Kurds, Ganji, and competing visions of cultures

A friend and I were corresponding about the ongoing unrest in the Iranian Kurdistan recently with me complaining bitterly about how fundamentally disappointed I have been with those who have chosen to remain silent while this murderous Islamic regime continues to batter our much abused and blameless ethnic minority.

The issues at the heart of our disagreements are much broader than what my disenchantment with the stunning silence in face of the brutal assaults on the Kurds would suggest. And indeed what can be gleaned from the raging battles over Mr. Ganji's fate or the simmering conflict over the future of Iran's nuclear aspirations (via Iran Sazi) or even the looming threats of further atrocities against more gay youngsters in Iran.

It is really a contest about who we aspire to be and what qualities we want to have our cultures embody.

In a fundamental way, our disagreements continues to center on what seem to derive the American expedition in Mesopotamia and those identical impulses behind the abuses Mr. Ganji suffers in and out of the notorious Evin prison and the despicable practices we all witnessed in Abu Ghuraib.

And I urge some of you here not to be so self indulgent and intellectually lazy as to quickly retreat into the imaginary safe haven which that miasmic bubble of "moral equivalency" has afforded you. Haven't you been lecturing the world about there being no free passes in life? Practice, then, what you preach and fight the temptation of living on one.

What I propose to do tonight is to leave you with a couple of ideas and revisit them a bit later.

What I am trying to get at is most manifest in a notion that plays a central role in a particular vision of the American presence in the ME proposed and supported by our famed CIA veteran, Mr.Reuel Marc Gerecht. Mr. Gerecht, you will recall,

popularized the atavistic notion of hayba as a way to understand the Middle East and America's role there. Hayba is an Arabic word that Gerecht translates loosely as "the awe that belongs to indomitable authority"--a kind of supermojo. For a ruler or for a nation in the Arab world, the ability to inspire awe is more important than the mere exercise of power. If the image of invulnerability seems unassailable enough it can contribute to real invulnerability, or so the argument goes.

This is an ancient quarrel that only incidentally relates to the Arabic word Hayba.(Farsi Haybat) We should look a bit more closely, nonetheless, at one of his many formulations in the original. Here is Mr. Gerecht-- in his own words-- writing about The Restoration of American Awe:

And now the administration that has done so much to reverse the image of American weakness in the Muslim Middle East--weakness that is the jet fuel behind the appeal of bin Ladenism in the Arab world--may well deal, quite unintentionally, a severe blow to America's hayba, the majesty and magnetism that inhere in unchallengeable power. Without this mystique, there is no guarantee of peace and security for us and our friends in the region.

And a slightly more pestering version in his Forget the Arab Streets:

As the militants have grown stronger, U.S. soldiers have increasingly withdrawn from Iraqi streets. While the Americans have wanted to seem less provocative to the Iraqi people, they have certainly sent a different image to the holy warriors and ex-Baathists. Washington forgot historical rule number one about getting enemies to surrender and acquiesce: You must first beat them. They must see clearly that they have no hope. In a Middle Eastern context, your hayba, the awe that comes with indomitable power, must overwhelm them. This has not appended in Iraq since the fall of Saddam.

The other matter too is an old quarrel, although it is being given a new twist. One of our more interesting (Iranian) bloggers has already broached the subject. So, I'll just use the sources she singled out for us (pdf):

Finally, in promising "moderation," Mr. Ahmadinejad gives an example of one of the favorite exercises of the Shiite clergy and its allies: Takiya. Takiya is an ancient practice of the Shiites, a Muslim minority long persecuted by the Sunni majority. The term could be translated as "precaution" and is a mixture of ruse, lying and dissimulation, which allowed Shiites to protect themselves and to prosper in secret. It is also a sectarian way of organising which allowed them to hold on to their beliefs while escaping persecution by making it seem they were good Sunnis.

And here again:

Using nuclear energy to build huge economical projects proves that Iran aims for peace. Yet, the misunderstanding between Iran and the rest of the world comes from the traditions of the common Iranian character. Iranian personality believes in "El Takya" which means that person should hide his real feelings and appear to be well.

The practice these observers have in mind is more popularly known as AL-TAQIAH and one shudders to think what some of the more excitable, provincial intellectual giants amongst them would have said about Iranians had they been familiar with the more obscure practice of TORIEH which involves oaths!

The point here is not that cultures are not different with some indeed less despicable in their totality than others or that there might not be practices that adversely affect the way people interact in different settings.

The crux here is that like all those born and bred elsewhere, there exists among Iranians also different tendencies and a wide range of different concepts which animate folk in daily struggles and competing visions of life.

And these notions can (and do) serve to justify various definitions of the ideal life-- both in present as well as the (always contested and contestable) plans for the future direction of our societies.

What set of concepts, then, an observer chooses to highlight can serve to inform us more about the type of person we are dealing with than the inherent qualities of any culture which that person purports to report on.

More simply put: it all comes down to-- for me at any rate-- whether or not a Gerecht could be relied upon as a friend or, more crucially, even respected as an enemy.

Look at it another way.

Notice for instance that some of the people who think the propensity to lie can serve to define the essential qualities of Iranians and should thus be viewed as an integral part of the supposed constitution of the Iranian national character are also the very same people who have no difficulty highlighting the brutal honesty of some Iranian Officials such as we see in this MEMRI TV report for some perceived petty advantage.

Any thing for a good laugh, I suppose, at the expense of other cultures, right?

Furthermore, notice also that some are the very same people who don't feel the slightest remorse about incinerating women and children from afar and so not all their revisionist babble can mask the presence of that shameless, thuggish nuclear extortionist within.

These are indeed some of the very same people who can be so right in speaking on behalf of Mr. Ganji, and yet, remain so unwilling to comprehend that his uncompromising audacity in face of injustice is fundamentally rooted in a set of countervailing notions deeply engrained in our tradition.

And these set of values are what remain at the root of the broader opposition to their campaign of mayhem in the Middle East and no PR campaign, no matter how sophisticated or well financed, can make them disappear.

So think a bit more carefully about how that quest for the illusive Haybat plays out in this context!

Here is Mr. Ganji writing about MOROVAT and MODARA in his Second Letter to the Free People of the World from prison:

Although the dictators have managed to bring my body under their domination, since they have not succeeded in taking away my spirit and my thought and in making them theirs forever, they can't stand my face and so crave for my blood.
[…]
The person, who recounted these sentences to me, swore to me that "Your death is their dream. You are an obstacle for them. They can’t wait till you die". That compassionate person wanted to convince me by this to break my hunger strike.
[…]
Now that I have shouted out I have hastened my death, but I have also managed to show to the entire world how ruthless and inhuman the Sultanist system ruling Iran is in reality and what it has in store. …

Let the world learn what goes on inside "Hotel Evin" and its "Suites".

Hafez used to say:

The ease of the this world and the next is in the interpretation of these two words
With friends, compassion[Morovat], with enemies, tolerance[Modara]

But Motahhari used to say Islam has gone even further than this:

"With friends, compassion and generosity, with enemies, compassion and generosity too... to have compassion is to be compassionate towards one’s enemies as well."

I'll pick up --at some point next, with why rendering this notion of MOROVAT as compassion is inadequate and why our learned outside observers should take it a bit more seriously.

And ultimately why I think it crucial to speak more aggressively about the plight of the Kurds and why it remains so absolutely essential to do whatever we can to help support the Kurdish aspirations for a more just settlement.

More Signs of the Second Coming

It is simply amazing what can be found on the net when you really look. For starters, something I hadn't seen till today--a (wmv) clip that appears to me to be a propaganda video of one recent bombing in Ahavaz. This might help resolve the mystery of the particular group behind the terror campaign.

See, one of the reasons I keep on beseeching some of you to stop all your tarradiddle about Iran is that Iranians are a very diverse bunch and all kinds of different creatures could be found in our polity.

Just imagine how much more fun you could have (and so much more effective to boot) demonizing us once you get past the superficialities and get a real sense for everything you have been missing all these years repeating the same silliest of stereotypes.

So, I've decided to do my part and tantalize you a bit with a few of the more entertaining ones for today. Thus we have the Iranian For Aryans, and the Islam haters, and the Neo Nazis, and the 21^st Century Fascists and the Arab haters, and the Turk haters, and more Arab haters (recently blocked) and the famed SUMKÂ --National Socialist Iranian Workers Party, (a teaser in English so you don't feel left out) and of course the Ultra Nationalists, and ….

Can't you see? The Lord must surely be on his way…Hallelujah!

The never-ending asininities

I am beginning to think slow internet had its virtues. I mean, I tell you, I get so mad these days reading Iran related material that I am about ready to flip. I simply don't know whether to react to the perpetual torment which this murderous Islamic regime never tires of inflicting on our society or respond to all the silly clichés people use to talk about them.

It has been one caricature after another.

So I end up turning all my fury inwards. And as you might suspect, my already battered lungs are taking a beating from chain smoking.

So today, I am going to rant about Open Democracy.

I know some body there has been kind enough to link to my blog, and I shouldn't bite the hand that feeds me. But anyways, does the quality of what they put out about Iran compare in the slightest with any of their other material?

How is it that of all the hundreds and hundreds of articles written about Iran, only the silliest, most asinine speculations ever gets published there?

I must admit, I very much like that they don't even make the slightest pretense to objectivity. But seriously, do you think some of the writers showcased there would have gotten away uttering the sort of nonsense they routinely peddle about Iran if they were writing about any other country on the face of our planet?

Even the more sophisticated writers that I normally should learn from! And I don't want any (needless) misunderstanding here. I like that he is speaking up and I like those global protests even more. But I think we should avoid simple, terribly tendentious presentations of Iranian society.

Take the following section of Mr. Ireland's expose about the tragic, brutal execution of those youngsters accused of "rape," or "homosexuality"-- whichever charge you have been a-priori most comfortable believing:

Afdhere Jama, editor of the e-zine for Queer Muslims, Huriyah, says contacts of his in Iran affirm that the two boys hung in Mashad were lovers. "The first day I found out, I called my Iranian contacts from Huriyah," says Jama. "All agreed on the fact that these boys were murdered for being queer. One of my contacts who has been to gay parties in Mashad (the city where the boys were executed) swears the boys were long-term lovers, and another source told me one of the boys' family members outed the couple.

Jama told me that, "The level of surveillance in Iran has reached maximum since the reports of the hanged boys 'got out.' You would be surprised how far I had to go to find out what happened. Can you believe one of my contacts had to dress up as a woman -- with full facial nikkhab -- also wearing gloves.... and go into an Internet cafe... only to use Yahoo messenger he created right there for only -- yes -- just a ONE minute message to me? He had to travel a day to this Internet cafe to make sure nothing would get back to him. it is that scary. People are rightfully scared for their lives."

This is what my Iranian compatriots routinely call, "khalee bandee," or that time honored practice of exaggerating fluff which might only engender in listeners fully grown horns in utter disbelief. (Shakh dar-o-Vordan).

What is this? A bad melodrama set in a North Korea populated by Saudi Arabians? What country does he think he is talking about?

Just look at the prose. What was there to "get out" about a very public hanging? And what kind of a city is Mashad anyways?

Yes, it is "holy" city. But it also (rightly) boasts a reputation as one of the most "libertine" cities in Iran. It is a city of pilgrimage, yes, which means it is a tourist resort.

And just like any other tourist town the world over, people who pass through act out on all their pent up frustrations and fantasies by doing what they are normally unable (or unwilling) to get away with in their own cities located somewhere in one of the most meddlesome societies in the globe.

People gorge with food, abuse drugs and copulate like crazed rabbits—licit, elicit, gay, lesbian, straight and everything in between.

And about those internet cafés.

Does he seriously want us to believe his account? Give me break! The surest way to attract attention anywhere in Iran is to go to an internet Café dressed in the outfit the fellow describes. Again, where is the exact setting for this goofiness?

But let's focus more on this scary campaign he talks about.

The whole country has been in an uproar with myriad revolts breaking out all over the place and those sit ins and protests and candle light vigils and battles with the police and the army and the guards-- and not to mention, all the habitual licentiousness and the utter contempt for anything remotely resembling laws and ordinances everywhere and here we are again-- being fed that same ridiculous gobbledygook about a petrified population in such morbid dread about some simple act of using the internet to send a message.

Look, you don't even have to have been to Iran to evaluate the veracity of some of the claims.

How many Iranian blogs are there? How many million of internet users? Where do we get most of our news from? Just look at the Netstats rankings of Iran's top sites from only today --even with this regime's ongoing best efforts to filter and suffocate independent life.

And unlike the fellow's contact, these sites remain stationary.

# 1: Porn. #4 porn and #15 porn. And terribly bad porn at that.

They can't even stop Ganji's letters and writings from getting out-- and he has been under surveillance!

I am so absolutely fed up with all of this simplemindedness, I tell you.

We are so doomed. With all these murderous, mediocre rulers and the outrageously silly friends and allies, and even more obnoxious enemies, there are no graceful exits anywhere in sight.

Why can't we get some sane voices to speak out about Iran? Please, please, write and send them to Open Democracy! They seem to need it.

Protesting Regime's brutalities in Kurdistan

The Islamic Regime has unleashed a ferocious assault on the Kurds and some (Iranian) blogger have begun a campaign of solidarity with our Kurdish citizens. I've decided to join them.

I have been trying to get a better sense for what has been happening with all the revolts and the myriad forces involved. These are indeed pregnant times. Events are unpredictable and hard to understand. But one thing is for sure: the sky is the limit or a bottomless pit the destiny…who can claim to know for sure?

Upheavals simply don't happen out of the blue. I know it has been fashionable of late to always blame expressions of mass discontent on outside forces. The American authorities have been doing a lot of that with Iraq and the Iranian regime historically has been notorious for blaming "Imperialist agents" and "outside conspiracies" for all its woes.

But this approach is not a sane reaction to the human condition or an accurate characterization of what transpires.

In confronting the sort of unsettling times such as we are witnessing today, Hegel reminds us to be attentive to the new passions and the new forces inevitably unleashed. Different groups and organizations –some old and many new, combine in familiar or unexpected ways and what we might ultimately get is anyone's guess!

I'd like to make explicit here where I stand: the Kurdish Nation has very legitimate grievances that have to be dealt with. The aspirations of the Kurdish Nation must be acknowledged. Their conditions should be ameliorated. Their torment must end.

So I have a wide selection of links for you tonight. And bear with me as I struggle to find my bearings in this puzzling labyrinth.

Guardian reports of mass influx of troops into Iranian Kurdistan and the ongoing brutality.

Payvand reports on Amnesty's concern about the spiraling levels of violence and the killings and arrests of many Kurdish activists.

We have also the website of Kurdish Human Rights Organization. The section in English is not as up-to-date as the Farsi or Kurdish material.

Two sites of general interest: The Kurdistan Web and the Kurdistan World.

The parties in Iranian Kurdistan with a history of activism and contributions-- both positive and negative:

The Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan.

The Communist Party of Iran-Komalah.

The Komala Party-Iranian Kurdistan.

And of course the Revolutionaries Union of Kurdistan (pdf. Graphic, heart wrenching pictures.)

Some more pictures of the recent unrests. The site is s platform for wide ranging discussions and assorted news and views about Kurdistan. And based on this, the lineage may be traceable to the Kurdistan Worker's Party or the PKK.

The PKK program in English.

There is a splinter group from PKK, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (Hezbe Hayate Azade Kurdestan) better known by its acronym PJAK which has been active in the Iranian Kurdistan.

Their goals and objectives. (Farsi)

And more about their split from PKK. And some background on insider fighting and murder.

And report of meetings between their leaders and some officials in Norway

One of the regime sanctioned News Agencies, BAZTAB, reports of a meeting in Iraqi Kurdistan between some leaders of PJAK and the American Military. And also a recent clash that left 5 regime soldiers killed and 4 injured.

And some nice pictures of PJAK camps and their military exercises.

More later.

Assasination of Judge Moghadass

Would I ever see a day in my lifetime when our intelligent and talented Iranian writers with access to all the latest research tools started first by grappling with the credibility of the actual claim of responsibility before retreating into that always-an-option world of oneirism and delirious speculations?

******************************************************************

Postscript!

The site I linked to is being blocked now. Opip was good enough to retrieve the google cache. The original text is the following:

قاضي مسعود احمدي مقدس سرپرست مجتمع قضائي ارشاد توسط هسته های چریکی به هلاکت رسید

معاون قصاب و جلاد مرتضوی -- مسعود احمدی مقدس توسط همان هسته چریکی که امام جمعه دد منش کرج و مزدور خامنه ای در شیراز که مسئول اجرای نماز جمعه در ان استان بود در خیابان احمد قصیر واقع در میدان ارژانتین به سزای ددمنشیها و جنایتهای خود رسید . سازمان مخفی جوانان مسلح بار ها وبارها در اعلامیه های خود عنوان کرده بود که در اینده ای نزدیک تعدادی از دادستان ها ی جلاد توسط این سازمان به سزای اعمال ننگین خود خواهند رسید و ما بار دیگر این اطلاعیه را در سایت درج می کنیم . سازمان مخفی جوانان مسلح مسئولیت به هلاکت رسیدن این مزدور وجانی را با قاطعیت بر عهده می گیرد .

کمیته مرکزی سازمان مخفی جوانان مسلح

And our friend N's sort of quick and skim-etic (Ha!) translation from the comment section:

I skimmed the site which includes statements by a group calling itself "the secret organization of armed youth" which claims association with a well known, and very fractured, leftist guerilla group. They claim to be carrying out their own courts and sentences, since they have no faith that any international or local courts will ever bring justice to these people. They claim that Judgge Mortezavi is next on their hit list.

The only thing I should add is that based on this exchange with someone they had threatened previously, they disavow all connections with any and all existing organizations or activists linked to the famous and fractured cells of the (Maoist) Fadaie Organizations.

Hiroshima

.

same old habits, different outfits

Mr. (soldier) President and the Supreme Leader (original picture)

A Soldier and the King (original picture)

Mr. Prime Minister and the King of Kings (original picture)

the incorruptible Assassin-in-Chief

Mr. Ahmadi Nejad has officially become the 6^th president of the Islamic Republic. The (likely) prospect of an eventful reign for a man who views himself, most humbly, as the "nation's street sweeper," has caused much angst everywhere.

As you can see, even the country's ever-so-vigilant and battle hardened mice battalions have gone on high alert.

And the overtures

I don't know about you, but I am so utterly puzzled by an eerie silence which surrounds some recent developments that should have-- at the very least-- warranted a few raised eyebrows. Zilch, zero, sefr.

In case you've missed it, the Iranian born President of Israel, Mr. Katzav made recently an impassioned personal peace appeal to Iran.

Mr. Katzav's broadcast comes shortly after the rumors of the purported Ahmadi Nejad's interest in meeting delegations of Iranian Jews residing in the States and, of course, this sharply worded IJPAC press release.

I'd be grateful if any of you who might have more on this could offer a few nudges in the right direction.

The fading faces

I half seriously toyed with the idea of closing shop for a couple of days. Birthday events are getting progressively more irksome. So, I'll be 42 and with each passing year, there are even more absent figures to think about.

My one wish?

To see the day—with as little bloodshed as possible—when the callous miscreants responsible for decimating our noblest and most gallant are made to answer for their deeds.

And I have a special treat for you tonight. But you must promise to read carefully.

Scratch the unfamiliar surface and abstract away the particularities and you'll have here in the following the all-too-familiar universal soldier's story of a happy homecoming that never was.

It seems as if there almost never is one, is there?

Such stories must be told and remembered--especially these days, when we expect from some of the most promising young men and women in our midst the ultimate sacrifice at a time when most of us are unwilling or unable even to alter some very elementary aspects of our life styles, like the cars we drive or the back bags we carry.

In this particular version, Penelope loses patience and packs up the kids and goes to her parents. And our unsung hero dies—in a state of heroin induced stupor, with a body ravaged by AIDS and hepatitis-- a lonely death.

Though neither un-mourned, nor in prolonged obscurity:

In death Ebby has found a status he never enjoyed in life. For many of the men who fought in this war, the only honourable outcome was death and martyrdom. For those who survived, it meant reintegrating into a society that every year cared less for their war. For the likes of Ebby, that was not an option. Despite support from family, a loving wife and children, Ebby’s love for the drug that helped him forget was stronger than anything and to it he sacrificed his family, his home and, in the end, his life. While still alive, reeling through the streets of Abadan, he was a disgrace to his family, an embarrassment to his country and a shameful testimony to the war that shaped him. In death, Ebby has become once again a beloved son, a missed brother and a father and husband. Another martyr to the war that continues to haunt its survivors.

Read Kamin Mohammadi's poignant tale, The hero and the heroin.

And the recent executions

Someone was good enough to mail in a few pictorial reports about the recent protests in Milan in disgust with the much publicized public hangings of the two gay youngsters in Iran. You can see them here and here and here.

As those of you reading my blog for a while have probably gathered by now, I don’t have much of a stomach for violence. Especially for these ceaseless vulgarities of the murderous Islamic regime.

I have seen enough to satiate the bloodlust of a few lifetimes. But the recent portrayals of the events in Iran, as usual, have been a badly produced cartoon. And we would not get beyond step one in our efforts to bring about meaningful changes if we remained unable to get even the basics right.

The two youngsters were charged—not (solely) with the "crime" of homosexuality, but-- with the gang rape of a (thirteen year old) minor. And that has been mostly lost amidst all the (justified) rage at this state sponsored murder.

This is not to say that Iran does not executed homosexuals. This is not to deny that we have some fundamental problems in that society with intolerance of alternative life styles. This certainly is not to deny the existence of numerous unjust laws which have to be altered. And ultimately, this is not to deny the necessity of toppling a murderous regime.

But presenting caricatures will only weaken our chances of offering viable solutions to some very intractable problems which continue to demand our urgent attention.

So here I am, again, pleading with you to understand that Iran is not quite the caricature it is presented as. This is a complex society which has consistently belied stereotypes. And the sooner we come to grips with this simple proposition, the better our chances of bringing about fundamental changes.

Notice for instance that Tehran is the sex change capital of the world. You can see all types of people struggling to lead normal lives without being executed. Well, as normal as anyone is possibly expected to manage under the watchful eyes of the self appointed satraps of the Almighty or anchored in a fundamentally intolerant milieu.

But to present the problems we face in stark black and white and to always offer silly one dimensional tales of the struggles of a defenseless, blameless population of victims vs. a bloodthirsty irrational abusive regime is ultimately counterproductive.

For you see, we can't have it both ways.

We can't go on to argue that authoritarian regimes cultivate dysfunctional souls without first acknowledging also that often people might be guilty of what they are charged with. And we can't continue to point to the existing fundamental corruptions in our society without also exhibiting some desire to hold people accountable for their deeds.

Look, I'll be the first to admit that, just like every other society I've encountered, we have our fair share of problems with drug and alcohol induced violence, rape, child prostitution, child abuse, pederasty and pedophilia. Now, are we going to accuse the regime each and every time of having falsely charged someone innocent just because we loath it?

I think with these latest executions, we can certainly draw attention to and debate just or unjust deserts or needlessly cruel punishments and/or all the issues relating to government murder of juveniles, rights of the accused, forced confessions or despicable torture practices.

And a host of other matters I have left out.

And we must do more to draw attention to the plight of the gay and lesbian communities and the ubiquitous violations of their civil rights in Iran, as well as the real prospects of all the legally sanctioned brutalities they must endure. Of course, I should emphasize here also the despicable violence and humiliation that (the mostly closeted) members of these communities are the victims of in their daily lives.

And we certainly can argue over rights and responsibilities.

But we can't start doing any of these unless we deal with the basics of what transpires soberly, judiciously and without resorting to duplicitous omissions.