I Object!
When I read Shirin’s post, I tought it was an exaggeration of an isolated incident. Then there was this rabbi story at the airport, now this:
Religions, Civilizations and History do not belong exclusively to a peculiar tribe. All humans should be able to participate, get informed, get involved or ignore, even dislike.
I haven’t seen a Christmas in a Christian country for years and I might be unaware of some new phenomenon. It’s increasing commercialisation can be very annoying but the festive atmosphere is fun for all. Isn’t it better to participate, enjoy and learn about each other?
I don’t know about you, but on the eve of 25th I’ll be somewhere with a real tree and a not so real Santa Claus 
Update: If there is a flaw in the attitude toward this harmless tree, better correct the attitude rather than excommunicate the tree 
Update 2 by Dear Professor: In reality, Christmas is the archetypal multi-cultural Humanist feast: it was actually imported by Roman soldiers who had (re)discovered in ancient Persia the primal worship of the sacred Sun-Bull “Mithra”, the Iranian version of their own King-God Jupiter [the Pater/Fathir/Father of humankind].
PS. I have also learned this “updating” style from the Dear Professor
Nobel Peace Prize 2006
PPGG has posted the complete information about the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize. Here is a short version. If there is one story worthy of recitation, it seems to be the following. Thank you PPGG.
Gandhi once observed that “Poverty is the worst form of violence.” Peace and justice are inextricably linked. 2006 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the Bangladeshi economist and originator of the microcredit idea Muhammad Yunus, has given his Nobel Peace Prize lecture very much in this spirit.
“Poverty is the absence of all human rights. The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society… I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.”
The difference between his successful ground-up strategies and the failed developmentalist models of the past is that it empowers and places responsibility with the lender, mostly small groups of female borrowers who apply for small amounts of credit to invest in small business projects such as making soap.
His strategy and that of the Grameen Bank is the innovative and cooperative microfinance model…the Bank’s continued wonderful success on the ground in alleviating poverty and improving lives is thoroughly deserving of its plaudits. See also the Grameen Foundation.
See the 16 decisions of Grameen Bank
Excerpts from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture :
… By giving us this prize, the Nobel Committee has given important support to the proposition that peace is inextricably linked to poverty. Poverty is a threat to peace.
World’s income distribution gives a very telling story. 94% of the world income goes to 40% of the population while 60% of people live on only 6% of world income. Half of the world population lives on $2 a day. Over one billion people live on less than a dollar a day. This is no formula for peace. See Miniature Earth
The new millennium began with a great global dream. World leaders gathered at the United Nations in 2000 and adopted, among others, a historic goal to reduce poverty by half by 2015. Never in human history had such a bold goal been adopted by the entire world in one voice, one that specified time and size. But then came September 11 and the Iraq war … I believe terrorism cannot be won over by military action. … We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time to come. I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of the poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.
… Poverty is the absence of all human rights. The frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society.
I became involved because poverty was all around me. In 1974, I found it difficult to teach elegant theories of economics in the university classroom … I wanted to do something immediate to help people around me … That brought me face to face with poor people’s struggle … I was shocked to discover a woman in the village, borrowing less than a dollar from the money-lender, on the condition that he would have the exclusive right to buy all she produces at the price he decides. This, to me, was a way of recruiting slave labor … 42 victims (had) borrowed a total amount of US $27. I offered US $27 from my own pocket …
The excitement that was created among the people by this small action got me further involved in it. If I could make so many people so happy with such a tiny amount of money, why not do more of it?
That is what I have been trying to do ever since.
The first thing I did was to try to persuade the bank … to lend money to the poor… The bank said that the poor were not creditworthy… I offered to become a guarantor for the loans to the poor. I was stunned by the result. The poor paid back their loans, on time, every time! … I decided to create a separate bank … in 1983, I finally succeeded in doing that. I named it Grameen Bank or Village bank.
Today, Grameen Bank gives loans to nearly 7.0 million poor people, 97% of whom are women, in 73,000 villages in Bangladesh…housing loans have been used to construct 640,000 houses… We focused on women because we found giving loans to women always brought more benefits to the family.
… the bank has given out loans totaling about US $6.0 billion. The repayment rate is 99%. Grameen Bank routinely makes profit… 58% of our borrowers have crossed the poverty line.
It is 30 years now since we began. We keep looking at the children of our borrowers … Grameen Bank now gives 30,000 scholarships every year…There are 13,000 students on student loans. Over 7,000 students are now added to this number annually.
We are creating a completely new generation that will be well equipped to take their families way out of the reach of poverty. We want to make a break in the historical continuation of poverty…
We shall not live in dilapidate houses. We shall repair our houses and work toward constructing new houses at the earliest.
… Young people all around the world, particularly in rich countries, will find the concept of social business very appealing since it will give them a challenge to make a difference by using their creative talent. Many young people today feel frustrated because they cannot see any worthy challenge… Almost all social and economic problems of the world will be addressed … Healthcare, financial services, information technology, education and training and marketing for the poor, renewable energy − these are all exciting areas for social businesses …it addresses very vital concerns of mankind. It can change the lives of the bottom 60% of world population and help them to get out of poverty…
… Globalization … can bring more benefits to the poor than its alternative. But it must be the right kind …Globalization must not become financial imperialism.
We Create What We Want: …If we firmly believe that poverty is unacceptable to us, and that it should not belong to a civilized society, we would have built appropriate institutions and policies to create a poverty-free world … we can create a poverty-free world because poverty is not created by poor people. It has been created and sustained by the economic and social system that we have designed for ourselves…we built our theoretical framework on assumptions which under-estimates human capacity…
In a poverty-free world, the only place you would be able to see poverty is in the poverty museums. When school children take a tour of the poverty museums, they would be horrified to see the misery and indignity that some human beings had to go through…
Grameen has given me an unshakeable faith in the creativity of human beings. This has led me to believe that human beings are not born to suffer the misery of hunger and poverty.
Let us join hands to give every human being a fair chance to unleash their energy and creativity.
Von Goethe
These days I was busy reading Goethe, also reading about him. I also like quotes, here are a few from Von G.
It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it.
Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.
Everybody wants to be somebody; nobody wants to grow.
There is nothing so terrible as activity without insight. (This reminds me of this)
A person hears only what they understand.
There is no crime of which I do not deem myself capable.
We are never deceived; we deceive ourselves.
The senses do not deceive us, but the judgment does.
No one should be rich except those who understand it.
We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.
More light!
Everything has been thought of before, but the problem is to think of it again.
I do not speak of what I cannot praise.
The man of understanding finds everything laughable.
If you treat an individual… as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.
The little man is still a man.
Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.
Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.
The best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves.
Freedom consists not in refusing to recognize anything above us, but in respecting something which is above us; for by respecting it, we raise ourselves to it, and, by our very acknowledgment, prove that we bear within ourselves what is higher, and are worthy to be on a level with it
What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.
Political Correctness
My dear online friend Bluebear2, from the land of the Great Satan – is this enough as an ice breaker? – made a comment about his auto-censorship regarding a very innocent matter thinking that I might be offended.
If you have seen the Xmas in England post referring to Shirin‘s acute sense of observation and humor, you’ll get an idea of the ongoing distortion about “political correctness”.
As ordinary human being, we should agree to maintain some courtesy toward each other. I think life is more pleasant if we do so, though….
I hereby declare that I won’t be offended by any of your comments. I can take that much, and if I “moderate” any post, as I did before, it would be for totally impersonal reasons.
Xmas In England
Shirin wrote: This year in an attempt to build bridges between Christians and other faiths, celebrating Christmas openly has been frowned upon.
Oh yeah, that ought to do it! That is going to build bridges between faiths alright. Bridges that they can then cross to reach the people of other faiths…and kick their heads in!
-Why aren’t we having a Christmas tree this year Mummy?
-Well little Johnny, you know what a Muslim is?… read more
Living In A Documentary
I was 17 when I left Iran to study architecture in Paris. I was still there when the Iranian revolution occurred.
The first time I went back to Iran after the revolution was during the war. At this time Teheran was not under attack but the city seemed quite depressing. There were frequent blackouts, numerous check points and graffitis all over the walls. My parents have had to move from our house to a rented flat. The landlords/neighbors were a family from Esfahan, they were old acquaintances of my grandfather’s.
Both my parents had adapted themselves to their new life. My mother was, as always, very busy: she always had an open door to friends and many “protégé’s” to take care of. She was managing the shopping with the new “coupon” system. Sewing scarves and selling them in private was a new occupation.
My father’s style was different: He used to listen to the BBC news on the radio, go to bed and sleep after some reading … at about 6pm!! My mother used to say that he didn’t see a single evening in their new home! He would wake up very early, go to his office, whether there was something to do or not. He had a new camera, and photography was his new hobby.
It is always an intense moment when you go back to your homeland after a few years.
There was like a layer of dust and dirt all over the city. Obviously no one had cared to make any repair to their houses in recent years. Insides of building were as gloomy as the outsides.
The society had a totally new organization and people I knew had undergone almost the whole spectrum of possible adjustments.
I discovered that A was an active revolutionary, he had already served in the front of the new war and now had a good position in some ministry. My 13 year old cousin, who wanted to go to the front, was send to Europe by his parents, while S was proud of his son’s martyrdom. A street nearby was named after a young student in Europe, who returned to Iran at the beginning of the war to defend his country. He was killed as soon as he arrived to the war zone. My best friend’s father had fled the country through the mountains of Kurdistan after a year of hiding. R had obtained a very good position in another governmental office, N was taking paying passengers on his car while going forth and back between his first and second job. Many had left the country, many intended to do so. Conversations were mainly about the latest news, the new laws, and endless speculations about the future. Each one was eager to tell you his or her story, fears or hopes.
A French friend asked me on the phone what was life like in Teheran, I told her it was like living in a documentary.
Although I was happy to be home, it was way too different from life in Iran as I knew it. I was eager to leave and resume the life I was accustomed to. At that time, I just couldn’t stand that much tension. On the day of my departure, I was inflicted by some strange virus, its symptom was absolute tiredness. Planes were full, and delaying my departure meant to postpone it for an unknown date in a few weeks. I almost crawled to the airport, and as soon as I was in Paris I crawled again into a café. I really needed to feel some “normal life”, freedom or happiness. It was a sunny day and people were sitting outside.
I realized that I didn’t see many happy faces around me. I thought god, look at all that they (and I) have here … it was all taken for granted, and we didn’t seem to do much with it.
Newsha
Newsha Tavakolian has been selected as a 2006 All Roads Photography Program award-winner for her photo essay entitled Iran: Women in the Axis of Evil.
The All Roads Film Project is a National Geographic initiative supporting powerful first person storytelling by indigenous and minority culture filmmakers and still photographers.
Newsha, 25, has been working as a photographer in the Iranian press since she was 16. In 2002 she started to work internationally, covering Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. She feels strongly about women’s issues in the Middle East, a focal point of her work.
She is represented by Polaris images in New York, USA.
Kurdish bride
Her Words:
I hope my pictures inspire people to get involved.
The Reality of Pakistan: “I am sitting in my house in Tehran watching ‘Sex and the City’ on a DVD, which sometimes can make you really happy in this town. Later, when the news starts, there is a report on an earthquake in Pakistan. At the same time my phone rings. It’s J.P. Pappis from Polaris Images, my agency. He asks if I can go cover the earthquake in Pakistan… “
Images of Iran: Aiding the Stereotypes: “… Iranian artists should be original and not produce art only with the aim of pleasing western audiences. Art lovers and development organizations in the West should take more daring steps in promoting Iranian art. They should look beyond famous names and good reputations, and pay attention to the thousands of young artists who are ready to show their point of view. Give them the freedom to be as original as they can be.
Try it. You might be surprised.”
Zoom sur l’Iran: an interview with Newsha
Photos of Iran, Iraq and Pakistan
Persian Literature & The West, Part VI
Where Nietzsche speaks about the Persian notion of history and cyclical Eternal Time, he writes: “I must pay tribute to Zarathustra, a Persian, for Persians were the first who thought of history in its full entirety.”…”It was much more fortunate if Persians became masters (Herr) of the Greeks, than the very Romans.”
Goethe‘s admiration for Hafez and his “Oriental” wisdom has been the main source of attracting Nietzsche’s interest in this Persian poet.
The first western country who began to study the Iranian literature and appreciate it was Germany. The German scholars were in touch with Persian literature and poetry through the translation of Sa’adi’s Gulistan and Bustan in 17th century.
Germany acquired a far better appreciation and understanding of the East than France and England. The scholars and poets of Germany were looking for inspiration from other sources than those offerd by Greek classics and mythology. They studied with zeal the literature of the East.
Forwarded Email
The History Channel will be airing a program entitled:
Engineering an Empire: The Persians
9 pm Eastern Standard Time on Monday, December 4th, 2006
9 pm Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, December 05, 2006
For further details please see here
The program will be hosted by Peter Weller. A number of historians will be interviewed, including Professor Patrick Hunt of Stanford University and Professor Llwellyn-Jones of the University of Edinburgh.
I too will make a humble appearance on the History Channel program, where I will be asked to address topics pertaining to the Achaemenid military, the Persian Gardens of Cyrus the Great and the gigantic bridge of Xerxes connecting Asia and Europe. Other exciting topis will include Partick Hunt’s discussion of how city-palace of Persepolis was built.
See you on the TV program on December 4…
Regards
Dr. Kaveh Farrokh
University of British Columbia – Continuing Studies
Stanford University – WAIS (World Association of International Studies) member
Member of Iran Linguistics Society
Historical Consultant to History Channel……….. Thanks again Alborzi.com
Articles by Dr. Farrokh, source wikipedia:
- The Alexander Movie: How are Iranians and Greeks Portrayed?
- Iranian Now-Ruz (New Year), Nissanu, and the 365 day Year
- Pan-Arabism’s Legacy of Confrontation with Iran
- British Arabism and the Bombings in Iran
- Pan-Turanianism Takes Aim at Azerbaijan: A Geopolitical Agenda
- Dr. Farrokh was to have the above article published as a comprehensive textbook, however decided to … post the entire text along with 300 rare photos for free on the internet.
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