An EA reader writes, “Some time ago, some dear friends of mine returned to their home in Iran after a prolonged holiday. I had sent them a long farewell message, wishing them well and asking them to try and contact me whenever there might be a chance. I wasn’t sure when or if I might hear. Then on Saturday, 5 December, just as news was spreading about Iran ‘cutting off’ all Internet access, an e-mail arrived:
At the airport when we landed, they questioned me about what I’d been doing abroad, where I’d been, and asked if I was on facebook, and for my passwords. They even did a search for my name on Facebook but didn’t find me. I am so glad I closed my account. I know it has been said many times but still people should be warned to close their FB accounts, etc. (Still. I was really worried because I still had a Twitter account open – but I had set that up with all false info —luckily.) It was intimidating for a bit but I acted as confidently as I could. It was not a pleasant experience. So please if you know anyone coming back here, advise them to close all their FB & Twitter accounts.
People are going about their everyday lives but it’s not really very normal, there is graffiti everywhere. We saw many photos on the web but there is so much more than I expected! You see green paint & writing and V’s everywhere, sometimes in the strangest places! Read the rest of this entry »
This is so surreal I’m not even sure Jon Stewart and his writers could have made it up. In June, we noted with admiration, sorrow, and irony the five-day package of Jason Jones of The Daily Show from Iran, filmed just before the Presidential election. In one of the episodes, he spoke to three individuals who would be arrested within days of the 12 June vote: Ebrahim Yazdi, who was briefly detained, former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who was released on bail this weekend after more than five months in prison (although facing a six-year prison sentence), and Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari, who was held for almost four months.
I saw the flicker of a laptop monitor under my blindfold. Then I heard someone speaking. It was a recording of another prisoner’s confession. “It’s not that one,” said the second interrogator. “It’s the one marked ‘Spy in coffee shop.’ ” Mr. Rosewater fumbled with the computer. The other man stepped in to change the DVD. And then I heard the voice of Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Read the rest of this entry »
Sometimes a political move is so audacious that — for all the pain and tragedy that it obscures — you have to tip your hat at the hypocrisy.
Iran’s delegation at the United General Assembly cut loose yesterday, criticising the US, Canada and European Union for human rights violations. One Iranian concern was that “racial and religious prejudice have increased in the EU countries in the past few years. Muslims and religious minorities are verbally and physically attacked and are often barred from job opportunities.” Another was that in the United States, “ethnic minorities and residents who are originally from Africa or Latin America are the victims of prejudice and deprived of human rights”.
However, it was what followed that turned my interest into wonder: “The Iranians went on to say that police in the EU countries have ‘resorted to torture and violence’.” In Canada, “Native women are the victims of police violence and rape. They are kept in mixed prisons in which they are inevitably bothered by either their cellmates or prison staff.”
Where is the Iranian Jon Stewart when you need him?
In June, just before the election, The Daily Show — the best satirical “news” programme on television — sent correspondent Jason Jones to Iran. The five reports that followed, airing the week after the Presidential vote and amidst the first mass demonstrations, were enlightening and poignant as well as humourous. Jones interviewed three people who would soon be in detention (two of them still are): former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Ebrahim Yazdi, and journalist Maziar Bahari. He met Iranians in the shopping malls, on the street, and in their homes, discovering that they were far from the enemies of “The Great Satan”. And he and his producer returned to the US studio with this remarkable discussion, now translated into Persian, with Jon Stewart.
(Ironically, because of copyright issues, the original English-language videos from The Daily Show cannot be viewed outside the US. So, after the Farsi version, we’ve posted the “behind the scenes” English-language video on the making of the programmes.)
Jon Stewart’s take on the Iran election controversy, linking the special qualities of President Ahmadinejad with the special qualities of….US Vice President Joe Biden?
Q: Jon Stewart “A provocative speech from the president of the United States, delivered in the heart of a Middle East capital. How will it play with the extremists?”
A: Fox News “These people…have a very unfavorable view of the United States….So why are we wooing them?”
Last week, Enduring America’s John Matlin set out the British mega-scandal over the expenses of its Members of Parliament. Readers have noted that John’s analysis is complemented by that of two other Jons/Johns — Stewart and Oliver — as The Daily Show surveys English stiff-upper-lip anger, Sacklesschester, and The Eternal Wonder of the Great British Moat:
An EA reader writes, “Some time ago, some dear friends of mine returned to their home in Iran after a prolonged holiday. I had sent them a long farewell message, wishing them well and asking them to try and contact me whenever there might be a chance. I wasn’t sure when or if I might hear. Then on Saturday, 5 December, just as news was spreading about Iran ‘cutting off’ all Internet access, an e-mail arrived: 
This is so surreal I’m not even sure Jon Stewart and his writers could have made it up. In June, we noted with admiration, sorrow, and irony the five-day package of Jason Jones of The Daily Show from Iran, filmed just before the Presidential election. 
Sometimes a political move is so audacious that — for all the pain and tragedy that it obscures — you have to tip your hat at the hypocrisy.
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