Quran Burning: Hate Speech, Not Free Speech

Here’s the bottom line: do we have the right to burn Qurans, Bibles, crosses, and to display swastikas and other hate symbols? Yes, the act in itself is not illegal and can’t be seen as threatening unless the intent to intimidate or threaten can be proven. The Supreme Court determined that in Virginia v. Black in 2003. And unfortunately the legality of hate speech – for that is exactly what this is – remains a controversial topic of debate in America. However, the question to ask is whether it’s wrong to do these things? Absolutely. I see the proposed Quran burning event planned by Pastor Terry Jones to commemorate 9/11 as a hateful act, as a symptom of the decay of human decency.

Imagine if someone announced they planned to hold a large neighborhood bonfire and burn Bibles. How do you think the country would react? Some have compared the recent news that Florida-based Pastor Jones plans to burn Qurans on 9/11 to instances of flag burning. It absolutely is not. For one, the Quran is seen by practicing Muslims as the word of God. Burning it doesn't just insult their national identity; it strikes at the core of their moral foundation. Second, it’s usually protestors on the street that engage in flag burning, it’s rarely an organized campaign led by a religious leader of a community.

I understand the pain that this country suffered as a result of the 9/11 attacks, I feel that pain. I also understand that it will leave a scar in America's psych forever. But the answer is not and will never be hateful, misguided acts of vengeance – acts that often target, offend, and hurt millions of innocent and honest people around the world.

After years of struggling, I finally get it, some people have views that are hateful, some will have views that I completely disagree with, some are downright racist and there’s nothing I can do about it. But all that aside, there’s an element of logic that’s missing here: if national security is as important as we say it is, don’t you think burning Qurans would be seen as a needless act of war and put Americans at risk all over the world? (I personally think the government should use "national security interests" -as they so often do these days - to stop this before it happens.) But also imagine if a group of extremists were angered by this act and sought revenge against America, the reaction of many would be: “See, we were right, Islam is a religion of violence.” We don’t stop to think how our actions contribute to this perpetuating cycle of violence that has gripped our world.

In the end, every religion has been used to incite violence, hatred, and has led to bloodshed. So if we want to condemn Islam, we must condemn them all. But if we want to promote peace rather than perpetuate hate, we have to learn to be open to people’s beliefs, even if we don’t like or agree with them. We have to give up on the idea of vengeance (which for some reason is so hard to do for humanity), and we must stop condemning the greater group because of the actions of a few.

I still remain resolute that we can counter this decay of human decency, but we first have to want to, and then we have to work for it. It starts with what you teach your kids – by words and by example. And Pastor Jones of Florida, to me, is not qualified to lead anything, much less a congregation.

"Ground Zero Mosque" Debate is Utterly Un-American

For a country that prides itself in our Constitution and points to it as a blueprint for others searching for a fair system of government, for a city which proudly houses and boasts about the Statue of Liberty, it’s a shame that we’re even having this debate. It’s something that should scare us all, because once you start to chip away at the basic rights of one group it sets a dangerous precedence that will be hard to stop.

Despite depictions on the news, in movies and in the media, all Muslims are not potential terrorists, and should not be held responsible for the actions of a few terrorists who happened to be Muslim - just like all whites are not responsible for slavery, and all Germans are not potential Nazi’s. The assertion is absolutely absurd.

What’s more offensive is the assertion that the Muslims in New York who want to build a community center where they can go to take classes, meet one another, and yes pray, are insulting the memory of those who died on 9/11. How soon we forget that Muslims died on 9/11, Muslims helped heal the community in the aftermath of 9/11, and many Muslim nations mourned with us when they heard of the tragic attacks.

There is, understandably, much sensitivity and emotion surrounding anything remotely related to 9/11. But to allow emotion – and emotion that discriminates against a group because of their religion no less – to override our Constitutional rights would be the most un-American act of all.

Legal arguments aside – because we all know that those who want to build the Islamic community center are well within their rights and are not breaking any laws – the implications of this debate are huge. Many of us proudly call the U.S our home precisely because of the many freedoms that are guaranteed to us. If we now become a nation that wants to dictate to people what to worship, how and where, we will become the same as the many dictatorial nations we so condemn.

There is no doubt that this debate has been chosen by politicians as an election year issue. That this issue is one which comes in a stream of anti-Islam fervor sweeping the nation is obvious – the fact that so much time is spent on debating whether President Obama is Muslim or not is testament to that. That this is all coupled with the U.S. occupying two predominantly Muslim nations in the Middle East and talks of attacking another, says so much more.

The terrorists who attacked us on 9/11 along with other Muslim fundamentalists are fueled by anti-American sentiment. They believe that Americans hate Islam and all it stands for. The fact that so much time and energy has been spent on debating the building of this Islamic center has given them more ammunition, and provided those who may be on the fence an opportunity to see eye to eye with extremist groups. In short, we are shooting ourselves in the foot, acting as the best recruitment machine for Islamic extremist groups. Coupled with the needless, callous, deadly and downright sinful wars we have waged in predominantly Muslim Middle Eastern countries, this should give us all cause for concern.

The Immigrant Divide: Are Some Immigrants Tolerated While Others Targeted?

I have written about this in the recent past and will likely write about it again soon because it is SO IMPORTANT. It’s crucial that we understand what’s going on and why, rather than just follow the rhetoric of politicians who only want to get us angry enough about something so they can have our votes in November and beyond.

So…earlier this week, my colleague Robert Rooks and I wrote a piece for the Grio (theGrio.com) about a case of serial stabbings that started in Flint, Michigan where a white man was roaming town targeting African American males. For three months this had been going on without much ado from national media and no major alerts put out to warn the community about protecting themselves. Later we learned that he’s a suspect in Virginia and Ohio as well. Yesterday, an Israeli national, Elias Abuelazma, was picked up and charged with the Michigan stabbings and is currently being investigated for the incidents in other states.

I was waiting for my friends and contacts who so avidly support the new wave of anti-immigrant policies that are sweeping our nation to pick up this cause and add it to their list of why immigrants are bad for this country. But not a peep. I don’t get it; if the argument is that immigrant communities contribute to more crime and create terror and unsafe conditions here in the U.S. then what more do we want than a citizen of another country having stabbed 18 residents in 3 states across America. (Think about what the reaction would have been if this guy was an Arab, Iranian, Iraqi, or Afghani…just think!)

Let’s assume he wasn’t “undocumented,” – sine that’s the new target of the anti-immigrant movement, though nobody has discussed having checked his papers, but still. Here’s a clear case of violence by a non-citizen immigrant in the U.S., and unlike all the abstract talk about immigrant communities creating more crime, this was a real case.

The reality is that immigrant communities do not engage in more crime, most do work and contribute to society, and they come here because we hire them. They come here for a better life, for work, to reunite with their family, and because America promises them equality.

These are the majority of reasons why we all came here…and I mean WE ALL – because as I always say, unless you are a Native American, you are here because you are an immigrant or your parents or grandparents were. So let’s realize and accept this anti-immigrant fervor for what it really is:

1) Bait used by politicians to stir up emotions and win votes
2) A scapegoat for all the economic and social ills that we are not willing to invest in fixing
3) And yes, in some cases, racial animosity in one of its ugliest forms - because let's face it, white immigrants are usually safe

The best way to keep a society calm and keep the status quo in place is to divide and pit people against each other. And believe you me, if you think you and I are safe because the focus seems to be on the Latino and “other” brown communities for now, just wait. Who do you think is going to be the next target once things heat up with Iran, as the current course of events guarantees will happen? We didn’t learn our lesson right after 9/11, but it’s not too late.

The time is ripe to destroy the walls that have been put up between immigrant communities and realize that unless we work together to keep all of our communities safe we are all sure to be future targets of anti-immigrant fervor. That is a promise that U.S. history guarantees.

Lucky for us, the U.S. Constitution guarantees a path to change that history and follow a new direction. But we must be willing to work for it; we must be willing to work for it together.

A Day in Prison

Some of my friends and family don't really understand what it is that I do, or why I do it. They get it that I'm trying to make a difference based on what I believe in, and they love and support me for it, but I don't think they completely understand how for example I can spend a day in a prison with a room full of maximum security prisoners. Which is exactly what I did two weeks ago as part of a work-related event.

I've made my views very clear about how our criminal justice system is riddled with flaws, is discriminatory and is for the most part broken. It makes it easier to understand when you take a look at some basic facts: that the U.S. is 5% of the world's population but 25% of its prisoners, that African Americans and people of color are grossly over-represented it the system, although there is no evidence of them committing more crimes; that 225 people have been exonerate after having been convicted of a crime based on DNA evidence - 17 of them served time on death row! There are so many more facts like this, showing that what we've been doing isn't working. Have our "get tough on crime" policies and exploding prison population made you feel safer? More on this in the future.

So, the prison event I attended was actually organized by the prisoners. They spent over 12 months planning for a day-long seminar where experts from the outside came in to share information about relevant criminal justice issues with them. But what many people find hard to believe is that we ended up learning from the inmates. We learned about how they have been active for decades through their prison branch of the NAACP, helping set policy to improve the criminal justice system, to help the communities they come from, to help youth from their communities not end up with the same fate in the same broken system. In fact, I got a letter from them today, including a local newsletter that said the prisoners had donated $1000 to a restorative justice program to help at risk youth in a local community get summer jobs and begin to improve their neighborhoods. I learned that given the long time these inmates had served, many had devoted their lives to self-improvement, some had turned to the buddhist way of life and thought, others dedicated themselves to acquiring legal knowledge. They were some of the most hospitable event organizers - and criminal justice experts - that I've ever met.

I left feeling melancholy and torn. Yes, some of the men I met that day have done terrible things, things I will never be able to justify. But many of them were in their 50's and 60's, many have already served long sentences and are paying their dues for the mistakes they made in their youth. They were even giving back to the community from behind bars. I left asking myself questions - some of them rhetorical - that I want to share with you so we can begin understand: What will happen to these men when they leave prison? Will society shun them forever? Will they have the skills and support they need to be re-integrated into society, get a job and become productive members of their communities? Or will they go back to the same scenario that probably cause them to turn to crime? And why do we have an elaborate system of jails and prisons if we intend to keep punishing people who have supposedly paid their dues when they come out?

And maybe I would be less outraged if it was a system that treated everyone equally. Then it would be a broken system that we would all have a stake in fixing. But it's a system that discriminates against the poor and people of color from the get go.

We live in a country that prides itself on the Constitution, on the principles of justice and equality. If we lived elsewhere, in a country that didn't always boast about its system of justice and fairness, I wouldn't be so outraged. So we have to stop pretending that we have already lived up to these principles, and actually begin working to live up to them.

And there is such a thing as redemption and rehabilitation. But we’ve stopped investing in that, we’ve stopped believing in that. The concept of throwing human beings away, no matter how flawed they may be, has to be done away with.

"War on Immigrants"

I’ve had it with this wave of anti-immigrant mentality that seems to be sweeping the nation. First and foremost, America is a nation of immigrants. It’s great partly because of the diversity that perspectives from all across the globe have brought here. It’s great partly because the brain drain from many other countries leads to a brain gain for the United States.

But also: THIS LAND WAS NEVER OURS, we forcefully took it from the natives, and committed genocide--which nobody likes to talk about, and for which we will always have blood on our hands. If you want to be real, our forefathers were all illegal immigrants. And they didn’t just come here and live illegally amongst the Native Americans, to take low-paying jobs serving the natives, for next-to-nothing pay and live below poverty levels. They came here and took what they wanted, killed when they wanted, and allowed the few that they wanted to live in areas where they chose, with very limited sovereignty and control.

Are there immigrants that are bad people? Yes. Are there immigrants that are criminals? Yes. Are there immigrants that are illegal and or take advantage of certain benefits in this country? Yes. But the same is true for all other communities, even those born and raised here for generations. (And for those who think crime and other social ills are caused by immigrants in our communities, you should brush up on your statistics – studies indicate the contrary.)

So whatever happened to “give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to be free…”? America is a great nation for many reasons: its ideals, its promise of equality and justice, its freedom, and its opportunities. But, we have issues: economic crisis, joblessness, inflation, environmental havoc (I won’t even get into the international issues.) These issues affect all of us and we are all struggling to different degrees. But none of these problems will be solved by scapegoating immigrants…or anyone else for that matter. Yet that’s what we seem to do, repeatedly.

Chronologically we have: war on drugs, war on terror, and war on immigrants; and all of them ineffective, and pointless; all a way for making the masses feel like something is being done about a vague and ever-expanding problem that we’re made to think is causing all the problems in our country.

I’ll have more to say on this soon so stay tuned.

And, p.s., not all of us who look foreign, or brown, or speak with an accent are illegal. So please, if you want to solve the illegal immigration issue, look for real solutions rather than stopping us on the streets and asking for our papers. That’s just stupid.

Samantha in the Middle East

Of all of the Sex and the City characters, I have the least in common with Samantha. I don’t want to live my life sleeping around with as many guys as I can the way she does (though whatever floats your boat, who am I to judge.) And although she’s fun to watch, she’s just a little much for my taste.

When Sex and the City 2 came out, I was in fact not looking forward to seeing the film. The first movie was mediocre enough, and I loved the series when it was on TV…so why ruin a good thing? Besides the reviews of the movie were not that great. In fact, I was a little pissed at the fact that we would see these scandalously-clad women having a lavish vacation in the Middle East, where women’s rights are trampled everyday and most women live a life of repression and double standards.

For the record, I think Middle-Eastern women are not only beautiful, but also strong, in a way that only women who have had to deal with double standards and repression for centuries can be. I don’t see them as victims (though they can be victimized); I see them as survivors, stronger than most men.

So, when I went to see this movie, my expectations were, I’d say, around a -5. And you know, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would – although it was truthfully a bit over the top. But one scene will be forever etched in mind. When the girls are visiting a bazaar/market on their last day in Abu Dhabi, Samantha accidentally drops her purse and her condoms spill out everywhere. She’s then swarmed by a mass of conservative Middle-Eastern men judging her, getting ready to punish her for being a woman who openly likes sex. And what does she do? She rubs it in their face screaming something like “Yes, see, it’s for sex…sex, sex…” as she gyrates her hips. It was BRILLIANT!

I am going to make an assumption and say that most of us girls who grew up in the Middle East, felt a thrill and excitement, a feeling of sweet satisfaction, as we watched her flaunt her condoms and her sexuality in the faces of bearded conservative men who feel a woman’s only place is under the chador/hijab in the house. And not because we have a secret desire to be like Samantha, but because we have known what its like to grow up with double standards, grow up knowing that you are so much more limited than your brother or your boy cousins. Frankly, we are human beings who have a right to choose who and what we want to be in life. Some of us will choose to be conservative, some liberal, some modest and introverted, some wild.

We’ve come a long way, and have more equality than ever before. But make no mistake about it, double standards: very real - no matter if you live in the Middle East, or in Hollywood. We’re still a very long way from having full acceptance as equal human being. Maybe we won’t burn our bras or flaunt our condoms in a Middle-Eastern market. But if you ever doubted that there’s still a need for feminist ideals and a women’s movement, don’t.

And Samantha in that bazaar, that was perhaps one of the most memorable images of a woman’s liberation and demand for equality that I’ve seen in a long time.

From Rodney King to Neda

You may ask, “What do these two have in common?” What happened to them changed power relations between citizens and governing bodies forever. Through witnessing the most horrific moments of their lives we learned of the immense power of citizen journalism.

I so vividly remember being frozen in front of the TV as the world watched Rodney King being beaten by LAPD officers, all of it, captured on tape in a bystander’s camcorder. The incident and the aftermath consumed us for years. Fast-forward eighteen years to July 2009, sitting at Starbucks, monitoring the Iranian elections – waiting for news on the internet. I click on a video posted on facebook and witness probably the most haunting and purely powerful images I will ever see. Neda’s last moments on earth will be one of the most memorable images of our lifetime. It will forever symbolize the purity of the human struggle for justice and fairness, for basic human rights. And to think, all this, because someone was close by and pressed a button on a mundane piece of technology.

What started with Rodney King and escalated to the images of Neda’s death signifies a turning of the tables, signifies a power that people have never before had, one that has come to us because of progress (which is why I never understand why some people are against “progressives,” but anyway….) We can now police the government and police the police, and in the most ordinary ways (just a side note, I think government and police are both necessary entities, but it’s up to us to make sure they operate effectively.) Twitter, YouTube, and facebook then allow for this policing to happen instantaneously, by large masses of people. It’s insanely powerful…to witness the truth, without need for a judge and jury to figure out what happened.

Question is, what do we do with this power? The Rodney King incident (and many like it) have come an gone, nobody held accountable, and to be real, nothing much has changed – all the recommendations on policing that were made by experts, well, they’re still just that: recommendations (but, trust me, we’re still trying!) So, what of Neda’s death? Will we be sitting here, twenty years from now, saying the same thing…nothing much has changed? I hope not. I think we have to realize that posting images, tweeting, and updating your facebook status is just the first step. Speaking up is only the first step. Then you have to roll up your sleeve and do something about it to create change. Images are powerful; images are worth thousands of words. But action, that’s what counts in the long run.

I’ll be thinking this weekend of Neda Agha-Soltan, of Rodney King, of Oscar Grant (an unarmed man whose shooting death by BART officers in Oakland was captured on cell phones), of the 74-year-old Texan grandmother (who was seen on tape as she was tasered by an officer for arguing with him). There are countless others. I’ll be thinking of what else we can do to make sure their sacrifice wasn’t in vein.

Persians on Prince of Persia

Since news of the making of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time hit the airwaves last year, we Iranians have been anxiously waiting to see how this movie makes us look. Granted, it’s an adaptation of a video game into a movie, it has no basis in history and makes no claims about being factual whatsoever. But these things matter. For better or worse, what Hollywood projects – be it fact or fiction – makes a lasting impression. And as a community, we’ve had our share of bad publicity. You could say we have an image problem and we’re tired of being portrayed as terrorists, bloodthirsty, ruthless warriors, or religious fundamentalist…or repressed women for that matter. After all, the most well known blockbusters representing Iranians have been Not Without My Daughter and 300 (I shudder to think….)

I mean come on, we come from the land of the largest known empire in ancient history, the land of Rumi, the land of the first human rights proclamation by Cyrus the Great, of Zarathustra and the oldest monotheistic religion in the world. Trust me, there’s plenty to choose from to make enthralling and compelling movies. But I digress.

But then the critiques started. People started complaining that all the main actors were white, saying how Hollywood should have cast a Persian actor to play Dastan, the main hero. I even heard people were calling for a boycott. Are you serious? This has got to be an improvement and we should recognize that. I mean, heck, a Persian character as the hero in a movie, don’t you think that’s a step in the right direction?

And, this is business…movies don’t usually make money unless the cast is well known. Wouldn’t we rather have a lot of people go see this film and be exposed to a Persian hero? It strikes me as odd. Many of us go around arguing how we are “white” – which by the way, we most certainly are not, at least not in this country, but this is a topic for another discussion – to the point where we have to hold a national educational campaign to let folks know how to fill out the U.S. census forms. Now we’re upset that a white actor was cast as Dastan? Sounds to me like we need to make up our minds, can’t have it both ways.

So, I finally went to see the film. Let me just say, I’m no movie critic, but if this film’s mission was to present an adaptation of a video game, it did a great job. Trust me, it was apparent that this movie was fictional. I mean Dastan did like three back flips before getting onto his horse. So, let’s take it and accept it for what it is. And people seemed to like it: the audience even clapped at the end of the movie (which I’m sure didn’t happen at the end of Not Without My Daughter.)

The more fundamental question is how come we call for a boycott when we’re portrayed negatively (as in 300) and we call for a boycott when we’re portrayed as heroes? Why can’t we stop reacting and think about what we can do to help our community progress? Seems perhaps a more calculated reaction of “we like this film because it doesn’t show us murdering, kidnapping, religious fanatics, but we hope in the future we can make x, y, and z improvements,” would have served us better.

See, it’s not about a movie, it’s about us as a community and figuring out what we need to do to be better represented. It’s about whether we can agree on what we want, agree to get along and work, first with each other and then with other communities, to establish ourselves as a distinct and respected minority in the U.S.

And about our (mis)representation in the movies, let’s face it, we’re a pretty well off community with a lot of resources, and at this point we have enough talented Iranians in Hollywood to make a fantastic film about Iran and Iranians. We just have to want to.

It’s up to us really.



p.s. Someone please tell me, why do they always put such heavy eyeliner on Middle-Eastern men in the movies?

To begin with...

Well, here I am, after months of deliberation about blogging (because all my opinions simply don't fit on a facebook status update), I've officially started. Before we get into it though, there are a few things I want to clarify. This post will reflect issues that I think are important for us to be aware of, to think about, to discuss, and perhaps to do something about. Some of the issues I choose will be most important to Iranians living here in the diaspora, others will be more general...will concern topics that matter because we are living in the U.S. and a part of the fabric of this country.

I also want to make sure that people don't take offense to my opinions. If you disagree, that is completely okay, I welcome your comments and your rationale for disagreeing. If you agree, or want to build on an argument I made, I would love that. But please, don't take it personally if in the end we don't see eye to eye. It's completely okay to respectfully disagree. Just because I don't agree with you, doesn't mean I don't like or respect you.

And lastly, if history is any indicator, I will have a lot of social commentary on our Iranian community, and more than likely the American one too. I may point out things I admire about us and things that I believe can and should be improved. Let's be clear: I love my community, I love my country (both Iran and the U.S.) and if it's sounds like I am being critical, it's only because I think we can do and be better. The day I give up being constructively critical, that means I don't care. That's when you should worry.