Iedereen wordt gewogen
Ik kan mijn vrienden niet meer vinden op Facebook. Het merendeel heeft zijn naam en foto veranderd en hun profiel zo aangepast dat ik niet meer weet om wie het gaat. Sommigen hebben zich volledig uitgeschreven. Anderen schrijven alleen nog maar gedichten naar elkaar, in Iran een verheven vorm van kunst. Meestal gaat het om gedichten van Rumi, Ferdowsi en Shamlou. Het populairste gedicht in deze tijd is van Shamlou: ”Je kunt vertrappen, je kunt in de kiem smoren, je kunt zelfs uitroeien, maar wat doe je met alle zaailingen die daarna zullen uitkomen?”
De nieuwe namen en gezichten op Facebook delen de meest recente geluidsopnamen en videobeelden met elkaar. Maar het verbaast me dat afgelopen week niemand de televisiebeelden van het massale proces tegen leden van de oppositie op zijn pagina heeft gedownload. Ik weet zeker dat veel mensen het gezien hebben maar misschien was het te pijnlijk om het met anderen te delen. Ik ben benieuwd hoe de televisiemakers zich voelen over de uitzending. Wat ik wil zeggen is dat ik doorgaans beter geïnformeerd word via Facebook dan via de gebruikelijke mediakanalen. Facebook is een goede aanvulling op de traditionele journalistiek. Zenders zoals bijvoorbeeld de BBC kunnen hier interessant nieuws vandaan halen en zo hun Iran-pagina’s vaker vernieuwen. Maar misschien is Iran een beetje uit het nieuws in Engeland nu het Britse ambassadepersoneel weer op vrije voeten is.
Klassiekers en Facebook zijn in…
Sinds de luchtvervuiling in Iran alle standaarden ruimschoots overschrijdt maken veel inwoners uit Teheran regelmatig een reisje naar naburige steden aan de Kaspische Zee. Mijn vriendin Nasim zei hierover: ”Onderweg is het altijd dikke pret. Laatst had iedereen groene doeken uit de autoramen gehangen toen we terugreden naar Teheran en men groette elkaar met het victorie teken.” Ze voegde eraan toe: ”De klassieke muziek van Shajarian bleek ineens erg populair bij de jongeren. Ze waren er helemaal weg van.” Ik weet nog goed dat deze legendarische Iraanse zanger in de onstuimige eerste dagen na de verkiezingen een open brief had geschreven aan het radio en televisie netwerk IRIB. Hij verbood het IRIB om zijn liedjes nog langer uit te zenden. Men was erg onder de indruk van zijn moedige protest: ”Ik wil niet meer dat jullie mijn stem uitzenden. Mijn stem is de stem van vuil en stof en dat zal altijd zo blijven.” Dit was letterlijk wat Ahmadinejad had gezegd over zijn tegenstanders in een poging hen de mond te snoeren. Shajarian wordt zeer gewaardeerd door Iraniërs over de hele wereld maar zijn muziek wordt voornamelijk beluisterd door de oudere generaties. Dat jongeren tegenwoordig als een teken van protest naar zijn liederen luisteren is een opmerkelijk fenomeen. Op Facebook wordt nu zelfs zijn beroemde spirituele lied “Rabbana” gedeeld. Dit gezongen gebed wordt tijdens de Ramadan elke avond door de staatstelevisie uitgezonden, maar Shajarian heeft daar nu een stokje voor gestoken.
Hypocriet
Ook zijn alle ogen deze dagen gericht op politici, beroemde acteurs en sporters. Sommige worden nu meer bewonderd, anderen verloren hun gezicht. Mijn mannelijke collega’s keken tijdens de lunch altijd naar de sportuitzending. Enkele dagen geleden zei een van mijn collega’s Ali hierover: ”Dat nationaal voetbalcoach Afshin Ghotbi aanwezig was bij de inauguratieceremonie van Ahmadinejad is in het verkeerde keelgat geschoten. Zelfs zo dat we nu een hekel hebben aan voetbal!” Hij voegde eraan toe: ”Ik hoop dat ze nooit meer winnen!” Hij zei dat hij de inauguratie had gezien en verbaasd was dat er zoveel buitenlandse gasten waren. Vooral de aanwezigheid van de Europese deelnemers viel slecht omdat hun gepraat over mensenrechten nu heel hypocriet overkomt. Hij vroeg me wat ik ervan vond en ik moest denken aan Khomeini’s uitspraak die destijds overal de muren sierde: ”Engeland is slechter dan Rusland, Rusland is slechter dan Engeland en Amerika is slechter dan deze twee.” Toen bestond de Europese Unie nog niet anders zou Khomeini er wel aan toegevoegd hebben: ”En de Europese Unie is het slechtst van allemaal!”
Vanuit de Libanese hoofdstad Beiroet schrijft Sander van Hoorn over de problematiek in het Midden-Oosten en alle opmerkelijke gebeurtenissen die hij tegenkomt.
Vanuit Jeruzalem schrijft Monique van Hoogstraten over het conflict tussen Israël en de Palestijnen en het leven in het multireligieuze land.
Reizend verslaggever voor de Arabische wereld Lex Runderkamp verblijft in februari 2012 enige weken in de Iraakse hoofdstad Bagdad en zal vanuit daar regelmatig verslag doen.
Wat had je dan gedacht? Dat de EU een leger zou sturen, om jullie westers te maken? Wil je dat dan?
De EU is niet slechter dan de VS, wel dommer.
De VS is het land dat volken ontkent. Dat zelf middels genocide haar land heeft veroverd, waar de opportunistische europese immigranten, met wat negroïden en latino’s een smeltkroes moesten vormen. Dat is niet hetzelfde als de volken van europa, hoewel dat wel meer en meer wordt afgedwongen, enerzijds door de post WW2 machtsverhoudingen, aangepraat schuldgevoel bij europeanen en de media die in de jaren 80 dit Amerikaanse idee gingen propageren. Wat strijdig is, want de media zijn overwegend ‘links’. Ze staan altijd klaar met hun ding om de VS te veroordelen, maar doen tegelijkertijd precies wat de VS wil.
Van mij mag het Iraanse volk er zijn. En ik denk niet dat jullie daarbij westerlingen nodig hebben om te vertellen hoe het moet.
Muzikanten en voetballers e.d. kunnen beter hun mond kunnen houden over dingen waar ze niets van weten. Zo mag Dirk Kuyt wmb ook in novosibirsk gaan voetballen. Ik hou niet van verraders.
Maar Negin, lees ik het goed als ik uit je stukje opmaak dat je je verraden voelt? De Iraniërs die iets anders wilden zich verraden voelen?
Door wie verraden?
En wat is dan nu de opvatting? Het is me niet zo duidelijk.
Je quote Khomeini, dat hij gelijk had. Ik dacht dat het verzet zich richtte tegen de heersende macht. Khomeini is toch, qua idee, de heersende macht? Hoe moet ik dat zien?
@jannenman
plse try english, then Negin can understand what you’re saying.
The article is in dutch, so i take it he speaks dutch.
@Jannenman
First of all it’s a “she” en not a “he”…!
And second of all, if the article was in English you would’nt have been able to write an reaction as long as you did…
But I guess you just don’t want to get an answer on your reaction while in it, you have been asking at least 3 or 4 questions.
What kind of non sense is that? If the article was in englis i wouldnt have been able to write a reaction??? You doubt my english skills? IM fluent, thank you.
But i dont see why i have to write in english if the article is in dutch. Thats silly.
If someone decided this is the way to go, concerning journalism, language
and putting a translated version on a blog, then they should also translate reactions back, or dont bother at all.
Its the Netherlands here, not England or the US.
Dear Readers,
The reason that i cannot react to Dutch reactions is that I simply don’t know the language otherwise I would have done it and reacting through a traslator takes time, but anyway thanks for reading, caring and reacting.
In this entry or any other of my weblog entries I’ve never meant that westerners should help up to become western and by far this is not what Iranians want.This civil movement is not about becoming western or whatsoever and I can’t believe either American or Europeans are behind this uprise because they both prefer stable iran with cheap oil even if the president is Ahmadinejad.
Sorry if I confuse you with my sarcastic way of writing. Perhaps i should make myself more clear in next entries. I believe if true democracy finds a ground in iran it’s good for all of us but politicians don’t!
Negin, ím afraid you are far more influenzed by westerners/western culture/western ideologies than you realize. Im not even gonna go there, cause i saw in your reply that you read my words, but simply deny them.
@Janneman. Could you please be more explicit because I don’t understand a word you’re saying. How do you mean ‘influenzed’, ‘not even gonna go there’, ‘simply deny them’. Do you realise how rude you are?
hallo mensen
julie mogen niet regen of sneew of haagel in sliken
-
@WitteKr:
In my opinion the Iran resistance is mostly influenzed by western propaganda. The western world continuesly excrements its views through news, movies and even music. They are world leader in that regard. Youngsters are very sensitive to this, hence my vies on Iran. As this happens, cultures are destroyed world wide, in favor of illusions like democracy, globalism (the world was global as it was). These are all fine by me, if people would realize what they chose. But they don’t. They say to favor different cultures, yet they destroy them.
I told Negin my points of view, asked some questions. In the final reply it is obvious (s)he at least got some of what i wrote, because there was a reaction to it. But the reaction was not seeking a discussion, or examining if what i say could be true. It was a rejection.
I have no problem with alledged rudeness; the blatant truth is what it is. It is not hostile, even though in these times of political correctness, tact, assertiveness, aso, which are all lies, it propably seems very bad is some peoples eyes.
I am not rude… just blatantly honest. There is a difference.
@Jannenman
First of all: you seem not to except that Negin is a ‘she’ – as Gazelle said earlier. Well, here’s proof: http://weblogs.nos.nl/midden-oosten/over-de-bloggers-in-het-midden-oosten/
Second: it’s confusing that the entries are written in Dutch – on a Dutch blog. Although there’s a request to react in English in the right hand column, NOS does not make it clear that the original material is written in English. Negin doesn’t speak/write Dutch. But she gave a good reason for asking to write in English. It’s quicker…
But it DOES confuse the discussion, because subtleties are overlooked. For which I’m sorry.
Still, I am very grateful that NOS publishes her stories because they give a very good insight in daily life in Iran. From her stories, which started a long time ago, we could almost have EXPECTED what happened since June 12th… The rigged elections, followed by the uprising of the young and old against the system the Iranians have to live with.
I haven been to Iran and spoke to many ordinary people, young and (not very) old. They are NOT influenced in their ideas by the West, but by their own common sense. Iranian people are well educated and are very civil. They are proud of their history, which is much older than ours, and have values and morale, stronger than ours.
Negin did NOT write that Iranians want the European Union to send an army to help or ‘westernize’ them. She did not quote Khomeiny because she agrees with him. She was being cynical, as were the colleagues she quoted.
Believe me, the last thing the ‘reformists’ in Iran want is the West helping them. It’s THEIR uprising. But they would like some subtle support, for instance for the Western diplomats NOT to turn up at the inauguration of Ahmadinejad for his second term of president.
What we fail to see in the West is that Ahmadinejad is part of an Islamic sect (far more extreme than many of the religious leaders) who is backed by a Revolutionary Guard, set up by Khomeiny to defend the Islamic nature of society (alongside the regular army) which has become politically and economically very powerful – thanks to a weak Religious Leader (Khamenei).
The people have rejected the extremism of Ahmadinejad. The religious leaders – in their heart – do too. But they gave away too much power to the president and the Revolutionary Guard. They know, if they stop supporting the president there will be a bloodbath. And they want to avoid that.
At the moment there’s a ‘multi-dimensional’ chess game going on behind the curtains. People in the political and religious arena are still fighting over who’s going to be in charge for the next years.
In the meantime stories are coming out of young people, arrested on the streets during the mass demonstrations in July, being abused, raped and killed in prison. And show trials take place, where highly educated, serious, well-respected people ‘confess’ in front of the camera. Like in the times of Stalin.
In those circumstances people get cynical (if not – like me – raving mad). I applaud Negin writing about this very painful process.
And I understand it’s hard to discuss these matters when it must be done in a language that both parties have only learned later in life – i.e. not their first language or mother tongue. It tends to complicate things…
“I am not rude… just blatantly honest”. To many non-Dutch, being blatantly honest can be very rude. And I was only thinking of Negin, in this case.
She’s having a hard time as it is and didn’t deserve this.
You didn’t understand the cynicism she wanted to bring across and you thought she rejected your questions about young people turning ‘West’. Really, this is not on the mind of the Iranian people at all…
Sorry for my long answer, but I think you deserved one. There are too many misunderstandings in this world already
There was a time when people thought world peace could be achieved if we all learned Esperanto. Maybe we should…
I think the world needs to realise that the United states are mainly concerned for their world dominance and their economy (Negin, you really should watch the documentary “Money as debt”, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkFb26u9g8 )
The European union is mostly concerned about their international relationships…
I assure you Negin, neither the European Union or the United states have the best interest of your country and your people at heart. You don’t want the troops in your country. Just take a look at what happened in Afghanistan since the invasion of the American troops. Suicides, self-immolations among women soared because poverty did, and with poverty, more and more girls are being sold in marriage to men old enough to be their great-grandfathers. Instances of childbirth deaths have soared as well, something like one in nine women die in childbirth. And peace? Democracy? Where is it? Of tends of thousands of people in a province, it’s lucky if a few hundred register to vote.
You shouldn’t want Europe’s or America’s help for your country’s opposition. It isn’t help at all.
@LIz
Sorry Liz, Negin didn’t write that Europe or America should interfere, with troops or otherwise. On the contrary.
Unfortunately this misunderstanding was introduced in the reactions to Negin’s story.
As I understand it, Negin reported simply how cynical and disillusioned people in Iran are right now.
It’s always difficult to write in an cynical way, because people might miss the cynicism. I’m afraid that that is what happened here.
As I wrote here before: I’m convinced no one in Iran wants help from us, the West, in the fight for true democracy and human rights. It’s too dangerous. You end up in court and are forced to confess on live TV that you demonstrated because the West told you so…
Allow me to be so honest to say you are a bit naive. You are right to say the situation in Afghanistan did not get much better since the West got involved. But don’t compare Afghanistan to Iran. The latter is a highly developed country, with a huge income from oil and a high academic, scientific standard, capable of producing an atomic bomb in future.
The people who seem to be in power now are religious fanatics, working for the return of the 12th Imam. They are so fanatic that even Ayatollah Khomeini outlawed their organisation/sect called Hojjatieh (Liz, you should really read this entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hojjatieh)
It is a scary situation…
People in Iran know this. They hope we do too. But they are not too sure. Nor am I.
Please, I don’t blame you for being naive. The main stream media are doing a very bad job at informing us. They are not allowed to report from within Iran and they haven’t got used/are scared to work with sources on Facebook, Twitter or use translate.google.com for additional resources. But the internet is the only place where you can find what is really happening now.
I have been there, on the internet – and had very little sleep since June 12, election day. I wish I could go back to normal. But I’m afraid it’s going to last a bit longer…
And I hope that through discussions like this the main stream media, like NOS, wake up and inform us, you, better. Because what is happening in Iran involves us all. In the long term: the Middle East peace process, Obama’s new policy as laid out in his speech in Cairo, the fight against terrorism, non-proliferation (spreading of countries owning atomic bombs).
Sorry for the long reaction. Maybe I could said it more clear, but lack of sleep… doesn’t help.