Baha’i Rants

Last year’s charade election in Iran laid bare the stark reality in that country for not only the rest of the world but also for many of the usually apathetic Iranians inside Iran. The friction between the oppressed and their oppressors reached a climax with street protests and violent clashes.

After a few weeks of shocking dismay, the powerful control apparatus put in place by the Basiji, the Revolutionary Guards and Ahmadinejad clamped down and eventually snuffed out the protests. But don’t mistake the tranquility on Tehran streets as a sign that everything is back to normal. The turmoil in Iran is simmering under the surface, ready to boil over at a moment’s notice. This is far from over.

Amidst this historic upheaval, the acclaimed film director Bahman Ghobadi made his latest work: “No One Knows About Persian Cats”. Like most Iranian cinema it defies classification being more a documentary than film. It chronicles the lives of a group of young Iranian musicians struggling against the stiffing oppression that prevents them from even playing the music they like.

The film was the winner of the Special Jury Prize at Cannes Film Festival and was written in collaboration with Roxana Saberi (Ghobadi’s fiance), who as you might recall, was arrested and imprisoned on charges of espionage. I haven’t watched the movie yet but this clip featuring a Persian rapper is mesmerizing (pause if you need to, to be able to read what he is saying):

The ruling mullahs are afraid of the power of music like this. And for good reason. The video above is just one of the musicians featured in the film. All of them decided to leave Iran (and not to return from Cannes) expect the man rapping in this clip. Click to watch the trailer for “No One Knows About Persian Cats” or this alternative trailer:

This theme of leaving Iran to the decrepit cleptocracy is one that I’ve written about more than a few times already. Iran is bursting at the seams with youth who are brimming with potential. The problem is that the country has been organized in such a way to snuff out any and all hope and progress. Your average Iranian youth, like the ones above, have no qualms about leaving Iran in order to create a better life. Even Baha’is are doing so every day in groups.

My only bone to pick is with the Baha’i administration that actively pursues a policy to keep as many Baha’is inside Iran as possible. No matter how dangerous the consequences may be for them. Anyway, if you can catch Ghobadi’s latest work in your local cinema, don’t miss the chance.

Below is a short video from chunnel.tv which summarizes recent Iranian history to explain the opposing forces at work in Iranian politics today:

Smells Like Teen Spirit: Thursday Night Heyat in Iran
This video is a glimpse into the life of the ‘devout’ Muslim Iranian youth and the type of social activities they are able to participate in:
Continue reading ‘Iran’s Intergenerational Conflict’

Although news about Iran’s stolen election have fallen off the radar of most news outlets, things have not calmed down or been resolved. Not by a long shot.

While the ruthless Basij and riot police were able to suppress the protests and prevent any new ones, the same discontent simmer beneath the surface ready to explode at any moment.

If this does play out following the same time line as the Iranian revolution 30 years ago, it will go on for months and build momentum slowly. I’m still not convinced that it will however. The Islamic Republic has shown itself to be completely without mercy when it comes to internal challenges. There is no line they will not cross to maintain power.

But it would seem that Rafsanjani has been busy in Qom. The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers recently released a shocking statement (see below).

Doonesbury

Since this all began I kept a running tally of links to important articles, new developments and analysis. I’ve continued to add links to it but since the list is getting really long I’ll keep going below:

• Trouble in Iran (VBS TV)
• New Tool to Circumvent Government Internet Controls (Blog)
• Leading Qum Clerical Group Defies Khamenei (NY Times)
• Iran’s Green Wave (The Nation)
• Rafsanjani’s Carefully Crafted Statement (CNN)
• Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (LA Times)
• Iran Goes on Strike (Daily Beast)
• Iranian Protesters Get Creative (Times)
• ‘Iran trial’ for UK embassy staff (BBC)
• Mousavi Promises To Continue Protests (Washington Post)
• Iran protests flare on anniversary of 1999 riots (Guardian)
• Iranian exile speaks out against militia he once supported (LA Times)
• The New Democrats (The New Republic)
• Inside the Iranian Crackdown (WSJ)
• Misreading Iran’s unrest (LA Times)
• Rafsanjani’s Day of Reckoning (The New Republic)
• Tehran’s Streets Erupt After Rafsanjani’s Speech (LA Times)
• Hard-Line Force Extends Grip Over a Splintered Iran (NY Times)
• Khatami Calls for Referendum (CBC)
• Iran opposition leader plans large-scale social movement (LA Times)

There is also an interesting site I stumbled onto with fascinating pictures and images of the olden Mid-East. There is only one that directly pertain to the Baha’i Faith. And I believe it is incorrect or at least incorrectly labeled. It is the image below:

Photograph, of the grandsons of ABDUL BAHA, taken in Acre [ Acca ]/Syria in 1905. One of the two grandsons is Shoghi [Showqi ] Effendi,known as the “Guardian of the Cause”…

Neither of the two men resemble Shoghi Effendi (not even close!). But the other images of the cities and people of the time of Abdu’l-Baha are interesting nonetheless.

Daniela recently wrote a guest post about the ‘official’ Baha’i guidance regarding the protest movement in Iran: Don’t Speak Out for Them. There she quoted the UK NSA’s guidance to Baha’is to keep mum about the developments in Iran.

I already linked to a similar message from the NSA of the USA. To summarize:

“the believers should be guided lovingly and firmly to distance themselves from either public or private commentary”.

And there are similar letters from all NSA’s around the world. Which means that this is a coordinated effort from the UHJ/ITC but for some reason it was deemed more prudent for the individual NSA’s to write similar letters rather than just one from Haifa.

In any case, it seems that Baha’is are ignoring such directives.

twitter is a new social networking site that allows people to ‘tweet’ 140 characters (or less) messages from their phones, computers, etc. It gained even more prominence during the first days of the Iranian post-election uprising as youth in Iran would send messages, often from the streets, to the rest of the world. With the harsh crackdown on foreign reporters, the youth became in effect the eyes and ears on the ground.

There are relatively few Iranians using twitter. The vast majority of the users are in the US and through the hashtag #iranelection they have been following the reports coming out of Iran and elsewhere. As a gesture of solidarity in the first days of the movement, many changed their account icons to full green or to the text “Where’s my vote?”

Then someone set up a site which would add a green overlay to the existing account icon and thousands showed their support in this way.

Not surprisingly, Iranian Baha’is have been one of the active sub-groups in following the recent developments in Iran. They are still connected if not by an emotional bond, by family and friends who are still there and are feeding them news. Many of them on facebook and twitter have added a green overlay to their account icons. Among the most prominent is Rainn Wilson. Click the image below to see a recent screenshot of Rainn’s twitter account:

So while the NSA’s around the world are telling Baha’is to keep mum about the Iranian protest, it seems that at least through electronic means, individual Baha’is are largely ignoring this and continuing to be engaged in following and supporting the values that the Baha’is Faith stands for: equality, freedom, justice, separation of church and state, etc. Such values are hallowed above all and any political considerations and to cower in a corner, rather than stand up and defend them is to be ignorant of the very essence of our Faith.

Of couse, we have no problem advocating on their behalf when the downtrodden happen to be Baha’is. No. Not at all. We are asked to contact our government, speak with influential people, take our case to the UN, etc. to draw attention to the injustices heaped on Baha’is. But when Baha’is are not directly involved? Then we are told to STFU.

Turning your icon green may seem to be an infinitesimal gesture when compared to the actions of the youth of Iran right now who are facing beatings, arrest, torture and ultimately death but as spectators thousands of miles away from Iran it helps us as much as them to do something.

Finally, to characterize the protests that have taken place inside and outside Iran as ‘clearly partisan activity’ is to demonstrate utter ignorance. The will of a nation yearning to live free is as distanced from partisan politics as the Baha’is right to live without persecution. I understand that the only tool at the disposal of the NSAs is to characterize the peaceful protests as ‘partisan’ in order to persuade Baha’is to not support them. But mislabeling something so blatantly only damages the integrity of the said national bodies.

We must choose to side with our values and if they perchance make us allies with one or more political factions at any point in time, this is merely coincidence. Such seeming partnership is no reason to abandon one’s values and ignore them in the fear of appearing to be supporting ‘partisan politics’. This was the mistake that we made in South Africa during Apartheid when we stood aside while all the values we cherish as Baha’is were trampled.

How is it that we have no reluctance to approach differing political parties in power to lobby on behalf of the persecuted Baha’i minority in Iran? By what magical device is such activity and partnership not deemed to be ‘partisan’? How different is it to supporting any other group that is persecuted and has their rights removed?

Here is a letter from the Universal House of Justice to the Iranian Baha’is regarding the recent events.