Speak to the point

For once the International media reported the adoption of the resolution on the human rights situation in Iran, and they even reported a few sentences of the statement of the Iranian Ambassador. However, they omitted to say that rather than trying to respond to the criticism that was included in the text,
Mr. Khazaee, aside from attacking Canada for its widespread (!) human rights violation, went on and on about the Goldstone report and about Israel and Palestine.

Far from me to want here to dismiss the Goldstone report, I just want to point out that Mr. Khazaee, his superiors, and his inferiors (who probably drafted the statement) should listen to the Iranian people.

Rap around the elections

Many unsual (and good) things have happened with the elections, here's one I could not but post:

Whisper

I went back to an old CD of mine that I love: Mohammad Reza Aligholi's Earth Whisper and particularly it's track with Rahim Moazzen Zadeh Ardabili's azan.

It is strange how the call to prayer can raise diverse feelings. A friend of mine was recently telling me how it brought back a sentiment of oppression. I remember in Sudan, where mosques were being built at literally every corner thanks to Saudi money and every morning it felt like 2-3 guys we shouting in your ears from different sides of your bed, it certainly was not spiritually uplifting.

But this one is different, and it is not only an azan:




not really a shōmyō either...

Breathe in

Out of the Calif's chest

It seems that our Minister of Foreign Affairs has been learning melodrama: his speech, or rather the opening of his speech at the Human Rights Council last Tuesday was quite well orchestrated: he goes to the Podium, pauses, drinks a glass of water, clears his throat, straightens his goatee, pauses again, makes a reference to the heart-breaking individual case of a six-months old infant and then asks for a minute of silence.

And then he makes yet another bold move: requests that during this minute of silence Muslims in the room recite the "fatehe" and starts reciting it under his breath (and it can be slightly heard in the microphone).

(this year, the webcast is a little less practical, so to watch it, you need to go here, then choose the morning session and then go more than 3/4 into the webcast).

Perhaps he was competing with Mr. Ahmadinejad's halo a couple of years ago.

Aside from his blatant untruthfulness concerning Iran's human rights record in the rest of his speech there are a couple of points that can be raised and are a clear reflection of the behaviour of this government:

Firstly, he uses the Persian pronunciation of an Arab word, and therefore refers to "ghazzeh" (instead of Gaza), so that most people, I am sure, must have been wondering what he is talking about;

but more importantly announces that he sacrifices a minute of his speech and then speaks for 20 minutes instead of the allotted 10, thus, in fact, taking 10 minutes of the time of the following speakers.

In Persian one would say that he is making a donation out of the Caliph's chest.

Davos, bis and worse

OK, one more on Davos and then I stop, but there is no way I cannot reiterate how anything can be said and not be challenged, I really wonder what the point is.

Or is it perhaps the Open Forum? Because, I must admit that when Mr. Mottaki and Mr. Hashemi Shajareh had to face Mr. Khalilzad, things were quite different, although the latter go some heat for it afterwards, it seems.

But lo and behold, it was truly painful to hear yet another time Ayatollah Hadavi:

" I suggest it, if the is a group of expertise in human rights, they come and they evaluate the human rights situation in Iran and in the United States and give a neutral report about the situation and you can say the human rights situation in Iran is worse than the human rights in the United States, I would like you to do this, because some of the Americans have done it before and they say that the human rights situation in the United States is worse than the human rights situation in Iran. I am not saying so, a Jewish professor in the United States said it in 2004."

The name of that famous professor will remain forever unknown... and, of course, we will completely overlook all of the UN human rights reports made by experts...

Unanswered in Davos

Mr. Khatami was once more invited to Davos for the World Economic Forum. This time he spoke at the Open Forum.

He has certainly succeeded in establishing himself as one of the darlings of the West and a kind of moderate Muslim cleric that can be talked to.

However, the most painful of all is to hear him make statements such as (I changed a little the words of the translator to make it more accurate):

"But if the intervention of religion in political life would mean to limit life, or if religion would not appreciate the human values, or would like to take away from men freedom which is one of the greatest benedictions of God, that kind of religion and interference would be a loss and the society would never accept it."

or "In the Islamic revolution people demanded freedom, independence and progress based on religion. And this is why an Islamic Republic was established. An Islamic Republic means a democratic government, where women are free, there is freedom of thought, the elections would establish the power, etc. and because people are Muslim the religious values should be present, but these religious values should not contradict these basis."

or "I don't think that in Iran anyone is prosecuted because of his religious beliefs, and if he is, this is wrong."

and that no one can (or wishes to) ask him: Mr. Khatami, you were President of Iran for 8 years, how come these lofty statements were nowhere to be implemented then?

A sober reality check

Once again, I am too late for my posts... Last week, Mrs. Ebadi was in Paris saying how US sanctions were bad and Mr. Ganji wrote an Op-Ed in the Washington Post finally explaining why US money was so bad. But then, a friend sent me this and it takes us away from all the rethorics of human rights to what day to day life means in Iran ... particularly if you try to stand up for your rights, whether you be a woman, or part of any other group that would make you less good than the average.

Nostalgia

Thanks to this blogger, I found many of Dariush's songs on YouTube.

Perhaps it is because I recently saw a friend I had not seen for a long time, but listening to those songs brought back a lot of nostalgia and memories and -- sadly -- I felt the following had to be posted:



buye gandom male man, har tchi ke daram male to -- the smell of wheat is mine, all that I have is yours. The song was at the time of the Shah and granted Dariush some time in prison, I believe. The video seems to have been revisited, since it also shows a few clerics -- says quite a bit about our country and its successive leaders, doesn't it?

Too painful not to post...

... and yet I could not put the video itself on the blog either, so here's the link.

The other gory part, I hear, is that apparently one of the two "interrogators" is now a broadcaster in an IRIB weekly programme.

Shajarian's successor?

I found this great video on this blog and could not but post it, to me the best part is when the little boy sings along with Shajarian. Enjoy!

PS: looks like the video is no longer available online. This blogger and this one, have it posted on their sites.

Iran Africa Video