http://www.gozaar.org/rss.php Subscribe to Gozaar's feed in order to stay up to date on articles and statements that are posted on Gozaar. en-us Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:23:46 EST Wed, 10 Mar 2010 06:23:46 EST http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1451&language=english "In the beginning days of the triumph over the Shah, one of the first measures Khomeini took right around March 8, 1979 was to call upon women to observe hijab in workplaces, which provoked thousands of women. Female lawyers held many meetings. While women were shouting slogans like “we did not revolt to go backwards” and “liberty is neither eastern, nor western, but universal”, Hezbollah thugs (Party of God vigilantes) were shouting: “scarf, or a blow on the head”. Even though the liberal and moderate Islamists, and also Mehdi Bazargan and Ayatollah Mahmoud Taleqani, condemned attacks on women, they failed to assume a clear position against the violation of women’s rights. The secular political factions, also, did not make a move to protect the protesting women. In Keyhan newspaper, which was yet to become an Islamist medium, an article was published on March 13, 1979 entitled: “Enough with women’s demonstrations,” in which a female writer accused the supporters of the Shah’s regime of organizing these movements to discredit Islam and to widen division among the people. The writer concluded since the government authorities condemned attacks on women and respected their demand to honor their preferences, the women in turn had to end their protests." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1450&language=english “We (a group of Iranian feminists and women’s rights activists) demand an end to state-led violence and repression, as well as the immediate release of all political detainees in Iran. We invite all women’s rights defenders, activists, organisations, and networks worldwide to demonstrate their solidarity with the Iranian women’s movement and the broader movement for democracy in Iran by organizing initiatives under the slogan ‘freedom and gender equality in Iran’ throughout March 2010.” http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1449&language=english "Iranian women played a significant role in the victory of Iranian Revolution in 1979. They were also the first segment of population that, in the name of Islam and revolution, was treated with disrespect and animosity. Immediately after the Revolution on February 11, Iranian women lost the rights they had acquired in the last decade of Pahlavi monarchy. This report sums up some examples of this assault that, in different shapes and forms, has continued for thirty years. Meantime, the legal status of women has deteriorated greatly in comparison to the pre-revolutionary days. During the last three decades, all women activists have experienced imprisonment, insults and constraints and many have been forced to leave their homeland. Currently, many courageous Iranian women, who have supported the protesting national movement, are in prison. Some have been released, but their heavy bails and the threat of going back to prison have compelled them into silence; they cannot even describe what has happened to them in prison. In addition, a large group of women have been summoned and threatened with imprisonment by the Ministry of Intelligence and the revolutionary courts." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1448&language=english “From the cultural point of view, not only does Iran have no problem with harmonizing cultural and ethnic diversity, it is a product of this multi-cultural quality. There is no such thing as a pure Iranian outside the ethnic groups. Being an Iranian is a collective characteristic which is the result of reciprocal interactions among diverse peoples and cultures http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1447&language=english "Eight months after the birth of the most massive popular uprising in the past 30 years known as the ‘Green Movement,’ the movement has weathered many trying days. The painful events of ‘Bloody Ashura’ in Tehran, a sweeping wave of arrests and baseless charges against detainees, heavy security measures to prevent counter-protests on 22 Bahman (February 11, 2010), and the inevitable reluctance of opposition supporters for high-toll street turnouts—all these factors warn of the urgency of a new approach which incorporates the entire range of existing capacities within the movement while reducing the toll and risk for protesters. In other words, it seems that instead of periodic preparation for specific protest dates and channeling all of the movement’s hope and despair into those days, serious action should be taken for expanding the movement on a daily and more widespread basis." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1446&language=english "What is known in Iran today as the ‘Green Movement’ may be viewed as the product of years of continuous activity by the women’s, student, and worker’s movements alongside the country’s Reform movement. By keeping respect for existing political leaders [such as the Reformist presidential candidates], the Green Movement showed from the beginning that because it stems from civil movements and not political parties, it will not accept exclusive leadership by anyone. Musavi and Karrubi understand this quality of the movement and have never tried to position themselves as domineering leaders or “deciders.” They have limited their role to issuing declarations that express the society’s “minimum demands,” leaving a door open for compromise with the country’s current rulers and past officials." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1445&language=english What does it mean to be Iranian? What does it mean to be a human being? These are the questions confronting the Iranian people at this crucial juncture in their long history. In the incredible and unforgettable scenes that have unfolded in the streets of Tehran, and Isfahan, and Shiraz, and Tabriz, and Mashhad, and Ahvaz, and every other city and town in Iran, we are witnessing a struggle far greater than a mere political contest between different presidential candidates. We are witnessing a struggle for the soul of the nation; a struggle to build a new identity for the Iranian people. The encounter between the protestors and their tormentors is an encounter between the dark past and the bright future. It is an encounter between violence and non-violence, between the courage of those that are willing to sacrifice their lives for justice, and the cowardice of those that savagely beat and murder the defenseless. It is an encounter between the best and worst potentials inherent in humankind. http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1443&language=english "In the past 88 years, Iran has seen three coup d’états. Each one of them has been a catalyst for development and fundamental change in the political, cultural, social and economic infrastructure. What we find common to all three coups, namely, the coups of March 3, 1921, August 19, 1953 and June 12, 2009 is a political and social crisis out of which rises a great social movement before the coup. There was the constitutional movement before the 1921 coup, the oil nationalization movement before the 1953 coup and the reform movement and green movement before the 2009 coup." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1444&language=english "The results of the World Press Photo competition were announced a full week ago and three of the selected photographs were taken in Tehran of events following the elections of Khordad 1388 (June 2009). One of the winners was from Italy, the other from France, but the third person, who remains unidentified, is none other than the person who took the picture of Neda Agha Soltan that sent tremors down the back of the news world. It was a picture that forced the leaders of Iranian to lie ridiculously that the British government was involved in Neda’s murder." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1442&language=english "The 2010 Washington Human Rights Summit: Affirming Fundamental Freedoms, in Washington, D.C. on February 17, 18 and 19, 2010 brought together many of the new generation of dissidents and human rights advocates with U.S. policy makers, officials from other democratic governments, and influential figures from the world of media, think tanks, universities, NGOs, and human rights and freedom of expression activists. The summit produced an action plan for the Obama Administration, other governments and multilateral institutions in defense of democratic values and fundamental human rights." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1440&language=english "“When the time came for people to enter the streets to overthrow the Shah’s regime, I too was there, together with my mother and father, to protest the dictatorship. But now, thirty years later I am just beginning to understand the saying that people knew what they didn’t want but didn’t know what they wanted.” These are the words of a white-haired Iranian woman who spends her time in cultural work. Though she is critical of her past with the Mujahideen-e Khalq, some of her behavior she regards as warranted by the times. Now, despite the passing of thirty years, Ms. N. T. is participating in the movement of ’88 (2009), but not as she did before; for she considers the past as emotional but her current presence as wise. She knows her own hopes and dreams and those of the people in their participation in the social movement of ’57 (1978) to be freedom, equality and wholeness. These are dreams that now also need to be fought for because they have not yet been achieved. The following is our interview with this woman." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1438&language=english "The International Fajr Film Festival debuted three years after the Islamic Revolution. Ayatollah Khomeini’s famous utterance “I don’t oppose cinema; I oppose prostitution,” on the very day he entered Iran in February 1979, clearly expressed his views on cinema. Nevertheless, it took three years for the film industry to be reorganized and for the festival formerly named “Tehran Film Festival” to rise from the ashes. In February 1982, the 1st Fajr Film Festival was launched, with the aim of extolling and promoting a cinema based on the revolutionary-Islamist values of the new Iranian regime." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1439&language=english "The tenth presidential election has placed the country in a unique situation. The existing division in the structure of power which was systematically denied during the span of the Islamic Republic is now clearly revealed. The alleged supporters and opponents of the leader are now completely separated from each other. In these circumstances, many compare the events happening in the country today to those that happened during the beginning years of the revolution, following the rejection of Mujahideen and other groups involved in the revolution of 1979. Even though in the beginning those events were considered a serious threat to the new regime under the rule of Velayat -e Faqih, (Rule of the jurisprudent) the role that three main elements played in the success of the regime to oppress those movements cannot be overlooked. First was the charismatic leadership of Ayatollah Khomeini and his influence over the lower classes of society, who accepted every word he spoke as God’s word. Second was the special circumstance the country was facing as a result of an imposed war which set the ground for a widespread crack down claimed to be necessary to prevent the weakening of internal institutions confronting an outside enemy. Third was the lack of access to mass communication systems by the opposition groups to organize and direct their movements and activities." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1437&language=english "Despite the existence of meaningful differences among various factions and administrations, in the last three decades religious rule in Iran has exhibited certain relatively consistent patterns of behavior. Ideologically speaking, it has emphasized: execution of the rules and orders of Shari’a, even in the sphere of the citizens’ private lives, with reliance upon use of force and violence; adoption of a diabolical view of the West; suspension of application or non-application of Islamic principles as expedient for the government; and Islamicization of all matters in all spheres, especially concerning educational institutions. Politically and legally speaking, it has emphasized: institutionalization of advantages for the ruling elite and of discrimination; violation of the basic and civil rights of the citizens; manufacturing of sham elections; destruction of civil society institutions; lack of independence of the Judicial Branch; and perpetration of acts of terrorism against and outright murder of its opponents. Socially speaking, it has emphasized: use of violence as a pivotal instrument of its rule; anti-feminism; and transformation of Iran into a totalitarian society. Culturally speaking, it has emphasized: existence and rule of one opinion and one voice only—that of its ruling elite; and promotion and celebration of a culture of death and martyrdom. Seen from this perspective, the Islamic Republic, as it stands now, is precisely the regime that Khomeini had in mind." http://www.gozaar.org/template1.php?id=1436&language=english "Since 1997, when Mohammad Khatami became the President, the conservative faction has labeled the critics of approbative supervision as the enemies of the system. From the perspective of conservatives, who have always monopolized security, intelligence and police institutions, approbative supervision is a divine revelation that cannot be altered. All people and groups that have insisted on ending approbative supervision are accused of misleading public opinion and attempting to overthrow the regime. But a demand, such as the elimination of approbative supervision, does not violate the Constitution in any way. The critics base their demand for the annulment of approbative supervision on the Constitution of the Islamic Republic. They point out that the undisputed right of the Guardian Council to disqualify candidates is not specified in the Constitution, but is an obvious infraction of it. This issue will be examined from two angles in this article: 1-If approbative supervision does not exist in the Constitution, where has it come from?; 2-Why do the security institutions consider the removal of approbative supervision as a scheme to topple the system?"