History

22 years ago today, the former Iraqi regime ordered its air force to bombard the Kurdish town of Halabja with chemical weapons, instantly poisoning to death 5000 men, women and children. I went to Halabja for the first time in the spring of 2006 to pay my respects to the dead. I [...]

Today marks the 22nd anniversary of the Halabja poison gas attack which was carried out as part of the Al-Anfal genocide campaign to terrorize the Kurdish population and peshmerga rebels in northern Iraq. The attack, which was executed by airplanes on March 16th and 17th in a heavily populated area, away from the area of [...]

The Bahá’ís have been in the news out of Iran and neighboring regions.
I could go on about the governmental angle but my real focus is the experience and attitudes of people. This isn’t just about government oppressions and fanatical theologies to hold onto power. This is really about bias and oppression of a minority that [...]

Fereydoun was born in an irreligious and rich family with no idea about religion. Up to the time he entered high school he was not much involved in politics at all. Being a teenager and the identity conflict of that age made him more interested in human sciences as well as religion.
When he entered university [...]

This story happened more than 70 or 80 years ago, in the Galilee Heights, during the British occupation “Mandate” to Palestine, a long time before we had the “honor” to host our “cousins’ the jews. There, in one of the Galilee villages, there was a Palestinian peasant who had a stubborn donkey. Both, the peasant [...]

Today is the 31st anniversary of the shah going into exile. The shah became corupted by his power and began to oppress the people of iran. It was a great day when he was forced to leave.
Now we have another leader who is no longer wanted by the people because of what he has begun [...]

I wrote an article one year ago and claimed that the psychology used in the story of Joseph and Zulaikha is not true! I claimed that women in fest couldn’t fall in love with Joseph at the first glance and cut their hands. This claimes was based on many psychological books that I had had [...]

The recent decision by Turkey’s parliament to authorize the Turkish military to conduct military raids across the Iraqi border, allegedly to combat PKK militants, wasn’t met with any significant reaction from the world community. Kurdish politicians in Iraq have voiced their fears about the renewal of the mandate for operations, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri [...]

It happened in October in Palestine (*)
October 1920: The Zionist ruler of Palestine and British official Herbert Samuel issues decrees that facilitate transfer of lands from natives to immigrants setting the stage for the beginning of the ethnic cleansing policies that continue to this day.
27 October 1933: Musa Kadhem AlHusaini (Mayor of Jerusalem who resigned [...]

… continuation from Part 1
In the June Presidential elections in Iran we saw ex-president Rafsanjani maneuver the political scene carefully. At first there were rumors of him deciding to run against Ahmadinejad for the second time. Rafsanjani is not traditionally a Reformist. Nor are Pragmatist policies close to the Reformist Camp-especially pre June 2009. [...]