Ahwaz and Her Forgotten Palms

Say No to Violence against Women

2009-11-25T06:43:00.001-08:00

Fight for change

2009-06-21T05:53:00.000-07:00

The recent events in Iran and the demonstration of angry people against the fake result of the Iranian presidential election in Tehran might be a great opportunity for the Iranians of different ethnic backgrounds to try and fight for their rights. I think now that there are people in Tehran who want to see "change" in Iran, the Iranian nations in Ahwaz, Kurdistan, Azarbaijan and other districts should grasp the opportunity and create a unity of voice, a voice that shouts for freedom and humane rights.
I understand the silence of the these ethnics, I understand their disappointment, but silence does not help while trying for change might lead to real and satisfactory results. I wish that people take the opportunity and fight for what is their obvious right.

Protest against the election results in Iran

2009-06-13T08:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwpKS6xB96o

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eICmB9nwgU

فاشیسم را پاس بداریم

2009-05-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

چندی پیش ایمیلی به دستم رسید به این مضمون

پارسی را پاس بداریم

حالا جدای از تناقضات خنده آور این مطلب که این گونه به ذهن القاء میکند که انگار تازیان لقب پارس به فارسها داده اند و زبان بدیع پارسی را هم پارسیان اصیل از تازیان آموخته اند - "بگویید غذا میخوریم!!!"- و در راستای همین استفاده دوستان تند رو فارس از کلمه فاشیستی تازی به جای کلمه عرب و فقط برای خنده ...

فاشیسم را پاس بداریم

لطفا جهت آگاهی دوستان محترم و جهت فراموش نشدن تاریخ عظیم پارس زین پس به جای واژه غریب و نا آشنای "زوزه" در جمله "گرگ زوزه میکشد " بفرمایید "گرگ او او میکند" زیرا اولا معلوم نیست که این کلمه زوزه از کدام گوری آمده و از آن بهتر , گرگ با استفاده از کلمه محترم "اواو" در واقع یاد آور می شود که "او (همانا آن تازی بی پدر مادر) از نسل من است یا شاید هم من از نسل اویم.... حالا فرقی هم نمیکند , مهم و مبرهن این است که هردویمان پا پتی هستیم, سوسمار و هزار جک و جانور چندش آور دیگر هم میخوریم, هردو وحشی هستیم و از همه مهمتر و بنابر قول بزرگانی چون زرین کوب و چوبک و هدایت سیاه و مکروه هم هستیم!"

پس دوستان ملاحظه میفرمایند که چه شباهت ها که میان این دو موجود کریه وجود ندارد! پس زین پس و برای اعتلای نام پارس و به خاطر سپاری دونیت تازیان بگوییم همانا گرگ اواو میکند و به فرزندان خود نیز بیاموزیم که گرگ زوزه نمیکند, اواواواواواواو میکند!

فاشیسم را پاس بداریم

ردا الى من شكوا في انتمائي

2009-04-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

سلمي الاهوازي

*******

في البداية اشد على يد الذين ساهموا في تسيير مظاهرة الاحوازيين في بلجيكيا و اتمنى التوفيق لكل مناضل يحاول من اجل ايصال صوت الشعب العربي الاحوازي المضطهد الى العالم. اما بعد

عندما سمعت عن خبر الغاء المظاهرة الاحوازية في بروكسل نتيجة لاسباب امنية، تاملت و فكرت في الموضوع، فذهبت بكتابة نقد للحركات الاحوازية التي لاتراعي الاجواء العالمية و تخاطب العالم بلغة ليتها كانت لم تخاطب بها. في نقدي لهؤلاء لم اتهم احد بشئ ما و لم اسيئ الادب لاحد و طرحت النقد بشكل عام لكي لايمس بسماحة الاخوة و الاخوات الاعزاء. لكني و مع كل الاسف وجهت بوابل من الاهانات و الاتهامات. بكل صراحة اعلن للذين اكالوا لي الاتهامات و الاهانات التي تكشف عدم تحملهم لاي نقد و راي يخالف آرائهم، صحيح ان هؤلاء هم الذين قاموا بالغاء المظاهرة بطلب شخصي و لم تكن الشرطة البلجيكية وراء منع المظاهرة، لكنني في كل حال و بصراحة اعلن انني استغلت هذه الفرصة من اجل توجيه النقد لهؤلاء الذين يدمرون سمعة القضية الاحوازية ليل نهار و دون هوادة. صحيح ان هؤلاء كذبوا و افتضحت اكذوبتهم لكن نقدي للحركات التي ذكرتها في مقالي السابق نقد في محله و اساسا كنت افكر في كتابته قبل ان تظهر اكذوبة المظاهرة الملغية من قبل هؤلاء.

انا انقد الحركات التي تنتهج طرقها الخاصة بها دون ان تراعي المصلحة الاحوازية العامة و دون ان تسمع النقد الموجه لها من قبل باقي الاحوازيين. كما انقد الذين حاولوا و يحاولوا المتاجرة بالقضية الاحوازية فبالامس القريب و في اليوم الاول من الانتفاضة اعلنوا ان الانتفاضة جاءت تلبية لدعواتهم الانفصالية و اليوم يطلبون الترخيص للمظاهرة و بعد فترة يلغونها بانفسهم و يكذبون علينا و يدعون بان الشرطة البلجيكية هي التي منعت المظاهرة.

بصراحة اقول لكل هؤلاء الذين وجهوا لي اهاناتهم و اتهاماتهم اقول لهم بانني لايهمني كذب هؤلاء. نقدي للحركات الاحوازية التي تضر بالقضية عبر طرحها الخاطئ لها، نقد لاصلة له بكذبة بلجيكيا و كنت اتمنى ان تظهر اصوات من هذه الحركات تقبل بالنقد و تطالبني بطرح الادلة و وجهة نظري في نقد سياساتهم الخاطئة بدل ان يكيلوا لي سيل اهاناتهم الفضيعة. هذا الاسلوب في التعامل مع النقد يظهر عدم وجود اى استعداد لدى هؤلاء من اجل الاستماع الى الاخر و احترام رايه و عدم وجود اي امكانية و امل للتغيير و التصحيح في اسلوب هؤلاء.

من جهة اخرى هذه الاساليب كعدم احترام الاخر و عدم الاصغاء للراي الاخر هي التي تضر بتقدمنا، و مقالي السابق كان محاولة من اجل نقد ما اعتقد بانه سياسات خاطئة تضر بقضيتنا العادلة. و اما القراءات الخاطئة للاخوة و الاخوات لا تخصني و ليست مشكلتي و انصح هؤلاء الى التريث و تحمل الراي المخالف دون ان ينفجروا و ينشروا اهاناتهم الفضيعة.

لماذا منعت اقامة المظاهرة الاحوازية في بلجيكا؟

2009-04-08T08:40:00.001-07:00

سلمى الاهوازي
في بلد اروبي ديموقراطي كبلجيكا ماذا يعني منع اقامة مظاهرة سلمية كانت تقام سنويا و هدفها ايصال صوت مطالب بالحق الى العالم؟ ترى ما هوالسبب وراء مثل هذه المفاجئة؟ لماذا قد تمنع مثل هذه المظاهرة من قبل دولة حامية للحرية و الانسانية؟ الا يجب ان يكون هناك سببا لفت انتباه المسئولين البلجيكيين؟ لا شك في المبادئ الدولة البلجيكية لانها لم تكون مانعا في السنوات الماضية. فنشك بماذا؟……..مظاهرة سلمية……..مالمشكلة؟
تكفي نظرة بسيطة الى المواقع الاهوازية و الاحوازية لنعلم اين يقع الاهوازيون في تاريخ النضال العالمي نحو الحق. حينما العالم يمشي الى الامام محاولا كسر الحواجز التي قد تمنع التقدم نحو الهدف (مهما كان الهدف) ما لا نراه عند الاحوازيين ارادة لتغيير الحال و الحاضر. الطاقة و الوقت لدى الاحوازيين و الاهوازيين قبل ان يصرفا في المحاولة للتقدم في القضية الاهوازية يصرفان لمحاربة الاهوازيين والاحوازيين!
و كان المشاكل الاحوازية قليلة, الاخوة و الاخوات في البحث عن "الحق مع من" ينسون الاول و الاخير و يضيعون في درب لا يعرفون كيف بداء و كيف ينتهي. فالعالم يمشي الى الامام و نحن باقون نصرخ في عراك لا نفهمه.
و هذا الصراع الداخلي الاهوازي يظهر مدى قصر عمرنا النضالي و مدى قلة تجربتنا في درك الواقع. فما هو الواقع و ما يعني النضال؟ و في تامل منطقي ايهما الاطار و ايهما المتاطر؟ و بنظرة احوازية كيف؟
مما اراه و افهمه انا الجهات الاهوازية الاحوازية تاخذ النضال كالاطار و تصنع منه الواقع المتاطر! فالاطار في النظرة الاحوازية يعني رفض ما لايعجبك و لو يكون العالم كله, يعني محو ما لا يعجبك قدر ما تستطيع و تخيل ما تتمناه حتي لو تكون كذبة, و يعني تكفير كل من ليس معك! و من خلال هذا الاطار يأتي الينا واقعنا المتاطر… نصبح اناس مرفوضين من قبل العالم و حتى شعبنا, محونا يصبح اسهل و اسهل و كذباتنا و غوغائيتنا البطولية تساعد من اذكى منا ان يضربنا دون ان نشعر بالمه في لحظته. نكفر بعضنا البعض و نترك البعض وحيدين و دون حامي. لا نرحم انفسنا فلا احد يرحمنا. الاكثر تجربة و ذكاء منا يسيطر علينا من خلال واقع صنعناه بايادينا. و نعرف ان ما نحصل عليه هو نتيجة منطقية لما كنا نسعي وراءه.
فاين نخطئ؟ برايئ خطاءنا في قرائتنا عن العالم و عن الحياة. عندما نعيش في اطار الواقع و العقلانية سوف تنظم خطواتنا في اطار الواقع القائم، فبالتاكيد تختلف الحسابات عما نفعله حاليا و ما نحصل عليه مختلف.
نعم نحن الاحوازيون نصنع واقعنا المزيف و نتحير كيف مساعينا لا تجدي نفعا. نعيش في عالم يرفض العنصرية و الارهاب و رفض الاخر و نبني اعمالنا على اسس تختلف تماما عن القيم العالمية. و مع الاسف لا نكتفي بهذا بل و نعلن بما نفعله عالميا و من خلال مواقعنا و فضائياتنا و منشوراتنا. نعلن بافتخار عن قنبلة زرعناها لتقتل عدة من البشر, نتكلم عن الفرس بالاشمئزاز و في مقالاتنا ننسى اول اصول الصحافية و نهين الشخصيات السياسية و الثقافية لاننا نكرههم, نشجع كل من قام باعمال الارهابية في الوطن او في باقي البلدان لانه ظهر للعالم مدى رجولتنا و ثبت للعالم اصالة عروبتنا!
نتصرف بحماقة و الاذكياء من العدو موجودون لاغتنام الفرصة.
ليس صعبا على السفارة الايرانية في بلجيكا ارجاع المسؤلين البلجيكين الى صفحات من المواقع الاهوازية و الاحوازية لغسل القليل الباقي من الوجهه لدينا عند المجامع الغربية.
ترى من المسؤول في منع المظاهرة الاحوازية في بلجيكا؟

Europeans and Israel

2009-01-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

Source:

http://www.metrobloggen.se/jsp/public/index.jsp?article=19.5536340

How do Europeans support Israel?

- Holding Silence to Israel’s slaughtering of innocent defenseless children, women and elders
- Supporting Israel through the media blackout of the massacres and atrocities in Gaza done by Zionists.
- Supporting Israel by not-denouncing what this inhumane regime is doing and rejecting all international calls for condemning the Israeli crimes.

Contradictory Ideals of Europeans

when one Israeli is killed, all European countries and the United States of America invoke, issue resolutions and call for punishment of the so-called Palestinian “terrorists”. At the same time, under the guise of fighting terrorism, Israel kills Palestinians every day, but the Europeans do not bother and do not issue any statement or resolution to denounce Israel.

Today is the twenty first day of the war against Gaza. Israel has killed more than 1100 and wounded more than 5000 Palestinians, more than half of them are children, women and the elderly.

But what did the Europeans and the “civilized world” do to stop the atrociousIsraeli crimes?
Imagine … If some one kills 1000 cats in the streets of Europe, how will the Europeans react?
Then what is this silence to the Israeli crimes against Palestinians?

What they did:
- Support of Israel through the media blackout on the Israeli crimes in Gaza.
- No condemnation of what Israel does to the people of Gaza. On the contrary, they recognized Hamas as the responsible for the slaughter of innocent people in Gaza, while it is Israeli missiles that kill these defenseless people.
- Deceiving the European public opinion through conducting of the Israeli allegations (mainly led by French media)
- Rejection of any decision made by the Security Council to denounce the Israeli crimes.

European peoples should

- Demand the European governments to break the blackout of the media about what is happening in Gaza in order to reveal the truth.
- Try to look for the media which reflect the truth about what is really happening in Gaza, and in this case one can mention the Al-Jazeera English, to see with their own eyes what crimes Israel is committing against innocent Palestinian Arabs.
- Support raising real awareness about the Palestinian issue in order to resist the European permanent bias to Israel.
- Participate in demonstrations condemning the Israeli crimes against innocent Palestinians.

Brazilian cartoonist Carlos Latuff creates artworks that call on the world to condemn Israeli holocaust of Gaza

2009-01-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

Carlos Latuff's statement:

I'd like to beg all viewers to spread this image anywhere, as a way to expose Israeli war crimes against Palestinians. Use it on t-shirts, posters, banners. Reproduce it in zines, papers, magazines, and make it visible everywhere. Here is the high-resolution version for printing purposes:
Thank you in the name of every suffering Palestinian.

News On Iran

2008-12-24T03:27:00.000-08:00

Regime officials threaten students
Following demonstrations and gatherings on 'Student Day' on December 6 and the summoning of more than 35 Shiraz University students to the Disciplinary Committee, regime officials are preparing to suppress students by threatening them in their speeches.
Anjavi Nejad, a cleric and head of a suppressive institution called "Rahpooyane Vesal" in Shiraz threatened students who chanted , "we are the men and women of combat, fight and we shall fight back" in student day protests with execution and said, "These slogans were given by the 'Monafeghin' (referring to the PMOI, main opposition of the Iranian regime). This means waging war with the Islamic Republic and you know that the sentence for those who wage war is death". Last week suppressive forces in Shiraz, issued a statement under the name of the "Student's Basij" in Shiraz University threatening active students with murder.
The Students' Committee calls on all international human rights organizations and student associations to support the struggles of Iranians students for freedom and democracy and take effective steps to stop the suppression against them.

Mounted suppression in Ahwaz University
The Iranian regime has distributed a set of regulations concerning the dress code amongst students in Ahwaz's Free University. Simultaneously, agents have started patrolling the campus giving notices to students who don't follow these regulations.

35 Shiraz University students summoned to "Disciplinary Committee"
Nineteen other Shiraz University students were summoned to this university's "Disciplinary Committee" which puts the total of summoned students to more than 30 so far. These students were charged with participating in Student Day ceremonies on December 6 and December 8 in this university. Some of the summoned students have been suspended from education or summoned before which can lead to their expulsion from university. (Dec. 22, 2008)

Political prisoner not given medical treatment
According to reports from Gohardasht Prison in Karaj, a political prisoner, Afshin Bayimani has had severe tooth ache in the last couple of days but prison medical officials have denied him serious treatment.
The assistant of the prison medical center in Gohardasht, Yosefi, has demanded that Bayimani pay a large amount of money to be treated. This is while Bayimani has been in prison for years and does not have this much money. Yosefi has said that Bayimani will only receive the treatment if he pays the money.
Afshin Bayimanin is a political prisoner sentenced to life in prison. He has been in the notorious Gohardasht Prison for close to eight years. He was put into solitary confinement when he was first arrested for many months and was mentally and physical tortured. (Dec. 22, 2008)

3 Azeri activists sentenced to prison
According to reports from Tabriz, three Azeri activists have received sentences from the court of first instance in Western Azerbaijan Province and they will be imprisoned after confirmations from the court of review. Ali Sedighi, Hami Vahid Rezayi Nia and Akbar Hossein Zadeh were trialed and sentenced in the 2nd branch of Tabriz's Revolutionary Court. (Dec. 22, 2008)

Blogger detained in Mahabad
A blogger living in Mahabad, who had been summoned to court, was detained by agents upon arrival in court yesterday and sent to prison. According to reports, Mahabad's City Council and Municipality had filed a complaint against Davood Azadfar for his articles and statements which criticized this institution. (Dec. 22, 2008)

200 workers laid off in Ardebil
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
The government appointed management laid off 1,200 workers under the pretext of 'necessary repairs and maintenance' in Ardebil Tire Company located in northern Iran, reported the state-run website Shahabnews on Saturday. Saeed Kazam Mousavi, a mullahs' Majlis (parliament) deputy from the region said, 'It is disappointing. They [referring to Tire company management] throw workers out for what they call 'repairs of the equipments.'''The workers have family to feed,' he added. Mousavi also revealed that in the same area 650 other workers from Ardebil's Textile Factory have not received their salaries for the past six months.He went on to say that two billion Tomons (approximately $2 million) had been allocated to pay the textile workers. However, they did not say where the money went. Hundreds of workshops and factories went on strike over payments in the past year. Factories such as Haft-Tapeh sugar cane mill, Kiyan-Tire making car tires, Iran Khodro car manufacturer are some of the biggest with tens of thousands of workers.
In the past decade, most of Iran's factories have been privatized by the mullahs' regime opening the doors to even more suppressive measures against the Iranian workforce. The new managements were appointed by the government without adequate protection for workers and their families who make the most venerable part of the population.

Students' Committee
(Supporters of PMOI)

News On Iran 2

2008-12-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

Date : 2008/12/17

Tehran University students welcome Khatami with cries of "death to dictator"
Students of Tehran University welcomed Khatami, former Iran president, with cries of "death to dictator" and clashed with his supporters. "In the midst of Khatami's speech a number of students chanted 'death to dictator' and in reaction Khatami said,' do not talk of death'", the state-run Fars News Agency reported. "In the middle of Khatami's speech, there was some commotion and clashes amongst the students, because a number of students wanted to ask questions or chanted slogans criticizing Khatami. Khatami supporters booed them and prevented them from talking", said the Fars News Agency. "When Khatami said that he is devoted to Khomeini's path, a student shouted 'this is a lie, this is lie' in protest but was silenced when pro-Khatami students threw crumbled paper at him", added this state run news agency.

Tehran University students tear Khomeini's picture"
In the course of Khatami's speech yesterday, students chanted slogans against him. But the protests did not end here and students broke the auditorium door Khatami was giving a speech in. Following this, a troublemaker tore Khomeini's picture posted above the door. Students also burned and threw Khatami's pictures in the trash to protest his presence in the university", the state run Keyhan daily wrote today."There were some handwritten posters to boycott the (upcoming presidential) elections among the participants. Students shouted slogans such as 'freedom, equality, boycott the elections' and 'traditional association (referring to the student association which had invited Khatami) you are a disgrace' and caused tension in the auditorium. This extremist group also chanted slogans against the government", added this state run daily.

1600 Sharif University Students protested suppression in universities
In a letter to Mahmood Ahmadinejad, the president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1,600 Sharif University students demanded an answer for militarizing the atmosphere of universities and suppressing students. "Now that you have decided to come to Sharif University in your last term in office, students have no other expectation from you other than you answering our questions clearly. Answer why you have caused insecurity in the society and established a police state under names such as 'securing the society'. Answer why you have militarized the atmosphere of the university with whispers of a second 'cultural revolution'. Answer why hundreds of students have been expelled and suspended under the pretext that they don't have the competence for education. Answer why Iran is isolated in the world because of (your) irrelevant statements. And finally answer why the society's back is breaking under the weight of a 40 percent inflation (you) call 'justice'", wrote these students in this letter. "This is the best industrial and Science University in the country and no one will listen to irrelevant answers which have been repeated many times in the last three years", they added.

Students' Committee

News on Iran

2008-12-16T03:36:00.000-08:00

Freedom of expression and opinion
New phase of repression following peaceful students' ceremonies and cries for freedom

Paramilitary Bassij issued an ultimatum to students in Shiraz
Monday, December 15, 2008In the latest move by the mullahs' regime to suppress student protests following the Student Day on December 9 and 10 in Shiraz University, southern Iran, sends in Paramilitary Bassij Students to do the job, reported the state-run daily Etemaad on Saturday. In an ultimatum apparently issued by Bassijis, they have threaten to 'take the matters in their own hands if the government goes soft on students' participated in the student protests. Immediately following the student moves, the mullahs' security forces threatened to kill student activists for participating in Student Day gathering on December 10 in Shiraz University. They have sent out a statement which reads in part, 'You must die for your sins.'Students are the subject of mullahs' wrath for their widespread protests on Student Day which received public attention by the local residents. Following Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Polytechnic University in December of 2006 when students burned his pictures before his eyes, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) hunted down most student activists protesting to the mullahs' suppressive measures.
Some spent months in notorious Evin prison for their actions. Many were permanently suspended from school. This year however, all schools are targeted since the protest gatherings were not limited to just Tehran schools.

Transferring students to Evin Prison
According to reports, number of students who participated in Students Day ceremony held on December 7, 2008 were detained and then transferred to Evin Prison on December 12, 2008. Most of the students were arrested when they arrived to Tehran University by SSF and transferred to Horr Square Detention Center. Two days later, they were taken to Evin Prison. Revolutionary Court ordered them payment of bail amounting to 500 Million Rials (almost $350000) for their freedom. According to informed sources they are a couple of dozens including students from various universities. (Dec. 13, 2008)

Following peaceful ceremonies Shiraz University's students are summoned
On Friday December 12, over 30 students gathered in the dormitory after being summoned by "Harasat" (SSF in university) for their participation in the Student Day ceremony in Eram Pardis, Shiraz. (Dec. 13, 2008)

Isfahan University's publications are seized
Omid-Farda, Eshtrak and Daricheh, Isfahan University's students newspapers are seized. These were critic publications and welcomed by students vastly. It is noteworthy that their chief executives have been condemned by "Disciplinary Committee." -- Suppressive subordinate force of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) in universities. (Dec. 13, 2008)

Paving way to repress Mazandaran University's students
A counterfeit newspaper titled "University is alive" was secretly placed in various parts of the Amir Kabir University with bogus names as its editorial board and chief executive. Its writing style was so similar to state-run newspapers such as Kayhan, full of insults and scurrility. This A4 two pages newspaper charged leaders of students' movements as "Agents of CIA in Iran", "asylums seekers in USA" who are taking sides in benefit of world's capitalism. It wrote world power's agents created '18 Tir' catastrophe – Referral to July 9, 1999 that students were brutality suppressed by Islamic Republic. On December 7, Mazandaran University's students had a brilliant ceremony on Students Day and in protest of security measures imposed on them. (Dec. 13, 2008)

State-run newspapers threaten to murder Shiraz Students
Tehran regime is very much concerned by the ceremonies held on December 6 and 8 by students of Shiraz University. Therefore, the regime's surrogate and militias alongside with university and security officials intend to repress students. Raja News Agency, close to Ahmadinejad and Keyhan, official newspaper, published Bassiji's statement threatening to kill student activists. So-called "moderate" media continue their silence and corroborate on the matter. (Dec. 13, 2008)

Details of student activist's arrest
Subsequent to sit-in of Orumieh University for their student rights on November 4, 2008, mounting pressure on student activists have been ongoing and eventually Rahman Rahimpour from Saqez who was threatened by "Harasat" was summoned by them and then handed over to Intelligence Department of Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Following his disappearance and search by his family, it was found out that he has been still detained without having a lawyer. (Dec. 13, 2008)

Report on two students detained in Evin Prison,
Cellblock 209 Sabah Nasri and Hedayat Ghazali, two Kurdish students are still in notorious Evin Prison and under pressure. On Tuesday October 13, judicial officials ordered to transfer them to cellblock 209 of Evin Prison despite their critical conditions for their participation in hunger strike with Kurdish political prisoners. "Although their bail of a month solitary confinement in the ward 209 of Evin Prison has been over they are still kept in this ward," Mr. Madeh Jamshidi, their lawyer announced. (Dec. 13, 2008)

Abbasi-Javan is on hunger strike in Evin Prison
On Thursday November 13, Mr. Abdullah Abbasi-Javan, professor of Architecture Department of Rajai University in Tehran, was arrested for his participation in a commemoration ceremony of Satar-Khan -- Iran's contemporary late hero who was Azeri, secular and democratic leader -- held in Shahr-e Ray, Tehran's suburb. According to prisoners who were released from Evin Prison, after a month he is still imprisoned in the solitary confinement No. 64 of Cellblock 209 in Evin Prison. In addition, Hussein Husseini – Mr. Abbasi's nephew— an Azeri activist is also held in Cellblock 209 of Evin prison. Abbasi-Javan families are very worried for their loved ones. (Dec. 13, 2008)

Davoodi, educational staff was summoned
Mr. Mohammad-Hassan Davoodi, received a confidential letter on December 7, 2008 and accordingly he must introduce himself to Administrational Court of Education Organization in West Azerbaijan on December 13, 2008. Mr. Davoodi said "I received warning by First instance court of Education Organization in West Azerbaijan for my participation in teachers sit-in and protests on May 1, 2007, and since then my file is left open in this court." (Students Committee, Dec. 13, 2008)Pour-Mohammadi interrogates Shiraz student activistsAhmadinejad has directly appointed Mullah Pour-Mohammadi, former appalling Minister of Interior and a person in charge of 1988 massacre of political prisoners, to consider Shiraz University's environment. In this regard, he interrogates student activists personally and does not allow them to have contact with other students. (Student Committee, Dec. 13, 2008)

15 Boo-Ali Sina University students summoned to disciplinary committee for protesting on Student Day
Boo-Ali Sina University's "Protection Department" gave the names of 15 members of this university's Islamic Association to the head of the "Disciplinary Committee" to be summoned to this committee as soon as possible. (Dec. 9, 2008)

Intelligence agents raid and search student's homes
Last night, December 6 (Student Day in Iran), intelligence agents raided and searched the homes of a number of Tehran University students who belonged to the Pro-democracy Association and confiscated their personal belongings. Intelligence agents told these students to be at the Intelligence Agency tomorrow. (Dec. 7, 2008)

Ilam student detained on Student Day
A construction major in Ilam University, Yaser Bahadori, was arrested and taken to Evin Prison on December 6, national Student Day in Iran. Bahadori was summoned to court for supporting one of his classmates when she was sexually harassed by a university professor. He was later sentenced to 4 months of prison in another court presided over by that same professor. (Dec. 8, 2008)

2 students summoned to Revolutionary Court
Two of Firdawsi University students in Mashhad, Navid Sadeq Saberi and Mohsen San-ati Poor, were summoned to Mashhad's 901 Revolutionary Court. Saberi and San-ati Poor are the editor and manager of the "Kian" student newspaper. (Dec. 8, 2008)

Lack of press freedom
Imprisoned journalists

Journalist jailed for publishing workers sit-in report
Boshehr's Revolutionary Court sentenced a photojournalist to 5 months of prison. Esmael Jafari was detained along with two other journalists while covering a workers' sit-in outside of Boshehr's Provincial Hall. (Dec. 8, 2008)

Repression of social movement and ethnic minorities
Azeri activist sentenced to 5 years prison in exileAsqar Akbarzadeh, a well-known Azeri activist and a chemical major in Payam Noor University in Ardabil was sentenced to five years imprisonment in Zahedan Prison. The first branch of Ardabil's Revolutionary Court presided over by Judge Hasan Zadeh sentenced Akbarzadeh on charges of initiating anti-government groups. (Dec. 11, 2008)

Arbitrary arrests
Political arrest

4 students arrested for taking part in Student Day protests
On December 8, four Beheshti University students who had participated in a student day ceremony in Tehran University were arrested in outside their dormitory. These students are Mohammad Salhooqi, Farhad beh-ara, Reza Naqavi and Ahmad Motaveselani. (Dec. 10, 2008)

Students arrested and beaten on Student Day
A number of students in Oromieh have been beaten and arrested in their dormitories by security and intelligence agents and taken to an unknown location. The names of the detained students are as follows: Abdollah Nabi- last term biology major in Oromieh University Hamid Mam Abdollah- 5th term economics major in Oromieh University Rahim Boorsheikheh- 5th term economics major in Kermanshah UniversityShirzad Amir Khani- last term marketing management majorJalal Baraforokht- geographies major in Oromieh University Sharif Ahmad Tash- psychology major who was expelled in 2005 (Dec. 8th, 2008)

The Ahwazi Arab "Habib Nabgan" Talks about the Arrest of His Family

2008-11-01T15:50:00.000-07:00

Source:Iranian Minorities Human Right Organisation (IMHRO)

http://iranianminorityshumanright.blogspot.com/

In an exclusive interview with IMHRO, Habib Nabgan talks about his family's deportation from Syria back to Iran, where they are being unlawfully detained by the Iranian government.
"My family entered Syria in May 2008. A week later they were registered by UNHCR. A week after that, they were also given permission by the Danish government to settle in Denmark. However, before they could move to Denmark, they were deported back to Iran by the Syrian government", Habib Nabgan told IMHRO.
"Once deported, the Iranian government arrested my wife, Ma'soumeh (DOB 1977) and our five children Shima (DOB 1994), Asia (DOB 1995), Asma (DOB 1997), Iyad (DOB 2000) and Emad (DOB 2003). They arrested them to pressure me into handing myself over to them."
This is a common practice of Iranian government toward Ahwazi Arabs; especially in cases where the father of the family cannot be found or arrested revenge is taken by punishing their family.
"My wife was previously arrested in 2006 along with our little son Emad; they were both detained for four months. At that time my son was just 2 1/2 years old. One day an Iranian intelligence officer, who called himself Ahmadi, called me when I was in the UAE and warned me that if I did not hand myself over, they would make my whole family disappear. I replied; 'execute them'. My wife has since told me that they played my recorded voice to them every day during those four months; they used it to pressure them into disclosing information about me".
It is against all international laws to return registered asylum seekers to countries like Iran. This is especially true in cases where there are records that a person has been previously unlawfully arrested, kept in solitary confinement and subjected to torture.
"As a result of the last arrest and because of the way he was treated by the Iranian intelligence, my little boy has changed. He has become very aggressive. My wife has also developed depression and other psychological problems. During the detention my wife was continually questioned about me and my whereabouts. Then after four months, without any explanation about her arrest or release, she was allowed to leave".
The Syrian government repeatedly break international laws and ignore the objections of the international community by deporting registered refugees. Many others have suffered in a similar way to Habib Nabgan's family, such as; Jamal Obaidawi, Taher Ali Mazra'a, Rasool Ali Mazrae Saeed Hamadi, Faleh Abdullah Al-Mansouri and Saeed Saki. These are all indigenous Arabs in Iran and are registered by UNHCR as refugees.
"My family were due to fly to Denmark on 18th September, but first they had to get permission from the Syrian Immigration office to leave the country. Everyone who wishes to leave Syria must be first granted permission. But at the Immigration and Visa office, they were arrested. I spoke to her over the phone once and she told me that they were going to arrest us all. Since that conversation I have heard nothing else from them. I do not know what has happened to them since."
After his wife's arrest the Syrian government separated his wife from her children and took her to their intelligence centre for interrogation. On 27 th September they deported her and their five children back to Iran. On 29th of September my family called me from the city of Ahwaz and told me that Iranian intelligence service have put my family in prison.
IMHRO questioned Nabgan about the allegation of his involvement in the bombing which took place in 06/2005 in Ahwaz.
He replied: "I was never involved in the bombing; this allegation was made up by the Iranian government. I was a political activist and leader of the April 2005 uprising of Ahwazi Arabs. My wife was never involved in any political or cultural activism; they are punishing my family to punish me. I don't know who was behind those bombing.
Recently Nabgan's sister, Jamila Nabgan age 43 and mother of seven children, was also arrested by the Iranian government in Ahwaz.
"My sister was also arrested to put further pressure on me to 'confess'. On the 19th October, about 6pm, the Iranian Intelligence came to my sister's house and started searching. They did not find anything incriminating, but they still took my sister with them. This has terrified the whole family."
IMHRO asked Nabgan what he would like the international community to do to help his family.
"Habib Nabgan: Why should I by punished, especially through the maltreatment of my wife and children? I was just a political activist. Everyone should have the civil right to free speech. The United Nations is responsible for protecting my family in Iran and should have also held Syria to account. The Danish government should also help in my family's release as they permitted us to settle in Denmark. I have not known for over a month where my family is being kept or how they are being treated."
*IMHRO are renewing Nabgan's appeal to the international community in relation to **Ma'soumeh Ka'bi and her five children. Pressure needs to be put on the Iranian government for their immediate release.*

5 Years of Prison for Yousuf Azizi Bani Torof

2008-08-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

5 Years in Prison for the Ahwazi Writer and Journalist Yousuf Azizi

TEHRAN –

The 15 branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced the Ahwazi writer and journalist Yousuf Azizi to 5 years of prison under the charge of activity against national security.

Iranian authorities arrested Yousuf Azizi on the April 24, 2005 following the demonstration of the Arabs of Ahwaz on the 15th of April 2005 and he was kept under arrest for a period of 65 days and eventually was released on bail of one billion Rials. Despite the absence of Azizi in Ahwaz in that period, the Iranian judiciary charged him for having the responsibility of organizing the demonstration, which Yousuf Azizi rejected.

The Islamic Revolutionary Court in Tehran issues this sentence against Yousuf Azizi after passage of 3 years since the time of the demonstration in Ahwaz and this is while Mr. Azizi has denied all the accusations against him.

Yousuf Azizi’s attorney is to appeal against this decision to the Court of Appeal within 20 days.

Some days ago, Yousuf Azizi was elected as a member of the governing cadre of the Iranian Writers Union, and so, he is the first Arab writer who enters this cadre.

NEWS

2008-08-06T10:38:00.000-07:00

New Methods of Ahwazi Resistance Against the Persian Government

Source: Ahwazna

Translated by Selma Ahwazi

....

In a remarkable development in the methods of Ahwazi people to resist the Persian Occupation authorities, the brave people of Shuaibia confronted the Persian occupation forces that came to prevent them from operating the water pumps in this region.
As the news from our occupied homeland confirms, the Iranian Government has issued an order to prevent the Ahwazi farmers from using the Karoon River water and Dez River water to irrigate their farms. However, the farmers of the Shuaibia area challenged the resolution of Persian Occupation authorities and operated the pumps to irrigate their farms to cultivated rice. This, however, raised the hackles of the Persian Occupation authorities which led to a fight between the Ahwazi farmers of Shuaibia and the Iranian forces.
The valiant resistance of the farmers made the the Iranian forces forsake the area leaving their equipment behind.
The news states that the Iranian Authorities were able to retrieve the equipment to the soldiers through local mediation.

Article

2008-07-26T14:51:00.000-07:00

Historical and Structural Reasons of the April Intifada
And the Disastrous Results of Eight Decades of Racist Policies

Written by Mohammad Nawaseri

Translated by Selma Ahwazi

This Article has been translated from Arabic to English and the original one was published on 12.05.2005. Mohammad Nawaseri, the author of this article, was a political activist who devoted his short life to Ahwaz and her Arab people. He was born in 1969 in Muhammara and lost his father at the age of 12. His father, Sharif, was executed by the hands of the Islamic Iranian Government shortly after his arrest and without having the chance of a trial. Despite the many difficulties Mohammad faced in his childhood he managed to finish his studies at high school and enter Allameh Tabatabaee University of Tehran at the field of Social Science. Meanwhile he was busy doing researches and writing about the humane issue of Ahwaz. For his political activities he was arrested two times for which he was not condemned. However, and due to the pressures from the Iranian Government which made the life difficult for him in Iran he eventually had to leave the country. He went to Holland and remained there to pass away in March 2007, very shortly after getting his residence permission. He passed away after a heart attack while writing another article about Ahwaz. Mohammad’s political background and his deep knowledge about Ahwaz and the situation of the Arab people of Ahwaz were very attributing to the progress of introducing Ahwaz case as a humane issue to the world. He was an important member and founder of Ahwazi parties such as Wifagh Party, The house of Arabs in Tehran, Arabic Nationalist Democratic Council in Ahwaz.

Part 1

Introduction

The “Intifada" of the Arab people of Ahwaz in April 2005 proved the validity of what has been held through hundreds of articles, researches, theses, conferences and meetings by most analysts and researchers in the fields of social and political sciences, from the different Iranian nations and from the Arab people of Ahwaz in recent years. Those intellectuals were unanimous on the historical existence of a structural disorder, and they agree that the only way to overcome such disorder is the creation of a new relationship between the centre and the ethnic regions, defining that relationship according to modern scientific basics, and modifying and changing the current disabling structure. As it stands, the existing relationship between the center and the different non-Persian Iranian nations is one which has its intellectual and methodological foundations inspired by the racist heritage (Ethnocentrism) of the Persian people and the Persian political and intellectual elite, including the famous representatives of this racist heritage, Firdausi’s Shahanameh and the westernized Persian intellectuals.

This discourse of this racist hostility against all that is non-Persian has been most hostile to the Arab people of Ahwaz to a point that in this country (Iran), an Arab is guilty until proven innocent. The Arabs are being marginalized and segregated in such a systematic and racist way that its prejudicial effect can be clearly seen in the different political, social, cultural and economic levels. For example, the broad geographical spread of the Arabs in Iran is due to the policy of uprooting a large segment of the people from their land and natural and historical roots.

However, there is no formal mention of all of the different nations of Iran, for the Iranian government names them as "tribes and clans" and not “nations” possessing all the elements and characteristics of a nation from history to common historical memory, geographical unity, language and culture. Notwithstanding, the fact is that Iran, due to its historical, geographical, and living composition, consists of religious communities and several main nations, hence a great ethnic mosaic[1]. The population of these peoples consists of twenty-seven million Turks, seven million Kurds, five million Arabs, two million Balouches, a million and half Turkmens, seven million Lors, one million Gilakis, and Taleshi, Hazara, Tatar, Armenian, and Assyrian peoples. The number of Persians as one component of the Iranian state does not exceed seventeen million.
Following up on a relationship that spanned thousands of years, a kind of unwritten local federalism was built which established its roots in the depth of that relationship and its political, social, cultural and economic conditions. But that structure and that relationship changed at the beginning of the twentieth century and were replaced by a particular political format which was a distorted version of the central French experience known as the “nation state”. The French experience was separated from its content, and any form of practicing citizenship rights, democracy and participation in various areas was cancelled with the purpose of singling out the Persians as the only decision-makers in the modern government.

The factors that had an important and essential influence in the birth of the modern Iranian state might be listed as international variables and the new geostrategic conditions after the Bolshevik revolution, Zoroastrians of India and Iran, and the historical alliance between Shiite clerics, merchants, westernized intellectuals, and the Persian political and intellectual elites. The impact of this new format of the concept “Government” produced a new relationship that brought multiple problems for the non-Persian nations. Citizenship, language of the government, and the official rhetoric, cultural heritage, history, etc. were confined to the Persians, and no one was allowed to object to it. Accordingly, the newly established government adopted an oppressive systematized nationalistic policy, called the "people-making process”, to create a new concept of citizenship, and to found the tragic phenomenon of apartheid.

Under the impact of those oppressive and chauvinistic policies, comprehensive ethnic crises started and lasted for eight decades. They were initiated with the birth of the modern government in its uneven pace. However, with the development of the national feeling and awareness of the Iranian nations during the recent years, the crisis (national uprisings) adopted an upward movement and the nature and pattern of those comprehensive nationalist uprisings changed from positive struggle (armed) to negative (peaceful and civil).

Moreover, the demands of the Iranian nation and the Arab nation of Ahwaz evolved in recent decades, and a struggle was started for the restoration of their denied historical and human rights which had been usurped by one of the components of the Iranian government (Persians). A common perception was reached by most of the people and the intellectual and political elite of these nations, and it was the necessity of self-determination right away from the political, historical, social and cultural conditions which have been founded during those dark decades of the history of modern Iranian state. Self-determination is a right upon which what all international charters and treaties and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are based.

During the most of the historical stages, the Arab people of Ahwaz were particularly distinct with regard to the relationship which links the components of the Iranian state. Before the birth of modern Iran, that relationship for Ahwaz and its people was always in a fluctuating state in a way that over thousands of years, Ahwaz did not witness but short periods of political unity with governments and successive strains which gained the rule of Iran. Considering this point, among the rest of the components of the Iranian state, the region of Ahwaz is unique in this characteristic.

The policy applied by the Iranian government against those uprisings and ethnic crises, and against the demands that were raised as a natural consequence of those uprisings, was a racist and barbaric one, as the Iranian Government always and excessively used brutal force to suppress the uprisings of the Iranian nations and the Arab people of Ahwaz. There has always been unanimity between the Persian politicians and the intellectual and political elite, and between the government and the opposition that rises from one standard and one interpretation, that of protecting national security and preserving the unity of Iranian territory. This has been their excuse for using all those brutal and barbaric tactics in smashing the insulated peoples, thousands of whom were killed and wounded, and millions of whom were displaced forcibly during those eight dark decades.

In this context, and in order to address the ethnic crisis in Iran while ignoring all the international norms and laws, people like "Masha Allah Shamsolvaezin", the opposition journalist, and "Mosayeb Naimi" speak to Al-Jazeera satellite channel to argue and uncover the realities about the ethnic crisis in Ahwaz. At the same time, Mohsen Rezaee, who is known for his anti-Arab chauvinist inclinations, writes in his website “Bazatab” that the participants in this uprising (Intifada) were a group of gypsies who came from Iraq.

To prevent the recurrence of such massacres against the Iranian nations in general and the Arab people of Ahwaz in particular and to find solutions for the ethnic crisis one should interpret and analyze the uprisings of these nations[2] in their historical and structural context, in order to define priorities for solving these ethnic contradictions. The onus is on the intellectual and political elites of the Iranian nations and the Arab nation of Ahwaz to enrich the theoretical and methodological foundations of the solutions to these paradoxes.

The most important reasons for cancelling the decentralization experiment in Iran and replacing it with a “nation state”

1. The idea of establishing a new nation-state in Iran, one which is based on the Persian race and draws its strength and political, economic and cultural merits from it, began with the historic defeat of the Qajarite government by Czarist Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, and the disastrous results of those defeats that ended with the humiliating treaties of "Golestan" and "Turkmenchay." The pioneers of Persian chauvinist thought began presenting the contradictions of Qajarite (Azeri) government and the reasons behind its historic defeats and wrote prescriptions for solving those contradictions, and the outcome was books, articles and research which were all products of the imagination of those westernized educated people.

2. Westernized intellectuals and the Pioneers of the Persian Chauvinist thought: Among those intellectuals are: Jalal e Din Mirza, the author of the book "Nameye Khosrovan"[3], Mirza Fathali Akhundzadeh, author of "Maktoobate Kamal e Doleh"[4], in which he seeks the establishment of a new phase for the concept of “Government” and cancellation of all the historical pillars of the Iranian state, as well as the abolition of Islam through a comprehensive Iranian renaissance along the lines of European Renaissance, and a return to the history of Iran at the time of Sasanian and Achaemenid empire and the re-production of the political and cultural structures of those empires.[5]
Mirza Fathali Akhundzadeh
Mirza Aghakhan Kermani is the one who, in his book "Aeeneye Sekandari" or "The History of Iran", gives guidelines on the development of the Persian nationalization plan, and creates a historical illusion for the Persian nationalists and chauvinists, deriving all of those historical illusions and errors from the Orientalists and the book “The History of Iran” written by the British diplomat “Sir John Malcolm”. In his book, he seeks to blame Arabs, Islam and the Islamic invasion of Iran for all those contradictions and problems of the Qajarite government, and incite the Persian community to revolt against Arabs and Islam, and take revenge from the Muslim Arab conquerors of Iran, and return to their clean Zoroastrian roots and restore the glory of Achaemenid kings.

There were also political and intellectual circles, which were established at the beginning of the twentieth century, such as the circle of Kazem Zadeh Iranshahr and Iranshahr Magazine in which racists like Taghi Zadeh and Poor Davood wrote. The magazine worked on promoting the ideas of the German philosopher Fichte and the French aristocrat Arthur De Gobineau of the pioneers of Nazism and Fascism in Europe. There was also the circle of "Anjoman Iran Javan" and Ayandeh magazine, which was led by Mahmoud Afshar who is known for his Persian chauvinist inclinations and was the godfather of the racist nationalist policies after Reza Shah gained the power in Iran. Those racist policies had a great impact on the Iranian nations in general and the Arab people of Ahwaz in particular. These two circles worked on promoting Hegel’s idea of “the historical nation” and emphasizing on the originality of the Persian people and their being a historical nation and, therefore, regarding the Persian nation as the only one that deserves life and evolution and that the other Iranian nations are spurious and non-historic and must be melted in the crucible of Persian culture through systematic racist policies like process of cultural alienation, ethnic cleansing, ethnocide, genocide, ethnic displacement, and etc. Consequently, research centers were founded to focus on the Arab people of Ahwaz and on other Iranian nations.

3. Bolshevik revolution and its geostrategic implications: The Bolshevik revolution and the collapse of the czarist rule had a deep impact on the geostrategic situation of the Iranian state in 1917. Prior to that resounding collapse, oil was discovered in Ahwaz, which led to an increasing importance of this region and the Iranian State, and was the initiation of a new level of relationship between the Ahwaz region and the central state. This new relationship which has been through many ups and downs throughout the history took its initiatory step in the Second Treaty of “Arz Rum” between Qajarite government and the Ottoman government. The relationship was strengthened by the Treaty of Sykes-Picot, which was menacing to the peoples of the Middle East. Considering the colonial interests of the great powers, especially after the collapse of the Ottoman government, these powers started forming a new geostrategic tendency, and so they planned to create a belt around the Bolshevik state to be expanded southward including Turkey and Iran, and eventually get access to the oil fields and the warm waters. That new geostrategic tendency was to establish two new similar central governments in Iran and Turkey serving the interests of the colonial powers at the expense of the constituent peoples of these two states. The two newly formed governments were similar in political format and orientations, and were the product of copying the Jacobean experiment of the French government. However, this experience has been distorted in such a way that the concepts of political participation, comprehensive citizenship, and democracy were abolished from the French version and were replaced by oppression, marginalization and abusive methods against the peoples living in these two states.

4. The Historic alliance between the Persian merchants, Shiite clerics and Persian nationalists: After the establishment of Safawi government which employed Shiite denomination for political purposes, a historic relationship between Shiite clerics and merchants and the Iranian government was formed. Iranian government gained its legitimacy from the clergy and was a supporter of their religion school[6], and in contrast, the clergymen had a high position among the Iranian politicians. Moreover, the money coming from “khoms and zakat”[7] paid by the traders had an important role in the independence and strength of the clerics and their religion school. This mutual relationship between these parties continued until the beginning of the twentieth century. The Persian merchants had a dangerous role in that period, as, given their limited trading chances and their growing greed, they began expanding their trade towards other ethnic areas and employed this historic relationship to the disadvantage of the markets and the traders of the Iranian nations. Moreover, some of the clergymen alleged that Reza Shah is evangelical of the arrival of Imam Mahdi, and that his policies are in the service of the goals of the Supreme Shiite State, and therefore he must be absolutely free in the implementation of his new policies and orientations.

However, the relationship between the clergy and the Persian nationalists was tense at the beginning, but that relationship changed and soon improved to coordination between these parties in the formation of which Persian traders played an important role.

5. Zoroastrian men of policy and religion: Persia and Iran's historic past are of special consequence to the Zoroastrians in general and Iranian Zoroastrians in particular, as they consider that historic state as theirs and as the only place where they were able to establish their religious Government and its importance to them is similar to that of Palestine to the Jews.

Accordingly, they consider Islam as having been a barrier to achieving their ambitions after the collapse of the Sasanian at the hands of Arabs and Muslims; therefore and after that the Qajarite Government became weak, specifically in the days of Nasser e Din Shah, they started planning to recreate their alleged historical roots and to quest for the restoration and revival of Zoroastrian Achaemenian and Sasanian empires.

There was coordination between the Zoroastrian Iranians and Zoroastrian institutions in India. Among those institutions which played an important role in the subsequent developments in Iran are: "The institute of improving Zoroastrian’s situation in Iran"[8], headed by Sardinshah Petit Baronet, "The Persians of Iran Charity Institution" and "The Persian Amelioration Fund”[9].

Amongst the Indian Zoroastrian people who played an important role in those developments are the representative of the Indian Zoroastrians in Iran and the diplomat of the East India Company Government, "Mankji Limji Hushang Hatria", known as Mankji, and Ardeshir Jei and Arbab Gio who were employees of the diplomatic service in the Government of East India Company. Ardeshir Jei had a special position for the British government, as well as for the French ambassador then, Comte De Gobineau[10]. Two of the most important Iranian Zoroastrians are Arbab Jamshid and Arbab Kei Khosrow Shahrokh; the latter was the author of several books including "Aeene Mazdisti" and "Foroughe Mazdisti" which played an important role in the political developments in Iran at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Mankji Ardeshir Jei Arbab Jamshid
These Zoroastrian politicians had a certain strategy to revive Zoroastrianism and they were influenced by the works of the Zionist leaders who held their meetings under the chairmanship of "Theodor Herzl" in the city of Basel in Switzerland, which came to fruition in the "Balfour Declaration" in 1917, which led to the establishment of the Jewish entity. Most of these Zoroastrians were working for the British government of East India and, therefore, had a strong relationship with the colonial Britain. Their first step was persuading Nasser e Din Shah in order to give the Ahwaz region to these Zoroastrians for the purpose of establishing their desired historical entity, and the proposal of this plan was submitted by Mirza Aghakhan Kermani in his famous letter “Omran e Khuzestan" to Nasser e Din Shah[11]. Those plans were continued in coordination with the British colonizers in order to achieve this historical dream of the Zoroastrians.
Mirza Aghakhan Kermani
The compilation of all these historical factors at the beginning of the twentieth century produced disastrous results for Iran as a state, as well as for the nations of Iran as Azeri Turks, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, and Balouches, etc. The outcome was the abolition of the experiment which was a result of the historical substantive evolution of the concept of Iranian state, replacing it with a distorted imitation of the French Jacobean State, to ensure the dominance of the Persian ethnic through political, economic, social and cultural structures. Therefore, the meaning of Iranian citizenship became Persian citizenship, the State Language became Persian, and the official culture became the Persian culture; anything against it meant rebellion, breach of the law, and a threat to the national security, for which a person, a group, or a nation may be punished equally. To ensure the continuation of this situation, the necessary axioms and mechanisms have been identified and further codification of laws has been done. Under the influence of European "Oriental" attitude, plans and strategies were developed that were essential to create a united Iranian nation on the scale of Persian nationalism. That is classifying the Iranian nations as linguistic minorities whose language and culture have changed due to geographical proximity and that the Iranian nations, as Azeri Turks, Kurds, Arabs, and others, are in the primary stages of social development and by the completion of these evolutionary phases will become Persians and will return to their ethnic and historical roots.

This discourse took a form of an axiom and an indisputable reality that can not be compromised or objected to and is the essential basis for the nationalist policies today. To distort the historical facts about the Iranian nations, a systematic process was followed which worked through school textbooks (the Turks and Arabs introduced as invaders) and academic education; moreover, there has been a strong effort to create a new situation for the composition of those nations through ethnic cleansing, ethnocide, genocide, confiscation of the lands and the displacement of Iranian nations of Kurds, Turks, Arabs, Turkmens and Balouches to the neighboring countries. The outcome of those policies was the displacement of millions of people, and killing and injuring of thousands. Due to the nature and objectives of the discourse components of this new racist central government which is against anything Arabic, these nationalist policies adopted a fascist and racist attitude towards anything that has to do with Arabism. Therefore, the results of these policies was the displacement of thousands of Arabs of Ahwaz to Iraq and other neighboring Arab countries, in addition to the confiscation of their lands and depriving them of their political, cultural and economic rights.

[1] Dr. Ali Al-Taee, The National Identity Crisis in Iran, Shadegan publication

[2] the latest Intifada of the Arab people of Ahwaz in 2005 can be brought as an example

[3] The Book of Kings
[4] The Writings of Kamale Doleh
[5] Fereidun Adamiat, “Andishe Haye (Ideas of) Mirza Fathali Akhundzadeh”, Kharazmi Publication, Tehran 1349, p. 121

[6] Howzeye Elmiyye
[7] Kinds of Tax in Islamic rule
[8] Ebrahim Por Davud, Iranshah (The History of Immigration of Zoroastrians to India), Bi Na, Bambi, 1926, p. 25
[9] Arbab Kei Khosrow Shahrokh, The Notes of Arbab Kei Khosrow, edited by Jahangir Ushpedari, Bi Ta, Bi Na, 1335 Hijri, p. 37
[10] Rashid Shahmardan, Farzanegan e Zartoshti, Rasti Pubication (Periodical of Zoroastrian Youths Organization in Bambi), Tehran, 1330 Hijri, p.619
[11] Yahya Dolat Abadi, Hayate Yahya, first volume, 6th edition, Attar & Firdausi publication, Tehran, 1371 Hijri, p. 160

Saeed Hamadi Extradited to Iran

2008-07-21T15:20:00.000-07:00

Unconfirmed reports out of Damascus inform us that Ahwazi activist and refugee Saeed Hamadi, arrested by Syrian security officials on 5 March 2008 as he was about to depart for resettlement to Denmark, was extradited to Iran this week. His current location and condition are unknown at this time. Typically following extradition, however, Ahwazi Arab activists are transferred to Ahwaz for interrogation and torture, then jailed with other political prisoners where they live under threat of execution. We hope for Saeed's sake that this will not be the case and that the news of his extradition is a mistake. Certainly, it is incomprehensible that Syria would betray its Arab brothers in such a reprehensible way. We call upon the world community to express its outrage and horror, and support Saeed's immediate release and safe transfer to Denmark. Our thoughts and prayers are with Saeed, and we stand beside him in support of safe refuge, protection from persecution, and basic human rights for all Ahwazi Arabs.

Faking Yazdgerd, Anti-Arab forgery

2008-07-09T16:03:00.000-07:00

An expert's review of the two letters circulating the internet and emails for more than two years. the letters are said to be corresponded between Omar Khatab and Yazdgerd the third.

Khodadad Rezakhani
January 26, 2005

"The Letter of Yazdgerd III to Caliph Omar" is one of the many urban legends circulating the internet. I have personally seen four different versions of this letter, their tone and content differing from quite absurd and offensive to more believable and somehow historical. This text fits somewhere in the middle of these two extremes.

You can find the whole text here http://www.iranian.com/Rezakhani/2005/January/Letter/index.html

Article

2008-07-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

Iran and Obscurities of the Demographic Distribution in Ahwaz

This article has been written by Mohammad Nawaseri in February 2007. Considering the importance of what this article contains it is translated from Arabic to English as another step to revealing the facts about Iranian policy regarding Al-Ahwaz.

Translated by Selma Ahwazi
2008.07.06

Of the most important achievements of mankind in the twentieth century, the period of modernism and postmodernism, is the irreversible demise of the great empires which were formed after the Renaissance in Europe and Asia on the ruins of the colonized nations.

Those empires colonized the lands and enslaved the people in the ugliest forms of exploitation and slavery. However, by the end of the age of invading artillery, the method which the newly established systems who inherited the remains of those empires applied in dealing with the indigenous people of the colonized lands was the systematic nationalist policies from ethnocide to cultural dispossession, mass displacement, and ethnic cleansing against these people.
The prime motive of those empires was the economic interest justified by political and religious ideologies sometimes or by human rights and ethical issues at other times as were the Napoleon Bonaparte’s occupation of Egypt and/or Russian and British occupations.

The Soviet Union which collapsed in the early nineties is another example of those empires. It was called the prison of peoples, and its essence was exactly that of previous empires. However, people were finally liberated from this great empire which was built on fire, blood, international conspiracies, and rampant lawlessness.

Yet another example of those bloody historical empires is the Iranian Persian Empire which, since its very first inception, has been founded on colonial expansion and economic exploitation of the neighboring nations. Of the devastating consequences of those ambitions it was Arabs who suffered mainly; and it was due to the geographical proximity, and the Persian heritage that carries a deep historical hatred against the Arab nation. However, the ideological basics of this empire, which is of the remnants of the colonial past, have changed a lot through the different stages of history. In a time of some previous Persian monarchies Persian race was the main ideological motive. For the Islamic Republic, however, the Safawi sectarianism and the Persian ethnic are the main motives. It should be reminded, of course, that the contemporary Persian Empire emerged as a result of the colonial complicity in the twenties of the last century and the geostrategic repercussions of the Bolshevik revolution in Czarist Russia then.
The first victim of the newly emerged Persian empire and its chauvinist attitude against the geographical proximity in general and the Arab neighbors in particular is the Arabian state, Arabistan (Al-Ahwaz), which was occupied on the 20th of April of 1925. Arab rule was abolished in this historically Arab region due to its geographical nature; as Al-Ahwaz is considered the Eastern Gateway of the Arabian lands.
The forces that helped caesarean of the Iranian empire - modern Persian- are the same forces that played a key role in undermining Arab rule in Ahwaz. One of them was the British Empire which had colonial ambitions in the Arab countries in that dark era of history.
Of other influential parties was the sectarian Safawi establishment men of which, such as Mirza Naeeni and Aboulhassan Isfahani, are famous for their contributing fatwas (religious opinions and rules). They played a key role in the preface to the occupation of Ahwaz. There were also politicians, intellectuals and the Zoroastrians of Iran and India who were working in the government of East India Company. People such as Ardeshir Chi and Arbab Keikhosrow as well as racist thinkers like Mahmud Afshar and Kazem Zadeh Iranshahr.
It is not a coincidence that these same parties played a key role in the occupation of Iraq in 2003, where the sectarian Safawi establishment is represented by men like Sistani and Hakim and other men of religion in Iran, and as before, Britain and her confederate, America, who is the most prominent heir to the British colonial past.
One of the most important historical factors that have led to the cooperation between Persian Empire and the Western colonial powers in the past and present, in spite of the ideological differences between them, is the historical hatred of both against Arab nation. Though enjoying strong military forces and a great civilization, Persian Empire was not lucky in her wars against the Arabs for the winner was always the Arabs. Arabs triumphed over the Persians in 310 AD and killed their king, Hormuz II. Moreover, they were victorious in their battle of Dhi Qar in the early seventh century AD, when several Arab tribes (from Iraq and Ahwaz), who were led by Bani Sheiban, allied against the Persians.

This battle was so important that the prophet Mohammad commented about it “Today Arabs won their rights from Persians and evened.”
In the battle of Qadisiya in 635 AD Arabs, led by Sa’ad bin Abi Waqqas, won again. They wiped out the Persian armies led by Rustam, while Na’man bin Moqren was their leader. And eventually, after winning the Nahawand battle, led by Hudhayfah ibn Alyaman in 642 AD, Arabs conquered Persia, and banned Zoroastrian religion there, and Persians admitted Islam as their religion eventually. Arabs were victorious in their several battles against Persians in the era of Moshashaeen, Arabian government of Ahwaz in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Another victory for Arabs happened in the era of Bani Ka’b in Ahwaz with the leadership of Sheikh Salman Al-Kaabi in the eighteenth century.

The security conditions and political history of the Arab nation in general and southern Iraq in particular, are the same circumstances which Ahwaz went through before the occupation in the twenties of the last century.
Blatant interference of the Iranian occupation which is represented by the Iranian security agencies[1] and the sectarian Safawi policies in various aspects of daily and/or political life is a preparation for uprooting this important and vital part of the body of the Arab nation and its natural extending with the ambition to attach it to the Iranian body. It was the same policy that paved the way for the occupation of Ahwaz, as this Arabian country was a rebel against the British and Persian and Osmani (Ottoman) empires up to the forties of the nineteenth century. After the Osmani’s broad attack in alliance with the Al-Montafaj Sheikhdom which led to the destruction of Muhammara, the capital of Ahwaz, Sheikh Jabir, sheikh of Ahwaz in that time, was forced eventually to request for help from the Qajarite government. The result was the second Ground Rum Treaty in 1847, which classified Ahwaz under the influence of the Iranian empire, compared with a waiver claim on Iran's claimed influence on some other areas such as the banner of Sinjar and Sulaymaniya. The religion factor played the main role in that treaty, which culminated in the colonial military occupation of Ahwaz in April 1925. Drawing her lessons from history, Iran exercises the same policy in order to single out Iraq and pounce upon it to exploit and plunder its wealth after that she lived and still lives for eight decades of occupation on the wealth of Ahwaz while denying Ahwaz’s citizens the most basic necessities of a free honorable life.

Systematic policy against Ahwazis

The policy of the Iranian regime towards different nations in Iran in general and Arab people of Ahwaz in particular -after the direct military occupation-, was and still is systematic at various levels. These racist inhumane policies aimed at the political, cultural, social and economic structures of this nation. Their objective is melting this people in the Persian crucible through obliterating their Arab identity, which is represented in the language and national culture, and eventually uprooting them of their Arabian roots and of the land they lived and took root in for thousands of years. Such policy was always systematized and applied by the political authority in Tehran.
This policy began with the occupation of Ahwaz, and Reza Shah Pahlavi put the first building blocks of it by granting the Arab’s lands to the military men of Persia, and the men of politics, administration and security. Moreover, he withdrew the ownership of the remaining lands from the Arab farmers and gave them to Natural Springs Foundation in order to facilitate the confiscation of those lands in the studied future steps. He also displaced hundreds of thousands of the farmers and citizens to the central parts of Iran, Iraq and the Gulf states.

This policy was continued by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the son, and it became even more brutal because of the Persian racial orientation and its hatred against Arabs. Through the land reform policy in the sixties of last century, specifically in 1963, and under the title of agrarian reform and white revolution, hundreds of thousands of agricultural lands were confiscated and then entitled to the Persian settlers. The first of these was the project of sugar canes, which inaugurated in that period on the ruins of dozens of Arab villages in Ahwaz.
Those criminal policies culminated after the arrival of the clergy to the power, specifically after the end of the Iran-Iraq war. The nature of the ideological composition of this government had the prominent role in the development of the vicious circle of this policy which comprises the terms of sectarian extremism, historical hatred, and the Persian racism and hostility against all that is Arabic.
The strategy of this policy was codified under the rubric of the demographic distribution under the circular issued by the Supreme National Security Council headed by Hashemi Rafsanjani, under the number 971 \ 2 b -3416 and the date 14. 04. 1371 Hijri- that is 1992.07.05- and also the circular issued by the Office of Mohammad Khatami as the General Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, number 27686 \ 12 and the date 01.05.1377 - that is 1998.07.23.

Results of some of those racist policies

- Confiscation of more than 70 thousand hectares of agricultural lands in areas such as Al-Shuaibia, Al-Minaw, Susa and northern parts of Ahwaz to the advantage of companies the most important of which are Iran Cultivation and Manufacture Company – Iran and America Cultivation and Manufacture Company - California Company, DezKar Company, Shell Company, Klassno Company and other American and Israeli companies during the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah.
- After the success of the Iranian revolution, more than 135 thousand hectares of lands belonging to Ahwazi farmers in southern part of Ahwaz city and northern part of cities of Muhammara and Abbadan and on both sides of Karoun river have been confiscated. These lands are of the most fertile agricultural lands in Ahwaz, and they all were confiscated with the pretext of setting up the Sugar Canes Project, while the companies instituted on this project belong to the men of the Iranian government and the ruling denominational Safawi institution in Iran.
- Confiscation of 47 thousand hectares of Ahwazi Arabs’ lands for the purpose of setting up the project of the disabled of Iraq-Iran war in Jufair near to the Iraqi-Iranian borders.
- Confiscation of more than 25 thousand hectares of Arabs’ lands for the purpose of setting up the project of fish farms in south of the Ahwaz city. These lands were granted to the Persian settlers who were of the newcomers to the territory.
- Confiscation of more than 100 thousand hectares of lands in the east of the Huwaiza town extending to the north of Al-Muhammara city under the pretext of military maneuvers of the 92 Army, and very obviously the whole of that area is an agricultural land. Several Arab villages there were inhabited by thousands of Arabs who were finally displaced from their lands by force.
- Confiscations of thousands of hectares of agricultural land in cities of Al-Khafajiya, Al-Huwaiza and Al-Besitin under the pretext of developing the Azadegan oilfields which extend to the Majnoun oilfields in southern Iraq; Japanese companies oversee this project.
- Confiscation of more than 6 thousand hectares of agricultural land in the city of Susa, and granting them to the military men of the Revolutionary Guard and Ghods Forces. This project is called the settlement of the clergy in the north and northern-east of Ahwaz province. The confidential document of this project eventually leaked out. The document is called the Sardar Rasheed document; and Sardar Rasheed Is one of the senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard and Ghods Forces.
- In addition, there is the entire demolition of Arabian areas and displacing thousands of Ahwazis under the systematic policy with the purpose of turning the demographic distribution in Ahwaz, such as the demolition of Sepidar neighborhood in the city of Ahwaz in 1998 and displacing the people of this district who are mostly of the lower economic class.[2]

- Beside the policy of land confiscation, a parallel policy against Ahwazis is being practiced by Iranian government which is not less vicious and racist than the former, and that is perverting the main river courses in Ahwaz such as Karoon, Al-Karkha, Al-Jarrahi and other rivers, and stealing the water and pumping it into central Persian areas such as Isfahan, Yazd, and Kerman for the purpose of irrigation. This happens while they deprive the Arab farmers of these waters and make their fight for living more difficult and more frustrating. Moreover, periodically they fabricate floods through the dams that have been constructed for this purpose, in order to demolish the infrastructure of Ahwazi villages, and consequently facilitate the displacement of Arab people and confiscation of their agricultural lands and demolition of Arabian villages and countryside of Ahwaz.

The purpose of all this is the displacement of the farmers from their villages and systematic destruction of their economy and their enrolment in suburban marginalized areas, that are called ”the Arab belt of poverty”; and then besiege of the Arab towns with Persian settlements and towns that have been established for this purpose and there are dozens of them, such as “Shirin Shahr” Settlement in the south of Ahwaz city, in the midst of the villages that have been destroyed for The Sugar Cane Project and fish farms. This settlement is designed for more than ninety thousand people as a first step to be widening. There is also the giant “Ramin” settlement in the north of Ahwaz city, which is built for more than one million settlers from the Persian newcomers to the Territory.

Marginalization of “the Arab belt of poverty” is a deliberate and planned process, where poverty, addiction, crime, and all kinds of structural imbalances at the level of cultural, social, and economic structures spread widely. Living on the margins of the society is a normal secretion of these inhuman policies. Of the most important implications of this policy are the environmental disasters, water pollution, increasing salinity in the land, environmental pollution and spread of infectious diseases, and all these complications are mentioned in the report submitted by ”Milan Kothari”, United Nations’ envoy to the province, less than three years ago. In this report he describes these policies as catastrophic for the indigenous Arab people of Ahwaz.

Escalating policy of confiscation and settlement

These criminal policies are escalating and being accelerated during the past fifteen years, and they were highly applied especially during the presidency of Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami after that the crew of technocrats (the group of Kargozaran-e-Sazandegi) -with Persian tendencies and orientations- became the authority of development projects in Iran. During this period tens of thousands of hectares of fertile agricultural land in various towns of Ahwaz were confiscated, under the political plan known as “settlement demographic distribution”.
After coming of Ahmadinejad and his “Hojjati” crew to the rule, these policies peaked. This was especially after the outbreak of Intifada in 15th of April 2005 and it was a collective punishment of Ahwazis for their steering disobedience against the Iranian military occupation. The evidence of this is the starting of the confiscation of 30 thousand hectares of agricultural land in the cities of Ahwaz, Al-Khafajiya, and Al-Hindian (Al-Tamimia). This plan is mentioned in the assessment report issued by the Department of Fisheries in the territory.

This plan contains:
Beginning the second phase of the Ahwaz “Azadegan” project (NDC) which will eventually end up with the confiscation of 12400 hectares of Arabs’ lands. In the first phase of this project 25 thousand hectares of these lands were confiscated.
Beginning of a project in Al-Khafajiya which will cover ten thousand hectares of lands.
Shrimp breeding project that covers 8 thousand hectares in the east and west of the river “Zahra” in the city of al-Hindian (Al-Tamimia).
The establishment of ports in Bahrakan area of Al-Indian and Nahrolghasir River in Abbadan and more other ports in other spots. This has been known that these ports are not subject to the authority and control of the Ports Department; they are rather exploited and utilized by the Revolution Guards (Sepah e Pasdaran) for smuggling and circumventing the international resolutions against Iran in banning the importation of weapons. These ports are important because they are located near Iraq and the Gulf States.

The objectives of these policies

There are economic, historical, political, and security tendencies behind these systematic structural policies against the Arab people of Ahwaz.

With a closer look at the political map of Iran and its Arab neighbors, we notice that the lands that were confiscated in the north-west and west and south of Ahwaz are along the Iraqi and the Gulf States borders. The purpose, however, is to facilitate the process of Iranian intervention in the internal affairs of these countries away from the eyes of Ahwazis and to create a military logistical environment to provide protection and adequate supply for the Iran’s continuing interference in the affairs of these countries.
Moreover, emptying these areas, in which lie the largest fields of oil and gas, from Ahwazis as a first step, and titling them to the Persian settlers and newcomers as a step forward is Iran’s main policy in order to change the population composition of the Territory in favor of the Persians and the central government, as all the successive governments of Iran have maintained this policy since the formation of the Iranian state, or rather the modern Iranian empire, at the hands of Reza Khan.
Among these goals is also the dismemberment of the Arab people of Ahwaz and isolating and sieging them in their towns and villages and depriving them of any connection with the Arab world, through Iraq and the Arabian Gulf, which was naturally easy due to the strategic geographical position of Ahwaz.
And this explains the breadth of the policy of land confiscation and mass displacement which was stated in the document that was leaked out from the Office of Khatami. That document, with the accumulation of contradictions and with the overall conditions, caused the Intifada of the April 15th the result of which was hundreds of martyrs and wounded while thousands of people have been arrested and 12 people so far have been executed, and the list is growing[3].

This plan also included the areas in the north, the middle, the east and south of the territory. This is the most serious ever, and was disclosed by the document mentioned above, under the title of the industrial and commercial draft of Arvandan in the cities of Muhammara and Abbadan, for which reason hundreds of thousands of Ahwazi Arabs will be displaced from their towns and villages that fall within the scope of this large settlement project and so dozens of Ahwazi villages will be demolished.
In addition, there has been the displacement of more than 300000 Ahwazi citizens from the cities and countryside of Muhammara and Abbadan during the Iran-Iraq war who did not return to their villages which they had abandoned due to the destruction of infrastructure, lack of services, and spread of minefields in those areas and all are the remnants of the war. The Iranian government went to no action for clearing the minefields in order to prevent Arabs from returning to their villages and leaving their exile zones in northern and central Iran.
In conclusion, this must be emphasized that all these criminal policies, which are of course applicable to the concepts of mass displacement and ethnic cleansing and major crimes punishable by international law, are implemented before the eyes and ears of the Arab States and the international community who ignore the Ahwaz tragedy claiming that it is an Internal issue and is part of the concept of sovereignty.
Nevertheless, one who follows the events prudently is to note that Ahwaz was not Iranian ever, it is an Arabian land occupied with brutal force since 1925, and the most prominent evidence of this is the successive uprisings of its Arab citizens against the different Iranian governments during the last 83 years. Ahwaz is a region for which its Indigenous Arab people are fighting against the Iranian occupation authority. And this is what all Ahwazi national resistance parties are unanimous in, despite their various beliefs and different ideas. Accordingly, the need for Arab and international intervention in this regard is clear in order to tame this arrogant Persian monster and save the Arab people of Ahwaz from the policy of ethnic cleansing, and to stop the Iranian interference in the internal affairs of Arab countries under the pretext of sectarian Safawi Purism at one hand, and preserving the Persian vital interests and national security at the other hand. The aim behind this is hegemony, which is an integral part of the mentality of Persians, clericals they are or seculars.

[1] Iranian Intelligence, Sepah e Pasdaran (Ghods Army), and Iraqi security agencies which were formed in Iran, as Bader Forces. (translator’s note)
[2] Also, 25 houses in the Arab area of Hasir Abad in Ahwaz were destroyed in May of 2008.(translator’s note)
[3] Many more Ahwazi people have been executed since the time of this article.

World Refugee Day 20 JUNE

2008-06-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

A Day to Remember Refugees in Syria

Written by Najla Ahwazi

Today is World Refugee Day, a day of remembrance and recognition of the world’s refugees, of whom there were an estimated 11.4 million in 2007, according to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Some groups number in the millions—like the 3 million Afghans mainly in Pakistan and Iran, or the 2 million Iraqis in Jordan and Syria. Other groups are much smaller, like the few hundred Ahwazi refugees in Damascus, Syria.

While the number of Ahwazis in Syria may be small, their protection concerns are not. Syria, despite its “Pan-Arab” philosophy, maintains tight and secretive relations with Iran. Iranian refugees in Syria are continuously harassed, followed, intimidated, and jailed—not for transgressions against the Syrian state, but for their political activities and opinions in Iran. Last December, four Ahwazi refugees were forced to flee Damascus to seek asylum for the second time, this time in Lebanon. They had been threatened with extradition to Iran, as well as attacks on them and their families. UNHCR, much to its credit, accepted these men once they reached Lebanon, and agreed to continue processing their cases for third-country resettlement. Their cases remain pending.

Other Ahwazi refugees in Syria are not so lucky. In May 2006, Syrian authorities deported several Ahwazi refugees plus a Dutch national of Ahwazi origin; the men were arrested upon return, and according to friends and family in Iran, severely tortured in prison, where they remain, pending execution. Despite the international outcry over Syria’s deportation of these recognized refugees, the damage was done, and Syria’s blatant violation of the principle of non-refoulement of refugees barely acknowledged.

Then, in March 2007, Syrian agents rounded up six young Ahwazi refugees and held them in one of many secret security detention facilities in Damascus. After forty days’ incommunicado detention, the authorities suddenly released five of the men, who were then resettled to a safe third-country. The fate of the sixth young man remained unknown until the end of the year, when he too was suddenly released and allowed to be resettled well outside of Syria. For nine months, however, neither UNHCR nor the family of the 21 year old man were allowed access to him, or even acknowledgement that he was still alive, or even still in Syria.

Again, despite international attention to this case and attempts at many levels to secure information and release of the detained men, Syria’s harassment of Ahwazi refugees continued unabated. A month later, another Ahwazi refugee was arrested at the airport as he prepared to board a flight to a safe third country. He was held for several weeks, and then suddenly released. His case for resettlement had been pending departure for more than six months, held hostage to slow processing and inadequate attention being paid to Ahwazi cases in the Damascus office of UNHCR.

Then, in the early morning of 5 March 2008, a 31-year old Ahwazi refugee named Saeed Hamadi was about to depart for resettlement when he too was arrested at the Damascus airport. The five Ahwazi men who were there to see him off were likewise detained and questioned, but unlike Saeed, not arrested. Saeed disappeared into one of Syria’s detention centers, where he remains, more than 100 days later. Requests by UNHCR to Syrian authorities have fallen on the typical deaf ears of the regime. Appeals to the UN and International Red Cross/Red Crescent have not produced any information, or acknowledgement of his continued detention. No information is forthcoming, so his friends and family wait, uneasy.

Syria’s arrest of departing refugees not only violates the very nature of refugee protection, it also circumvents the mandate and work of UNHCR to protect the most vulnerable from persecution on the grounds of political opinion. The regime’s targeting of Ahwazi Arab refugees is also ironic, given Syria’s own political ideology espousing pan-Arab solidarity. That a non-Arab state, Iran, is manipulating the actions of this Arab strongman, is disturbing. That the Arab League is mute on the topic of human rights violations against Ahwazi Arabs is shameful. That Ahwazi Arab refugees have no safe haven in Syria—and few alternative places to which they can flee persecution—is unacceptable.

On the day he was arrested at the airport, Saeed Hamadi had a plane ticket, valid entry and travel visa for his destination, and exit permission from the Syrian authorities themselves. He committed no crimes in Syria—and none anywhere else for that matter. Quite the contrary: while in asylum in Syria, Saeed was a leader in his community, tirelessly and selflessly looking out for the most vulnerable Ahwazi refugees.

Saeed Hamadi deserves our thanks for his work as a community leader and liaison. He has the right to protection from persecution, in a place where he can live in security and dignity, without the threat of harassment, arrest or execution for his support of minority rights. On this World Refugee Day, Saeed Hamadi should be safe and free, perhaps working or studying a new language, in his new country. Instead, he remains illegally imprisoned, somewhere in Damascus, for no crime beyond being an Ahwazi refugee in Syria. Saeed, like too many others, became the victim of the Iranian regime’s manipulation of rumor and scare tactics, designed to suppress the Arab minority even after they’ve left Iranian soil.

UNHCR’s World Refugee Day campaign for 2008 states, “Millions of refugees live in urgent need of protection. Remember them today.” We remember Saeed Hamadi, and look forward to the day, hopefully soon, when he’ll be released from prison and safely resettled far from Syria and Iran. We just hope that no other Ahwazi refugees are arrested in the meantime, or ever again.

The Ahwazi Arab Struggle and International Reactions

2008-06-20T03:40:00.000-07:00

Source

http://www.arabmediawatch.com

Although all Iranian citizens suffer political repression and serious restrictions on freedom of expression and assembly, state violence against Ahwazi Arabs is more extreme than against critics in Tehran. Any form of Arab political mobilisation has been crushed, with the government executing anyone suspected of engaging in minority rights activism.

Ahwazi Arab minority rights activists are portrayed by the Iranian government as representing all that it regards as "evil". The government and its supporters routinely denounce Ahwazi rights activists as Satanic, Wahhabi (Sunni extremists), Ba'athist or agents working on behalf of the Israeli, British, US or Saudi governments. Although Ahwazi activists campaign against social, cultural, economic and political exclusion, the government insists they have a religious agenda that is antithetical to the theocratic establishment, the "source of truth." Consequently, Ahwazi dissidents are often put on trial for "enmity with God", which is punishable by death.

Yet, the Ahwazi Arab struggle has been marginalised by exiled opposition groups, such as the monarchists, republicans and even some communists. This is, in part, a legacy of the Pahlavi dynasty's racial nationalism. These "opposition" movements have often declared that they would stand beside the current regime against Ahwazi Arabs to prevent what they see as the destruction of their country by an "alien" race, even when Ahwazis themselves do not advocate secession. Often, supporters of these movements seek to play down the suffering or Ahwazi Arabs or the importance of their struggle to freedom and democracy in Iran, and have lobbied international human rights organizations to eliminate all mention of ethnic discrimination.

Ahwazi Arabs also have few friends in the Arab world, although there is growing recognition of their suffering by some Gulf states such as Kuwait. As they are predominantly Shi'ite, Ahwazis elicit little sympathy from their Sunni Arab brothers. Moreover, many governments in the region are careful not to upset the militaristic and aggressive power lying to their north, viewing the Ahwazi issue as a struggle that could cause them unnecessary problems were they to be involved.

In the international community, the British government, members of the House of Commons, the European Commission and the European Parliament have condemned ethnic discrimination against Ahwazi Arabs and other national groups. However, they have concentrated on individual cases of human rights abuse against Ahwazi Arabs, particularly the use of the death penalty, rather than broader issue of ethnic persecution. British government ministers have voiced concern that any proactive stance could cause more problems than it would solve, confirming Iranian propaganda that claims the British government is funding, training and arming separatist organizations. Neither the UK nor the EU have endorsed the Ahwazi Arabs' right to self-determination or the Mohammerah Declaration of 1979, which embodies the aspirations of Ahwazi Arabs. Yet, if the Iranian regime is to be prevented from driving the Ahwazi people literally off the map, then it's vital that their predicament be placed firmly on the 'political map' here in the West as well as the Arab world. Ahwazi Arabs can neither rely on their Iranian compatriots nor their Arab brothers for support. International solidarity is therefore essential to ending their persecution.

Al-Intifada, Racism or Nationalism?

2008-06-15T13:34:00.000-07:00

A reader, who is not an interested party, may find the posts of this weblog biased and even racist. Well, to begin with, one should consider that when I talk of the racism practiced in Iran, I can not mean only the one practiced against Ahwazi people (though I especially mean that). Racism in Iran is practiced against all of non-Persian ethnic groups living in different parts of Iran. I am not going to go into details of this racism. The case is that when I write in my Arabic weblog in Maktoobblog.com some of Arabs from different countries put comments like "what's your problem with such nice Islamic country?!", or "Come on, we are fed up with Al-Orouba(Arabic Identity)", or "Why don't you Ahwazis just live in peace with Persians, why should you be so racist?".
The worst thing that they could say is about Iranian government being an Islamic one! I really love to see Syria or Egypt go under the control of Ikhwan-Al-Muslemin, so that after tasting the secular dictatorship, get stuck with its Islamic version and then it will be a really interesting story.
Then they talk about us being racist? Of course, I do not expect from Arab nations, who live in censure and ignorance their whole life, to understand our situation. But then what becomes of the scholars? What is the position of Arab Scholars when the question is Palestine? Do they call Palestinian resistance against whatever Israel does to them Racism? Or maybe Israel-Palestine issue is the only one understandable to many of Arabs?
Arab Scholars should go and do some readings to see what really Persian theoreticians and thinkers write about them. People like Zarrinkoub, Safa, Afshar, and many more, are only some examples of Persian racism taught in the universities under the name of history and literature.
On the contrary, we Arab of Ahwaz, live among Persians, marry them, befriend them and communicate with them in all of possible ways. And yet, our Arabic race is a brand on our foreheads to let them recognize that we are different, we are the barbarians, we are the ignorant, we are the enemy, and we are the one whom they should watch and not let move. How is an Ahwazi expected to react? The history of human being reveals that the one who keeps silent in front of oppression is doomed to death and abolition. And this is not something I need to repeat for the wise reader. However, I need to emphasize that raising against discrimination cannot be considered racism itself. If I do not talk for my people, if I do not write about their sufferings, then who should do that? And, moreover, with this little weblog, or other few Ahwazi websites, can we even be counted in front of the huge media of Iranian type that advertise for them day and night? Under suppression the most trivial steps of a small forgotten group of people towards freedom count. This movement takes different shapes. For Ahwazi Arab people it gets the shape of nationalism as the only way possible towards freedom, and it is in no way racism. Racism is for the dominated group. Power brings racism. And for the minority group having something in common is only a motivation, an excuse for movement. How can the nationalistic view of a powerless group under oppression be felt in any way racism?
Which represents racism to a fair eye, Palestine, or Israel? Let Arabs remember this when they want to comment on the peaceful human demands of Ahwazi People for their rights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8UXzSIyGyI

AN INTERVIEW WITH ALIREZA ASGHARZADEH

2008-04-09T05:47:00.000-07:00

Source: www.durna.eu

various non-Persian ethnic groups in Iran have no animosity against the dominant Persian group. All they want is to be treated equally as equal citizens of their country. It is only the elites of Persian group and their culture that constantly humiliate other groups as subhuman, lacking in culture, lacking in civilization, lacking in linguistic abilities, and so on. For instance, the Persian culture identifies Turks as donkeys (Tork-e khar); it identifies Arabs as dogs (Taazi), and so on and so forth. It bans the languages of non-Persian groups and seeks to supplant them by its own Farsi language. Obviously, here we are dealing with a racist and colonial condition in which one group dominates others.

INTERVIEWER: Lisa A. Hamdoon, University of Toronto

Lisa: I have just finished reading your book, Iran and the Challenge of Diversity: Islamic Fundamentalism, Aryanist Racism, and Democratic Struggles, and must say, am quite impressed. I mean, this book is nothing like the others on Iran and the Middle East. In general, I never find the work coming out of Middle East departments to be critical. Is your work critical because you work outside conservative Mideast departments? Can you tell us what makes your book so different?

Alireza: Thank you Lisa. My work is critical for many reasons. First of all, I am deeply rooted in the critical tradition of social scientific research and consider myself and my work to be a part of this rich tradition. I have always valued critical thinking and reflection, and try to illustrate this through my work. Secondly, the environment is of course very important. If you work in environments that stifle critical reflection, if you work with individuals who do not know the first thing about critical thinking and freedom of expression, of course you won’t be able to produce critical work. If you work in the departments which still espouse positivistic research methodologies of the 1940s and 1950s, of course you won’t be able to do anything of significance. Such methodologies usually consider praising of the dominant order (e.g., patriarchy, racism, sexism, nationalism, nation-statism, the homeland, the nation, the ruler) as positive, impartial, and objective research; but when you critically engage issues of marginality, systemic oppression and exclusion, your work is considered to be “emotional,” “non-objective,” “non-scientific,” etc. Maybe that is why the Middle East departments in general are not able to produce critical work. Particularly, the work coming out of these departments on Iran is for the most part a regurgitation of Orientalist and Aryanist views on Iran’s history, culture, ethnography, anthropology, philology, antiquity, etc. With the exception of a few works, you don’t come across anything challenging, different and fresh.

Lisa: Is that why some of these academics show hostility toward critical work and critical thinkers such as yourself?

Alireza: Yes, that could be one of the reasons. We have to realize that most of these individuals have built reputations for themselves around a repetition and regurgitation of Orientalist views on Iran. So when someone like me comes along and says that, for instance, Iranian is not synonymous with Persian and that Persians are but one minority ethnic group in Iran, constituting about 36 percent of the total population, these folks get furious and start calling us names, this and that.

Lisa: Recently I came across a review of your book written by Dr Kaveh Farrokh and posted on a number of Iranian sites, including one titled “Aryamehr.” The reviewer labels your work as anti-Iran! How would you respond to this?

Alireza: These kinds of labels are normally used in dictatorial environments and by individuals with extremely undemocratic mindsets. Such labelling represents a very reactionary approach to any kind of text. What does it mean for a book to be anti-Iran? Imagine that you write a book criticizing the Canadian government’s approach to Aboriginal peoples, and then someone turns around and labels your work as anti-Canada! Or someone critiques the caste system in India and is labelled as anti-India! These are fascistic methods that are used to stifle free expression and to silence the voice of dissent. My work exposes the unbearable racism and Hitlerite Aryanism practised in Iran since 1925. In any racist situation, there are those who benefit from racism and there are those who suffer from it. Those who benefit from the existence of racism and systemic oppression in Iran label my work as anti-Iran. It is as simple as that. But they are in the minority. My work speaks to the suffering and marginalization of Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, Baluchs, Lors, Bakhtyaris and other excluded groups such as women, workers, peasants, students and so forth. And these are the oppressed majority in Iran.

You have to realize that in all racist environments, the dominant group who benefits from racism comes to believe that it has the sole ownership over the entire country. Just as it seeks to define ‘the nation’ in terms of its own ethnicity and identity; so too it imposes its language on the entire population, masquerading it as the so-called “national language;” its history masquerades as “the national history,” its identity becomes the identity of all peoples living in that country. So if someone critiques the privileged position of this dominant group, that critique gets identified as a critique of the entire ‘nation’ and country. This exclusionary act in itself testifies to the existence of racism and systemic oppression in Iran. The way they try to intimidate us, to silence us by threatening to get us expelled from our jobs, all these McCarthyist methods show that we are dealing with very undemocratic and indeed fascistic mindsets. In my book I clearly show that this racism is not limited to the government in power but includes many writers and intellectuals from the dominant group as well. You say they identify my book as “anti-Iran” on a website called “Aryamehr.” You might be interested to know that “Aryamehr,” the site you say has published this review, in Persian means “the light of Aryans!” This title alone should suffice to expose the kind of ugly racism with which we are dealing here. So, is it any wonder that those glorifying “the light of Aryans” to call an anti-racist book “anti-Iran”?

Lisa: In addition to you, other authors and academics like Brenda Shaffer, Mehrdad Izadi, and Naser Pourpirar are also identified as “anti-Iran.” How would you comment on this?

Alireza: Brenda Shaffer wrote a wonderful book in 2002 titled "Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity." Through this work she studied, among other things, the impact of the independence of northern Azerbaijan on the processes of identity formation in southern or Iranian Azerbaijan. Brenda’s research showed that the independence of northern Azeris has a major influence on how Azeris of Iran (will) identify themselves. She reached a conclusion that contrary to the dominant perspective, Iranian Azeris view themselves as a distinct ethnic group within Iran. That is to say, they are cognizant of their distinct history, their language, their ethnicity, and their nationality; and they are aware of their differences with other ethnic groups such as the Persians, the Kurds, the Arabs, and so on. This was a sound scholarly observation that had been misrepresented by generations of Orientalist scholars. So when the book came out, these so-called scholars of Iranian studies started dismissing it, obviously not so much from a scholarly standpoint but for a variety of ideological reasons.

However, those of us who were active in the field knew very well that Brenda had hit the nail right on the head. Azerbaijanis were a divided nation and any development in one part of this nation would inevitably influence the other part. Now after five years since the publication of Brenda’s work, everybody can see how objective and accurate her study was; and how vacuous her attackers have been. All you have to do is take a look at what is going on in the streets of Tabriz, Urmiyeh, Aradabil, and Zanjan; see how hundreds of thousands of people came out on May 22 last year to reclaim their Azerbaijani and Turkic identity; take a look at the prisons in (south) Azerbaijan and you’ll see they are full of individuals identifying themselves as “hoviyyat-talab” (reclaimers of identity). Brenda Shaffer had hypothesized this situation several years ago, when the Azerbaijani movement in Iran was still quite invisible. If her book is not a scholarly work, then I wonder what a scholarly work is, filling of thousands of pages about Div-e Sepid, Ashkboos, Rostam-e Dastaan, and other mumbo-jumbo from the Shahnameh of Ferdowsi? Or weaving colourful narratives about “Takht-e Jamshid” or Persepolis, an Orientalist constructed Achaemenid palace that now local Iranian historians, architects and engineers prove with certainty that never existed?

Lisa: Naser Pourpirar is also labelled as Anti-Iran. I noticed you reference him quite a bit in your book. What is his story?

Alireza: Naser Poorpirar (or Pourpirar) is a very intelligent historian, and a very complex character. I respect him for his originality and his independent research, but I don’t agree with his methodology and with some of his conclusions.

Lisa: How do you mean? Can you expand on it a bit more?

Alireza: You see, in my book I explore some aspects of an emergent anti-colonial and critical historiography in the region. In Africa, for example, we have T.O. Ranger who initiates over 40 years ago the importance of writing African history from an African standpoint, based on African epistemologies and methodologies. And in India, we have the Subaltern Studies Collective, a group of researchers and scholars who come together in early 1980s and begin writing a history of India and South Asia from the standpoint of the subaltern, the marginalized and excluded. This kind of historiography is not a top-down method of history writing; it is a bottom-up historiography. And this is a major departure from all sorts of elitist, ‘nationalist,’ Orientalist and colonialist historiography. Well, in Iran this historiography starts effectively with Naser Poorpirar. For the first time in Iran’s modern history, a local historian decides to take on the challenging task of re-examining a history written by foreign missionaries, travellers, priests, ambassadors, anthropologists, philologists, and historians. And this local historian is Naser Poorpirar. No one else has done this before him. In Iran he is the first to produce a local historiography by exposing misconceptions and misrepresentations inherent in the Orientalist historiography of Iran. He has done a great job in this field and he will be remembered because of this.

Lisa: What about the problematic area of his work that you mentioned?

Alireza: You might have noticed that my book starts with a mild criticism of Edward Said’s Orientalism. I critic Said for failing to properly discuss “Aryanism.” The reason for this is, in an Iranian context we are dealing with Aryanism more than anything else. As a matter of fact, in my book I show the evolution of this concept of “Aryan race” from its inception up to the emergence of fascism and Nazism in Europe. I show clearly in the book how Adolph Hitler’s definition of this term does not differ that much from its current definition in dominant Iranian literature. In an Iranian context then, we need an interrogation of this concept of ‘Aryanism’ more than any other term. Poorpirar does not do an effective job in this area. Aryanism, moreover, was a discourse constructed to reject Judaism, Semitic races and biblical religions. It was an anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish project from the very beginning. How can such a project be manufactured by the Jews? And herein lies a major contradiction in Poorpirar’s methodology.

Lisa: Is he saying Aryanism is constructed by the Jews?

Alireza: He does not discuss Aryanism per se. He tends to indicate that the current animosity among different ethnic groups in Iran and in the region is a result of historical Jewish conspiracy. Now the way I see it, there are several things wrong with this picture. To begin with, various non-Persian ethnic groups in Iran have no animosity against the dominant Persian group. All they want is to be treated equally as equal citizens of their country. It is only the elites of Persian group and their culture that constantly humiliate other groups as subhuman, lacking in culture, lacking in civilization, lacking in linguistic abilities, and so on. For instance, the Persian culture identifies Turks as donkeys (Tork-e khar); it identifies Arabs as dogs (Taazi), and so on and so forth. It bans the languages of non-Persian groups and seeks to supplant them by its own Farsi language. Obviously, here we are dealing with a racist and colonial condition in which one group dominates others. There is a huge power configuration and power imbalance at work here that Poorpirar’s conspiracy theory does not and cannot address.

Instead of focussing our attention on Persian racism and its elimination through our democratic anti-racist struggles, he wants to divert our attention to some historical wild goose chase regarding Purim, this and that. Now I have nothing against doing historical research; but I am against linking in a deterministic way the events of 2500 years ago to contemporary situations. Contemporary conditions require contemporary solutions. It is not a Jewish conspiracy that today the language of the Kurd, the Turk, the Arab, the Baluch, the Lor and the Turkmen is banned in Iran. It is a result of an 80-year-old racism. Of course, we should go back to history and try to see what has happened that we have ended up this way; we should try to analyze, if we can, the historical roots and causes of our contemporary problems. But this is different than getting ourselves stuck in the swamps of history. An engagement with history is useful insofar as it provides insights for our contemporary issues. Historicism, antiquarianism, and a superficial fascination with ancient history will not solve our contemporary problems.

The other loophole in Poorpirar’s conspiracy theory is the phenomenon of colonialism. For the most part, Aryanism and bio-genetic racism were discursive constructs to justify the colonization of other lands by white Europeans. The idea was that the white Nordic race was a superior race genetically, mentally, and culturally while other races were inferior and could not create higher civilizations, could not properly run their own affairs, could not manage their own resources. It was thus seen as a mission of the white Aryan race to colonize these supposedly inferior races and run their affairs for them. You cannot single out Iran, as Poorpirar does, and say that in the case of Iran it was a Jewish conspiracy to infiltrate Aryanism into the country, but in the case of India, for example, it was the work of British colonialism. This historical conspiracy theory does not hold much water.

Furthermore, if the current racism in Iran was a result of Jewish conspiracy, then the presumably anti-Zionist Islamic regime in Iran should have done away with this racism immediately after dethroning the shah and seizing the political power in 1979. But why didn’t they? Why doesn’t the current Islamic regime lift the ban on Non-Persian languages? Why does it not allow these languages to become languages of instruction, of schooling, of reading and writing for their speakers? Is this too a Jewish conspiracy? Is the current Islamic regime in Iran controlled by the Jews as well? The historical conspiracy theory is a ridiculous argument promoted particularly by the government of president Ahmadinejad and his fundamentalist supporters. Thinkers like Pourpirar, in order to survive and to write, capitalize on these foolish sentiments so that they may get some kind of immunity from Iran’s sensor and torture organizations.

Lisa: So why doesn’t the government do these things that you mention?

Alireza: Well, why didn’t the apartheid regime in South Africa relinquish its power and its racism willingly? Why does not any group benefiting from systemic racism denounce its power and give away its privileges willingly? Why does any dictatorial person or regime cling on to power till the last moment? It is about power and privilege and maintaining it forever. As I discuss in the book, Iranian racism is not limited to the government and state apparatuses. There are many intellectuals, academics, writers and thinkers outside the government circle that support this racism. You cannot identify a dozen Persian intellectuals who support the lifting of the ban on the use of non-Farsi languages, let alone fighting for the human rights of their oppressed countrymen! These members of the dominant group do not support the anti-racist struggle of non-Persian communities in Iran simply because they themselves benefit from the ongoing racism. They are not on the receiving end of racism and they benefit psychologically, materially and culturally from the smooth functioning of this racism. At this day and age one would expect that as intellectuals, writers and scholars they would start familiarizing themselves with their own privileged position, and would start interrogating such position. Unfortunately this has not happened in Iran. It has happened in India, in South Africa, and even in Euro-western contexts by interrogating notions of “whiteness” and “white privilege;” but not in Iran and amongst Persian intellectuals.

Lisa: In the book you talk of democratic struggles for a democratic Iran. How does your version of a democratic Iran look like?

Alireza: In order to answer your question, we have to ask another question: What should an Iranian version of democracy be based on? In my view, the first step should start from the acknowledgment that Iran is a diverse multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural society. Any democratic system should be based on a humane, fair and equitable management of this rich diversity in economic, linguistic, educational, political, and socio-cultural realms. This could be the real bases for a democratic Iran. How well prepared are Iranian intellectuals to come down off the clouds of abstraction and discuss democracy in the real society, among real communities of difference? Obviously, those exiles who have the ears of the White House and Hollywood and who are awaiting to bring back the monarchy through “the baby shah” are not even close to understanding democracy. Likewise, those who mistake democracy with Arab-bashing and Islamophobia, on the one hand, and a return to a supposedly golden era of “the Aryan race” of Cyrus and Darius and Xerxes have no idea about democracy. What I mean by democracy is a way of running the affairs of one’s community/society which is based on principles of human rights, equal access to resources, respect for difference, respect for freedom of expression, and more importantly, respect for the right for self determination of individuals, communities, and ethnicities. This right for self determination includes political, economic, cultural, and collective rights and freedoms at both individual and communal levels. This kind of democracy cannot be imposed either from above or outside. It has to be developed and implemented in accordance with the requirements of local conditions, local needs and demands of diverse communities.

Arrest of An Ahwazi Activist in Syria

2008-03-07T10:49:00.000-08:00

Mohammara News Agency (MONA)

Saeed Hamadi, Ahwazi refugee and human rights activist, has been arrested in the morning of fifth of March (at 2:00 am) in Damascus airport. His destiny and where he was transferred to have remained unknown.
Saeed Hamadi was under the protection of UNHCR. He was arrested by Syrian security forces shortly before his supposed fly to Copenhagen.
Attempts of UNHCR offices in Syria and Geneva to find out about the destiny of this Ahwazi human rights activist have not been successful.
Syrian government has been arresting Ahwazi activists who come to find a shelter in Syria since 2005, when Ahwazi people demonstrated against the highly practiced discrimination by Iranian government that has its roots in racist views against Arabs.
Three Ahwazi activists who were arrested by Syrian Government in 2006 and were handed over to Iran, are now facing the danger of execution.

ARE IRANIANS ANTI-ARAB?

2008-02-24T04:50:00.000-08:00

by Amir Taheri

Asharq Alawsat

March 30, 2007

http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/20673

For the past few weeks, the Iranian blogosphere has been buzzing with a debate about two ancient letters the authenticity of which is doubted.
The first is supposed to have been written by Omar Ibn Khattab, the second Caliph of Islam to Yazdegerd III, Emperor of Persia, sometime in the 7th century AD. In it, the Caliph calls on the emperor to abandon his Zoroastrian faith and convert to Islam in order to avoid war in this world and fire in the hereafter.
The second letter, supposed to be Yazdegerd's reply, is a brief re-statement of the core values of pre-Islamic Iranians.
Although the letters have been available to scholars for centuries, their authenticity was never established.
Some scholars believe that the letters were forged long after their supposed authors had entered history. One hypothesis is that the letters were composed in the 10th century as Iran reached a tipping point, after which it became a Muslim majority nation.
What is remarkable is that both letters express virtually the same values. Both insist that monotheism is the only acceptable truth, and underline such concepts as piety, justice, equity, and self-reliance.
The reader is left with the impression that what is at stake in this epistolary duel is not religion but national identity. In effect, Yazdegerd is saying that if the test of faith is monotheism and ethical life, the Persians passed it soon after they appeared in history.
The two letters reflect some of the traditional anxieties of most Iranians and the schizophrenia that Iran has suffered from since it converted to Islam en masse.
One side of Iran is proud of its Islamic identity, sometimes to the point of arrogance. The average Iranian believes that his nation contributed more to Islam than any other. Some Iranian writers, citing the grammarian Sibuyeh and the lexicographer Ruzbeh as examples, claim that Persians played a key role in shaping the Arabic language. The Persian ancestry of great Arab poets, from Abu Nuwas and Mahyar al-Daylami to al-Jawahiri is seldom forgotten by Iranians.
Soon after Iranians started converting to Islam, a number of fables were invented to facilitate the passage.
One was that Hussein Ibn Ali, a grandson of the Prophet (PBUH) had married Bibi Shahrbanu, the youngest daughter of Emperor Yazdegerd, the author of the supposed letter, thus starting an Arabo-Persian bloodline that would continue through successive Imams of Shi'ism. The deference shown to descendants of Hussein and Shahrbanu, known in Persian as "sayyeds"(gentlemen), helped soften of anti-Arab sentiments.
Another side of Iran, however, is gripped by the fear of being regarded as Arab, or even mildly Arabized, in any form. It is this fear that has prompted anti-Arab sentiments in Persian literature.
But are Iranians in general anti-Arab?
This was the question discussed by Iranian and foreign scholars at a seminar in Tehran last February. Although most participants answered the question in the negative, the seminar did not produce a consensus.
There are two distinct images of the Arab in Persian literature.
One image is that of rapacious marauders.
The classical Persian word for the Arab is "tazi" which means "raider". The most evil figure in Persian literature is Zahhak, the cruel ruler who becomes an instrument of the devil. He is presented as an Arab, born in Jerusalem and invited by the Persian aristocracy to become king and end dynastic feuds. However, once his cruel nature is exposed, the people, led by the ironsmith Kaveh, revolt and chain Zahhak in Mount Damavand, the majestic summit near Tehran.
Any student of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) would be moved by the description of Zahhak's misdeed.
Another image of the Arab in Persian literature is the opposite. Here, the word Arab denotes wisdom, piety, generosity and courage.
Saadi, one of Iran's greatest poets, is one example of Arabophilia. In his Golestan (The Rose Garden),a collection of parables, he often closes an argument by stating: As Arabs say�.
Many of his heroes such as Luqman, Shibli, Hatam of Tayy and Dhulnun the Egyptian, whom he portrays as models of humanity, are Arabs.
Apart from Ferdowsi and a few minor poets such as Suzani of Samarkand and Athireddin of Akhsikath, who expressed some anti-Arab sentiments, most Persian classical poets had a positive view of the Arabs. Even then, as one speaker at the Tehran seminar noted, the anti-Arab verses ascribed to Ferdowsi may have been added to his Shahnameh by others.
Such great poets as Nizami and Jaami composed long narrative poems with Arab heroes. Qays and Leila and Wameq and Azra became iconic figures for most Iranians.
One speaker at the Tehran seminar argued that xenophobia is a sign of self-doubt. Thus, whenever Iranians felt confident in their identity, they did not manifest anti-Arab sentiments. It was only when they felt that their Persian-ness was under threat that they looked for an "other" to hate. Even then, the "other" that the Persians found was seldom the Arab.
A more frequent object of hatred was the Turk who was identified with war, cruelty, massacre and pillage in both Persian literature and folklore.
The Arabs ruled parts of Iran for some 80 years, before local Persian princes emerged in Sajestan and Khorassan. Various Turkish dynasties, however, ruled Iran for over 1000 years. (The last Turkic dynasty ended in 1925.)
Nevertheless, fomenting anti-Arab sentiments has always been easier than encouraging hatred of the Turks. The reason is that at least a quarter of Iran's population speaks one of several dialects of Turkish. In most cases, these ethnic Persians have lost their original language and adopted a Turkic dialect. And, yet, they identify with their language, not ethnic origin.
That, in turn, makes it difficult for the mass of Iranians to express anti-Turk sentiments.
As the Tehran seminar showed, much of the anti-Arab sentiment in Iran today was produced over the past century or so, largely due to the emergence of European-style nationalism which emphasized the concepts of blood and soil.
Turkey under Ataturk also exported anti-Arabism to Iran under Reza Shah Pahlavi. Just as Ataturk had ordered a "purification" of the Turkish language by replacing as many Arab words as possible, Reza Shah created an academy to purge the Persian vocabulary of its Arab component. Over a 10-year period, some 5000 Arabic words were replaced with Persian ones, often borrowed from obscure texts or coined by academicians.
Ahmad Kasravi, one of Iran's greatest intellectuals in the 20th century, became an advocate of de-Arabzation along with other prominent writers such as Sadegh Hedayat, Ibrahim Pour-Davoud and Massoud Farzad. Abdul-Hussein Zarrinkub's book "Two Centuries of Silence", a damning account of Arab domination, became a best-seller in the 1960s.
The eight-year war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s did not lead to any significant increase in anti-Arab sentiments in Iran. But the Khomeinist regime, especially under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has nurtured its version of anti-Arabism. In this version, the Arabs are castigated because they are supposedly not "Islamic" enough!

Persian or Arab Gulf?

2008-02-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

Hello

While searching some blogs in Maktoob.com, I found this article and thought it might be interesting for the readers. I am not a supporter of religious ideas, but I think it is nice to look at a case from a different point of view. So, here is the article and to read the whole you need to visit the source weblog.

خلیج فارس یا عربی

مدتی است که اختلافی در اسم خلیجی که بین بلاد فارس یا ایران کنونی و جزیرة العرب که اکنون چند مملکت در ساحل آن تشکیل شده اند بوجود آمده که به محلی برای جدال ناسیونالیستها تبدیل شده است . در متون تاریخی به اسم این خلیج از جهت وجود اختلاف کنونی توجه نشده و در مواردی که لازم به ذکر وقایع مربوط به این خلیج و اسم آن بوده نامش ذکر شده است . ما در اینجا إن شاء الله به بعضی از این متون اشاره ای خواهیم داشت

الازهری می گوید جزیرة العرب بدین خاطر جزیره خوانده می شود که بحر فارس و بحر سودان در دو جانب آن هستند و از جانب شمالی توسط دجله و فرات احاطه شده است . (تحفة الأحوذي شرح جامع الترمذي لمحمد بن عبد الرحمن المباركفوري، كتاب السير، باب ما جاءَ في إخراجِ اليَهودِ والنّصَارَى مِن جَزيرةِ العَرَب

ادامه را اينجا بخوانيد

Read the rest here

http://nazaratdini.maktoobblog.com/442913/%D8%AE%D9%84%2526%231740%3B%D8%AC_%D9%81%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B3_%2526%231740%3B%D8%A7_%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%2526%231740%3B/

Shirinshahr

2008-02-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

http://www.errachidia.org/sport/video-ethnic-2-OyJ2jnbPX9M.html

Documentary by Al-Ahwaz TV on the exclusive Persian township of Shirinshahr and the ethnic cleansing of Ahwazi Arabs. Shirinshahr is based on unique footage shot on the road to the ethnic Persian township currently under construction. The new town is being built on land confiscated from Ahwazi farmers. The film shows the constrast between the abject poverty of Ahwazi Arabs compared to the large investments being ploughed into exclusive Persian settlements built on their land.

The Forgotten Palms

2008-02-05T13:11:00.000-08:00

In my dictionary "palms" is a concept with many meanings. In one meaning, palms represent my homeland, Ahwaz. They also represent my people, people of Ahwaz. They are Arabs living in this land for hundreds of years. They have a long complicated history behind them, a painful history. A history of insecurity, poverty and hunger, and most recently, a history of discrimination against them. This is a story that any Ahwazi person knows. My people know the history, they talk and think about it daily. They look for a solution and they try every thing, but to no avail.
Why? Because, very unfortunately, my people are all alone. No one represents them in the whole world. So, they speak, but their voice is too low to be heard. They shout and they are shut up immidiately. There are hands up there; hands ready to slap any mouth shouting for freedom to dumbness. You see... no one hears them, not even a sound!
Obviously, the hands mentioned do not like my people or they would have not shut them up. Very ironically, these hands are, in a way, responsible for my people. (if you are responsible for something but you give it no attention, who else may do?)

Ahwaz is a land with many palms, but if she is known, it is for her oil. Palms are not important. Palms grow and try to reach the sun, but they only get fire. They remain thirsty (where the important liquid is oil who cares for water?) and at last, they die quietly.
The palms are lonly. They are forgotten, as are the people of Ahwaz, who live and die with their palms in silence.