipe Israel off the map." What he did say was that as the Soviet Union fell from power and as Saddam Hussein fell from power, so some day the present government of Israel may also fall from power. (See "President Ahmadinejad's words on Israel".)

Problems in Iran

I think that the Fellowship of Reconciliation-Iran delegates are not naive about the problems that exist in Iran today: There is some discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities, especially Baha'is; social and political oppression does exist; there are restrictions on women; there is drug abuse, unemployment and poverty. Iran does want to conduct nuclear research, at least for peaceful purposes, as the government consistently declares, and this would give Iran the start-up technology to develop nuclear weapons. There is concern about Iran's support of Hezbollah and about the potential for future violence between Israel and neighboring countries.

But military intervention is not a viable or acceptable answer, and even sanctions may be ineffective or counterproductive. As talks between Iran and the Western powers continue, I pray that every avenue for a peaceful resolution will be pursued with patience and mutual respect. I feel this particularly strongly because I have family in Iran, whom I was blessed to visit on these two trips. Though my Iranian husband and I divorced in the late 1970s, his family and I had been close and it was wonderful to have the opportunity to see them again after so many years.

On both trips to Iran, we visited Esfahan and the village of Natanz, both of which are close to nuclear facilities. In the beautiful, historic city of Esfahan, we realized that we were at what could someday be another "Ground Zero." The families we saw walking together, the laughing children, the historic sites and breathtaking mosques would all be destroyed if the United States attacked Iran's nuclear plants. I was reminded of a photo of a demonstration in California, in which an Iranian-American child held up a sign saying, "Don't bomb my grandma."

The Fellowship of Reconciliation delegations also traveled to Shiraz. There we visited the tomb of the Persian poet Saadi, whose words grace the entrance to the United Nations:

Human beings are all members
of one body.
They are created from the same
essence.
When one member is in pain,
The others cannot rest.
If you do not care about the pain
of others,
You do not deserve to be called a
human being.


President Ahmadinejad's words on Israel

"Nobody believed that we would one day witness the collapse of the Eastern Imperialism [i.e. the U.S.S.R.], and said that it was an iron regime. But in our short lifetime we have witnessed how this regime collapsed in such a way that we must look for it in libraries....

"Imam [Khomeini] said that Saddam [Hussein] must go, and that he would be eliminated in a way that was unprecedented. And what do you see today? ...

"Imam [Khomeini] said, 'This regime that is occupying [Jerusalem] must be eliminated from the pages of history.' ...

"The issue of Palestine is by no means over, and will end only when all of Palestine will have a government belonging to the Palestinian people. The refugees must return to their homes, and there must be a government that has come to power by the will of the [Palestinian] people."

[Translation of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's speech provided by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute) and dated Oct. 28, 2005.]

[The Rev. Dr. Ellen Francis Poisson is a priest and a nun in the Episcopal church. She lives in a convent of the Order of St. Helena in New York City. She can be reached at sisters@osh.org.]

COPYRIGHT 2006 National Catholic Reporter
COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale Group 


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Article | U.S. Covert War inside Iran

Subverting Iran
Washington's Covert War inside Iran


By Greg Elich

Global Research, March 23, 2007


Much attention has been given to the Bush Administration’s preparations for possible war against Iran as well as its drive to impose sanctions. Meanwhile, a less noticed policy has been unfolding, one that may in time prove to have grave consequences for the region. There is a covert war underway in Iran, still in its infancy, but with disturbing signs of impending escalation. In the shadowy world of guerrilla operations, the full extent of involvement by the Bush Administration has yet to be revealed, but enough is known to paint a disturbing picture.

The provision of aid to anti-government forces offers certain advantages to the Bush Administration. No effort needs to be expended in winning support for the policy. Operations can be conducted away from the public eye during a time of growing domestic opposition to the war in Iraq, and international opinion is simply irrelevant where the facts are not well known. In terms of expenditures, covert operations are a cost-effective means for destabilizing a nation, relative to waging war.

There is nothing new in the technique, and it has proven an effective means for toppling foreign governments in the past, as was the case with socialist Afghanistan and Nicaragua. In Yugoslavia, U.S. and British military training and arms shipments helped to build up the secessionist Kosovo Liberation Army from a small force of 300 soldiers into a sizable guerrilla army that made the province of Kosovo ungovernable. The very chaos that the West did so much to create was then used as the pretext for bombing Yugoslavia.

According to a former CIA official, funding for armed separatist groups operating in Iran is paid from the CIA’s classified budget. The aim, claims Fred Burton, an ex-State Department counter-terrorism agent, is “to supply and train” these groups “to destabilize the Iranian regime.” (1)

The largest and most well known of the anti-government organizations is Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), operating out of Iraq. For years MEQ had launched cross-border attacks and terrorist acts against Iran with the support of Saddam Hussein. Officially designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in 1997, and disarmed of heavy weaponry by the U.S. military six years later, Washington has since come to view MEK in a different light. Three years ago, U.S. intelligence officials suggested looking the other way as the MEK rearmed and to use the organization to destabilize Iran, a recommendation that clearly has been accepted. (2)

Accusing MEK of past involvement in repressive measures by former president Saddam Hussein, the current Iraqi government wants to close down Camp Ashraf, located well outside of Baghdad, where many of the MEK fighters are stationed. But the camp operates under the protection of the U.S. military, and American soldiers chauffeur MEK leaders. The Iraqi government is unlikely to get its way, as the MEK claims to be the primary U.S. source for intelligence on Iran. (3)

U.S. officials “made MEK members swear an oath to democracy and resign from the MEK,” reveals an intelligence source, “and then our guys incorporated them into their unit and trained them.” Reliance on the MEK began under Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with the direction of Vice President Dick Cheney, and soon MEK soldiers were being used in special operations missions in Iran. “They are doing whatever they want, no oversight at all,” said one intelligence official of the MEK’s American handlers. (4)

The Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), is another organization that conducts cross-border raids into Iran. Israel provides the group with “equipment and training,” claims a consultant to the U.S. Defense Department, while the U.S. gave it “a list of targets inside Iran of interest to the U.S.” Aid to guerrilla groups, the consultant reports, is “part of an effort to explore alternative means of applying pressure on Iran.” (5) It has been noted that PJAK has recently shown an impressive gain in capability during its operations, both in terms of size and armament, a fact that can surely be attributed to Western support. (6)

Jundallah (God’s Brigade) is an extremist Sunni organization operating in Sistan-Balochistan province that has been launching armed attacks, planting explosives, setting off car bombs, and kidnapping. Based in Pakistan, it is unclear if this group is connected with the Pakistani organization of the same name, which has ties with Al-Qaeda. (7) Jundallah denies that it has any links to either Al-Qaeda or to the U.S. But Iranian officials claim that a recently arrested Jundallah guerrilla has confessed that he was trained by U.S. and British intelligence officers. There is no way to verify that such a confession has actually taken place, nor its reliability as it may have come as a result of coercion, but the claim would not be inconsistent with U.S. policy elsewhere in Iran. (8)

It is probable that in the coming months the Bush Administration will expand support for anti-government forces in order to more effectively destabilize Iran and gather intelligence. Already U.S. Special Forces are operating in Iran collecting data, planting nuclear sensors, and electronically marking targets. Separatist forces have cooperated in those efforts. “This looks to be turning into a pretty large-scale covert operation,” comments a former CIA official. U.S. and Israeli officials are establishing front companies to help finance that covert war. (9) To fully capitalize on ethnic discontent along Iran’s periphery, the U.S. Marine Corps has commissioned a study from defense contractor Hicks and Associates on Iran and Iraq’s ethnic groups and their grievances. (10)

That these separatist organizations clearly engage in terrorism hasn’t deterred the Bush Administration from backing them. The potential for baneful consequences is considerable. CIA support for the anti-Soviet and anti-socialist Mujahedin in Afghanistan spawned a worldwide movement of Islamic extremism. Western support for ethnic secessionists shattered Yugoslavia and the invasion of Iraq fired the flames of ethnic discord and made a shared life impossible. It remains to be seen if the Bush Administration can succeed in achieving its goal of effecting regime change in Iran. That process could have devastating consequences for the people of Iran. Those officials in the Bush Administration who advocated and implemented covert operations “think in Iran you can just go in and hit the facilities and destabilize the government,” explains a former CIA official. “They believe they can get rid of a few crazy mullahs and bring in the young guys who like Gap jeans, [and] all the world’s problems are solved. I think it’s delusional.” (11)

Gregory Elich is the author of Strange Liberators: Militarism, Mayhem, and the Pursuit of Profit.

http://www.amazon.com/Strange-Liberators-Militarism-Mayhem-Pursuit/dp/1595265708

NOTES

1 William Lowther and Colin Freeman, “US Funds Terror Groups to Sow Chaos in Iran,” Sunday Telegraph (London), February 25, 2007.
2 “Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK or MKO), Global Security.org
Syed Saleem Shahzad, “Sleeping Forces Stir in Iran,” Asia Times, June 26, 2003.
Gian Marco Chiocci and Alessia Marani, “Iranian Mujaheddin Gather Funds in Italy,” Il Giornale (Milan), October 2, 2006.
3 Ernesto Londono and Saad al-Izzi, “Iraq Intensifies Efforts to Expel Iranian Group,” Washington Post, March 14, 2007.
4 Larisa Alexandrovna, “On Cheney, Rumsfeld Order, US Outsourcing Special Ops, Intelligence to Iraq Terror Group, Intelligence Officials Say,” The Raw Story, April 13, 2006.
5 Seymour Hersh, “The Next Act,” New Yorker, November 27, 2006.
6 James Brandon, “PJAK Claims Fresh Attacks in Iran,” Global Terrorism Analysis, March 6, 2007.
7 Ali Akbar Dareini, “Explosion Kills 11 Members of Iran’s Elite Revolutionary Guards,” Associated Press, February 14, 2007.
8 Broadcast, Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (Teheran), February 17, 2007.
9 Richard Sale, “Cat and Mouse Game Over Iran,” UPI, January 26, 2005.
10 Guy Dinmore, “US Marines Probe Tensions Among Iran’s Minorities,” Financial Times (London), February 23, 2006.
11 Julian Borger and Ian Traynor, “Now US Ponders Attack on Iran,” The Guardian (London), January 18, 2005. 


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AIPAC | U.S. relationship with Israel

This week, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), self-described "America's Pro-Israel Lobby", had it's annual policy conference in Washington D.C.

From the Washington Post:

The groups fact sheet announced that this is the "largest ever" conference, with its 5,000 participants attending "the largest annual seated dinner in Washington" joined by "more members of Congress than almost any other event, except for a joint session of Congress or a State of the Union address." The group added that its membership "has nearly doubled" over four years to 100,000 and that the National Journal calls it "one of the top four most effective lobbying organizations."

Informal administration foreign policy adviser Richard N. Perle provoked cheers from the crowd when he favored a military raid on Iran, saying that "if Iran is on the verge of a nuclear weapon, I think we will have no choice but to take decisive action." When Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) said the "best short-term option" is the U.N. Security Council, the crowd reacted with boos.

According to the Christian Science Monitor, the event was attended by half the Senate and a third of the House of Representatives.

Vice President Dick Cheney Spoke

From the Jewish Journal:

"Friends owe it to friends to be as candid as possible," he said. "My friends, it is simply not consistent for anyone to demand aggressive action against the menace that is posed by the Iranian regime while at the same time acquiescing in a retreat from Iraq that would leave Israel's best friend, the United States, dangerously weakened." and later: [From The Jewish Daily Forward] “Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than George Bush.”

He outlined his view of the "war on terror" by arguing that "the only option for our security and survival is to go on the offensive, facing the threat directly, patiently and systematically until the enemy is destroyed." [From Zawya]


Congressman Lieberman Spoke

From the Jewish Journal:

"There is something profoundly wrong when, in the face of attacks by radical Islam, we think we can find safety and stability by pulling back, by talking to and accommodating our enemies, and abandoning our friends and allies," Lieberman said to a group that he likes to call "family."

His remarks were closed to the press, but Lieberman's office distributed the remarks Tuesday, and within minutes they were forwarded to Jewish leaders by the White House liaison to the Jewish community with a note labeling them as "important."

According to the aforementioned Washington Post article, the event included "a fleet of police cars, sirens wailing, blocked intersections and formed a motorcade to escort buses". And also dissenting voices as protesters gathered outside according to Media Monitors Network: From Mark Braverman: “As an American Jew, I’m here to protest AIPAC’s control of Congress. It is a very self-destructive course for America to be supporting Israel unconditionally.” To Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of the Neturei Karta International, “Jews United Against Zionism.” He said: “AIPAC stands for a rebellion against God...What they are doing is against the Torah...AIPAC should be stopped...And the state of Israel should be...peacefully dismantled.”


Israel receives the largest percentage of US foreign aid (primarily for its military). Over $7.7 million/per day according to this chart by The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. 


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