Comments on: Minorities in God's Country

By: Cicero

Cicero — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:32:19 +0000

Esra’a thank you.

Your work and initiatives are amazing! Please keep it up! It is so needed in this world of ours. We all can only try to make our own little contributions.

By: elinor(Iran)

elinor(Iran) — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:26:58 +0000

lol eli

By: Elli

Elli — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:18:24 +0000

great cartoon!!! love it, so right on the issue. any chance you guys can feature it?

By: elior(Iran)

elior(Iran) — Tue, 27 May 2008 21:35:21 +0000

Omid
What can I say… believe me if he had a good heart and a bit of wisdom I wouldn’t mind him looking like a rare living being. He is a big failor, big time…

By: Omid T (Iran/USA)

Omid T (Iran/USA) — Mon, 26 May 2008 13:15:56 +0000

That picture of Ahmadinejad is a complement.

By: elior(Iran)

elior(Iran) — Mon, 26 May 2008 03:02:23 +0000

Esra’a
The cartoon was very expressive of the situation. My husband had a good laugh. I just don’t know for how long they want to keep their head tucked in their feathers. What is a large group of people going to a place and all introduce themselves as Bahais? All the youth who feel intimidated by the way authorities discriminate the Bahais try to introduce themselves as Bahais, then what will happen? Would they all be sent to jail? Well, a couple of games as such might be useful really. I played this game when it came to racial discrimination. If I came across a person who talked ill about another ethnic group or race I would introduce myself as the insulted ethnic group. That makes the offender embarrassed. I wish things were as easy as I assume, but I know they are not, because we are not dealing with some cool individuals who understand some thing is wrong and change their ways, we are face to face with a bunch of robot?

By: Paolo

Paolo — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:39:21 +0000

I have lived and worked in Iran for number of years and to my experience, in today Islamic Iran not only the religious or ethnic minorities are mistreated but also the majority! We shouldn’t forget that 99% of political prisoners as well as those who have been executed for their political oppositions to the clerical regime since 1979 are or were Muslims and Persians.

By: Martijn Rep

Martijn Rep — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:28:37 +0000

Hilarious !

By: Esra'a (Bahrain)

Esra'a (Bahrain) — Sun, 25 May 2008 20:23:31 +0000

You guys might want to check out this comic.

By: Mohammad Memarian (Iran)

Mohammad Memarian (Iran) — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:54:55 +0000

Some of the details you mentioned in this post are probably incorrect or exaggerated (namely gang-raping Zoroastrian girls and ban on music, respectively). In addition some improvements have been made in recent years, for example in the case of 'Bill of Retribution' which finally made the blood money of a non-Muslim equal to that of a Muslim. Moreover officials usually shut their eyes to some of the laws passed by authorities, for example about liquor or pork; you may easily find them in Christian-dominated districts (last week prices of Isfahan: a pork-burger, just 4 dollars). By the way, I generally agree that minorities (either religious or ethnic ones) are being systematically mistreated in Iran. However it should be noted that socio-political phenomena often follow a continuous pattern throughout both history and region. Therefore if one focuses on one certain episode while ignoring the broader historical and regional contexts, his conclusion is susceptible to flaw. Firstly, with regards to broader historical context, I have to mention that such discriminations are usually a legacy of the past. (This, however, does not mean that IRI did not contribute to them.) For example about Shiite-Sunni conflict, a balanced view has to consider the events of even 7 centuries ago, even including Safavid-Ottoman wars. Long standing conflicts and lack of dialogue have made such harsh sentiments among Shiite people toward Sunnis that even if IRI decides to remove legal bans, social discrimination continues to exist. And though such 'harsh sentiments' does not usually turn into violent acts, they often translate into political, systematic discrimination thanks to lack of a democratic temperament in Iran (neither socially nor politically). To an extent, same analysis applies to Bahai faith. Secondly, with regards to broader regional context, it should be noted that regional or even global interactions somehow affect the issue of interest. For example, people rarely distinguish a Jewish businessman from soldiers who allegedly shot Muhammad al-Dura. Or when they hear of rumors/stories of Shiite being persecuted in Saudi Arabia, they can hardly endorse a Sunni mosque in downtown. I know that this is not fair. The solution, however, does not flow from the upward.