An American not in Tehran
After publishing my article “An American in Tehran” in In These Times, one commentator named Danny Postel wrote a critical response from Chicago and brought in a bunch of his friends to support his positions. One of his friends even dismisses my article as “propaganda” and a “sham.” In a strange move for most publications, [...]
An American in Tehran
An American in Tehran The ‘Green Revolution’ won’t come as soon as we think it will. by Matthew Cassel http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/5736/ I awoke as the plane’s wheels touched the ground. Two women in the row ahead of me secured their scarves over their heads, and I popped some gum into my mouth to cover up any [...]
Juice boxes and Persian patriots
Azadi Tower is one of my favorite architectural structures anywhere in the world. I’m still not sure if my attraction to it is for purely aesthetic reasons or because of the fascinating history behind it. It’s definitely a combination of the two. Azadi Tower was built by the Shah of Iran in 1971 to commemorate [...]
Why the US doesn't want "to be seen as meddling"
BBC: Mr Obama said he believed Iranian voices should be heard, although he added that he did not want to be seen to be “meddling”. “It is not productive, given the history of US and Iranian relations to be seen as meddling in Iranian elections,” he said. “But when I see violence directed at peaceful [...]
Let us know
Let us know the name of every person killed fighting for what they believe in. Let us hear why they risked their life so the world would hear their message. Let us see the images of their death to know how it happened. Let us never forget them, any of them.
The Western media and Iran
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10616.shtml The Western media and Iran Matthew Cassel, The Electronic Intifada, 23 June 2009 Protestors, anywhere in the world, are extremely brave individuals whose reasons for demonstrating openly should be listened to and respected. Protest is democracy at work. However, too often, US and other Western-based media pick and choose which protests to cover and [...]
CNN video of nighttime invasion
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv60QkqpAIE&hl=en&fs=1&] The above frightening “amateur video” was shown on CNN International. The video reminds me of every single night that I spent living in the Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, except it’s missing the gun shots, percussion grenades and sounds of Israeli bulldozers plowing into shops on the main street. The below [...]
Iran updates
I’ve linked to this blog (http://southissouth.wordpress.com/) previously, but I must do so again. It has some of the best objective analysis and updates about happenings in Iran. It’s run by an Iranian-American friend of mine, Maryam Monalisa Gharavi who is collaborating with another Iranian-American currently in Tehran, Alireza Doostdar. The blog features “on the ground” [...]
Who is Mousavi?
Before the next person calls what’s happening in Iran a “revolution,” they should have to talk about who Mir-Hossein Mousavi is and what he stands for. They should also be able to compare and contrast his policies to those of Ahmadinejad. This is getting ridiculous. The world is calling it a revolution without knowing what [...]
On the Iranian Election Fraud Allegations
A friend asked me to write something up quickly on the Iranian elections for meedan.net, so I quickly modified and extended my last blog post. You can also find an Arabic translation by clicking the link at the top right of the page on Meedan’s site. This was written at 3am when I was also [...]
What's up in Iran?
So, the internet is going crazy over the happenings in Iran. It’s being called a revolution by everyone from right-wing Americans to leftist Egyptian activists. Personally, I am not convinced that there was rigging going on, and that’s not because I pretend to know or understand Iran’s electoral system or what happened, but for the [...]