Dear Michael,

Three weeks ago you asked what are the chances of a democratic and civil progress in Iran, with a new president Rouhani and an old regime. For a young men who faces death penalty for a crime he committed at the age of eight, I’m afraid, any such changes will come too late. As Hrana News Agency reported today, the  juvenile offender who has spent 10 years in prison for a crime committed at the age of eight will be hanged next week in Tehran.

According to a report by Shargh Newspaper, the plaintiff has demanded approximately $500,000 in reparation before giving the required consent for the sentence to be commuted.  Iranian criminal law allows death penalty for children, but the sentence can be carried out only after the child reaches 18 .

On Friday, July 5, 2013, a play will be held at Arasbaran Cultural Center in Tehran to collect donations for the defendant.  The show, titled the Blue Sensation of Death, is about imprisoned juvenile offenders.

Take Care, Dear  /Ghazal

نــامه جدید رخشان بنی اعتماد چندروز پیش در باره تئاتر “احساس آبی مرگ” و اهمیت دیدن آن و کمک به فرهنگ سازی ضد خشونت که ضرورت جامعه مان است  .

دوستان سلام این روزها در فرهنگسرای ارسباران تئاتر مستند “احساس آبی مرگ” به کارگردانی امین میری و نویسندگی سجاد افشاریان بر صحنه است.

این نمایش بسیار تاثیرگذار است و بر اساس موارد واقعی نوجوانان مجرم محکوم به مرگ نوشته و اجرا می شود.

در کشوری که مردم را دعوت به تماشای اعدام می کنند این جوانان هنرمند ما را دعوت به تماشای این نمایش می کنند که بر هر کس که خود را ضد اعدام می داند دیدن آن واجب است.   اما حرف مهم در مورد نمایش جمعه شب است .

نمایش احساسِ آبی مرگ هر شب ساعت 21 توی سالن اصلی فرهنگسرای ارسباران اجرا می شه .. این نمایش در مورد بچه هایی ِ که هیچ فرقی با ما ندارن و بر حسبِ اتفاق اونا تویِ کانون زندگی می کنن و ما بیرون .. حکم یکی از بچه ها به اسم صابر اومده … هفته یِ دیگه میره بالای ِ دار وُ با اطلاعاتی ک ما داریم بی گناه جــون میده …

شاکیش پونصد ملیون خواسته که با کمک کانون وکلا و خیرین سیصد وُ سی وُ پنج ملیون جمع شده . صد وُ شصت وُ پنج ملیون کم داریم که امیدواریم تو اجرای ِ خیریه ای که جمعه گذاشتیم با کمک شما ها حتی یِ دونه هزاری که روی هم بزاریم جمع شه ..

صابر هشت ، نه سالِ که توی ِ کانون و زندانِ از بچه گیش هیچی نفهمیده … با اطمینانِ به این که بی گناهِ همه یِ ما می تونیم کمک کنیم تا سر بی گناه بالایِ دار نره .. مثلِ ِ هر کارِ خیرِ دیگه ای هیچ اصراری در میون نیست ولی حضورتون در روز جمعه باعثِ حالِ خوبِ هممون می شه … ممکنه بعد از اجرا چشمامون خیس اشک شه ولی باز هم می گم حالِ جمعی ِ همه مون بهتر می شه …   حال من از شما می خواهم که جمعه ساعت 9 شب ارسباران باشید و همت عالی بلیت نمایش را بخرید .

ارسباران 200 صندلی جا دارد اگر به طور متوسط هر بلیط 50 هزار تومان فروخته شود و اگر همه همت کنیم و برویم دیدن نمایش دیه صابر جمع می شود وگرنه صابر هفته دیگر اعدام خواهد شد. بیایید همه بیایید همه جمعه شب ارسباران باشیم.

کمپین درخواست از هنرمندان برای شکستن سکوت پنجشنبه, ۱۳ تیر, ۱۳۹۲

Yet the official results are not announced, but this time the Iranian officials have a valid explanation for this: against all forcasts, the 2013 ballots were frequented by more than 70% of all eligible voters and thus had to be kept open for an additional 5 hours.
It seems that when the counting started at 9 pm CET or midnight in Tehran, the volunteers had a long and sleepless night to spent. Now, with the first pre-result estimates (after counting 90% of all votes) there seems to be a likely winner: Hassan Rouhani, who recently gave an enthusistic speech and demands more freedom, less dogmatism: a agenda, that was greeted with passion by his young and active supporters. If the estimates are right, than 51% of all Iranians trust Rouhani to lead their country into a better future. But it would be to simple to judge the election simply by numbers and percentages, as done in Western countries with their standard and almost boring regular democratic selection process. In Iran, the election day is also colourful and vivid, and looking into the faces of the voters makes us understand a little better what a nation of 80 millions dream of.

Bill posts showing the presidential candidates on Tehran streets. This particular candidate, Mr. Saeed  Jalili seems to attract much less attention from his own people than he got 4 month ago at the Munich Conference for International Security affairs. He is counted as a hard-liner and not much loved by the Iranian people who are desperatly hoping for change.

Long queues mark the polling stations and voters are waiting patiently to exploit their right to select the new president.  Due to the unexpected high voter turnout, the polling offices had to stay open till midnight.

Will this man, Hassan Rouhani end the 12 years of dim and rediculous Ahmadenijad leadership of the country ? Currently, at 11 am local Tehran time the estimates give Rouhani more than 51 %, almost 3 times more than the 2nd next.  In case that the remaining ~ 10% of yet uncounted ballots can not support Rouhanis winning position, there will be a run-off between him and the second best, Tehrans current mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf.

As always in public activities, Iranian laws require a separation between men and women. At this well lid, fabric covered polling bay woman stay among their likes and might not only debate about the president to come, but also about where to buy cheap food and how to raise the children. In any case, both issues will also be strongly depend on the new president whom they give their votes here.

Men, in contrast, like to pose for the camera.

… And if one dares to wear blue glasses, he leaves no doubt whom he will support. The young, educated and modern Iranians hope that Rouhani will be the next president. Mr. Blue-Eyes and Blue Finger on this photography, however, is an Iranian expat in Washington D.C. So for him showing up a liberal and secular life style is easy.

For this Iranian young beauty, however, going to the polls with some inches of hair leaking under her chador is a demonstration of pride and courage.

Thanks BBC for the nice photographs. I hope you don’t mind me putting some intelligent captitions on them. In terms of copyright issues, I guess that you have neither asked the Iranian people whom you photographed for permission of publishing them at the BBC website.  So f…k up, old aunty BBC and let me give the people at least a more righteous voice.

The Berlin Academy of Fine Arts helds an exhibition of drawings on paper by Meir Hussein Mussavi. The exhibition opened with a vernisage on Friday, June 7th and welcomes visitors till Sunday, June 23rd 2013.  The Academy is located at Paris Square next to the Brandenburg gate. The exhibition flyer describes Mousavis abstract drawings as visual poetry.

Mir Hussein Mousavi: No Title

His oevre shows papers filled with grafic elements, resembling ancient writings, abstract coloured signs, and symbols inspired by geometric and organic forms. Abstract symbols, related to memories and philosophical metaphors merge to complex structures. Fractures, torns through the paper and burned marks reminds the observer of the frictions and conflicts of an individual person in a society full of political and social constrains.
Mousavi, who counts the Persian mythology as his main influence, was not able to come to Berlin to open his exhibition himself. The artist and former presidential candidate is banned from all political activities and kept under house arrest in Tehran.

Not surprisingly, no official delegate from the Iranian embassy in Berlin was seen at the exhibitions vernissage. Maybe IRI officials have to change their mind after Fridays presidential election and at least will join the finissage.

Further information only in German is here

Yesterday, June 1st during a pre-election campaign of Hassan Rouhani, his mainly young supporters shouted “Honour to Mousavi, Wellcome to Rouhani”. The meeting took place in Tehran’s Jamaran district. Rouhani urged all his supporters to attend the presidental elections. He demands the release of all political prisoners and the end of the securitized atmosphere. He called for a free, prosperous and peaceful Iran. The Rouhani campaign’s head of youth affairs was detained at this event.

It is good to see that the Bavarian Television placed its microphone right in front of Mr. Rouhani. So we will hopefully get all information first hand.

Ghazal dear, the following reply to a post of Bahmani I could have never written without experiencing the tightness of the relationship between you and your family and feeling how much a resistance this provides against any potential intruder (like myself).

In Iran, the frequently expressed demand to do something for the community/society is a compensatory reflex to the traditional 150% focus on familial relation as the only important ones. Neither the Shahs aristocratic wealth nor the religious dogma of Shia islam could provide any common framework for all Iranians. The aristocracy was always considered corrupt and only interested in rising the power and wealth of their own dynasty, and the islamic religion was from its very beginning alian and hostile towards the historic Persian values of the Archemenidian, Sassanidian and Parthians empires and their culture and faith.
So over centuries, the Iranians converted to their very own family worlds, which provided a sort of constant values, safety, and system of trust, pride, and historic continuity. But the rise of modern societies in the 19th and 20th century required a new social “contract”, and even though in both the capitalist and the socialist countries the economic models were so much different, in both cases the masses “sacrificed” their privat life to the socio-economic requirements. Japans rise to such a economic superpower would have been unthinkable without the devotion of the people to finally commit their whole life for the prosperity of their employer (or formerly to the prosperity of the shogun). In Europe the mostly benevolent dynasties had a similar function, or the republic values in France. All of these provide values systems to the individual, which could easily be transformed into the requirements of modern, anonymous, industrial societies.
But in a society where the main social relationships and values are provided by an extended family clan, this transformation is much more difficult. Because you can easily get rid of your faith (like in Russia) or loosen your devotion to the royal dynasty (like in England, where the Windsors became more or less decorative and cultural institutions), but you can never get rid of your parents, your grandparents and uncles and aunts. Everybody of us has them, and of course they will always try to keep the children, grandchildren, nices and nephrews as close as possible and as obidient as possible. And this in reality made any consense on a national or society scale very difficult. And because people deep inside are very aware of this, they invent the narratives of the hero who devotes his whole life for the sake of the society. These narratives are pure sublementations for the complex of lacking a minimal social responsibility. The second narrative that is reproduced again and again to satisfy this desire for a devotion of the individuum to the socium is the Shia victim mythology. Wunderful and so atractive to please god, if some martyres loos their life not to defend the family, but to spread the religion. These are the prototype of social workers: Giving their own life for the sake of a “higher” institution. But (thanks god) these cult of Shia islamic martyrdom could not supersede in primary family values in Iranian society neither. I was always fascinated by the observation that even though Shia islam has this dogma of the martyrdom, there were never suicide terrorists coming from the Iranian society. My guess would be that these very tight family relationships in which each person is imbedded, the idea to commit one family member to be sent out to give its life away for a “higher purpose” is extremely difficult to justify. The palestinians are always happy to do this, and the Iraqies and the Pakistany are always willing to do this. Iranians not. So they love these fantastic stories of Rustam or of Ali and Hussein, but the verve and absoluteness of this love says much more about their deep-down feeling that they lack such “higher purposes” in daily life.

regards, Michael

The idea of Persia has long fascinated Western minds. From the Middle Ages on, knowledge of Persia gradually expanded as a result of increased contact through trade, travel and diplomacy. Writers in Europe, such as Goethe, Chaucer, Dante and Shakespeare, reflected this understanding in the parallels with Persian literature and shared symbolism evident in their plays, poetry and prose.

Love and devotion showcases a rich selection of manuscripts from the world-renowned collection of the Bodleian Libraries of the University of Oxford, along with rare works from the State Library of Victoria and other Australian collections.

Two Princess: Miniature, Bodleian Collection

The exhibition celebrates the beauty of Persian manuscripts and the stories of human and divine love told through their pages from the early 11th century on.

Romantic tales were copied and sometimes reinterpreted over time, and reached far beyond the borders of Iran. The universal themes of Persian narrative and mystical poetry appealed especially to audiences in Mughal India and Ottoman Turkey, and eventually to audiences in the West. Transcending time and place, these stories continue to resonate today and to be retold through contemporary literature and popular culture.

Persian poetry from the secular tradition flourished in the princely courts of Iran, where illustrated manuscripts were crafted for elite patrons. Today, these provide viewers with the opportunity to experience examples of Persian calligraphy, illumination and miniature painting from the 13th to 18th centuries, one of the richest periods in the history of the book. Many stories from this period were embraced not only in the princely courts but in all sectors of society, told within families and at community gatherings.

Court Francais in Tehran

Any other country would be proud to have such a talented actress, and would probably trying to nominate her for an Oscar award. But the authorities of the IRI mullah regime in Tehran have other standards of showing their admiration. Marzieh Vafamehr, playing in the Australian movie “My Tehran for Sale” has been sentenced to 90 lashes. The actress, who was arrested in July and sentenced by the court this past weekend, appeared in the movie without a headscarf on and a shaved head, and the story involved both drug use and an observation of Iran’s oppressive ways.
In a cruel twist of irony, Vafamehr played the lead in the film, also named Marzieh, an actress in Tehran whose theatre work is banned by the government, forcing her to lead a secret life in order to pursue her passions. One night she meets a fellow Iranian named Saman who now resides in Australia and offers her a chance to also escape the everyday fears of being who you want to be that come with living there.

The persion feast of Norooz is traditionally a celebration of joy and hapiness about the rebirth of nature and life. Inside the grey and cold walls of the Tehran Evin prison, however, the men and woman arrested there for month or year see little evidence of the awaking nature. Many of them suffer from bad health conditions and are deprived of adequate medical care. So for them life is continously threatend, and the happiness about Norooz remains a very abstract and distant feeling.
Nevertheless, the authorities of the IRR regime try everthing to suppress traditional Norooz Mobarak activities among the inhabitants of Evin, since this tradition is considered not in line with the Shia faith. Therefore, on March 24th a simultaneous raids took place in two wards holding political prisoners at Evin prison, namely the female ward and the general ward 350 assigned to male political prisoners, on the eve of Persian New Year, Norooz.

On Monday March 18th, 2013, both the female and male wards holding political prisoners at Evin prison were thoroughly inspected in a simultaneous raid by a prison guards. As with similar, unexpected and often offensive raids in the past, according to accounts by political prisoners currently at Evin prison, the political prisoners protested the raid by singing [national and revolutionary songs] such as “Ey Iran”, ” Sar Oomad Zemestoon” and “Yare Dabestani” and chanting slogans such as “long live Mousavi and Karroubi”, ” death to the oppressor, whether it be the late king or the Supreme Leader”, “death to the dictator”, “Mousavi reclaim our votes!” and “Ya Hossein… Mir Hossein” resonated inside the wards.

During the past three years both the female ward and the general ward 350 housing male political prisoners at Evin have undergone several unexpected raids resulting in the violation of the personal privacy of prisoners, the disruption of their daily lives and stricter security measures. The political prisoners have strongly condemned such raids and in November of last year, one such raid on the female ward led to female political prisoners launching a hunger strike protesting the inappropriate bodily searches and the desecration of their personal space.

ورود به حریم خصوصی و بر هم زدن آسایش زندانیان، در آستانه سال نو

بازرسی ناگهانی از بندهای سیاسی زنان و مردان در زندان اوین

یکشنبه, ۴ فروردین, ۱۳۹۲

چکیده : روز دوشنبه ۲۸ اسفند ماه سال 91، تعدادی از ماموران حفاظت زندان اوین به طور همزمان به بند ۳۵۰ و بند زنان زندان اوین، یعنی دو بند زندانیان سیاسی این زندان، رفته و به بازرسی کلیه بند، پرداختند. …

در آستانه ی سال نو، دو بند زندان اوین که محل نگهداری زندانیان سیاسی در این زندان است توسط ماموران زندان مورد بازرسی قرار گرفت.

به گزارش خبرنگار کلمه، روز دوشنبه ۲۸ اسفند ماه سال ۹۱، تعدادی از ماموران حفاظت زندان اوین به طور همزمان به بند ۳۵۰ و بند زنان زندان اوین، یعنی دو بند زندانیان سیاسی این زندان، رفته و به بازرسی کلیه بند، پرداختند.

بر اساس این گزارش، زندانیان همچون تمامی دفعات گذشته که در این چند سال با بازرسی های ناگهانی و گاهی توهین آمیز روبرو می شوند با مقاومت در برابر ماموران، اقدام به خواندن سرود “ای ایران”، “سر اومد زمستون”، “یار دبستانی” و شعارهای “موسوی زنده باد کروبی پاینده باد”، “مرگ بر ستمگر، چه شاه باشه چه رهبر”، “مرگ بر دیکتاتور”، “موسوی موسوی رای مرا پس بگیر” و “یا حسین میر حسین” کردند.

طی سه سال و اندی گذشته این چندمین بازرسی ناگهانی از بند ٣۵٠ است که ماموران حفاظت با ورود به حریم خصوصی و شخصی زندانیان سیاسی باعث بر هم زدن نظم و سلب آسایش آنان می شوند و فضا هر بار امنیتی تر می شود.

بازرسی هایی که دفعاتی از آن با مقاومت و واکنش های شدید زندانیان سیاسی روبرو شده است و حتی آبان ماه سال جاری زندانیان زن سیاسی که بازرسی بندشان با هتک حرمت و آزار آنها همراه بود، دست به اعتصاب غذای دسته

Source: Banooye Sabz
Kaleme

We were out to watch the new Iranian movie “Paziraie sadeh” (MODEST RECEPTION). Movie director Mani Haghighi lets his two main characters (Laila played by Taraneh Alidoosti and Kaveh by Mani Haghighi) drive through the mountains on a random search for people, whom they can hand over buckets of bank-notes they carrie with them. The actors act very statically, I got the impression though they could do much better, i.e. the director did not managed to let them show their real artistic potential. It remains very difficult for the audience to understand the personality of Leila and Kaveh, what drives them trough all the difficulties. The whole story is full of symbolism, a shrub in the desert set afire by Kaveh, a pack of wood he is carrying on their ride, an injured mule that is shot dead at the end, a man in the middle of nowhere burying his baby. All these symbolic scenes together might form a single messianic secret, but this is hidden behind the very fast cuts of the movie and the sometimes hysteric acting of the characters. I think a movie should not require a special introductory lesson for the ordinary audience to decipher and enjoy the story. Because that will always remain the essence of a movie, whether a tragedy or a comedy, a love story or a political thriller, a science fiction tale or a historic epos: Over 90 minutes or longer, we want to follow a story, characters that interact and respond, who change and develope under the influence of their experiences. I missed all this in Haghighi award winning movie here, Leila and Kaveh where exactly the same at the beginning and at the end of the movie. The only changes that occured were outside of them: The money was all given away, the car was a bit dirtier than originally, the sick mule was dead, the baby was layed down in the grave. Perhaps the most relevant impact on peoples life and destiny took place in the non-visible side-characters: most of the people that were given the bunches of bank-notes were only visible behind helmets, beards, or face scarfs. And as soon as they grabbed the money, the scenes were cut and the people were never seen any more. I would predict that for these poor people the encounter with Leila and Kaveh, that suddenly brought a lot of money for them and their families, had a much greater impact on to their life than for the two Tehrany nuveau-rich.

I had only two associations after the movie: A hopeless situation without an exit. People kept in troublesome state that only gets worse, and no sign for a solution. Very much Kafka like, so really coming from the heart of the Iranian intellectuals.
This movie convinced me that most cinematography produced inside the country gives a pessimistic impression, showing people suffering in one or the other way from the hopeless situation. The movies by Iranian ex-pats produced in Europe or the US, on the other side, show the characters as strong, active and optimistic person. I have to admit, I like this outside view more.

Just cross the road from the Avicenna bookstore in Munich, with its huge assortment of Persian literature, is the old building of the Munich University. Seventy years ago it was in the main hall of this building that the antifascist resistance group “White Rose” spread around leaflets that should reveal and condemn the nazi-crimes against the Jewish population and against political opponents of the regime. The “brave” german custodian of the university trapped Hans and Sophie Scholl and reported them to the Gestapo. This lead to the discovery of the entire group, whom the Gestapo desperately wanted to get hold of after leaflets and wall paintings claiming “Freedom”, “Down with Hitler” and “immediate end of the war” arose the weeks before.
Most members of the “White Rose” were interrogated and beheaded, after they were sentenced at the notorious “Peoples Court” (Volksgerichtshof).

Sophie Scholl (+ 22.02.1943)
Hans Scholl (+ 22.02.1943)
Christoph Probst (+ 22.02.1943)
Alexander Schmorell (+ 13.07.1943)
Willi Graf (+12.10.1943)
Kurt Huber (+ 13.07.1943)
Gisela Schertling
Katharina Schueddekopf
Traute Lafrenz

Shortly after the capture of the members of the White Rose, Leaflet No. 6 was smuggled out of Germany and later copied by the Allies and dropped from aircraft as propaganda over Nazi Germany.

At several places in Munich memorials remind people of the brave activities of the White Rose students, like a black obelisk in the Court Garden and brass copies of their leaflets placed on the square in front of the University.

Coming back to the Avicenna bookstore nearby the University building, one might see the murdered German students as brothers-and sisters-in-mind with the student rebells that shook up the streets of Tehran in 2009. Sooner or later, there also will be memorial plates in Iran, comemorating their brave standing-up against an inhuman regime.