Iran:”Stop war on Iran”

Stop war on Iran informs us that demonstrators in different cities in the USA asked Bush administration not to attack Iran.

5 comments

  • Cherie

    YES! And i was in New York City for the demonstration earlier this month. In spite of the rain, many people came out to show their support for peaceful dealings with Iran. However, I think that the American people might show greater support and motivation if they were better educated about living conditions for many Iranians. I say this because like most Americans, I had been shown a very limited view of Iran for most of my life. Befriending Iranians in school is what really enlightened me to many things i never knew before. I’m happy I got the experience of both knowing them as people and learning so much about their culture, politics and struggles. And, as a matter of fact – I don’t have any friends in America that have been as kind or hospitable to me as my friends from Iran. I hope to visit Iran also. :D

  • The following website might help broaden people’s view of Iran.

    http://www.bibijon.org/iranimage/

  • Cherie

    I think that this website has a lot of good information, and i believe that most of it is accurate. However, it does seem overwhelmingly positive, thus giving me the feeling that it is rather one sided. I feel that while it is extremely important to convey this kind of image to Americans, I feel it is equally important to remember the serious human rights violations that are being committed in Iran, how Iranians really feel about their government, how 1 in 5 Iranians lives below the poverty line (source= aug 5 article at dailystar.com) I think that it is imperative that Americans understand the reality of the living conditions and quality of life for many of them. It is critical that Americans realize that war, sanctions, and isolation from the United States can only deepen their plight. I know maybe a dozen Iranian people in their 20’s-30’s – from different economic backgrounds, and I can say that all but 2 of them are very unhappy, or even fear their situation. So, while it’s wonderful to show the rest of the world that Iran is a great place to ski, I think if we are to see any real understanding or changes for Iran, we have to show her at her worst as well as at her best. Thanx 4 link.

  • Salam Hamid,

    Rest easy, no one is going to attack Iran. These threats from israel are all theatre. The Americans themselves have already signalled they are not interested in another war, and they’ve told the israelis that Iraqi airspace is off limits even if the israelis want to kick off an attack against Iran (which they don’t really).

    The israelis are like the schoolyard child who makes a big show of wanting to start a fight. Someone holds him back. He doesn’t struggle very hard to break free. He’s secretly relieved. That way he can claim he was ready to fight but someone stopped him. This is a face-saving solution for the israelis and the Americans take the blame for interfering.

    P.S. Are you related to Hedieh Tehrani by any chance? She’s a favorite of mine.

    Cheers,

    Dragutin

  • Cherie,

    Thank you for your kind words. I wanted to reply to your thoughtful comments earlier, but it took some time to digest your summation: “So, while it’s wonderful to show the rest of the world that Iran is a great place to ski…”. I will circle around to that later.

    BiBiJon website declares in its introduction that its sole purpose is to highlight MSM stories that run counter to the common negative view of Iran. Glad it worked, “overwhelmingly” well.

    Balancing the website by “showing her at her worst” brings no added value to a simple Google search. I just googled Iran. There were 269,000,000 web pages, and 108,674 news items. I suspect the worst aspects of Iran are abundantly covered. Criticism of Iran must come from within and it does and it features in BiBiJon.org.

    As for specific criticisms such as poverty (US penalizes non-US firms who invest in Iran) or human rights, demise of secularism, etc. I look forward to the day when leveling such charges will not seem absurdly hypocritical. At any rate, BiBiJon.org does quote WPO survey data regarding Iranians’ attitude towards their government. I enjoyed reading Deborah Campbell’s article:

    http://www.monthlyreview.org/mrzine/campbell101106.html

    Many have fixated on the ski reference. For some time I seriously thought of removing that distraction, because the stated intent of highlighting contradictions in MSM was being missed.

    I had a different thought after reading your remark. In fact, everything else in BiBiJon.org is perfunctory. Skiing in Alborz mountain says it all. Skiing in Iran is so irreconcilable with the centuries of colonial/imperial propaganda that self-preservation demands an ironic/sarcastic/disbelieving reaction, like: “skiing?? in Iran!!!???”

    After all, this west-hating Iran, who exports its evil to the 4 corners of the earth, cannot flick a switch in its own backyard and turn off the chair lifts?

    Some may go to anti-war marches because they want to save Iranians. They should concentrate on saving America from harming herself first. If the rest of the world benefits, it is an added bonus.

    I call it the B52 stance. We either drop bombs, or dollops of condescension. Surely you can see that if those are the only choices, people would rather have nothing at all to do with us.

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