Saturday, December 24, 2005

Marry Xmas!







Wish you all a very happy, healthy, prosperous Christmas and New Year






كريسمس برهه‌ اي افتخارآميز از سال است
نظرات کاربران با سلام و تشكر از مطلبتان من هم به عنوان يك مسيحي تولد عيسي مسيح خداوند را به همگي تبريك عرض ميكنم. بزرگترين درس مسيح براي بشريت و به قولي آيين جديدي كه اورد در يك كلام خلاصه ميشود و آن محبت است. "خداوند محبت است" عيسي مسيح روي صليبب بخاطر گناهان بشريت مرد و پس از 3 روز همانطور كه خداوند پدر گفته بود از مردگان برخاست تا انسانها زير بار سنگين گناه اسير نباشند. مسيح مصلوب شد تا ما عشق خداوند را در قلبهايمان زنده نگاه داريم. مسيح بخاطر گناهان ما مرد تا ما دربند و برده گناه نباشيم. مسيح بزرگترين فداكاري تاريخ را انجام داد و جا دارد كه بشريت بار ديگر به خداوند باز گردد. خداوند زنده و امين كه همچون پدري دل نگران فزرندانش مي باشد آمن. با تشكر
آرين دخت فرنادپور، 3 دي ماه 1383

ستاره موعود

شايد به اين علت سردترين فصل خدا براي تولدش انتخاب شد كه نمايانگر عظمت گرماي وجود او باشد عظمتي هستي بخش و اميد آفرين، اميدي براي قلب هاي يخ زده و دستان كوچك بي پناه

آسمان با ستاره اي خبر از آمدنش داد و او ستاره اي شد كه نورش هرگز در آسمان دل خاموش نگشت كه با صليب كشيدن كالبدش، تنها توانستند سمبلي براي بودنش بسازند
هر ساله پيروانش قلمرو دل را به پاس حضور هميشگي اش با نور اميد چراغاني مي كنند
انگار هرچه آرزوست قرار است در روز تولدش برآورده شود
حتي كودكان بي تن پوش خيابان هم با بارش برف و رسيدن كريسمس قلبشان غرق اميد مي شود و در كوچه هاي تنگ خياباني كه اثري از لوله گرم بخاري نيست با يك دنيا آرزو چشم انتظار بابانوئل مي مانند و شايد به اين علت سردترين فصل خدا براي تولدش انتخاب شد كه نمايانگر عظمت گرماي وجود او باشد، عظمتي هستي بخش و اميدآفرين، اميدي براي قلب هاي يخ زده و دستان كوچك بي پناه
اكثر مسيحيان روز تولد مسيح را كه ۲۵ دسامبر است به پاس اين عطيه الهي جشن مي گيرند و خدا را سپاس مي گويند و نشانه هايي را بر تأييد اين موعود مي آورند و اما گروهي ديگر از مسيحيان، روز ششم ژانويه را كه روز تعميد و نام گذاري مسيح است براي برگزاري جشن كريسمس انتخاب مي كنند
البته كريسمسي كه براي تولد مسيح به صورت جشن يا فستيوال برگزار مي شود، بي تأثير از جشن ها و سنت هاي قديمي نيست به عنوان مثال در رم باستان و قبل از مسيحيت، در تاريخي بين ۱۷ تا ۲۴ دسامبر، جشني به عنوان جشن خورشيد برگزار مي شد كه نام اين جشن «ساتور ناليا» بود در اين جشن، مردم به شكرگزاري مي پرداختند و به همديگر هديه مي دادند
درخت كريسمس در روز جشن كريسمس، مسيحيان درخت كاجي به خانه مي آورند كه نشانه سبزي و طراوت و استواري در همه فصول است مسيحيان اين درخت را با چراغ هايي كه نشانه روشنايي و نور است تزيين مي كنند كه اين سنت را نمي توان بي تأثير از جشن خورشيد دانست
سنت به منزل آوردن درخت كريسمس به سال ۵۱۰ ميلادي برمي گردد گفته شده كه مارتين لوتر شبانه هنگامي كه عازم منزل بود از جنگل رد مي شد درخت كاجي كه تلاقي نور ماه و ستاره در ميان برگ هاي آن منظره دل انگيزي به وجود آورده بود، توجه مارتين لوتر را به خود جلب كرد و به اين سبب وي درخت را بريد و با خود به منزل برد
تزئينات درخت كريسمس
در سال ۱۵۲۱ م در شهري بين فرانسه و آلمان كه جزو شهرهاي فرانسه است براي اولين بار درخت كريسمس تزيين شد كه امروز اين سنت در اكثر شهرهاي بزرگ جهان ادامه پيدا مي كند، در انگلستان ملكه ويكتوريا يكي از حاميان اصلي اين سنت بود
مرسوم است كه مسيحيان بر روي درخت كريسمس عصاهايي را مي گذارند معمولاً اين عصاها را با دو نوار رنگي قرمز و سفيد به هم مي پيچند و در وسط آنها علامت سبزي را به صورت پاپيون تزيين مي كنند كه اكثر مسيحيان آن را به عنوان عصاي بابانوئل مي شناسند اما در واقع از سروته نگهداشتن اين عصا علامت جي انگليسي تشكيل مي شود كه در واقع از نام مسيح جيسس نشان دارد
نوار سفيد نشان برپاكي مريم دارد و نوار قرمز نيز نشانه اي از ريختن خون مسيح بر صليب است و سبز هم كه به صورت پاپيون است، نمادي از اعتقاد مسيحيان بر اين باور است كه خداوند مسيح را به عنوان هديه اي براي نجات بشريت به زمين عطا فرموده است قسمت بالاي درخت كريسمس با ستاره اي تزيين مي شود كه نمادي از ستاره اي است كه سه مجوسي به عنوان ستاره اي كه نشان از تولد مسيح بود در آسمان ديدند
همچنين روي درخت كريسمس را با فرشتگاني تزيين مي كنند كه نشانه فرشتگاني است كه بر چوپانان ظاهر شدند و مژده تولد مسيح را دادند
شيپور تزييني شيپور وسيله اي بود كه در زمان هاي قديم به كمك آن از رويدادهاي خوب يابد مطلع مي شدند و از اين جهت شيپور نمادي است از ولادت حضرت مسيح است براساس يك سنت قديم كه از دوران قبل از ميلاد مسيح مانده است صداي اين ساز ارواح خبيث را از درون روح دور مي كند
ناقوس از گذشته وسيله اي براي با خبر كردن مردم بوده است و صداي ناقوس نشان وقوع رويدادهاي خوشحال كننده است از قرن ششم ميلادي هر ساله شب تولد حضرت مسيح ناقوس هاي كليسا به صدا درمي آيد و به عنوان نماد شادي، ناقوس هاي كوچكي را به درخت كاج كريسمس مي آويزند
گلوله هاي رنگي گلوله به خاطر شكل كروي اش و اين كه آغاز و پاياني ندارد نشانه و نماد ابديت است و علامتي براي خوش يمني و طول عمر است
بسته هاي كوچك هديه بسته هاي كوچك هديه از تزئينات هميشگي درخت كريسمس بوده است كه نشانه بركت و بخشش خداوند است هديه دادن و هديه گرفتن در اين روز هم به يادبود هديه اي دادن و هديه اي است كه خداوند با تولد حضرت مسيح(ع) به مردم اعطاء كرده است
اسباب بازي ها و چيزهاي رنگي ديگري هم كه به درخت كريسمس آويزان مي شود براي تزيين و نشانه شادي براي تولد مسيح است
بابانوئل يا سنت نيكلاس
مجسمه ها، چراغ ها و اسباب بازي هايي كه به صورت بابانوئل در زير يا روي درخت كريسمس گذاشته مي شود در واقع سمبلي است از كشيشي به نام سنت نيكلاس كه به صورت ناشناس شبهاي سرد بيرون مي رفت و خود را با شنلي بزرگ مي پوشاند و در زير شنل غذاهاي لذيذ و هديه هاي فراوان پنهان مي كرد و به قصد كمك و خوشحال كردن بچه هاي مستمند و مريض به آنها هديه مي كرد
نيكلاس، قديسي بود در قرن ۴ و ۵ ميلادي كه حامي فقرا، بيماران و انسان هاي دلشكسته بود البته از زندگي شخصي وي، هيچ اطلاعي در دسترس نيست و احتمال زيادي وجود دارد كه نيكلاس اسقف منطقه ميريا واقع در آسياي صغير بوده است كه در سال ۱۰۸۷ م ملوانان ايتاليايي، جسد وي را از ميريا به باري در آپوليا انتقال دادند كه ثبت اين روايت به نهم مه همان سال باز مي گردد و به علت محبوبيت بسيار زياد اين قديس، باري به عنوان يكي از پرجمعيت ترين مراكز زيارتي شده است و نام نيكلاس به تدريج به خيلي از افراد و اماكن نسبت داده شده و اسم ها و فاميل هاي بي شماري در زبان هاي اروپايي از نام نيكلاس مشتق شده است
اولين واقعه تاريخي كه از نيكلاس نقل شده همان معجزه معروف وي است به اين صورت كه امپراتور كنستانتين اول، سه مأمور را به ناحق محكوم به اعدام كرده بود، كه نيكلاس با ورود به خواب امپراتور از مرگ آنان جلوگيري به عمل آورد اين داستان از يك مرجع يوناني به نام پراكسيس نقل شده كه ترجمه لاتين آن به قرن ششم بعد از ميلاد به نام سنت نيكلاس برمي گردد يكي از كارهاي فوق العاده اي كه به نيكلاس منتسب است در مورد آن سه دختري است ،كه وي آنها را از فقر و انحراف تحميل شده برآنان نجات داد و همچنين آن سه كودكي كه به وسيله يك قصاب به بيگاري گرفته شده بودند و در يك خمره نمك نگهداري مي شدند، به زندگي باز گرداند يكي از محاسن كارهاي انجام شده توسط وي در آن است كه همگي آنها متوجه فقرا، بيماران و انسان هاي افسرده و دلشكسته بود
از مشخصه هاي اصلي اين قديس هواخواهي و دلبستگي وي به همه جاي اين كره خاكي است بعدها پروتستان هاي هلند در آمستردام لفظ سنت نيكلاس را به سنتر كلاز تغيير دادند و به او يك شخصيت فانتزي دادند كه براي بچه ها هديه مي آورد ولي تبديل آن به عنوان شخصيتي به نام پدر كريسمس يا بابانوئل از آلمان شروع شد و سپس به كشورهايي كه در آنها پروتستان ها زندگي مي كردند سرايت كرد و عاقبت به فرانسه رسيداما در كشورهاي كاتوليك مذهب نيز سنتر كلاز را به عنوان كسي مي شناسند كه هر سال براي بچه ها جوراب هاي بلندي را كه كنار لوله بخاري مي گذراند، پر از هديه و خواركي هاي لذيذ مي كند هم اكنون هم در نظر بچه هاي مسيحي سنت نيكلاس شخصيتي فانتزي است با ريشي سفيد و بلند و شنل و كلاهي قرمز سوار بر سورتمه كه توسط گوزن هاي زيبا بر روي برف كشيده مي شود از نظر آنان او از طرف خدا مأموريت يافته تا خواسته هاي بچه ها را برآورده كند و براي بچه هايي كه تمام مدت سال بچه هاي خوبي بوده اند و تكاليف مدرسه خود را خوب انجام داده اند، هديه هايي بياورد به همين جهت سرپرستان بچه هاي مسيحي را ايشان مي خواهند تا تقاضاي خود را روي كاغذ بنويسند و به آنها بدهند تا آنها با دادن اين درخواست نامه ها به بابانوئل از او بخواهند كه به درخواستشان جامه عمل بپوشاند
به همين دليل بچه هاي مسيحي در شب كريسمس، چشم به لوله هاي بخاري مي دوزند و بي صبرانه منتظرند تا بابانوئل از لوله بخاري به خانه آنها بيايد و هديه هاي ايشان را در زير درخت كريسمس يا در زير بالش آنها و يا درون جوراب هاي بلندي كه به كنار لوله بخاري آويزان كرده اند بگذارد كه هدف اصلي از اين سنت كمك به بچه هاي مستمند و بي حامي است
در تهران و ساير نقاط ايران هم توسط انجمن هاي خيريه مسيحي در شب كريسمس، شخصي را به صورت بابانوئل درست مي كنند و تا نيمه هاي شب، توسط وي در سطح شهر به آدرس هاي از پيش تعيين شده هدايايي مي فرستند در بيشتر كليساها نيز، شب كريسمس بچه ها در كليسا جمع مي شوند و بابانوئل به همه آنها هديه هاي كوچكي را همراه با بهترين آرزوها براي موفقيت و خوشبختي عطا مي كند
كارت كريسمس
اولين كارت كريسمس توسط شخصي به نام جانپارزلي در سال ۱۸۴۳م طراحي شد سپس در انگلستان شخصي به نام سنت هنري درخواست كرد نقاشان ديگر هم همين كار را انجام بدهند آنگاه طرح ها و نقاشي هايي از درخت كريسمس، بابانوئل و در سطح شهر پخش شد وهمه در صدد برآمدند آنها را به دوستان خود هديه بدهند و به اين صورت كارت كريسمس مرسوم شد
سرودهاي كريسمس
و در انتها مي رسيم به كرول يا سرودهاي كريسمس كه نشاني از همان سرودي است كه توسط فرشتگان براي چوپانان در روز تولد مسيح خوانده شد و به همين نشانه، زنگ هاي رنگي روي درخت كريسمس آويزان مي شود كه نمادي است از اعلام تولد مسيح در جهان
تا آن زمان تولد عيسي مسيح در ششم ژانويه جشن گرفته مي شد، در آن دوران دين اغلب روميان و كشورهاي اروپايي آيين مهر و ميترا بود هنگامي كه كم كم مسيحيت در روم جا باز كرد متوليان كليسا چون نتوانستند با برانداختن جشن تولد مهر در ۲۵ دسامبر غلبه كنند، همان روز را زايش حضرت مسيح اعلام كردند

Friday, December 23, 2005

Persian treasures & some video clips

Surfing the internet, I came across these news and video clips which I thought you might find them interesting:
Persian treasures will go on display for the first time in the UK. >>Watch the report
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bans Western music on state-run TV and radio stations.
Exclusive Art crime expert tells Channel 4 News who he believes stole Henry Moore sculpture. >>Watch the report

7. To honour and be gayBelfast ushers in the first same sex civil wedding as the UK expects more gay marriages across the country. >>Watch the report
Watch stars arrive
Stars pack Elton 'wedding' party

Sir Elton John and David Furnish celebrate their civil partnership with a star-studded evening reception.
Naked protestThe man who keeps trying to ramble naked around Britain gets two weeks in jail and a new set of clothes.
Naked in Newcastle Hundreds of volunteers stripped naked at dawn and walked through the streets of Gateshead and Newcastle.
From lurid flamingos to a naked bottom: this year's Turner Prize shortlist has its share of the usual controversy. >>Watch the report

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Persia




Persian treasures >>Watch the report Persian treasures will go on display for the first time in the UK.

Discover the wealth, power and enduring legacy of Ancient Persia. With unprecedented loans from the National Museum of Iran, the Persepolis Museum and the Louvre, and a season of special events including films, music, guest lectures and workshops.
Exhibition dates 9 September 2005 – 8 January 2006
10.00 – 17.30 daily (last admission 16.45)Thursday & Friday 10.00 – 20.30 (last admission 19.45)
Times Online: September 09, 2005 Times2
Michael Binyon at the British Museum,
AS Tamburlaine asked, is it not passing brave to be a King and ride in triumph through Persepolis? Had Marlowe seen for himself the glories of that fabled capital, he could, perhaps, have dwelt further on the riches of ancient Persia: the vast bas-reliefs of warriors and horsemen ornamenting the palaces and staircases, the elaborate stone pillars, lions of lapis lazuli (pictured), gold and silver drinking bowls, reliefs depicting the procession of subjects — delegates of an empire that stretched from India to Libya — bearing gifts to King Darius, and exquisite bracelets, torcs and gilded amphora handles in the form of a winged ibex.At its height, the empire created by Cyrus and ruled in subsequent splendour by Darius and Xerxes covered most of the known world. It reached a level of sophistication, artistry and innovation barely equalled by Rome almost a millennium later: the first postal system, a global currency, a tax and communications system, a canal linking the Nile and the Red Sea, a federal administration that relied on local governors known as satraps, religious tolerance and, above all, equine prowess and mastery.How much of all this do we, the distant beneficiaries, now remember? Alas, very little. The Persian empire lasted a mere two centuries, from 550-330BC. It ended in catastrophe, when Alexander of Macedon burnt Persepolis and smashed the imperial system.And, thanks to Thermopylae, Marathon and Thucydides, we have seen the titanic struggle between Persians and Greeks only through the eyes of Persia’s enemy. But even a century ago more was known of this ancient realm than now: the British Museum, from earliest days, began amassing relics, bracelets and jewellery from the far-flung provinces once ruled by Persia. Many came from a huge cache found in the 19th century, known as the “Oxus Treasure”.Now, augmented by holdings from the Louvre and an unpredented loan from Iran, it has put these treasures together in a magnificent new exhibition: Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia.The sweep of glory is there, including much that has never been outside Iran or even on public display before. There are painted tiles and artefacts from the palaces, as well as delicate vessels and objects from the royal dining tables. One room displays the workings of the postal system on the long road from Susa to Sardis. There are clay tablets with details of ancient divorce settlements or messages from Jewish soldiers serving in the army. A wonderful mastiff stands guard with a patina of polished stone as gleaming now as 2,500 years ago. The luxury in life and death as well as the influence and objects from Greece are shown, and, famously, the world’s first declaration of human rights: the iconic Cyrus Cylinder, which records his decree allowing the Jews to return home from Babylonian captivity.Four years in planning, the exhibition has overcome political tensions and the uncertainties of Iran’s elections to present one of the finest depictions of an ancient civilisation of which we have seen too little. It is well worth seeing it now.
Financial Times, 2 September 2005 By Peter Aspden, Financial Time’s arts correspondent
In a back room of the British Museum that resembles the floor of a furniture warehouse, large crates are being wheeled in and carefully prised open. They look undistinguished from the outside, like a consignment of bananas headed for the supermarket shelves. But their contents, as is testified by the delicate movements of their handlers, are precious - almost unimaginably so. They hold the 80-odd works that are the centrepiece of the museum’s next show, opening on Friday, called Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia. John Curtis, the museum’s keeper of the ancient Near East department, invites me to peer inside one of the crates. There is a superb statue of a black dog, sitting on its haunches with a sphinx-like sense of dignified calm. “It is a very impressive piece, slightly larger than life-size, found in Persepolis,” says Curtis. He looks as if he would like to stroke the dog on its shiny head, but museum practice would force him to put on a pair of plastic gloves to handle the piece. And besides, there are other treasures to admire.Curtis does not give the impression of easy excitability, but there is no mistaking his pleasure as he gives me a quick guided tour of the pieces that have already been unpacked: a silver plate found buried in the palace of Persepolis, inscribed by Darius I, one of the great rulers of Persia’s Achaemenid period, from 600BC to 400BC; a Greek statue of Penelope, booty from one of the many wars with the old enemy; some exquisitely crafted jewellery. The pieces have arrived from Tehran, where most are housed in the city’s National Museum. But Curtis’s relief at their safe passage has an added level of satisfaction; for until they arrived just three days ago, there were grave doubts that they would be able to take their place in the exhibition at all.Curtis explains how the works nearly became an early victim of the surprise election in June of Iran’s new president, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the former mayor of Tehran. The pieces, which will take pride of place in the museum’s galleries for four months, were all packed and ready to leave - until Ahmadi-Nejad’s victory. After the election there was, in Curtis’s words, “an entirely understandable reluctance” on behalf of the officials who had arranged the loan to take the final decision to send them on their way. Cultural co-operation can be too easily seen as unseemly political compliance. “It was decided to take the decision to the Council of Ministers, following a flurry of comment in the Iranian press on the wisdom of exporting such iconical pieces, given the risks involved,” says Curtis. The council, chaired by the outgoing president Mohammad Khatami, gave the go-ahead at its meeting on July 24. The pieces were in London within a week.I ask him how anxious he’d been that the promised loan would be revoked at the last minute. “Very worried. It would have had a big impact on the exhibition.” Was it a concern that Ahmadi-Nejad’s election had prompted such a failure of nerve? Curtis, who has been dealing with Middle Eastern governments and the strictures of political compromise for most of his academic life, gives a classic diplomatic answer which he all but reads off an autocue: “I think it is premature to start speculating on the attitude of the new government towards culture and cultural heritage.”But western diplomats will surely have noted the events of the past weeks, including their intriguing denouement: modern Iran has decided that ancient Persia will have its moment in Bloomsbury. But what, precisely, is the significance of that?The exhibition’s title, Forgotten Empire, represents the feeling Curtis has had throughout his career that of all the great empires of antiquity - Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman - the Persian empire is perhaps the least known. “It was the largest empire the world had known, about the size of the Roman empire, depending on how you look at it. It lasted about 200 years and played a substantial role as a bridge in transmitting the contributions of Assyria and Babylon to the west, via Greece.”It is surprising that it is not much better known. It is partly due to the Greeks,” he says. “They were not complimentary about the Persians because they were fighting against them. Persia is represented as a hotbed of tyranny and despotism, as an opponent of freedom and democracy. It is a completely wrong interpretation, but one that has become quite widespread over the years, and because of that people haven’t fallen in love with Persia.” Curtis, it is plain to see, is head over heels.Evidence shows the Persian empire to have been a tolerant one. “We think the Achaemenid kings were Zoroastrians, but it wasn’t a state religion. Archives describe the worship of other gods and when kings travelled abroad they paid lip service to local gods. It was clear that local religions were allowed to flourish.”In the British Museum’s own collection, the Cyrus Cylinder, a baked clay charter inscribed by Achaemenid ruler Cyrus after he had captured Babylon, describes how he returned statues of the gods to shrines from which they had been removed, and how he allowed deported peoples to return home. (The return of the Jews to Jerusalem is also described in the Bible.)Nor should the Persians be regarded as excessively bellicose, despite the notoriety of the Greco-Persian wars under Darius and Xerxes. The former’s incursion into Greece was prompted by unwelcome Greek interference in Asia Minor. “The Persians never entertained serious thoughts of holding and annexing mainland Greece. It would have been a bridge too far,” says Curtis. “The sole purpose of the exercise was punitive.” Yet the spin of Greek historians, from Herodotus onwards, ensured that it was the heroic rearguard action at Marathon that captured the public imagination, to the extent that it is still celebrated in every major athletics championship.For the late Edward Said, in his highly influential essay “Orientalism”, the depiction of Persia in the tragedies of Aeschylus was nothing less than the beginning of the west’s wilful misunderstanding of the east, which he believed played such a crucial historical role in present-day conflicts. When I talk to Neil MacGregor, the British Museum’s director, about the exhibition, he concurs. “The Greeks helped create the division between Europe and Asia, those stereotypes of the freedom-loving, tough European versus the servile, luxurious, effeminate, despotic Asian. We have gone on living with those stereotypes in an extraordinary way, because of the way Greek literature was absorbed into the mainstream.”Many of the exhibits will surprise visitors. First, the “astonishing” quality of the works, says MacGregor; and then the sheer scale of the empire, which stretched from Egypt and Greece to China and India. “People still have it in their heads that these are the people that the Greeks defeated. It is like thinking of the British empire as those people whom the Boers defeated.”And then, he says, it is the way in which Persia worked out how to rule over its empire. “It was a multinational organism, and it is very fascinating to see how quickly the issues that any multinational organism has to deal with are identified. They showed that you can leave alone and foster local religions and habits, and all you really need [to be centrally controlled] are communications, the law and military security. The rest can be devolved.”The themes of religious tolerance and civil liberties have extraordinary resonance today. “Absolutely,” says MacGregor. “And the issues raised by the Persian empire are still very relevant. Just as Gibbon [when he wrote about the fall of the Roman Empire] was writing as much about 18th-century politics, the same applies today. What this exhibition says about religion and diversity are worth thinking about.”The glories of Achaemenid Persia in effect came to an end when Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont in 334BC and defeated the armies of Darius III in 331BC, battles vividly commemorated in a famous mosaic at Pompeii. Alexander marched into Persia and committed, as Curtis describes it, “a supreme act of vandalism” when he entered Persepolis and put the city’s magnificent buildings to the torch. “Whether it was an act of drunken folly or revenge for Xerxes’ destruction of the acropolis at Athens, it was surprising behaviour from one who prided himself on being a pupil of Aristotle,” he writes with palpable sadness in his British Museum book on ancient Persia.On a sunny spring day in Tehran, the topic of Alexander crops up again as I chat to Shahrokh Razmjou, head of the Achaemenid department of the Iranian capital’s National Museum. The burning of Persepolis is embedded deep in the national consciousness, he says, and quotes from a recent popular song, which says that “even the fires of Alexander could not destroy us”. He tells me how much Iranians hated Oliver Stone’s recent movie Alexander for its neglect of his crimes against Persia. I say that the Greeks hated it too, ironically, for its depiction of his homosexuality. “I think the only one who enjoyed it was George W. Bush,” he replies, quick as a flash.Razmjou too is puzzled that the Persian Empire seems to be all but forgotten, “compared to the Egyptomania that struck the world, with all those movies about mummies”. He too blames the Greeks, specifically the morally simplistic world described by Herodotus, who engendered hostile feelings against the Persians in his writing. “Before him, in Homer for instance, there were heroes and villains on both sides.” Greek writers, keenly promoted by 19th-century historians seeking to justify their nations’ colonial attitudes, made the struggle between Greece and Persia - west and east - a centrepiece of their accounts. “Nobody ever mentions the constructive cultural exchanges,” says Razmjou. “After the wars between Greece and Persia, there were good relations between the two, but we never hear about that.” He says the Persian Empire was characterised by tolerance and diversity, “a good role model for how governments can put different religions next to each other”.Razmjou says he detects a growing interest in Iran itself in the country’s pre-Islamic heritage, particularly among younger people, as the evidence of growing visitor numbers at the museum and sites such as Persepolis shows. Tourism, both within the country and from outside, has also been on the increase. A recent documentary film on the famous statue of Darius I was a popular success, and won a prize at the Tehran film festival. (A request by the British Museum to borrow the statue for its exhibition was one of only three that were turned down, for its iconic importance.) The people of Iran, he says, “still feel the continuation of our culture, right from the Achaemenid period to the present day”.This sense of easy continuity contrasts with the early days of the Iranian revolution of 1979, which emphasised the country’s Islamic cultural achievements, for obvious reasons. Ancient Persian sites and museums were scarcely visited. Rumours abounded that some religious fanatics wanted to destroy some of the monuments in Persepolis. John Curtis rebuts these rumours. “It was never in any danger at all. [All the sites] have been very well looked after and tended throughout.” I ask him if he has noticed a change in the Iranian government’s attitude in recent years. “Not a change - that is too dramatic a way of putting it. But there is now a very obvious and tangible interest in the pre-Islamic past.”Neil MacGregor also talks of the Iranian “awkwardness as to how to fit [ancient Persia] into the national story”, but emphasises that its monuments have been “very carefully preserved, studied and researched”. But he points to another reason for the Islamic regime’s early diffidence: the way that the symbols of ancient Persia were appropriated by the Pahlavi dynasty, which ruled Iran for most of the 20th century, and in particular by Mohammad Reza Shah, the ruler who was deposed by the 1979 revolution.The last Shah of Iran (as the country became known in 1935) was arguably obsessed with his association with the glories of Persia’s ancient past. The culmination of the obsession came in October 1971, when he decided to commemorate the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy (the precise timing of the date was highly spurious) in an absurdly extravagant style, at a specially constructed tent-city inside Persepolis. Some 60 heads of state or their representatives, including Prince Philip (the Queen was advised against attending by the Foreign Office, which correctly feared an “undignified and insecure” ceremony) gathered at the ancient site. The seating plan pointedly followed 19th-century protocol, seating monarchs ahead of republican leaders, prompting the refusal of French president Georges Pompidou to attend at all.The festivities began with a ceremony that was solemn and ludicrous: the Shah standing in front of the highly evocative tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae, and delivering a eulogy: “Cyrus, great king, king of kings, Achaemenian king, king of the land of Iran, from me, king of kings of Iran and from my nation, I send greetings... Cyrus, we have gathered here today at your eternal tomb to tell you: sleep in peace because we are awake and we will always be awake to look after our proud inheritance.”Reports of the ceremony’s lavish banquet attracted inevitable criticism: a staff of 159 chefs, bakers and waiters was flown in from Paris to serve the guests roast peacock stuffed with foie gras, crayfish mousse, roast lamb with truffles, quail eggs stuffed with Iranian caviar. A son et lumiere show bathed the columns of Persepolis in white light, which gradually turned red to depict Alexander’s sacking of the city. Time magazine estimated the total cost of the celebrations to be $100m, a figure contested by the Shah. But there is little doubt that the episode damaged him. The most significant criticism came from the exiled Ayatollah Khomeini, who used the occasion to declare his opposition to the monarchy as a whole, a more extreme stance than he had hitherto assumed. “The title of king of kings, which is borne by the monarchs of Iran, is the most hated of all titles in the sight of God,” he said, declaring the festival to be “un-Islamic”. That particular accusation did not have the resonance in the early 1970s that it was to acquire later in the decade. In the end, it was the Shah’s identification with the west - the “Westoxication” of Iran, as the Marxist critic Jalal Ale Ahmad put it - that prompted the revolution of 1979, rather than his PR-driven dalliance with the Achaemenid kings. But the clumsy association of the Pahlavis with ancient Persia was one further reason for the new theocratic regime to concentrate on Iran’s Islamic heritage. Cyrus, Darius and Xerxes found themselves in the wilderness, as did the scores of western scholars who were rebuffed as political relations between Iran and the west plummeted.Iran soon found itself embroiled in its war with Iraq, during which time its attitude towards its own cultural heritage occupied an understandably small part of its attentions. But by the 1990s there were signs of movement. It started, recalls MacGregor, about 10 years ago when staff from the National Museum in Tehran began to establish contacts with the British Museum over a joint cataloguing project of Sasanian coins from the 7th century (the British Museum has one of the world’s richest collections). “Establishing that link became a very important thing,” says MacGregor. “Of course there had been a great deal of British Museum engagement in Iran until 1979, but it became much harder after that. But this was a way in which academic work could go on below the political radar. Officially, relations [between Britain and Iran] were still very chilly, but it was possible to start making these personal contacts.”John Curtis, who had long wanted to hold a major exhibition on Achaemenid Persia in the British Museum, says MacGregor’s appointment as director in 2002 played a key role in bringing this to fruition. “He acted as a catalyst. He was very keen to work with a major Middle Eastern country, which had never been done in this kind of way.” Curtis says that since March 2003, when the idea for the forthcoming show was mooted, the Iranians have been “co-operative, encouraging and enthusiastic” partners. MacGregor travelled to Iran to finalise the loans, and says he “could not have been more warmly received. They wanted to boost tourism, they were keen for more people to come to Iran.” But then politics intervened.Over the past 15 years, under the presidencies of Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami, Iran had gradually opened up to the west. Most observers expected Rafsanjani to win again in June. But the election of Ahmadi-Nejad, running on a popular anti-corruption programme, instantly prompted “a great nervousness to be seen to be working too energetically with people from Britain”, says MacGregor. “From a strictly parochial view, it could not have happened at a worse time.” Even in the few weeks since the election, Iran’s relations with the west have noticeably deteriorated. Work has been restarted on Iran’s uranium enrichment plant in Isfahan, which many in the west take to be a sign that the country is developing a nuclear weapons programme.And then there were the London bombings of July 7. As a complementary show to the main galleries, there had been plans to display modern Iranian posters showing images of martyrs from the Iran-Iraq war, particularly the way in which they had borrowed from ancient iconography. A week after the bombings, MacGregor was uncertain, in light of the events, whether this small exhibition would go ahead; the museum has confirmed its cancellation, concerned that it would seem insensitive.Yet MacGregor reveals how difficult the decision was. The show, he says, would have shown how the regime in Tehran, during the war with Iraq, had “brilliantly managed to pull all these strands of national identity together. Martyrdom is a Shia tradition that has now been taken up by the Sunnis. How have people come to think that that kind of martyrdom is tied to religious and political purpose? It has never been more important for us to have that debate. We have got to try to understand it. It is no good saying they’re all mad.”That sense of the museum engaging with controversial issues is central to MacGregor’s conception of the British Museum. “What this is about is the extent to which this is an Enlightenment institution. The purpose of the Enlightenment museum was to generate a civic outcome. It changed the way people thought about society. It explored questions of religion. That was an absolutely mainstream Enlightenment role. In the 20th century, for some reason I don’t fully understand, most great museums withdrew from that role, and took on a more academic and aesthetic role. And it’s unclear how best to reconnect with those wider issues today.” This week’s exhibition opening was due to be attended by very senior figures from the Iranian government but MacGregor is not sure now if that will still happen.Culture bringing people together again, under the political radar. Could it be that the most important diplomatic encounter of the coming week takes place in a quiet corner of Bloomsbury, next to a 2,500-year- old statue of a black dog, testimony to a great period in history, sitting in silent witness to our fledgling attempts to establish a new one?
The Bible is full of praise for Persia

Abbas Milani, For Jews, there have always been two Irans, International Herald Tribune (THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2005).

The Bible is full of praise for Persia (today's much-maligned Iran) and for its rulers.
In the Book of Ezra, God speaks through the proclamations of Cyrus, the king of Persia, who declares, "The Lord God of Heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem."Cyrus acceded to this divine command, and thus was the Second Temple in Jerusalem built. In other parts of the Old Testament, there is ringing praise of Cyrus as God's "anointed" and the "chosen" ruler, who freed Jews from their Babylonian captivity.The Jewish feast of Purim celebrates the story of how Esther, queen to a Persian king, saved the Jews of the kingdom from annihilation.
But along with the benevolence of Cyrus and the wisdom of Esther, there also lurked on the horizon the evil vizier, Haman of the race of Agog, whose mind and heart were darkened by rancor and hate.Today, there sits in place of Cyrus one who has inherited not the magnanimity of Cyrus, but the malice of Haman: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who openly calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map."Even in the modern history of Iran, the two strands, one lofty and humane, the other base, have continued to thrive side by side. In 1941, as Hitler was beginning to put in motion his murderous "final solution," the Iranian government convinced Nazi "race experts" that Iranian Jews had lived in Iran for 2,500 years, were fully assimilated members of the Persian nation and must be afforded all the rights of Iranian citizens.The Nazis accepted the argument, and the lives of Iranian Jews residing in Europe were saved. Moreover, thousands of European Jews were saved when Iranian diplomats provided them with Iranian passports. And in the years after World War II, the Iranian government and people were exceedingly helpful - according to Israel's first ambassador to Iran - in facilitating the travel of hundreds of Iraqi Jews escaping persecution and heading for what was soon to be Israel.Iran in fact was the first Muslim country to de facto recognize Israel and established close ties that lasted till 1979.
But even then, the dread spirit of Haman was also in the air. As the Iranian government and many of its people were involved in helping Jews in their hour of need, there were also some ayatollahs who delivered fiery speeches against Jews, and against Israel. Clerical support for the oppression of Jews, which often hid its ugly head behind slogans against Zionism, began to emerge at the time.When Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, he became the standard-bearer of this tradition. He paid lip service to the idea that Jews would be treated as equals in Iran. Islam, after all, affords Jews many rights as "people of the book." But in fact, Jews were subjected to many cruel and unjust punishments. The first nonmilitary, nongovernmental person sent to the firing squad by the Islamic revolutionary courts was a Jew, Habib Elganian, a prominent Iranian businessman.In this sense, Ahmadinejad's shameful pronouncement about wiping the state of Israel off the map is more than another slip of tongue by a notoriously incompetent, loose-tongued president.
Historically it conjures the spirit of Haman; politically it is the continuation of a policy that does not reflect Iranian history and character but caters to the lunatic fringe of Iranian politics, and of the Muslim world.Ahmadinejad's comments must furthermore be seen in the context of the crisis the Islamic regime faces. For 25 years, the regime's cure for its own glaring incompetence has been to create a crisis. The European Union, particularly Britain, France and Germany, who had been for two decades dependable allies of the regime, has become increasingly estranged over Iran's nuclear adventurism and allegations of its support for terrorists in Iraq. Syria, the regime's only ally in the Middle East, is now politically on the ropes.The domestic crisis is no less serious. The economy is in shambles. The stock market has lost about a third of its total value; the banking sector is all but collapsing; $200 billion dollars of capital has left Iran since the election, and there is increasing acrimony between different factions within the ruling clergy. Ahmadinejad's dangerous rhetoric was meant to energize the "base" and prepare them for the coming battles.
The captive people of Iran, or the millions forced into exile by the regime, must not be held responsible for the sins of the ruling cabal. Instead we must try to find ways to help the Iranian people achieve their hundred-year-old dream of democracy. Only in a genuine democracy can the spirit of Cyrus be truly celebrated and the shadow of Haman expunged.

(Abbas Milani is director of the Iranian studies program at Stanford University and a co-director of the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution.)
History The region now called Iran was occupied by the Medes and the Persians in the 1500s B.C., until the Persian king Cyrus the Great overthrew the Medes and became ruler of the Achaemenid (Persian) Empire, which reached from the Indus to the Nile at its zenith in 525 B.C. Persia fell to Alexander in 331–330 B.C. and a succession of other rulers: the Seleucids (312–302 B.C.), the Greek-speaking Parthians (247 B.C.–A.D. 226), the Sasanians (224–c. 640), and the Arab Muslims (in 641). By the mid-800s Persia had become an international scientific and cultural center.

Geography Iran, a Middle Eastern country south of the Caspian Sea and north of the Persian Gulf, is three times the size of Arizona. It shares borders with Iraq, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
The Elburz Mountains in the north rise to 18,603 ft (5,670 m) at Mount Damavend. From northwest to southeast, the country is crossed by a desert 800 mi (1,287 km) long.

Population (2005 est.): 68,017,860 (growth rate: 0.9%)
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Teheran, 11,224,800 (metro. area), 7,893,700 (city proper)
Other large cities: Mashad, 2,061,100; Isfahan, 1,378,600; Tabriz, 1,213,400
Climate and whether Iran has vastly varying climates depending on the season, and the part of the country. Iran has a variable climate. In the northwest, winters are cold with heavy snowfall and subfreezing temperatures during December and January. Spring and fall are relatively mild, while summers are dry and hot. In the south, winters are mild and the summers are very hot, having average daily temperatures in July exceeding 38° C. On the Khuzestan plain, summer heat is accompanied by high humidity. In general, Iran has an arid climate in which most of the relatively scant annual precipitation falls from October through April. In most of the country, yearly precipitation averages 25 centimeters or less. The major exceptions are the higher mountain valleys of the Zagros and the Caspian coastal plain, where precipitation averages at least 50 centimeters annually. In the western part of the Caspian, rainfall exceeds 100 centimeters annually and is distributed relatively evenly throughout the year.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Real Islam





"Hejab is not a woman's dignity it is a woman's slavery."
http://www.homa.org/Details.asp?View=Detail&ContentID=2137352844&TOCID=2083225444
“Evil omen is in the women, house and the horse." - Prophet Mohammed
http://www.homa.org/default.asp?TOCID=2083225414

Humor: World Under Islam
The state will provide free entertainment every Friday in the form of lashings, beheadings and stonings - G-rated fun for the whole family....

Fairy Tales - by Parvin Darabi
Essays: Apparently God wanted to test Abraham¹s devotion to him so asks him to sacrifice his son Esmael for God. I used to be terrified thinking what if my father would be tested for his devotion to God? Would he kill me? What if the lamb never showed up? I would have nightmare about it. But then I would think that only boys were to be sacrificed and I would feel good for having been a girl.

Khomeini's Teachings on sex with infants and animals
"A man can have sexual pleasure from a child as young as a baby. However, he should not penetrate." - Khomeini (Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution)
Khomeini on Ablution
"If a man becomes aroused by a woman other than his wife but then has intercourse with his own wife, it is preferable for him not to pray if he has sweated; but if he first has intercourse with his wife and then with another woman, he may say his prayers even though he be in a sweat."
Khomeini on Woman and Her Periods
"If during an act of intercourse a man notices that the woman has begun mentruating, he must withdraw, if he fails to, he must give alms to the poor. If such a man cannot afford to give alms to the poor, he must at least give something to a beggar. If he cannot afford that either, he must ask forgiveness of God."
Farsi quotation from Khomeini's book "Tahrir-ol-Masael"
This is an excerpt in from Khomeinie's book Tahrir-ol-Masael, printed in Qum, Iran.
Khomeini's teachings on Adultery - original Farsi text

Ganji












Previous posts on Ganji:
http://individualfreedoms.blogspot.com/2005/07/akbar-ganji-10-1384-httpwww.html
http://individualfreedoms.blogspot.com/2005/07/freedom-for-akbar-ganji.html

جمعه 21 مرداد 1384
وضع وخيم گنجی و بی اعتنايیِ رسانه های آمريکا، راديو آلمان
http://mag.gooya.com/politics/archives/034576.php
Pictures: http://mag.gooya.com/politics/archives/034550.php

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Salman Rushdie


Muslims unite! A new Reformation will bring your faith into the modern era
Salman Rushdie August 11, 2005 Times Online
WHEN Sir Iqbal Sacranie, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, admitted that “our own children” had perpetrated the July 7 London bombings, it was the first time in my memory that a British Muslim had accepted his community’s responsibility for outrages committed by its members.
Rushdie urges Islamic reformation
BBC - Audio Interviews - Salman Rushdie
BBC Best LinkBiographical details and audio interview with the author of The Satanic Verses
Wikipedia: Salman Rushdie
Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia's article on 'Salman Rushdie'
Iran: Eight years of death threats: Salman Rushdie - Amnesty International
Guardian Unlimited Books Authors Rushdie, Salman
Biography
08:07 گرينويچ - پنج شنبه 11 اوت 2005
سلمان رشدی خواستار نگرش نوين در اسلام شد
سلمان رشدی، نويسنده هندی تبار بريتانيايی، در مقاله ای پيرامون گرايش خشونت آميز جوانان مسلمان خواستار انجام اصلاحات در عقايد اسلامی شده است. آقای رشدی، که به فتوای آيت الله خمينی، رهبر سابق جمهوری اسلامی، به مرگ محکوم شده است، در مقاله ای که در شماره روز پنجشنبه، 11 اوت، روزنامه تايمز منتشر شده است به وضعيت مسلمانان مقيم اين کشور پرداخته و وجود اعتقادات قديمی را باعث انزوا و بيگانگی فرهنگی و اجتماعی آنان و روی آوردن جوانان مسلمان به اقدامات خشونت آميز دانسته است. در اين مقاله که تحت عنوان "مسلمانان متحد شويد: اصلاحات جديد دين شما را به عصر نوين خواهد آورد" انتشار يافته، آقای رشدی اين نظر را مطرح می کند که برداشت جديد و گسترده تری از قرآن و اسلام می تواند به بهبود روابط بين مسلمانان و پيروان ساير جوامع منجر شود و از بروز بيگانگی در ميان جوانان مسلمان جلوگيری کند. وی گفته است که چنين نگرشی راه را بر رشد افراط گرايی از جمله عقايد گروه های جهادی می بندد و مانع از حوادثی مانند بمب گذاری های ماه ژوئيه سال جاری در لندن می شود که جوانان مسلمان مسئول آنها بوده اند. سلمان رشدی در اين مقاله می نويسد که مسلمانان در بخش هايی از بريتانيا زندگی جداگانه ای را دنبال می کنند و با بقيه جامعه ارتباطی ندارند. زندگی در انزوای اجتماعی و فرهنگی به گفته آقای رشدی احساس بيگانگی را در جوانان مسلمان ايجاد و تعميق می کند. سلمان رشدی توصيه می کند که مسلمانان بايد به اصلاحات در عقايد خود دست بزنند تا نه تنها با اعتقادات جهادی بلکه، به گفته وی، با جو غبار گرفته و خفقان آور مدارس طلبگی سنتگرايان مقابله کند و پنجره ای را به روی جوامع در خود فرو رفته بگشايند تا هوای تازه ای را تنفس کنند. وی معتقد است که بايد قرآن را به عنوان يک متن تاريخی و با ديدی نقادانه مطالعه کرد زيرا اعتقاد به بی نقص بودن اين کتاب مانع از هرنوع بررسی علمی و انديشمندانه آن شده است. سلمان رشدی در اين مقاله اظهار نظر می کند که قوانينی که در قرن هفتم ميلادی (زمان ظهور اسلام) تدوين شد بايد سرانجام جای خود را به باورهايی منطبق با ضروريات قرن بيست و يکم بدهد
نويسنده آيات شيطانی
وی با اشاره به شرايط مسلمانان در بريتانيا، اظهار نظر می کند که "اصلاحات در اسلام بايد در اينجا آغاز شود و مبنای آن بايد قبول اين ديدگاه باشد که تمامی عقايد، حتی عقايد مقدس، بايد همزمان با تغيير در واقعيات تحول يابد." سلمان رشدی نويسنده کتاب آيات شيطانی است که در سال 1988 انتشار يافت و در سال 1989 به صدور فتوای آيت الله خمينی عليه وی منجر شد. در اين فتوا، آيت الله خمينی اين نويسنده را به دليل اهانت به عقايد اسلامی به ارتداد متهم کرد و از مسلمانان خواست وی را به قتل برسانند. صدور فتوای قتل سلمان رشدی توسط آيت الله خمينی باعث شهرت جهانی رشدی شدسلمان رشدی در سال 1947 در خانواده ای مسلمان در شهر بمبئی، هند، به دنيا آمد و در سن 14 سالگی برای تحصيل به يکی از مدارس شبانه روزی بريتانيا فرستاده شد. خانواده آقای رشدی در سال 1965 به شهر کراچی پاکستان مهاجرت کردند. سلمان رشدی بعدا وارد دانشگاه کمبريج در بريتانيا شد و در رشته تاريخ به تحصيل پرداخت. نخستين کار ادبی وی انتشار رمان گريموس، اثری ملهم از تصوف اسلامی در سال 1975 بود که نام آن را از جابجا کردن حروف واژه سيمرغ گرفته بود. رمان بعدی وی به نام کودکان نيمه شب، برداشتی از وضعيت اجتماعی در هند است و رشدی نام آن را براساس فرازی از سخنرانی جواهر لعل نهرو، اولين نخست وزير هند پس از استقلال، انتخاب کرد. با اينهمه، انتشار کتاب آيات شيطانی و صدور فتوای قتل وی توسط آيت الله خمينی بود که اين نويسنده را به شهرت بين المللی رساند. گروهی از نويسندگان و متفکران در کشورهای مختلف صدور اين فتوا را مغاير حق برخورداری از آزادی بيان دانستند و آن را محکوم کردند. صدور فتوای قتل رشدی همچنين برای مدتی به تيرگی روابط سياسی بين جمهوری اسلامی و کشورهای غربی منجر شد و اين نويسنده را ناگزير کرد سال ها از بيم ترور به زندگی مخفيانه روی آورد. با وجود درگذشت آيت الله خمينی، مقامات دينی و سياسی جمهوری اسلامی با تاکيد بر اينکه هيچکس نمی تواند فتوای يک مجتهد را لغو کند، هنوز رسما اين فتوا را معتبر می دانند و گاه حتی برخی از گروه های تندرو خواستار پيگيری آن توسط مسلمانان در سرتاسر جهان شده اند. جديد ترين رمان سلمان رشدی با نام شاليمار دلقک، که قرار است به زودی منتشر شود، داستان يک نوجوان مسلمان است که يک روحانی تندرو او را تحت آموزش قرار داده تا به اقدامات تروريستی دست بزند
سلمان رشدی، نويسنده کتاب "آيات شيطانی"، برخورد مقامات دولت بريتانيا با توقف اجرای نمايشنامه ای را که پيروان آيين سيک آن را توهين آميز دانسته اند مورد انتقاد قرار داده و واکنش دولت را "ناکافی" خوانده است

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Persian Weblogs











Freedom in Farsi blogs
Tens of thousands of Iranians have embraced weblogs as a way to access the forbidden and challenge the sanctioned, writes N Alavi Monday December 20, 2004
Guardian Unlimited
http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/weblogs/story/0,14024,1377538,00.html
Article continues

Thursday, July 28, 2005

مطبوعات در دوره خاتمی

مفاهيمی نظير ملت، قانون، حاکميت ملی و استقلال، فرديت و حقوق شهروندی، عدالت و آزادی دست کم از زمان تاسيس دارالفنون در سال 1228 خورشيدی به اين سو، به مهم ترين دغدغه فکری روشنفکران و فعالان سياسی و البته حکومت های وقت بدل شده اند.
روزنامه ها و جمهوری اسلامی
سالی 'بدتر' از سالهای قبل برای مطبوعات ايران و مقايسه ای با ديگر کشورهای 'خطرناک'
ميثاقی که ضمانت اجرا ندارد، چه دردی را دوا می کند؟
روزنامه های تعطيل، روزنامه نگاران زندانی
آنچه در سال ۸۳ بر مطبوعات گذشت
روزنامه نگاران و روزنامه ها در آغاز ششمين سا ل حبس گنجی
مطبوعات ايران، روی ميدان مين
تداوم نقض آزادی بيان در ايران
گرينويچ 20/05/2003 ايران
قاضی مرتضوی تحت فشار
گرينويچ 20/07/2003 ايران
موسسه معتبر ايندکس که از فعال ترين نهادهای بين المللی در مبارزه برای آزادی بيان است، جايزه آزادی بيان سال 2003 را به هاشم آغاجری، محقق و استاد دانشگاه از ايران، و سه روزنامه نگار از کشورهای برمه، چين و تونس اهدا کرد.
اعضای پارلمان اروپا درقطعنامه ای گفته اند وضعيت حقوق بشر در ايران بخصوص در زمينه آزاديهای سياسی و بيان بدتر شده است. آنها در صورت ادامه اين روند خواستار طرح مساله در شورای امنيت سازمان ملل شدند.
آمبئی ليگابو، گزارشگر ويژه سازمان ملل متحد در امر آزادی عقيده و بيان در گزارشی که هفته آينده رسما در کميسيون حقوق بشر سازمان ملل متحد مطرح خواهد شد، از 'سرکوب سازمان يافته و ايجاد فضای رعب و حشت' در ايران خبر داده است.
يک سرويس دهنده آمريکايی که ارائه خدمات به خبرگزاری دانشجويان ايران، ايسنا را قطع کرده است، ارتباط اين اقدام با تحريم‌های بازرگانی دولت آمريکا را تاييد نمی کند اما نهادهای مدافع آزادی بيان در داخل و خارج از ايران، اين تصميم را دارای انگيزه‌های سياسی می دانند.

نتيجه جستجو برای بيان : 1672
BBC Persian
Gooya
نگاهی به رويدادها و وضعيت سينمای ايران در دوران رياست جمهوری محمد خاتمی
هشت سال نمايش
نگاهی به تئاتر ايران در دوران رياست جمهوری محمد خاتمی
هشت سال موسيقی ايرانی
نگاهی به تحولات موسيقی در دوران رياست جمهوری محمد خاتمی
پس از هشت سال
طنز در دوران قبل و بعد از خاتمی، از نگاه ابراهيم نبوی
هشت سال با خاتمی
مجموعه ای از گزارشها از عملکرد محمد خاتمی در دو دوره رياست جمهوری
جایگاه رسانه در دیدگاه اصلاح طلبان، عیسی سحرخیز
توسعه مطبوعاتی با تمام فراز و نشیب های آن یکی از دست اوردهای اصلی دولت خاتمی بوده است و افزایش کمی و کیفی مطبوعات غیرسیاسی و روزنامه نگاری حرفه ای به ویژه در زمینه های مختلف تخصصی در هیچ دوره ای از تاریخ ایران چنین پربار و شکوفا نبوده است. و در این میان تک ستاره هایی چون اکبر گنجی همواره انگشت شمارند ... [ادامه مطلب]

sex-change capital of the world!






This is a picture of the production guys from Spine Films who produced this very well-done documentary for TLC. It featured Elizabeth's FFS experience, as well as a small bit from yours truly. by duzdonna

A fatwa for freedom A fatwa for freedom

Maryam Molkara was a woman trapped in a man's body. She was also living under Islamic law in the Iran of Ayatollah Khomeini. Yet, as Robert Tait reports, her determination to confront the hallowed leader has made Tehran the unlikely sex-change capital of the world
Robert Tait
Wednesday July 27, 2005
Guardian
It could take something extraordinary to move the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini to issue a fatwa. The novelist Salman Rushdie did it by challenging the sanctity of the Prophet Mohammed in the Satanic Verses, provoking Iran's austere revolutionary leader into pronouncing the death sentence. For Maryam Khatoon Molkara it required the equally dramatic step of confronting Khomeini in person and proving, in graphic terms, that she was a woman trapped inside a man's body. Article continues

Iran's sex-change operations By Frances Harrison The BBC's Tehran correspondent

In a country that has outlawed homosexuality, Frances Harrison meets one Iranian cleric who says the right to a sex change is a human right.
He's surprised to learn in Britain a transsexual who's had a sex change operation cannot change his or her gender on their birth certificate.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4115535.stm Published: 2005/01/05 17:07:32 GMT
August 2, 2004 By NAZILA FATHI TEHRAN
Aug. 1 - Everything about Amir appears masculine: his broad chest, muscled arms, the dark full beard and deep voice. But, in fact, Amir was a woman until four years ago, when, at the age of 25, he underwent the first of a series of operations that would change his life. Since then he has had 20 surgical procedures and expects another 4. And Amir, who as a woman was married twice to men - his second husband helped with the transition and remains a good friend - is now engaged to marry a woman. "I love my life and I'm happy, as long as no one knows about my past identity," said Amir, who asked that his full name not be published. "No one has been more helpful than the judge, who was a cleric and issued the permit for my operation." After decades of repression, the Islamic government is recognizing that some people want to change their sex, and allowing them to have operations and obtain new birth certificates. Before the Islamic Revolution in 1979, there was no particular policy regarding transsexuals. Iranians with the inclination, means and connections could obtain the necessary medical treatment and new identity documents. The new religious government, however, classed transsexuals and transvestites with gays and lesbians, who were condemned by Islam and faced the punishment of lashing under Iran's penal code. But these days, Iran's Muslim clerics, who dominate the judiciary, are considerably better informed about transsexuality. Some clerics now even recommend sex-change operations to those who are troubled about their gender. The issue was discussed at a conference in Tehran in June that drew officials from other Persian Gulf countries. One cleric, Muhammad Mehdi Kariminia, is writing his thesis on transsexuality at the religious seminary of Qum. "All the clerics and researchers at the seminary encouraged me to work on the subject," he said in an interview. "They said that my research can help change the social stigma attached to these people and clarify religious decrees on the matter." One early campaigner for transsexual rights is Maryam Hatoon Molkara, who was formerly a man known as Fereydoon. Before the revolution, under the shah, he had longed to become a woman but could not afford surgery. Furthermore, he wanted religious guidance. In 1978, he wrote to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who was to become the leader of the revolution but was still in exile, explaining his situation. The ayatollah replied that his case was different from that of a homosexual and therefore he had his blessing. However, the revolution intervened and men like himself or those who had already changed their sex were harassed, even jailed and tortured. "They made me stop wearing women's clothes, which I had worn for many years and was used to," Ms. Molkara recalled. "It was like torture for me. They even made me take hormones to look like a man.'' It took him eight years after the revolution, in 1986, to get government permission to proceed with surgery. But he could not afford the surgery and did not have it until 1997, when he underwent a sex-change operation in Bangkok. The Iranian government covered the expenses. Four years ago, Ms. Molkara established an organization to help those with gender-identity problems. Co-founders include Ali Razini, head of the Special Court of Clergy, a branch of the judiciary that only deals with clerics, and Zahra Shojai, Iran's vice president for women's affairs. An Islamic philanthropic group known as the Imam Khomeini Charity Foundation has agreed to provide loans equivalent to about $1,200 to help pay for sex-change surgery. To obtain legal permission for sex-change operations and new birth certificates, applicants must provide medical proof of gender-identity disorder. The process can take years. It also involves considerable expense. In Tehran, the initial male-to-female surgery runs about $4,000. So far, Amir has spent $12,000 on medical procedures. The people who pursue this route come from many different backgrounds. Dr. Bahram Mir-djalali, one of Tehran's few sex-reassignment surgeons, said one of his patients had been a member of the Revolutionary Guards who served five years in the war with Iraq. His operation was paid for by a Muslim cleric he had worked for as a secretary. After the surgery, the man-turned-woman divorced, and then married the cleric. "When she came to see me years later, she was wearing a chador," the doctor recalled, referring to the black head-to-toe garb worn by religious women. "She took off the chador, and there was no sign of the bearded man I had operated on." But many who cannot deal with the legal and financial obstacles to a surgical solution have to deal with humiliation in their daily lives. One 27-year-old man said he ran away from home at the age of 14 because he did not dare tell his family of his urge to become a woman. He wants to be known as Susan and wears women's clothes at home but only emerges dressed that way at night. He says the constant need for secrecy has left him severely depressed, and he has attempted suicide several times. "I have suffered all my life,'' he said, constantly adjusting his long curly hair to cover his sideburns. "People treat me as though I have come from Mars. Women pull my hair and laugh at me on the street. Most men I am attracted to reject me." In a society where men enjoy a higher status than women, the stigma against any man who wants to be a woman is especially strong. "They compliment a girl who behaves and dresses like a man as a strong person, but they look down at us and despise us," said Assal, who was disowned by her father for having surgery to become a woman. Dr. Mir-djalali said he had to fight on many fronts to help more than 200 patients who had consulted him in the 12 years he had performed sex-change operations. Even if Iran's Muslim clerics are more understanding now of transsexuals' needs, others lag behind. "We have a problem even deciding at which hospital to do the surgery because society considers these people deviant," he said. "Hospital officials have reacted negatively because they say other patients do not like the looks of my patients." He said one patient's father pulled a knife on him in his office, and threatened to kill him if he touched his son. "What we really need to help these people,'' Dr. Mir-djalali said, "is a serious cultural campaign."
Some useful links:
تغيير جنسيت در ايران روحانيون ايران انتخاب جنسيت را حق بشر می دانند
از ديگر رسانه ها افزايش عمل های جراحی تغيير جنسيت در ايران؛ گزارشی از نيويورک تايمز