Iranian of the Day

reply to Azadiii's two cents

Dear Azadiii,
I am very well aware of the blogs and the reasons for internet discussions. What you missed from my comments was that, instead just criticizing just be part of the change and help DO something. We are a good nation as a whole to just point fingers and criticize one another. Now you and I wasting more time to prove each other's points rather than just focusing on what the clip's creator asked for in the first place. Why is there a need to prove anything?? we can be more productive by just DOING something however little but at least we are DOING something! If the need for critics was needed, I am sure the creator would've asked for in the first place. The creator only needs support to spread his work, THAT'S ALL!

If you are an

If you are an Iranian-American who agrees with the "no war" message, do something concrete:

demand and support the effort to bring the Bush admin to account for their crimes against Iraqi people.

The best way to prevent a US-led war with Iran.

Nice try but no cigar...

God's a myth. You'd know that if you had an atheist represented on the clip.

Godless America ... and Godless Iran.

Floridavoice, my two cents on your observation

You are missing the point by miles. That is the whole point of this comment section, to give your 2 cents and perhaps among them would be some good ones too. on the bigger scale, that is the whole idea behind blogs and most exchanges on the internet. Ultimately it is up to the creator to take anything from these ideas or not. After all, variation and diversification in ideas is the fuel for human ingenuity. Not every idea is a good one or successful one or tried by the originator, in fact most fail and are bad and carried out by others but that’s how progress is made. On the other hand, if you are wondering why more Iranians are not active in their community for Iranian causes, you should read this article.

//www.puyeshgaraan.com/ES.Notes/2008/050208-L...

American Iranian for Peace

As an American Iranian I also support peace through respect for our common humanity and have written to PBS asking them to air this compelling message.

Thanks for the effort but

Thanks for the effort but with all due respect I have to say that this style of political ad were you have bunch of people each reading a piece of a statement is a bit passe. Now it is better than nothing but I do think your msg would be more effective if you cut down the number of people -- focusing on say a handful say 3 or 5.

I realize you are trying to show the different faces of IA community and perhaps increasing the chance for the viewer to empathize but IMHO with so many faces e.g. 31 faces what I think you would end up having will be that most non IA viewer ends up going through the clip just judging/reacting to the faces instead of understanding the importance of the msg.

Suggestion for a music title

To make this video even more sappy, I suggest the theme song 'We are the World' to be dubbed in.

There will be no attack on Iran so get on with another project. And besides, ther is no need to introduce the Iranians living in the U.S. to the Americans. Everyone knows why they are here and not living in Iran.

Simply Excellent

It is about time that we present Iranians to the world. Schauleh, I also love the way you spell your name. It is really interesting. good luck.

observation

something is very strange but predictable..
From time to time, I visit this site and view some of these links and if anything interests me, I take time to read the comments about it.
Most often than none, I come across, our great people always trying to take a stab at each other for any good reasons or most importantly for nooooooooooooooooo good reasons at all.
Dont get me wrong.....I am not against constructive criticism. I am just observing that all of us sit around and DO NOTHING, but as soon as someone DOES something, then we are ready to put our two cents into it. If we are so full of ideas and suggestions, why aren't we doing ANYTHING in the first place?
Why are we so ready to give our opinions when it's not asked for? ( I dont believe the creator of the clip ever asked our two cents, rather asked to participate by helping to spread the word or participating in the clip).
Are you ready to spread the word? then participate
Are you ready to jump in and put your sleeves up and get down and dirty? then participate
Are you ready to DO something for a change? then participate
Are you ready to be part of any change however little or not flawless? then participate
Are you ready.... well you get the idea!

Sasam1111

You are great buddy. Everybody in the editorial of this site is what you have in mind. They call it Holland effect.

the Jewish thing

let's be real, the jewish comment is only politics--but hey, if it is going to save iran--it must be said and done.

we all have to put up with what we have to put up with to survive. we ALL do it in our everyday lives--that's life.

it's worth the cause.

The message is great, but

The message is great, but the video (production) is just a cheap imitation.

PEACE.

GREAT........

GREAT JOB...........

Nice idea, nice execution

I have to agree with putting the name and profession of the people below them, famous or not, you connect more with them knowing these are teachers, entrepreneurs, students, publishers etc.

Also, I am sure you will add it on later, but some inspirational background music is a must.

Great idea, sad afarin. But

Great idea, sad afarin. But how come you don't have subtitles explaining who these people are?

I Disagree Wholeheartedly with This Ad

I, for one, find many faults with this ad.

First of all, I think the "we set the jewish free" comment is absolutely not necessary and in fact very detrimental. Who are you trying to please? Of all the great historical acheivements accomplished by Iranians, why would you single that out? I think mentioning that is no doubt geared towards appeasing the Israeli lobby in the US or something and I completely disagree with this route of action.

This whole commercial, I must say, comes off as very apologist and orientalist. I understand the message you probably want to portray is "Iranians are very diverse, but we are ALL against an attack on Iran" . . .which I absolutely agree with.

But this commercial comes off as very apologist and sounds more like "we are Iranians who have different backgrounds (as if that isn't the case with every peoples of the world) and so please accept us in your western world and oh yea . . . don't attack Iran."

For instance, the vast majority of Iranians are Muslims, yet this commercial is very much geared towards hiding that fact as much as possible because as we all know, being muslim is not so accepted in the West. The only mention of Islam is by a girl (whose decision not to wear a hijab makes her the ideal muslim face for a western audience). And why the mention of "we are not radical, fundamentalist, or extremist?" By mentioning this you are giving into the very Western stereotypes of Iranians and Middle Easterners that the West perpetrates (stereotypes which I assume you are trying to prove false or something with this commercial).

And then you want to quote Dr. Martin Luther King? Dr. King, as we all know, fought valiently for civil rights in this country. But we in Iran have hundreds of Dr. Martin Luther Kings spanning many centuries. Quoting this American figure (who, of course, is something of a "go-to" guy when you want to pretend like your saying something profound and whose quotes have become cliche) is again an attempt at appeasing the western mind. Dr. King used to quote Omar Khayyam in his speeches and the words of Hafez, Sa'adi, Rumi, etc. I would argue are more profound and more appropriate for this type of a commercial.

But to top it off, the commercial ends with a good ol' "god bless this, god bless that, god bless everything and everyone". Are you trying to prove to American conservatives that we can repeat their meaningless soundbites?

I think Jahanshah's "but we all agree that there should be no attack on Iran" was probably the only substantive comment I heard in the commercial.

I think you should redo your script and be conscious of the westernized mindset with which you are approaching your project. We as Iranians have absolutely nothing to prove to Americans or the West . . . we are neither inferior (as the apologist tone of this commercial might suggest) nor superior (as the nationalist rhetoric in this commercial might suggest) to westerners, or for that matter anyone else.

I commended your work and got censored

I think the last part of my comment was troublesome since I asked you to use your artistic talent in making another piece ,this time in rejecting oppression by regime.

 Long live Islamic Republic.rooheh mani khomeini.down with american imperialism and zionists around the globe..hope some one on editorial is happy now.thx

RE: Suggestions

I believe I stated some of my suggestions in my previous post. There are many ideas coming from all sides but we need to sort through them based on the points I made and agree on fundamentals that we can put forward in practical terms, avoiding clichés and ways of verifying their progress and effectiveness. Certainly the comment section here is no place for a discussion as significant and vital as this. I might write an essay for it later.

To give a concrete suggestion, we can start by this video and its message. The message is nice and no peace loving individual on earth can argue with that. But Ironically and I am absolutely sure undesirably and unintentionally it is aligned with the message (or desire) on the other extreme of the spectrum, that is the Islamic regime in Iran and its propaganda machine. As any hostage taker who takes hostages and hides behind them, threatening to escalate the violence if forced is used against him and if his criminal wishes are not honored, the regime has been using the same messages, distorting their true and deep meanings to use for its own plots.

I hope the creator of the video is taking this suggestion and devise new ways to give a concise and complete message that not only convey our love for peace and dislike of war and fundamentalism but at the same time, by some weird twist in reality of our time, not repeat the propaganda of the Islamic regime. Please do not underestimate the regime and its cunning methods in understanding and using the same concepts that deemed good and pure. If anything, they have a mastery of these methods and they are quick to take even more advantage of those who unknowingly fall in alignment with their twisted messages. As I said before, the only way to avoid this is to deliver the message; however good and innocent, concisely and completely covering all angles of the issue, for example; acknowledging and revealing some of the regime’s human and women rights violations over the years could be a very effective addition, or could be others, unfortunately there is no shortage of regime‘s crimes.

This could be done in series of short videos like this one, or a short film etc etc, I‘ll leave that to the artistic taste of the creators. I believe that is the right way doing it and avoiding falling pray to regime’s propaganda and would have much bigger meaningful impact on the audience, not to mention being more informative and exact.

Thank you.

What can I do !?

Intelligently done.How can I help ?

(Persian) Iranian poet Saadi, wrote a poem eight century ago that later became a motto on the entrance of the United Nations building.
Saadi, eloquently manifested:

The sons of Adam are limbs of each other, Having been created of one essence.
When the calamity of time affects one limb The other limbs cannot remain at rest.
If thou hast no sympathy for the troubles of others
Thou art unworthy to be called by the name of a human.

-

writing in Persian:
Bani aadam aazaye yek digarand
ke dar aafarinesh ze yek gooharand

cho ozvi be dard aavarad roozegaar
degar ozvhaa raa namaanad gharaar

to kaz mehnate digaraan bi ghami
nashaayad ke naamat nahand aadami

An Act of Peace

The best, most interesting, well thought, well balanced, and attactive short video I havse seen for many yeras. Well made, Well said, well managed.
Well done

A big thank you to the maker and participants.

Love you all
Abdy

Great video, but what's up

Great video, but what's up with the "We set the Jewish free" comment that keeps coming up in every pro-peace argument we make?!!!!

Ancient history should have nothing to do with how we treat other nations! If we respect other nations (be them Arab or Jews) it is based on our belief into the concepts of Human Rights and not based on the relations we had with them at the Age of the Empires!!!

Excuse me...

... but what's wrong with being radical? There's a good way of being radical, you know. Radical does not mean "extremist" or "fundamentalist." You think if Khayyam or Molavi or Hafez lived today they would be goody-two-shoes liberals?

I'm really not trying to be contrary but I would say take "we are not radicals" out. We don't have to say there are radical Iranians if that freaks people out, but we don't have to whitewash or sugarcoat ourselves. My apologies to Iman...!

question for Azadiii

Any suggestions?

Great, now let's focus on a viable plan the works and say yes to

Ok, war is devastating and no one really wants it. It should’ve never existed. Act of violence, murder, torture, and imposing suffering on other humans should not exist either. So please when you say no to military action then also complete the circle with stating your “viable and practical” solution to the plight of Iranian people. Please tell us your exact plans to bring freedom, justice, restoration of human dignity and rule of law to Iran, let’s say for a medium term (5 to 10 yrs). Saying “no” to something is easy, coming up with something that works in practical terms and saying absolute “yes” to it is hard. Every good plan should have short term milestones and checking points to make sure it is going as devised and it is working, producing the desirable results, backed up by verifiable information. Also I would like to see a discussion on a plan(s) that pertains only to Iran, the regime and problems looming over it. Muddying the water with other issues will prevent any progress for a realistic plan.

Thank you!

Can't get any better than this!

Awesome job!

Coount me in. You can contact me.

This is a worthy cause. Thank you for doing this. I am a systems analyst in Dallas, Texas. I would be glad to help. I can even do my own digital video footage and send it to you. Let me know (BenBagheri@yahoo.com).

Revisiting this nice idea..

...and the hard work put into it already; I think disgruntled and nazanin have very valid points. I'd still like to help if I can when you let us know what you need help with.

Great effort by all and thank you!

Special thanks to my dear friends, JJ, Niosha and Ahmad Kiarostami for this.

Khasteh nabashid guys (and gals of course)...

how can we help?

Great job, moving, inspiring and uplifting. I would like to help. Please let me know what I can do to help! I will not hesitate to knock on the TV channels here in Central Florida, public stations and/or anyone else that listens or even if they dont listen!

War is not the answer! And I am so sick and tired of being a victim for 28years.
Count me in!

Emotional

Great job! It made me very emotional and proud. I will write you privately to offer my help... and will contact PBS as well.