IRAN :: translated
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why i do what i do?
posted Friday, 16 March 2007
i have been writing this blog for well over three years. i have had many people ask me why. often readers, friends and acquaintances wonder why do i bother? perhaps it is interesting to note that i have never been asked this question from an iranian. they all seem to get it instantly!
recently i had a request for an interview by an american journalism student who is writing a paper on bloggers who write about iran. this is the most up-to-date compilation of "why i do what i do". i have posted them bellow ... and now you know why. :)
-------------------------------- >> | email interview by nathan martin, February 24th, 2007 |
How long did you live, or have you lived, in Iran? Briefly explain. I lived in Iran all my childhood. I left Iran for Canada with my family when I was almost 18 years old. That was not the first time I had left Iran. I have been abroad three other times, every time to Europe, every trip three different European countries.How long have you been blogging? What were some of your initial motivations? Why do you continue to blog? I have blogged for three and half years. My first motivation came from Pedram Moalemian of eyeranian.net. He called for every Iranian to create a blog in English so we could reach out to non-Farsi speakers. I agonized over the decision for several months before I took the plunge, knowing how much commitment and time it would take to do it right. I also was looking for a concept that was unique enough to help my blog stand out. After all, I wanted it to be read! I was very clear in my purpose, in not creating a daily journal but an outlet so I could reach out to those who always wanted to know about Iran but were weary of what was fed to them selectively in main stream media.I continue to blog for two different reasons: one because I get the feedback I have been hoping for. My readers are either non-Iranians (precisely my intended audience) or those who have been living abroad long enough to have non-Iranian friends and would like to direct them to a source of information about Iran that is diverse and objective. The second reason is so that I don’t feel too helpless in the direction that the world is taking. All I can do is write. If I can enlighten one person about similarities between humans everywhere, then I sleep better at night.
If you can speak/write Persian, why blog in English? Because my target audience is not Iranian. I would like to give a voice to those who do in fact choose to write only in Farsi or can not write in English.
Why is it important to communicate with an English-speaking audience about issues in Iran?
Because we are not what we are represented. Before the revolution Iranians were not what was represented (well-to-do, modern and European) and these days we are just as misunderstood. If we as Iranians do not take it on ourselves to educate, it would be easy to fall into stereotypes. It would be easy to be targeted, to be dismissed and to be pitied. Respect only comes from understanding and media in the west has hardly been about covering all sides of the story. Stories published in the media are always about numbers, about advertising, about bottom line at the end of the day. How can I expect someone to shout along with me when I demonstrate against war in Iran, if I haven’t managed to show what a multi layered and complex the society in Iran is? How can I expect to find sympathy outside of Iran when all is shown are chants of “death to America”? That is only one side of the coin. However real, but still only one side.
I've read that most censorship of blogs in Iran is focused on blogs written in Persian, while English blogs are largely uncensored. Is it important to you to provide information for people inside Iran?
It is not what I myself set out to accomplish. Bloggers in Iran are clever enough to get around sensors as best as they can. My information is not about any particular group’s activities or about what the outside world is like. I have largely been ignored by the readers in Iran. Even though I do take care to cover my tracks so far, I have been ignored by the government and am yet to be blocked. Perhaps it is because I try not to take sides too often. Again, that is not what I set out to do.
Do you also blog in Persian? If so, how is your approach to that different than to your English blog? No, I don’t write in Farsi.
Do you consider yourself part of a movement, part of a group of people working together to achieve a common goal? If so, explain. Perhaps on some level I do. Ever since the Islamic revolution, Iranian citizens (the every day people) have been apologizing to the world. We try to call ourselves Persians to avoid the negative connotations; we talk of our Persian empire, our poetry, our amazing food and warm hospitality. We go out of our way to explain and educate others. I am yet to meet an Iranian who lives outside of Iran who hasn’t driven his/her friends crazy with talk of Iran and its greatness! In that sense, yes I do feel like I am part of a large community of Iranians everywhere who are ashamed of the turn our country has taken for the worse; who try to do the best we can to keep out head raised high.As far being part of the blogging community, I do feel a little apart from the main stream because my blog is not so much about my personal opinions but it is about showing different aspects of Iran. I often do not write original materials, although I have been doing more so lately. I try to translate as much as I can from other sources and just add as many notes of my own as I think necessary to clarify the significance of a post. I do not exchange links with other bloggers and I have never met any. I do understand however the tremendous responsibility I have in delivering information that is truthful and relevant. And I know that I am part of the a group of lucky few who do live outside of Iran and who still have a voice and can try and shout out to the world about the truth of Iran – the only way we know how: by writing, without fear of censorship.
How does being part of an interactive community of bloggers help you to stay informed about developments or new ideas in Iranian politics and society? Do you think you would be as well-informed if you did not write a blog? I have always been interested in politics. A non-political Iranian does not exist! In every family gathering, talk of politics is always a popular discussion and children are often present. That is the way I grew up, listening to endless bantering about how it was and how it will be and why things are happening the way they are and so on. All this means, that for me reading about Iran and following the news on the politics and society is nothing new. I was doing that before I decided to start writing. In fact, I decided on the blog and the way I structured it, precisely because news about Iran, was already so much a part of my life, even though I have lived many years abroad (16 years). I have to confess though; I would not have read so much pro-government publications and blogs had I not been writing Iran Translated. Because I have been striving to peal away all layers of today’s Iran, I have come across opinions and people who truly believe that Iran is a better place now that is has ever been. This came to me as a bit of a shock as the beginning when I started writing, and it continues to surprise me at times but now – thanks to research I do for my blog – I can finally understand how it can be possible for a regime to survive as long as it has: because there are many who in fact genuinely support it and believe in it. And I owe that revelation to Iran Translated.
I've come across lots of pro-Iranian-democracy blogs that are staunchly anti-Muslim. How do you work against an oppressive Islamic Republic without being anti-Islam?
I do not work against Islamic Republic. I work for Iran. What I do, I do because I want to be able to talk in Farsi proudly in public and smile and say that I am from Iran when asked and not have to hide it. My issue it not Islam. My issue is the way it is used to achieve sinister goals, namely shutting up those who question. I was raised a Muslim, forced-fed all various aspects of Islamic law and practice. At home I was thought very little about religion but I knew full well I had to hide this when I left the safety of home. I left Iran hating all that has to do with Islam in particular and any organized religion in general. It has taken me almost ten years to come to terms with people needing some kind of source for comfort and accept that. It has taken me the last three and half years (since I started writing my blog) to further understand that had Iran not been culturally a religious society, Islamic republic would NOT have been placed in power in the first place, let alone lasted as long. I do not work against the Islamic Republic. I relinquished that right when I left Iran and did not go back to live there and make a difference. What I can do, here and now, is to educate myself and others to understand how Iran has come to be the country that it is today. My ultimate goal or perhaps fantasy is that somewhere, somehow an unkind word or an ignorant comment is not spoken against an Iranian because of my weblog … who knows. J
If you could write one story about Iran to have published next week on the covers of all of the major newspapers in the U.S., UK and Canada (or pick a topic and have someone else write the story for you), what are some things you might write about?
I would write about the passions Iranians everywhere and every age have about Iran and the intense love and devotion they feel toward this amazing country. Their devotion and their intense interest in Iran are relentless, no matter where they live. True change will only happen through these committed Iranians. So, I would ask for HANDS TO STAY OFF OF IRAN. To let Iranians do what they will eventually do their own way. This is our dark age. The West had it and now it’s our turn. Religion and culture are extensively intertwined in every level of Iranian society. For it to finally become a personal matter and be separated from state, it takes many years and many generations. Sadly it is this time and this generation who has to live it but the future of Iran will not be the same. The west had its enlightenment and its renaissance. Iran will have it too, only if it is allowed to run its course and come to it when it is good and ready.
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