Kamangir (Archer)

Kamangir | June 15, 2006 | Category Iran

Fars reports that the largest flower basket of the world was built in the national flower day in Iran.

Confiscating the Movement

Kamangir | June 15, 2006 | Category Iran

Last week Tehrani women’s peaceful protest was crushed by Police forces, even before it ever started. Actually, it was very well expected. Because the Iranian administration has shown that different voices are not tolerated. However, the new incident revealed another unacceptable approach in the Iranian political atmosphere.

Iranian Women and Fashion

Kamangir | June 14, 2006 | Category Iran

Fighting Over the Last Imam

Kamangir | June 14, 2006 | Category Iran

Jamkaran Mosque is claimed to be one of the last places Imam Mahdi was seen.

A central idea to the Shia version of Islam is the belief in the existence of the Imam of the time (Persian: امام زمان, implicitly meaning the Imam of always). According to Shia doctrine when the prophet passed away the leadership of the Islamic world, both the government and the spiritual authority, were left to his son in law Ali. After him, who was killed by an extremist Muslim, Shias believe in a hierarchy of Imams from Hassan, Ali’s Son, and then Hossein, Ali’s other son. The chain follows from father to son, making a total of eleven Imams all killed in the hands of other Muslims, or even their own family members. Then, described as a divine trick to save the glorious chain of Imams, God hides his last Imam, Mahdi. Shias believe that Mahdi will return to earth and with Jesus fighting for him he will bring peace and justice to the earth.
As it is the case for any old mystical story, there are handful of books written about Imam Mahdi, whom is supposed to be living among us right now. The half official half folklore stories suggest even details such as the woman who has a mustache and attempts to kill Imam. Aside from this stories the concept of the hidden Imam has been the source of many troubles in the Islamic world, or at least in Iran that I know.
Being the last, and the only, representative of God on the earth, connection to Mahdi is an oil well. During the time which has passed from his disappearance many people have claimed to have been communicating with the hidden Imam. And always there are people who accept the claims and follow. Furthermore, there are always “miracles” happening here and there. Like disabled people who are known to have been sitting on wheelchairs for life and then stand up and run when touched by the “divine force” which initiates from the hidden imam through the connection made by an earthly man. The interesting part of these stories is that the administration denounces them because they are serious threats to the “government which is an introduction to Imam Mahdi’s worldly revolution” (an official sentence). So, soon after somebody claims communication to Imam Mahdi the authorities perform an extensive investigation and the results are announced to distract those who had believed in the “hoax”. In one incident the authorities found out that a woman who was claiming to have connection to Imam Mahdi, based on the incident of a disabled man being cured instantaneously, was actually a part of a big conspiracy. They found that the man had pretended to be disabled for couple of months to be prepared for the majestic moment when he was touched. However, this doesn’t mean that all the people who claim to have a connection with Imam Mahdi are arrested. At least one of the top Iranian Clerics claimed that he asks Imam’s opinion on political affairs through a teenager boy who had memorized the Quran. The same man once claimed that the members of the new parliament were all approved by his Excellency.
For an administration which calls its leader as the “true deputy of the Imam of the time” it is not affordable to let outsiders attach themselves to its important source of legitimacy. If you know Persian read this article and follow the links to read more (see). Briefly, Baztab, a website close to the Iranian intelligence, writes that the followers of Grand Ayatollah Hasani (Persia: آيت‌الله سيدمحمود الحسني) have stoned the Iranian embassy in Iraq. The people are reported to have been angry with the way an Iranian television channel had described their spiritual leader as the one “who can not be followed and should be trailed”. Baztab writes that Hasani, who has been studying in a religious school in Qom, has left Iran for Lebanon at the beginning of US-led invasion to Iraq. Then, bringing lots of money and satellite phones, which Baztab tries to implicitly say were supplied from Israelis, he begins preaching and claiming that he is Seiied Iamani, one of the pro Mahdi figures whom are mentioned in the books as the introduction of his return. Then, in Friday prayers in Tehran and a few other cities black-wearing Iraqis shout “Hey Muslims! Seiied Iamani has arrived, Help him!”. All being arrested by the authorities, Baztab reports that they were followers of Hasani.
The administration condemned the claim and top clerics named Hasani as a liar. They referred to Shia literature which suggests that anyone who claims communication to the last Imam is lying. Iranian clerics and the Iraqi cleric Sistani stated “anyone who claims regular communication with Imam Mahdi is Dajjal [another character in the stories who is supposed to oppose the Imam]“. One of them concludes “communication with the Imam is only available to God’s special people [means those who refrain from sins and purify their faith] and is very rare. However, those who do meet him never mention it publicly [meaning thats not something you would show off, because it is a deep spiritual experience for only the one who is engaged in it]“.
Emphasizing Sistani’s “illiteracy” Baztab uses a very offensive language to describe Hasani and his followers. To me the whole story has a very simple meaning; Mahdi is ours and ours only and we will not share him with anyone else.
Azadeh always reminds me that the Islamic literature suggests that when Mahdi returns he burns many mosques and kills numerous clerics because they have changed God’s message. I am not a believer but I think the one who has invented all these stories, God or human, had imagined the gold mine he has been presenting to the world.

“How To Encourage Muslims to Kill Each Other”

Kamangir | June 13, 2006 | Category Iran

I accept that I have been recently criticizing Muslims. I also accept that for many Muslims, whom hopefully are not internet users, asking a question about Islam is equivalent to ultimate insulation and deserves no toleration. However, I have never been interested in “encouraging Muslims to kill each other”.
I was checking Kamangir’s counter when I saw somebody has entered Kamangir after searching for “how can we encourage muslims to kill each other” in Yahoo! (see).
I really denounce this. Yet, I am thinking about those devil minds who search the internet for answers to their sneaky questions. I think Internet is basically bad. Just think of all those porn webpages here and there. Search for anything like “phone” (see) or “wish” (see) in Google Image and see how much disinformation exists in the Internet. And yet you are reading all this. Close this window and get a life!
p.s. I have just finished revising a paper and applying the corrections and so I am kind of crazy. Sorry for this.

Irans Warns EU on Human Right Issues

Kamangir | June 13, 2006 | Category Iran

Islamic Republic warned the EU for matters regarding to human rights. In a note sent from the ministry of foreign affairs to EU violations of human rights in France were denounced. In the letter these items were listed, fights in the streets [probably means Police attacking civilians], military presence in some cities, problems with the workers’ law, attacks to Sorbonne University, embarrassing situations in the prisons, extreme violence by the Police, torture, prisoner mistreatment, policies against immigrants, and embarrassing social and judicial conditions. Also, UK is denounced for the increase in violation of human rights. (see)
p.s. It is not a joke.

Political Animal

Kamangir | June 13, 2006 | Category Iran

A few weeks ago the member of parliament from Jiroft, Kerman Province announced that a tribe has been recently found in the mountains of his district. When reporters visited the people, now known as Piden Quid (Persian: پیدن کوئید) which is the name of the closes named region to their living place, they were astonished when saw how primitively these people were living. None of them has ever seen an automobile and they do not know rice and fruits. Mehr News Agency’s reporter also writes “these people share two bodily signs; scalds and misshaped hands and feet. We learned that as they live in a very cold area they have to sleep close to fire and very frequently they get burned. Also, as they live in mountains they are very prone to falling from rocks and with no medication available there is no chance for being cured” (see). The people seem to know nothing about God and divinity but know how to slaughter sheep toward Mecca (to become Halal), because they are told that heaven is that way. And amazingly these people have birth certificates.
In the Iranian law a birth certificate is a booklet of a few pages. The first page is for the day and location of birth and also has the parents’ names on it. The second page is for marriage and divorce and the third and the fourth pages are for social affairs such as elections. In any election people who vote get their birth certificates stamped to stop people from voting twice. In the second picture the man is showing his birth certificate with six stamps on it. So, this primitive man, whom can not count to ten, has deliberately decided and voted six times.

Red Bull

Kamangir | June 12, 2006 | Category Iran

Photographs are form Kosoof (see). Titled “a protest which was decided to be peaceful” he writes

my body aches. Very much. Not because of what you see here. Because of what I saw and there is no picture of them.

A blogger one asks “if the ones who were beating women on the face and spraying them with gas were really women” (see). Another blogger suggests Red Bull to become the sponsor for the Iranian Police. More photos here (see) (see).

More Photos

Kamangir | June 12, 2006 | Category Iran

The text reads, “women condemn all types of discrimination”.
More pictures from today’s protest. The link to the images may be found here (see). Note that all these pictures are taken by participants or brave photographers whom accepted the risk of being arrested.
p.s. Yesterday there was a gay parade here.

Women’s Rights

Kamangir | June 12, 2006 | Category Iran

Photograph is taken from today’s protest in Tehran. The women in Chador and the one in dark green uniform, with baton, are members of Police. Couple of protesters were arrested, many others wounded.

No to Women

Kamangir | June 12, 2006 | Category Iran

Today’s protest in Tehran was violently suppressed. Women were handcuffed and teargassed by female Police members. Lady Sun writes,

One of my friends who was in an office near Hafte Tir square [the protests designated location] told me in yahoo messenger that there were a lot of policewomen with teargas. They had also red sprays to put on women, so that they would be recognized in case of escaping. She also said that the event was badly organized and not a single location in the big square was selected from before. So people were scattered in different parts of the square. She said some people were taken to jail and some people were taken to hospitals (see).

This is the announcement for the protest signed by four female Noble Prize winners plus hundreds of other men and women form inside and outside the country,

We, the undersigned, would like to express our support for Iranian women in their continued struggle to gain equal rights under the civil and penal codes of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Specifically, we support Iranian women in their peaceful protest scheduled for June 12, 2006 demanding the end to all forms of legal discrimination and changes to the following laws: Banning of polygamy; equal divorce rights Equal child custody rights for mothers and fathers; Equal rights in marriage (like women’s right to choose her own employment, travel freely, etc); Increase in the legal age of children to 18 years of age (currently girls are viewed as adults at 9 years of age and boys at 15 years of age, making them eligible to be tried as adults); Equal value placed on women’s testimony in court; and Elimination of temporary work contracts which disproportionately and negatively impact women. (see)

 

 

Persian bloggers speak about their experiences (see) (see) (see). More Persian news are here (see). Picture is from last year’s protest.

Trip to Qazvin

Kamangir | June 10, 2006 | Category Iran

Ahmadinejad visited Qazvin Province and was greeted passionately by the people. I would suppose that this girl is declaiming something like “you are the last hope of the poor”.Many people gathered to listen to his speech. The red sign reads “America can not do a damn thing”.
Some had nice comments for him. The banner reads “I hope you became president earlier”. There were also others whom had problems to talk about with the president. These banners all claim that those who work for the a newly privatized company in the region have not been paid for seven to twelve months.After all, many see Ahmadinejad as the one has come to give them the life they deserve.
Some others also think this a good chance for them. While being deprived from many worldly possessions many of those whom fought in the “holy” war with Iraq can not tolerate women wearing tight jeans. For them Ahmadinejad is the cure to immodesty. Or at least an insider.Ahmadinejad goes home happy. Though, I am not sure if he can afford all of the promises he made. For the time being, people are hopeful and also proud and he is in power. A Persian proverb says “we will think about tomorrow when it comes” (Persian: Ú†Ùˆ فردا شود فکر فردا کنیم).

Handicrafts Exhibition

Kamangir | June 10, 2006 | Category Iran

Handicrafts Exhibition in Tehran.

Mexico

Kamangir | June 10, 2006 | Category Iran

I know nothing about soccer but it seems these Mexican angels/devils have a serious plan for Iran.

New Media in The Middle East: Pros And Cons

Kamangir | June 9, 2006 | Category Iran

I would like to begin from Salam’s last sentence: “Here is a question, how do you get supporters of George Bush and Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad to chat on the same blog?” (see). I find this sentence very interesting, not only because of the meaning it carries, but also for the attention it pays to the details of the Iranian president’s name. You can either write Ahmadinejad or Ahmadi-Nejad, and they both refer to the same political figure. However, the later carries more details (1) and I would say it is not the way the news is treated these days. Nobody seems to like details about politics, because we can’t digest all the details about all the affairs in the world, unless it is about celebrities. What we like, or have been trained to like, is caricatures who are categorized into those we like and those we hate. As you may know, Ahmadinejad lost his father very recently. I was looking at the pictures of the funeral and the service and I was thinking, Is this the man many people are afraid of? Can the very same man who gets inside his dad’s grave to arrange the last-minute details (the Iranian traditions of burial are vastly different from the western ones) also carry the switch for launching nuclear missiles to end the world? Then I asked myself: What could put an ordinary man like him in the spotlight and make him the new Adolf Hitler?

I am not trying to give an innocent picture of Ahmadinejad. I am just remembering that, at the end of the day, every politician goes home and has dinner with his family. But that’s not what we see in the media. Nobody is really interested in looking at Ahmadinejad as an ordinary man who is (wrongly in my opinion) frustrated about some things and, I say naively, gets ordinary people excited about their “legitimate rights.” I was born in Iran and grew up in a secular family. However, I went to schools which were controlled by the Islamist administration, just like all other schools in the country. So, while criticizing the administration for some of their behaviors, still I was basically absorbed into the atmosphere in which I was living. When I look back, what the administration did to me - and tries to do to the others now - was to alienate the “enemy.” Because, when you start to think that both sides in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are human beings with whom you can shake hands, then you can not go out and shout, “Death to Israel.” I think this is what the main stream media are doing today, for a somewhat different cause (see Russell’s piece for example). It seems that we all agree upon the point that the mainstream media should not be left alone to shape the world. Why? Because, they care for the American Idol contest probably more than they care for the Darfur crisis. And given their business model, that’s obviously exactly how it must be; hundreds of millions of rich North Americans -well, compared to people who live in Darfur - like that contest. When the media fail, obviously it’s our turn! So, Bloggers of the World, Unite! I am afraid this may not be as simple as it may first seem to be. Assume that we want to arrange a blog for pro-Ahmadinejad people to talk to those who prefer Bush. Obviously, there are several practical problems before such a conversation could take place. Firstly, there is the language barrier. An Iranian who is writing an English blog, who has the necessary language skills, is probably living outside Iran. I know of only one English blog written by an Iranian sympathetic to the Iranian administration, though in a very limited sense. So, the first problem, at least for the Iranian-American blog, is to find people to talk. The actual pro-Ahmadinejad bloggers I know, members of the Islamic Blogger Society (see), may even prefer Arabic to English. And we have not even considered the strict filtering policies of the Iranian administration yet. I do not think a blog critical of the bases of the government could be tolerated by many Middle-Eastern regimes, including Iran. Even assuming that the blog keeps on going and good discussions arise, there is the problem of finding audiences. Again, the one who reads English fairly well is not the exact target of this movement. I am assuming nobody would even think about the contents of such a blog being relayed on national television. Hence, I would change Keith’s sentence (see): “In a region so often haunted by fear and and tension, will the new media trends be a force for good or for evil?” I would change it to: “I am afraid in a region so often haunted by fear and tension, the new media trends may not be such powerful forces.” But so what? Does that mean we should close our blogs and try to find something else to do with our leisure time? I don’t think so. I agree with Lisa (see) that bloggers can help people find what is wrong with the “tabloids and the nightly news.” However, I am not optimistic that blogs are the “golden means for a world-wide conversation.” At least not now. What’s the good side of blogging? After all, I like blogging. It is an open discussion with people who come from very different backgrounds. And the discussion is held in an atmosphere where everything is written in “10pt Verdana.” This means mutual respect and equality as Russell also suggests (see). Furthermore, I like the written discussion, because everything is documented and very easily referred to. I always miss this aspect when I am engaged in an oral discussion. But I do not agree with Tarek (see) that “agreement on basic principles” is a serious problem. Basically, the main issue is not whether Iran can have nuclear arsenal or not. When we try to follow a logical path we find ourselves very frequently faced with an abstract question like, “Can some people invade another country because they believe that piece of land is theirs?” To my experience, if people accept the common sense, nothing more than 1+1=2, the discussion ends in peace. (1) The term Nejad, literally means ethnicity, comes at the end of many Persian last names. I know no similar postfix in English names. The actual name is written in Persian as two parts, exactly like how Salam wrote it.

Behind the Bars

Kamangir | June 8, 2006 | Category Iran

I wonder if the organizers of Ahmadinejad’s trip really intend to humiliate Iranians. Pictures taken during Ahmadinejad’s visit to Qazvin Province.

Red Crescent in Alert

Kamangir | June 8, 2006 | Category Iran

Mr President is having a visit to Qazvin Province. During his speech the Red Crescent was very busy taking care of those who passed out.

Muslims Who Kill

Kamangir | June 8, 2006 | Category Iran

This post contains discussions about Islam that may seem to be offensive by some people.

With apologizes to my friend whom was very offended by the sentences I quoted from her the beginning part of this text is shortened. I should emphasize that the character described in that post has nothing to do with the real identity of my friend.

Seventeen Muslims are caught in Ontario for planning to blow up public buildings and shooting ordinary people in the streets. Mike has a very obvious question “they are Canadians! Why would they do this to their own people?” Azadeh and I can’t help him to understand that being Canadian doesn’t mean respecting Canadians. Furthermore, what if those people do not accept the term “Canadian” as anything more than a word on their passports. I would understand if they think they belong to the majestic “nation of Islam”. Mike then asks “this is like blowing up your home because you dislike some people who live there”. Again, I understand if these people feel no connection with the country in which women walk in the streets with their skirts up to their knees. I think what Mike doesn’t understand is the existence of the supreme land to which some people are belonged. For them Canada or Iran or any other terrestrial piece of land is just clay, a burden to reach to the high vicinity of divinity.
Azadeh and I have been recently engaged in a discussion with another friend about non-disputable facts. Basically, we have been thinking if there is anything which is final and have to be obeyed at any circumstance. Thinking about love, sacredness of life, objection to torture and a couple of other things we did not find anything which can be categorized as non-disputable. Then, after Azadeh and I talked about the new arrests and then we talked with Mike, Azadeh called me with this strange sentence from a Muslim, “I think the only non-disputable fact for me is the fact that nothing is non-disputable”. I don’t think many Muslims share the same idea.
What’s the solution? Who is responsible?
Every morning I see junk emails mostly including messages of hope and indication of family values in my mailbox. Sometimes there are pictures of breath-taking natural scenes or strange events in the emails, too. Yet, I have never seen such an email which denounces Muslim terrorists sent by a Muslim fellow. I have not seen or heard one single clergy man issuing a fatwa to denounce terrorism. I have not seen any Islamic institution saying “you can not attack people even if they are insulting the bases of Islam”. Regretfully, it is exactly opposite. Clergy men encourage overreactions. They bless people who are killed when attempting to kill this offender or to blow up that institute which has commented on Islam.
I would say, Islam is seriously ill. When you see more and more news about followers of a religion attempting to kill people my understanding is that there is something wrong with that religion. I do agree that some western media exaggerate the facts. Yet, the event of even one single incident in which a Muslim attempts to kill another human being because he has been mistreating the sacred Islamic values is a matter of shame. While there is even one Muslim terrorist in the world I see no point for asking Allah for acceptance of our prayers. To my understanding, Muslims who do not denounce those who use Islam as a justification of terror are personally involved in the crime.
Just Imagine what would happen if a groups of Jewish people were caught planning to blow up a building in Iran. What if there was information about Jewish conspiracies to shoot people in Tehran. Wouldn’t any of us, Iranians, ask the first Jewish man we saw in the street what the hell was happening?
I remember when the day after 9/11 attacks some people gathered in Mohseni Square and held candles for sympathy with the victims. The humanistic side of the event was so touching that the voice was even heard in the west. Regretfully, there was news that Police stopped the protest.
I regret to say that to my understanding and knowledge some Muslims have lost their connection to the humanity. My question is, when will they realize that you can not kill people because they disagree with you.

The Prophet

Kamangir | June 7, 2006 | Category Iran

The National Inquiry Institute (Persian: ديوان محاسبات كل كشور, translation is mine) is responsible for taking care of the flow of the budget in the administration, especially in the government. The head of the institute a few days ago in the presence of Ahmadinejad stated these sentences (see):

We are in full cooperation with the government…I found out two interesting points during my recent visit to Turkey and Syria. … We observed that people [of those countries] were proud of you. Even in a neighbourhood we were granted gifts. We were told “your president is the one who is standing against America and the world powers solely by himself”. In Syria…. A Muslim told me that if any other prophet was supposed to come that would be Ahmadinejad. We are proud of this. … Where ever we went we were respected… Even in some places we were served with tea and ice cream….

رييس ديوان محاسبات كشور با بيان اين‌كه اين ديوان با دولت همكاري دارد … در دو سفر اخير كه به تركيه Ùˆ سوريه داشتم، دو نكته توجه من را جلب كرد. … شاهد بوديم كه آن‌جا مردم به وجود شما افتخار مي‌كردند Ùˆ حتي در يك جا Ùˆ محله به بركت وجود شما به ما هديه دادند Ùˆ گفتند رييس‌جمهور شما كسي است كه يك تنه، در برابر استكبار Ùˆ آمريكا ايستاده است. … در سوريه … يكي از مسلمانان به من گفت كه من معتقدم اگر بنا بود بعد از پيامبر، پيامبري بيايد، آن احمدي‌نژاد بود Ùˆ اين ابراز احساسات براي ما افتخار بزرگي است. …وقتي راه مي‌رفتيم همه به ما احترام مي‌گذاشتند …حتي در جاهايي ما را به چاي Ùˆ بستني دعوت مي‌كردند

This man is supposed to be investigating the government to preserve the nation’s wealth.

Ahmadinejad, The Soccer Player

Kamangir | June 6, 2006 | Category Iran

Right before leaving Iran for the World Cup, the members of the Iranian soccer team had a special gift for Ahmadinejad. This man doesn’t loose any chance for getting popular.

Protest Against Anti-Woman Laws In Tehran

Kamangir | June 6, 2006 | Category Iran

Women’s Protest Against Anti-Woman Laws. June 12th, 5-6pm 7-Tir Square, Tehran (see).

p.s. Any blog that I look at I saw this logo there. After the March 8th protest which was brutally attacked by the Police I really hope they can return home safe and sound.

p.s.2 I think something very real is happening in Iran.

Chauvinistic Rap Song

Kamangir | June 6, 2006 | Category Iran

ایران سرزمین دلیران سر زبون همه مردم جهان
می خوام بخونم برای کشورم ایران می خوام بزنم به همه دشمنا ؟؟؟
اگه یه روزی کنن اعلام جنگ پر می کنم خشابمو برای تفنگ
اسلحه به دست میام توی میدون قدرت و ایمانمون هست فراوون
به ایرانی نمی تونی بزنی رکب ؟ نمی دیم خاکمونو حتی یه وجب
آمریکا و انگلیس و تو ای عرب نمی ذارم بیای جلو برید عقب
فکر می کنید می کشید ما ها رو با بمب بیایید جلو نمی ذارم بخورید جم
مث اینکه خودتونو کردید گم که به ایران می خواید بیارید تهاجم
پرچم این کشور همیشه سرافرازه توی ایران پر از فدایی پر از سربازه
…حرفامو گوش کنو Ùˆ ؟؟؟ من جونمم Ù…ÛŒ دم برای واسه این کشور

Bush Converts to Islam

Kamangir | June 6, 2006 | Category Iran

Kayhan (Persian: کیهان) is one the oldest Iranian newspapers being managed by the conservatives since the revolution. Basically, it is a governmental newspaper with its director being assigned by the supreme leader. For as long as I remember, Shariatmadary has been leading Kayhan and has used it as one of the backbones of the conservative propaganda machine. For example, the night before the results of the last presidential election were announced Kayhan had it on its front page. Kayhan is very famous for its harsh and aggressive language. I received this image from Mehdi. The address below the image refers to a blog on blogfa, an Iranian service provider. Referring to the address shows a message which says the blog has been closed because of not complying with the policies of the provider. This is the translation of the items as numbered in the image. 1- “Ahmadinejad’s lovers started a walk from Washington to Tehran”. Basically, this type of sentence is used to describe the events in which people walk hundreds of kilometers from one shrine to another one. The term “Ahmadinejad’s lovers” is also a stereotypical phrase, meaning his fanatic followers. 2- “London branch of Ansar of Hezbollah (Persian: انصار حزب الله, means the people whom help God’s people) attacked during Shirin Ebadi’s (the Iranian Noble Peace Prize winner) speech, revolutionary London can not tolerate hypocritical people”. The term “hypocritical people” is commonly used in the Islamic Republic literature to address dissidents. 3- “Happened after Ahmadinejad’s letter to George Bush, George Bush converted to Islam in the presence of the revolution’s leader”. The term “revolution’s leader” is another name for Khameneii. 4- “New York’s Ansar of Velaiat (Persian: انصار ولایت, means the people whom help guardianship) objected to the Brokeback Mountain movie”. The official doctrine of the Islamic Republic is Islamic Guardianship represented by the supreme leader. 7- “Bush changed his name to Rajabaali (Persian: رجبعلی, an absolute Persian-Islamic- Shia name)”. 5- “Liberal Democracy should be sought for in the history’s rubish”. Note that the person sitting at the middle is George Bush. 6- “After the frequent requests of the guardianship-lover New Yorkers, the Statue of Freedom’s name was changed to the Statue of Guardianship”. 8- “While crying hard, Bush named Ahmadinejad as his saviour”. 9- “Rajabaali Bush mentioned the solution to the Palestinians’ problems to be wiping the cancerous tumor of Israel”. The term “cancerous tumor of Israel” is another famous term in the Islamic Republic literature. 10- “CNN Analyst: Has Jesus advented?”

The Way You Sit

Kamangir | June 6, 2006 | Category Iran

Ahmadinejad’s father’s service was held in a major mosque in Tehran. Most of the administration’s figures participated in the event and showed their sympathy to president. Also, some of the ambassadors to Tehran were invited. Unfortunately, no one knew that sitting on the ground is not a daily practice for many people outside Iran. I wonder what the ambassadors would say when they are narrating this story. “Iranians? They are so rude they don’t even bother to ask. To them the world has to act as they do. Even if that’s about the way you sit.”

Hat trip to Mehdi for the link.

Devotion As a Disease

Kamangir | June 5, 2006 | Category Iran

Thousands of Iranians, and also people from some other Islamic countries, gathered in Khomeini’s shrine to mourn for his 17th anniversary. Basically, the traditional practice at these gatherings is to hit their hands on their chests and heads plus whipping their backs with special chains, seen below. This kind of mourning is basically performed for Imams and the prophet but people are beginning the do the same practice for the thirteenth Imam (the official name for Khomieni is Imam Khomeini, something I am not sure Sunis may tolerate).The administration is more than willing to make Khomeini as much Imam as possible. For some very ordinary non-terrorist people Khomeini is nothing but an Imam.