Terrorized by terror -- Space closes

[Raffi Aftandelian]

Dear Avner and all,

Thank you Avner for your story about the Rabbi who is working to create a
spiritual alliance between Judaism and Islam. And it is great there is an
initiative to convince Israeli authorities to let Muslims of all ages pray
on Temple Mount.


>What kind of challenge are the Iranians to all of us? What kind of actions
>can we make that are fearless?

I suspect Iranians are the same kind of challenge (and gift) to all of us as
Americans, Israelis, Russians, Armenians, Turks, Canadians, Lezgins, Udeges,
Navajos, and [insert favorite group here] are. I think back to the One World
Wombat flash clip mentioned a while back here on list
(www.globalcommunity.org/flash/wombat.shtml). 

We have one whirled, not two, not three, but one. We better figure out how
to live together...and I think we are beginning to figure this out!

I grew up in Iran, Avner, was there during the revolution. We started school
days with mandatory singing "Death to America, Death to Israel, Death to the
Soviet Union, Death to Carter, death to Brezhnev, death to Begin..."

...and I have had the privilege and joy of visiting Israel/Palestine living
in the homes of Israeli Jews and Arabs. 

Iranians around the world, like all people, I imagine are of very different
minds about what is going on. I do know that if one begins digging, one
might be pleasantly surprised what one will find out.

Recently, I attended a talk about Iran today given in Farsi here in San
Diego by an Iranian man who has been living in the US for the past 50 years.
I was freshly surprised by the spirit of conversation, humility, openness
that came through- even as he expressed his expressed his strong criticism
of the Israeli lobby in the US and the Israeli government (he is married to
an American Jew).

That talk made me realize how much potential there is for collaboration
between so-called progressives in the US and Iranians here for innovative
steps to potentially prevent unnecessary further violence in the Middle east.

His name is Kam Zarrabi. His website is http://intellectualdiscourse.com/

One point: I found him much more accessible in person than in print.

Another important Iranian perspective is the work of Vali Nasr (his father
was a famous sufi scholar), professor at the Postgraduate Naval College,
author of a number of books, including

Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty 

He makes a strong case, I understand, that Iran is, a lot more democratic
than one might imagine.

One anecdote he cites to convey this: Ex-president of Iran Khatami was
visiting the US recently and this was being covered by Jordanian TV. Nasr
asked the Jordanian journalist what was it about this story that was of
interest to viewers back home. The answer? The concept of an ex-president in
the muslim Middle-east.

He is also conveying what more and more of us are realizing, that the more
significant conflict right now in the Middle-east maybe is not so much the
Arab-Israeli conflict, but the Sunni-Shia one.

Iranian.com is a website for all matters Iranian, and features opinions of
Iranians on what is going on right now. 

One curious piece about 15 Iranian sailors recently taken hostage for
unloading pistachios onto an Indian ship in the English Channel:

http://www.iranian.com/Rezavandi/2007/March/Sailors/index.html

And of course, Farsi is the third most used language on the Internet
apparently...A starting point for visiting the Iranian blogosphere might be
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/ click on "Iran"

So, perhaps it's not so just a matter of challenge but also positive potential.

>In 2 days we are celebrating Passover, celebrate the becoming free from all
>slaveries - Fear is definitely one of them

oh yes! 

Warmly,
Raffi

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