Editor: Myself

Read Lisa's blog

It's very difficult to cover a trip for two or three groups of audiences (Iranians, Israeli s, and Westerners) in two languages. Most of the material I'm producing these days is Persian and it's hard to keep up with in the English one.

However, if you'd like to know more about what I'm doing these days in Israel, Lisa Goldman, my gracious and patient host, gives a nice account of this visit from her point of view.

By the way, English is my second language and writing is much easier for me in Persian than in English.

Iranians in Israel

Some people keep forgetting that Iran and Israel are closer than ever to a war. And this is exactly why I'm here.

I, as the peace activist who wants to make bridges and the citizen journalist who wants to humanize both sides for one another have not chosen to focus on the Palestinian-Israeli issue. Because it's a very complicated issue that I don't have enough expertise to explore, let alone comprehend and report about. I don't know any of the two languages of the two sides and haven't read enough to even have a specific opinion about the conflict and take sides.

Does it mean that I don't care it? Does it mean that I think Iran-Israel conflict is more important than Palestine-Israel? Of course not. But when I have limited resources (knowledge, time, and money), it's my right to chose my focus.

In the past few days, I've meet with many Iranian-Israelis and have recorded extensive interviews with then in Persian. About their life in Iran, in Israel, and their hope and plans for the future. I'm going to meet a few more and interview them too. This is one side of the story.

But in terms of what the Israelis think about Iranians, I still need to work more. So far I've talked to a lot of people and they've all been very friendly and nice, even after hearing my name and where I come from. But I'm going to Jerusalem today and possibly Ramallah to talk to more people and get more reactions.

If I can manage to get into the Palestinian Authoritiy territories, I'll still focus on my main question which is about Iran, not Sharon, or settlements, or Hamas, etc. I'll ask the ordinary Palestinians about how they perceive Iran and its leaders and what do they think about Iran-Israel relationship.

This would particularly be interesting when asked from Hamas supporters or members, If I can get to talk to any. It will show how much influence Iran, as many claim, has among Hamas supporters and members on the ground.

Meetup with ILCU members

I'm going to meet up with a group of people from ILCU, an Israeli social networking website. This is their message to the members. Everyone is wlcome, by the way:

A message from Israel to Iran

If you ever wanted the people in Iran to really know what Israelies think about them, their country and the political situation - this is your chance....

Hossein Derakhshan, one of the most famous Iranian (Parsi for all you israelies that are not sure what iranian is) bloggers, now living in Toronto, is in Israel for a short visit writing a story on our country and people - so the thousands of his readers in Iran can know what Israel is really about!

If you want to meet him and share your thoughts come Monday night to Lima Lima and share your opinion

From the ILCU team in TLV

Where: Lima Lima,
When: January 30th, From 20:00 to 23:00
Price: Free

Feedback on the op-ed

Here is some feedback on my New York Times op-ed from the blogoshphere

• Feedback from Technorati
• Feedback from IceRocket

A new blog in Persian, this time from Israel

My dream about reading a Persian blog from Israel finally came true and I had a part in it.

I'm just coming back from a casual meeting with an amazing Iranian-Israeli, Farhad Moradian, at the Ginsburg Cafe in central Tel Aviv.

After an hour or so long chat which was recorded by my suggestion for making a podcast for my Persian-speaking audience, I took out my laptop and thanks to the wonderful Tel Aviv culture of free wi-fi at cafes, quickly made him a blog, named Ginsburg Cafe, and even posted something on it.

Farhad Moradian now has a blog in Persian

Farhad, a very nice and sharp man from Arak, a central city in Iran, came to Israel in 1978, a year before the revolution in Iran. Unlike his Jewish or Muslim friends who chose the US to continue thei education, Farhad came to Israel. Simply because, contrary to what many think that all Iranian Jews are wealthy, he could not afford paying the expensive American higher education, even though he was admitted in very good universities.

But he doesn't regret it. He is one of those Iranians who value culture over money and what he found in the States was upsetting enough to convince him Israel is the best place for him and his family.

However, he can't stop listening to traditional Iranian music, reading Persian poetry-- and of course thinking about going back home, which now seems more like a dream for him and almost every Iranian who lives in Israel. They would be potential targets for the Iran's recent aggressive policy towards the West and Israel.

Now, he has a blog in Persian and he can directly communicate with his friends, family and the people from his native land. This can't possibly replace the experience he could've had by visiting Iran, but the taboo of Israel in Iran can only be broken when people stop believing the regime's propaganda.

Farhad's blog about his daily life in Tel Aviv and how he sees the world is a powerful example of how to challenge these taboos and stereotypes. We defenitely need more of of this.

Please support my visit to Israel as a citizen journalist and peace activist from Iran

My Article in the New York Times

Welcome to all readers who've come here after reading my opinion piece for the New York Times, titled 'Democracy's Double Standard.' (Read the free version)

In case you didn't notice, I'm now in Tel Aviv. This is a bit unusual for a Muslim-born Iranian, but you can read about the reason and the purpose of this visit.

Briefly, I've publicly come to Israel to break a big taboo and to be a bridge between Iranian and Israeli people who are manipulated by their own governments' and media's dehumanizing attitude, especially now that the possibility of some sort of violent clash is higher than ever.

To do my job as a citizen journalist and a peace activist, I'd be grateful for your support.

Democracy's Double Standard (The New York Times)

By HOSSEIN DERAKHSHAN

Published: January 28, 2006

SouTEL AVIV - THE day before Iran's ninth presidential elections last June, President Bush sent a discouraging message to potential voters. Iran's electoral process ''ignores the basic requirements of democracy,'' Mr. Bush declared, and these elections would be ''sadly consistent'' with the country's ''oppressive record.'' For Iranians, there was no mistaking the American president's point: he was tacitly sanctioning the call that some Iranian exiles and activists had issued for an election boycott, based on exactly this logic.

An American administration that had called on other Middle Eastern populaces to vote in flawed elections greeted the Iranian electoral process with nothing but open disdain. It is worth revisiting this odd judgment call at a time when Hamas's victory in the Palestinian elections has raised even more questions about Washington's confused strategy of democracy promotion.

In Iran last June, the call for a boycott resonated with frustrated and apathetic voters. Many, if not most, moderates and reform advocates stayed home from the polls. And we all know what followed: the philosophy-loving moderate, Mohammad Khatami, was replaced as president by a radical militant, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- a former military commander who presides over one of the most extreme governments post-revolutionary Iran has yet had.

That's right: with what appeared to be the endorsement of President Bush and dozens of American-backed satellite television channels that broadcast in Farsi, the disillusioned young people of Iran effectively took one of the world's most closely watched nuclear programs out of the hands of a reformer and placed it into the hands of a hard-line reactionary.

Can anyone now doubt that Iranian elections, however flawed, really do matter? When Mr. Khatami came to power, his declared goals were to establish the rule of law, demand equal rights for all citizens and reconcile Iran with the world. He may not have succeeded in all of those endeavors, but Mr. Ahmadinejad has entered government with manifestly opposite priorities.

The new president's allies in Parliament recently concluded that nearly 80 percent of the books published under President Khatami violated revolutionary values and should be placed under restrictions. Films that promote feminism, secularism and liberalism are to be banned. And while President Khatami built his international reputation on his call for a ''dialogue among civilizations,'' President Ahmadinejad has reached out to racists and anti-Semites instead.

It's true that Iranian elections are not quite democratic, because the unelected Guardian Council reserves the right to bar candidates. But the real problem here is that boycotting semi-democratic elections ultimately will not make such a system more democratic.

The rise of Mr. Ahmadinejad, and the threat he poses to the stability of a volatile region, demonstrates that promoting apathy in a semi-democratic system can only strengthen the radical anti-democracy forces. And it raises a question as to whether that is what hawks in Washington actually wanted.

Contrast the ''don't vote'' message that President Bush sent to Iranians to the one delivered to Iraqis through a major media campaign and other costly means: ''Your destiny is in your own hands. Disappoint the anti-democracy radicals and go out and vote.''

If the United States is serious about promoting democratic change in Iran, it needs to try the same approach that brought Iraqis to the polls despite mortal danger. Mr. Bush and his supporters should encourage the people of Iran to participate in the next election. And they should urge Iranians to vote for someone who will make their country more open and democratic, rather than more threatening, as Iran under President Ahmadinejad has become.

Source: The New York Times</a

Surprisingly positive feedback

I'm really surprised by how much my Iranian audience of the Persian blog have been quite supportive about this trip. Over 130 people have commented so far on the post I announced my decision to visit Israel and maybe less than a dozen have been negative.

I wish someone could translate them into English so everybody could see this. Although there are also some comments in English which could this time be representative of all comments.

However, almost none of the bloggers have dared to link to these posts or even mention anything about this trip. This speaks volumes about what a big taboo still is visiting Israel for an Iranian, than even those bloggers who live outside the country have not found the courage to show any support or even mention it.

We still have a long way to break this taboo and it's not possible with one trip by one person. Now I'm thinking of organizing an Israel tour for some young Iranian academics who are brave enough to help break this ridiculous taboo.

Focusing only on Iranian-Israeli realations

One thing I have to clarify here is that my focus in this trip is only on Iran and Israel relationship and when I talk about peace, I mean between these two states.

As a non-religious Iranian (which means I'm a non-Arab, just in case some people don't know that), my interest, at least in this trip, is not in issues between Arab world and Israel.

What I'm trying to primarily do here is to try to help Israelis and Iranians have a better understanding about one another and contribute to stop the dangerous process of de-humanization that both side are doing.

That's why I'm trying to talk to as many Iranians here to remind my audience inside Iran about the great ties between the two nations. Also to show Israelis what an Iranian who was born and raised in Tehran, under the Islamic Republic of Iran's watch, looks like and how millions of Iranian young men and women are different with what the media and the government portrays.

Presentation at Tel Aviv University

I'll have a presentation tomorrow at the Iranian Studies Center of Tel Aviv University about Internet and its effect on the Iranian politics and society these days.

Here is more detail about the event:
Thursday, January 26 at 10.15 a.m.
Gillman Building, Enter campus from gate 4.
Tel Aviv University

For further inquiries you can call this number:
+ 972 3 6408911

Visiting Israel, breaking a major taboo

If things work smoothly at the Berlin's Schoenefeld Airport, I'll be in Tel Aviv tomorrow morning. This is huge for me.

This might mean that I won’t be able to go back to Iran for a long time, since Iran doesn't recognize Israel, has no diplomatic relations with it, and apparently considers traveling there illegal. Too bad, but I don't care. Fortunately, I'm a citizen of Canada and I have the right to visit any country I want.

I'm going to Israel as a citizen journalist and a peace activist.

As a citizen journalist, I'm going to show my 20,000 daily Iranian readers what Israel really looks like and how people live there. The Islamic Republic has long portrayed Israel as an evil state, with a consensual political agenda of killing every single man and woman who prays to Allah, including Iranians.

I'm going to challenge that image.

There are many Iranian Jews residing in Israel now –including the president and the minister of defense. Many still speak Persian and love where they were born and raised. I'm going to talk to them and show Israel and Iran from their point of view.

Historically, Persians and Jews have mostly lived in peace and have helped one another a great deal. But now, for whatever reason, they are perceived as enemies - even though they’ve never actually harmed one other, despite the existence of hard line leaders on both sides.

But now, given Iran's persistence on its nuclear program (which obviously is a cover for a nuclear weapons program) and the new wave of threats Ahmadinejad is posing to Israel's existence, the possibility of a harsh response by Israel is higher than ever.

As a peace activist, I'm going to show the Israelis that the vast majority of Iranians do not identify with Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric, despite what it looks like from the outside.

I'm going to tell them how any kind of violent action against Iran would only harm the young people who are gradually reforming the system and how the radicals would benefit from such situation.

During my visit, I'm going to blog in both English and Persian, take a lot of pictures and record numerous video and audio reports and make a few podcasts.

But like a real ciziten journalist, I’ll have to depend on my readers' support, especially financially. The more support you give, the more effective I can be as a citizen journalist and a peace activist.

Please send your donations via PayPal now, using the following button:

A number of very nice people have helped me a lot so far to make this visit happen, and I’d like to express my gratitude to them here: Professor David Menashri, the head of the Iranian Studies Center at the Univeristy of Tel Aviv; Markus Beckedahl, my Berlin-based friend who lent me his audio recorder and let me use his office space; Yael Kaynan of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev; and of course Lisa Goldman, the Canadian-Israeli blogger who inspired this visit in the first place.

Larijani vs. Ahmadinejad

The power struggle between Ali Larijani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is now changing to the benefit of Larijani.

As you probably know, Larijani is a close friend of Khamanei and is on the top of two crucial institutions now, both appointed by Khamenei: Nuclear negotiation team, and National security council.

I wrote a few weeks that the single biggest reason Ahmadinejad is ranting unexpectedly against Israel and the uproar he's made in the past few weeks, has internal purposes.

Khamenei has effectively prevented Ahmadinejad from having any say in foreign policy. So Ahmadinejad's strategy has been causing problems in major foreign policy issues in order to get into the gaming.

He managed to achieve some success in this regard and he definitely has gained some grounds. But it's very hard to keep it that way, since he's set the bar so high he can't push it further. Israel is the single biggest foreign policy issue in Iran these days and Ahmadinejad has pushed that envelope as far as it could go.

So now we gradually see Larijani getting more involved and more exposure. He now does more interviews and does more sensitive meetings (with Muqtada Sadr).

I guess he's winning the game and soon Ahamdinejad has no choice but to focus on internal problems and to materialize his promises. Unless he doesn't want to give up in which case we'll see a new controversial positions and speeches from him.

BBC Persian filtered

BBC ‌‌Persian's website, which is the most popular among the BBC World Service's websites has been filtered by the Iranian government for the first time.

Entekhab, a conservative news website close to Ali Larijani, is also filtered.

Ahmadinejad and allies have started expanding their power in the system and these two are small but significant signs of such changes.

UPDATE:
- Comments on Sobhaneh, the collaborative news blog I run, confirm that now it's even filtered by the big ISPs in Tehran, such as Pars Online, Datak, etc. So it's now certain that it's a new government policy.

Berlin

I'm in Berlin now for the first time in my life and I know why people think it's an amazing place to be these days. So many nice, friendly and casual cafes, bars, and restaurants, with trendy, cool, and politically aware people in them.

It's big with various neighbourhoods, has a very efficient public transport system and, God, it's cheap!

I should say it is a definite candidate now if I could sort out moving to Europe. I haven't seen Madrid though.

Tuesday links

• Iran's Rogue Rage (Newsweek):
  Nukes: Iranians want nuclear know-how—and seem to be daring the West to stop them. Iranian technicians surround a container of radioactive uranium. ‘We have a right to have nuclear technology,’ says Mahsid Sajadi.
• Slamming Its Doors on the World (Time)
  As Iran confronts the West over nukes, its leaders are patrolling the Web to silence critics at home. (Azadeh Moaveni says I do "a quirky, Jon Stewart--like brew of political commentary" in my blog. Flattering.)

Printed in Toronto, poorly

The New York Times issues distributed in Toronto were printed in Ohio until very recently. But now they are printed in Toronto and apparently with a cheap paper and ink. Just try to read it and take a look at your hands afterwards. You'll have dirty ink on all your hands.

The West should change its focus regarding Iran

Dear US and EU leaders,

You can't stop Iran from achieving nuclear weapons. You have not enough diplomatic options, nor military solutions. Simply because Iran has played this game much smarter than you.

To be honest, it's not the bombs that endanger the region. It's the undemocratic, threatening regime of Iran that makes any technology dangerous, let alone nuclear ones.

So, please, instead of putting all your energy on stopping Iran, channel all your resources to make this regime change its behavior.

It's not possible by military attack or a coup. It's only possible by helping every Iranian individual understand that they can change this regime if they want to. Not through another violent revolution, but simply through small holes that for whatever reason exist: elections!

I know elections are not democratic enough. But it's the only way to go. When people elected Khatami they proved how this system could reluctantly change from within. And if Khatami had a stronger character and more courage, we'd not have been seeing this racist fundamentalist guy, Ahmadinejad, as Iran's president.

Khatami failed, but it doesn't mean the way people found to change the system was wrong. Eight years of challenging the powerful and corrupt conservative establishment with a strong grip on power is not enough at all. We need two or three more of these eight years to be able to change the way things are going.

So I'd suggest you, in order to be able to relax about Iran again, focus on its people.

Use your resources (funding, media, education, etc.) to reach ordinary Iranians and the vast number of young people who already have different social values. Show them how Iran ideally could be and convince them they could easily change it, by engaging more.

This time, instead of promoting inaction and boycott, encourage everyone to participate in the coming elections. The way you did and still do in Iraq.

Iranians have long lost their hope in controlling their destiny and this is where the problem lies.

You help Iran becomes democratic, Iran will be the biggest promoter of peace and security in the region.

Thirty-one

I'm turning thirty-one today. It was a great year last year and although I had some terrible experiences (divorce and homelessness), overall, and because of so much traveling, I can say I know myself much better than I used to. I know my strengths and flaws now and this give me a comfortable feeling I'd never had in my life. I'm in peace with myself and everyone else. I'm in love with life and its simple pleasures. I'm so happy I can even die right now.

Sharon's death is bad for Iran

I guess Ariel Sharon's disappearance from the Israeli's political scene would be a blow to the moderates in Iran too.

The possibility of a limited air strike against nuclear facilities in Iran would increase if the now pure Right wing Likud gained a bigger share of power in the future government.

The centrist Kadima party would not be as successful in the coming elections without the popular Sharon and as New York Times noted yesterday, the next politician people would feel secure with would be Netanyahu.

I fear Netanyahu would turn the verbal fight with Iran into a real military attack which would, in turn, be the best excuse for the fundamentalists in Iran to completely shut down the already-weak democratic institutions and procedures.

I wish the reformist movement could grow out of Khomeini's era and take a more realistic and positive position regarding moderates in Israel. They have to start it at some point anyway.

P.S: Aparently, a new polls show Kadima would still win the election.

Happy New Year

I wish this man would be gone by this time next year. I mean the one on the front-page of the Guardian.