408>Special thanks to my American friend who helped me proofread my writing.It%26#039;s taken me almost a year to find some pieces of this information.
I believe that if you spend 5-10 minutes reading this essay, you will be better informed than if you listen to a lifetime%26#039;s worth of Major Media news. Please don%26#039;t assume that I%26#039;m a very old person. I%26#039;m just 18, and a university student studying English who just cannot sit back and let the lies fly unchallenged.
This article has two parts:
1. Cultural and general info
2. Political info.
If you wanna know the rest of of the story, read it from top to bottom.
Note: I%26#039;ve explained all the things that you ALWAYS talk about, so read it all plz! (Anytime you like!) Specially the political part! Any answers before reading the whole thing will prove to be wrong.
****
Hi. I%26#039;m an Iranian who has spent his life in Iran.When I chat with people from other countries, I am shocked to see how totally wrong their ideas are about Iran. I wrote this article in an attempt to help correct those ideas.
The first thing America, and the West in general, accuses our government of is that we don%26#039;t allow personal freedoms. Actually, Iranians disobey laws they don%26#039;t like as much as anyone. But come on, there are only a few restrictions.It%26#039;s so cool over here. People here do whatever they wish to! Many strict rules in other countries don%26#039;t even exist in Iran. Also, you should understand that what may seem so normal to you, may be a nightmare for us and vise versa. That%26#039;s why you don%26#039;t understand a few of Iran%26#039;s laws because some of them are based on our culture. You look at our country from %26quot;your own point of view%26quot;! In Iran every single house has a sattelite dish. Sattelite television has a serious influence on our people, and Iranians wear very fashionable clothing. Maybe it is a kind of imitation, but we still have our own unique Iranian style (I%26#039;m talking about public places, in our privacy there%26#039;s no difference). A visitor might wonder if this is a country or a fantasy pageant of beauty queens! Almost half of women wear their hair out, and make-up and fashionable clothing are everywhere. Iran is one of the super-consumers of cosmetics. You would be surprised to see the difference between what you imagine and what Iran really is!
In my view, everything is great, if you ignore unemployment, inflation and air pollution. But I guess these are common problems around the world today, aren%26#039;t they? Also, you can%26#039;t compare Iran today with the Iran you remember. The Shah and the Iatollah Khomini are both some 30 years in the past!Nearly 65-70% of Iran%26#039;s population is a new generation without the biases of the past (The youth), and we%26#039;ve transformed everything.
Some people think women don%26#039;t have any rights in Iran. But in my view, women are overrunning the place. But that%26#039;s not a bad thing. They%26#039;re very respectful, and they%26#039;ve been the winners in so many cases: They get into the best universities because they%26#039;re very smart. And they get the best jobs because they can do so many of them better than men. (That%26#039;s why men can hardly find any good jobs because most jobs are already occupied by women!) They%26#039;ve got Islamic rights, and that has in some cases made it difficult for men to marry them, because husbands are supposed to buy them expensive things and treat them very well, otherwise women have the right to ask a great amount of money (called Mehr) according to the law, which most husbands cannot afford, so they (men) will be imprisoned.The only thing that women are not allowed to do in Iran is getting into public football stadiums and that%26#039;s because such places are full of cheeky guys. They do anything from taking part in rallies to singing pop songs.Anything! I%26#039;ve put a sample here. I feel foolish for sitting here explaining ordinary things to you.
Another funny thing: Your footage about stoning the women who have committed adultery. Have you ever asked yourselves how many years ago that footage related to? Are they balck and white or colourful? But in one case (related to many years ago) something terrible had happened which was just beyond the borders of adultery.We think being punished for corruption is good, as it deters people from doing that and the society will be far healthier than the countries in which commiting such things is considered to be normal! Iranians expect their gov%26#039;t not to be soft on criminals.And for your information, most of those footages are from Afghanistan which was ruled by freaks (Taliban). What exactly makes you think women are treated differently?The way they were/are treated in Saudi Arabi? I%26#039;m sorry I didn%26#039;t know %26quot;over a billion Moslems%26quot; lived there!When you think of such things, try to think of the racism in your country too. There%26#039;s no perfect country!
I find it difficult to make you understand that Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan are --------- SEPERATE COUNTRIES! --------- Even within Iran, 60% of us are Persian and 30% are Turkish! I find it even more difficult to make you understand that Iran is a normal country like any other in the world. The point is, there%26#039;s nothing mysterious about us! The Media are very good at creating really scary stuff: %26quot;IRAN BEHIND THE CLOSED DOORS!!!%26quot; %26quot;IRAN UNDERCOVER!!!%26quot; Some of that garbage would be enough to scare ME away! But in truth, Iranians are far more open-minded than you have been led to believe.
There are lots of Iranians today who are geniuses and scientists, and are all under age 25. You don%26#039;t hear about their discoveries and inventions on TV. For instance a 17 year old boy has invented 72 amazing inventions and there are many kids like that. Every year a special scientific compition (Kharazmi) is held here and students assemble to show off hundreds of inventions. Iranian students and sportsmen win gold and silver medals in different competitions in the world all the time, in robotics, biology, maths, physics, sports, anything! Why don%26#039;t the Media talk about them? Please don%26#039;t summarize our nation and culture with the single word %26quot;nuclear%26quot;. Although we%26#039;re proud of this achievement because we believe that having nuclear energy means that a country is developed.Did you know that the countries having the highest number of scientists in the world are in this order? 1-India 2-Korea 3-Iran
A few months ago Iran uncovered the most effective anti-H.I.V medicine and it was signing treaties with other countries to export it. I searched for news of that on the internet, but there was no single sign of it. What did I find instead? %26quot;President Bush CLAIMS that bomb parts are imported from Iran into Iraq!%26quot; (The same old story!) The Media are unjust. They put CLAIMS on the headlines, but they never talk about facts!
Some interesting facts:
Iran is a pioneer in medicine and genetics, and Iranian surgeons have found lots of new methods for treating spinal defects, and many diseases (mainly the treatment for different types of cancer) and the best brain and heart surgeons are Iranian. The head of the Mars Mission in NASA is Iranian. One of the best designers of sports cars working in Germany is Iranian. Some of the best 3D animators are Iranian. Iran is one of the best countries in counter-engineering. Holds the second place in building dams and in loads of other things! It%26#039;s one of the top countries in bio-technology and nano-technology. The 4th highest tower in the world (Milad tower) is in Tehran (visit it at this link from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Milad... ). 51 of the top 100 universities in the Mid-East are in Iran, and they%26#039;re among the top universities of the world as well. The champion weight-lifter, a woman, and a song by one of the pop singers who/which won the nobel peace prize are Iranians. Lots of Iranians win nobel prizes specially in the field of medicine. Iranian girls are famous for being terrific. We have Persian rugs and Persian literature, many Persian poets, artists and scientists that are world famous. Iranian culture is now westernized and only a little of the ancient culture has survived. According to statistics Tehran is the cheapest capital city in the world (one Dollar =about 950 Tomans! For example you can buy windows vista for 1 Dollar here instead of 700 Dollars!!! or 3 supper pizzas for 10 Dollars!!!wow!) There are many other things. How many pages would you need to describe a country? Iran has nearly all the industries and technologies found in %26#039;developed%26#039; countries. Oh, and we have four seasons! (Some people think it never snows here! We get a lot of snow and there are skating rinks! lol) The list is endless.(I still feel foolish for talkng about ordinary things!)
News: %26quot;Iranian scientists managed to make human teeth grow after you%26#039;ve lost them using basic cells%26quot; I%26#039;m gonna introduce Iran%26#039;s international news website to you (Press TV) which was established recently. It%26#039;s fully in English. You%26#039;ll find what they%26#039;re hiding from you! In the %26quot;Sic / Tech%26quot; section you%26#039;ll always see Iran%26#039;s discoveries. The address is: http://www.presstv.ir/news.aspx... Press TV news: Iranian scientists have registered more than 4800 inventions during the last Iranian calendar year of 1385 (April 21 2006-April 20, 2007). 4800 inventions in just one year!
Some charactristics of Iranians would be:
Negative: We are proud, greedy, hard-working (for ourselves), not punctual, impatient, and lazy at doing our duty well, crazy about luxuries and thus extravagant! Highly competitive!
Positive: intelligent, ambitious, a bit idealistic, well-dressed, formal, well-educated, warm and friendly, hospitable.
Some people think Iran is a desert! Well, it is, if you consider California, New Mexico, Utah, Arkansas, and Alabama a desert. We share the same latitude. Iran is a modern country with breathtakingly beautiful nature and lots of historic places to visit. Please take a look at the following links to see if Iran looks like what you think or not! This is a photo of Tehran (Awesome, Isn%26#039;t it?): http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tehran
If you like you can visit these too, hundreds of pretty photos from the cities, nature and historic places: (It%26#039;s like a free tour!)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Hills...
http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/throughout_ir...
http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/throughout_ir...
http://www.pbase.com/k_amj/throughout_ir...
http://www.bigsoccer.com:80/forum/showth...
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthrea...
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthrea...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran
Some people think music is forbidden in Iran. Did you know that Iranian music was chosen as the best pop in France in 2005? It could even defeat Euro-pop! All Iranian songs are current pop / DJ music. I send Iranian music to my American and Canadian chat friends and they all say they%26#039;re some of the best songs they%26#039;ve ever heard. What makes Iranian music killer, is a lot of Trance drums, catchy tune, uprising melody and incredible lyrics!
Here%26#039;s a sample of the latest hits from two official Iranian music websites.You can just right click on the links below and choose %26quot;Save Target As%26quot; to download them.I guess you%26#039;ll fall for it! The translation of the songs is here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...
1.(You know this: 2007) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
2.(Hold my hand: 2007) http://www.sarzaminmp3.com/Sarzaminmusic...
3.(The wetness of your eyes: 2006) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
4.(I just want you: 2003) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
5.(The rain: 2007) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
6.(The window: 2005) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
7.(Keep me in your memory: 2005) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
8.(Farangis %26quot;A female name%26quot; 2007) http://download.bia2music.com/Music/Iran...
9.(The distance: 2007) http://www.sarzaminsong.com/Sarzaminmusi...
10.(Sunrise: 2007) http://www.sarzaminsong.com/Sarzaminmusi...
11.(Stop world:2006) http://www.sarzaminmusic.com/Sarzaminmus...
12.(You can%26#039;t: 2007) http://www.sarzaminmp3.com/Sarzaminmusic...
13.(The wind%26#039;s kiss: 2005) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
14.(Reveal your visage: 2004) http://www.sarzamin.org/Sarzaminmusic/Pe...
15.(What would have happened if : 2007) http://www.sarzaminmp3.com/Sarzaminmusic...
And so on and on!
It%26#039;s now 2007 and most people still think we are uneducated people living in deserts, riding camels and carrying around guns! See how the media are fooling people?
Let%26#039;s clarify some political issues as well: Some of the Americans I chatted with said in the U.S it%26#039;s said that president Ahmadinejad hates the U.S and Israel and wants to nuke them!! The Media are good at putting lying comments out there. It%26#039;s easy to show a video or an image of our president or leader on the TV screen or on the internet and say he says this, he says that.....I really don%26#039;t get the point why our politicians defame themselves by talking about things that have got nothing to do with us. For example does verbal defence of Palestinians cause them to have a better life? The thing is that they occasionally make some statements that the media would misuse it against Iran. For example they pick up some specific phrases of a long speech (without refering to the main points and reasons for that speech) and put so many bad comments on that. No sane person would take such nonsense at face value.
First of all, Iranians don%26#039;t hate anyone. If our government complains about some injustice going on in the world, it%26#039;s not bad, is it? (Although what we want from them is to shut up and not get us into trouble by talking about things that are none of our concern) We hate neither Jews nor Americans. I love Americans, otherwise why would I talk to them?! How would our guys dream of America, want to be like them as much as possible, and hate them at the same time?! I%26#039;ve got to say that for Iran, Israel is not equal with Jews! Israel is a gov%26#039;t. Jews are faithful people! A few of them live here in our neighbourhood and they live just like the rest of Iranians. No difference. And two of Iran%26#039;s parliment members are Jews. Who says we want to force others to convert to Islam? Have you ever found a Muslim knocking at your door asking you to do so? It%26#039;s so funny the way you imagine things and make yourselves believe in your own immaginations!
Christians and Jews are both God-believers and respectful to us. I wonder why the media like putting words in our mouth and raising hatred. In Iran, religion is one of the least important factors. Where you come from and what your religion is are not important to us at all. On the contrary, meeting different people would be very interesting for us!
I wonder who Iran is really a threat to. Is it logical to say someone%26#039;s guilty because we THINK / PREDICT that he%26#039;s going to do something wrong? And they repeat the same %26quot;nuclear weapons%26quot; tosh over and over and brainwash people! News headlines: %26quot;We won%26#039;t allow Iran to gain nuclear weapons%26quot;!!! Correction! It%26#039;s %26quot;nuclear energy%26quot;. Besides, how many %26quot;nuclear weapons%26quot; do they have themselves? Hundreds of thousands? Has Iran ever attacked any countries? No. Has it developed any nukes? No! That%26#039;s what nuclear agency says. Only Iran%26#039;s opponents are pulling Iran%26#039;s leg and what they say is of no credit. It%26#039;s just based on political conflicts. What we%26#039;re doing is legal. What they ask us to do (ignoring our international rights) is illegal. Iran is a peaceful country. Why? It%26#039;s the regional super-power and if she wanted, she could easily invade the countries in our neibourhood just like what Saddam did to our country, but as you see Iran has peaceful relations with all of them. It can set an example to some countries that just follow their interests (oil!). Interesting! the countries accusing Iran of different things have been, and are still accused of the same things!!! How logical!
Some people say he said: Israel should be wiped off the map! But have they told you the rest of his speech and that why he%26#039;s said this at all? You know that it%26#039;s a passive sentence. He%26#039;s never said that IRAN wants to wipe Israel off the map! He wasn%26#039;t talking about destroying Israel. He was talking about relocating Israel, so that they could live seperate from Palestinians and they could both live in peace. They%26#039;ve only told you this phrase not the whole thing and it%26#039;s mistranslated intentionally. Iran has always defended itself, but it%26#039;s not an offensive country.
Some say he%26#039;s said: %26quot;The Holocaust is a myth!%26quot; Again, this is a single phrase taken from a long speech and there are totally logical reasons for saying so. If 6,000,000 Jews were killed, that%26#039;s terrible, but 300,000 Shiite Moslems killed by Saddam aren%26#039;t important at all? Over 650,000 Iraqi people are killed and that%26#039;s not important?! When Fox News simply says that America and Israel are capable of destroying and killing Iran%26#039;s population of 69,000,000 within two weeks, it%26#039;s OK and no one says they%26#039;re threatening other countries to nuke them (I saw this with my own eyes on the Fox News website) Millions of people killed in Afghanistan, Hiroshima %26amp; Nagasaki and the Vietnam war are not considered human beings at all! Now I think you%26#039;d get the point why he%26#039;s IRONICALLY said it%26#039;s a myth. Moreover, don%26#039;t you believe in freedom of speech/mind? I%26#039;d judge people by their ACTIONS rather than by what they say / their religion / race / culture and the colour of their skin!
Obviously, some countries are using Iran as a scapegoat to put the blame (for their own faults) on. And what country is better than Iran to be a scapegoat? The whole world believes that Iran isn%26#039;t a peaceful country. I know Americans don%26#039;t like this either, but what can they do? They%26#039;re not responsible for controlling what the Media says. This part is just for Americans who would still argue over unimportant things: Those of you who say why Iran says %26quot;Death to America%26quot;:
1. %26#039;America%26#039; to us means the U.S govt, not the people. How do you expect Iranians to mean %26quot;American people%26quot; when our media admires Americans for marching and holding up %26quot;no war%26quot; placards?!
2. The new generation don%26#039;t say such things and if some of them occasionally march in the streets that%26#039;s because some of the stupid guys enjoy making noise and they mainly go out there to meet their girlfriends/boyfriends! Strange. Isn%26#039;t it?
3. Such mottos are not just said in Iran and as you know whatever you hear is a response to the U.S govt%26#039;s terrible actions which has made life for many people hell (You wouldn%26#039;t deny that attacking countries is a mistake. right?)
5. The U.S gov%26#039;t helped Saddam attack Iran and I hope you know which country gave Iraq biological weapons which killed lots of Iranians.
6. America hit an Iranian airplane over the Persian Gulf and killed 200 passengers for no reason.
7. America places sanctions on Iran, promotes a false image of Iran and Iranians, scares tourists away, and harms our economy, development and credit. To what purpose?
When you call Ahmadinejad a nutcase for what he%26#039;s said, what do you call Bush for his actions? I mean it%26#039;s a good idea to consider what Bush is doing to the world with his wrong decisions and lies. Bush is powerful and influencial, but Ahmadinejad is nothing.
To those who are upset with American hostages taken for 444 days:
1. Firstly, It%26#039;s related to so many years ago and it%26#039;s almost a part of history, and don%26#039;t forget that when there%26#039;s a revolution, there%26#039;d be chaos and people may do things that they should not, moreover they%26#039;re all alive and healthy. Aren%26#039;t they?
2.The U.S has arrested Iranian diplomats in Iraq and had tortured the one who was freed. Poor British sailors were detained by the English gov%26#039;t just for saying that they were treated well in Iran and that Iranians were logical people (They said these when they were on England%26#039;s soil!) They were PREVENTED from releasing their memoirs by England! Now you decide who has the right to be upset with whom. How do you believe in their lies about politics when they hide both the most and the least important things from you considering the fact that politics is the world of lies in its nature?!!! Considering all this, you%26#039;d probably be able to GUESS what percentage of what they tell you about the Mid-East, Islam, Moslems and other things is true!!! lol
Isn%26#039;t it better for both countries to forget past conflicts and to have peaceful relations? Our two gov%26#039;ts are like 10 year old children playing a stupid, harsh, rhetorical game. They don%26#039;t care about hurting people%26#039;s feelings. They just try to make our two peoples enemies to achieve their own goals. We, as the people of these countries, MUST NOT allow these conflics into our hearts. You know something? All govt%26#039;s are hateful. I just said the above things because it sounds unfair when some Americans talk about the taking of the 444 hostages while I keep silence. I hope you agree on this one! Now, what do you think? I can%26#039;t wait to see both nations in peace. It%26#039;d be marvelous! They%26#039;ve started to have diplomatic talks! (Naughty children!) That%26#039;s great!
Thanks for your time
Reply:Hello! I read your whole post, every word. I looked at the pictures and some of the other links. I didn%26#039;t listen to any music though. Here are some random comments I have:
Here in America, MANY of us know President Bush is a nutcase. Only 1/3 of the people approve of the job he is doing as President. I am so glad you don%26#039;t judge Americans by him, and some of his noisy supporters. People are beginning to realize that the Bush government has lied to them about many important things.
It makes me happier than you can know to learn that the Iranian people don%26#039;t hate Americans, any more than Americans (except for a small hateful minority) hate Iranians.
I believe that the big powers such as China, Russia and the US want to keep the Mid East in turmoil, because if countries like Iran and Iraq, Lebanon and Israel, Turkey and Afghanistan are putting their resources into fighting each other, they are less likely to compete with the big powers, who feel threatened by them. Some few rich people here are profiting from keeping oil prices high, and from stirring up dissent in the Middle East.
Thank you so much for taking the time to describe what life is like in Iran. I didn%26#039;t know anything about it, and I wanted to know the real truth. The pictures that I looked at show your country to be one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I would give my heart to be able to visit there, and eat a meal with people like you and your family, and sit and drink tea and talk to you and your friends.
Please don%26#039;t judge American news by Fox News!! They are not taken seriously here by many. If you like, look at MSNBC.com, or www.newsweek.com. They are my primary source for news.
I am wholeheartedly sorry for the deaths of your people by American military and political forces. I do not believe in war and killing, and I have never supported any fighting in the Middle East.
Like you, I dream of all nations at peace with each other.
Reply:He%26#039;s said %26quot;half the women wear their hair out%26quot;! the first answerer is talking about Iraq not Iran! oh make sure you try Iranian music.It%26#039;s just like American music mixed with Euro-pop and has a special style that anyone would like! Just like Iran%26#039;s nature, its music is really beautiful! Report It
Reply:They say America is free, they say that your country is bad, so you are saying there were at least some of you that liked it the way it was, and the media is full of propaganda. That is truthful, but there are things that your country does that I could not go along with and vice versa. Stop the suicide bombings please? Violence only increases violence and does not stop it, just because there were people that did bad things does not mean that we have to be people that do bad things.
Our countries ought to try to get along that is correct, but shouldn%26#039;t our country leave your country alone unless you are asking for our assistance? It did not matter how many were killed in this war, but it was not all of us that thought it was right, we were lied to. We have problems here that the money going into warring on your country would have been better be able to help with and it is hurting both of our countries.
I think that for America to be America it can not be a different country then what the constitution asked for it to be, we stood up against having a king here and yet that is exactly what we seem to have, and I think that you should and do have a right to speak here and say what is on your mind, thank you.
I believe in freedom of speech and emotion so much that I have created an open group that you don%26#039;t have to belong to and you can go there and read or go there and post here is a link to that:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Freedom-of...
I do not doubt that this will be removed from here, haters will probably have it removed, but in my eyes you had a right to ask it, I think you answered your own question though, so I have to ask why did you really do that? Do you want people to know that there is always another side to things in general? I think so too. Yet half as much would have probably been recieved far better as I have been told.
I don%26#039;t hate you or your people, you are just a human being just like anyone else and that is what I am for human rights, I just think that you need to work hard to keep changing your country if that is what you all want and work on finding peace and equality there? If you come to America because it is better in some ways find those ways and when you go back to your country take them with you and stand up to your government until they change. I know it is not easy, it is not easy for me either, but they are hurting all of us and that has to stop!
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