Monday, June 30, 2008
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Published: Monday, June 30, 2008
* Blogging daily politics
In his blog called “The Loving Gamble” Mojtaba has engaged the words of one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Guards who has recently been quoted as saying “300 thousand graves will be dug for the soldiers violating Iran’s sovereignty.” Mojtaba thinks that we should also consider how many Iranians will be killed in such a conflict.
“Meaning we want to kill 300 thousand people? Meaning that we have the capability of killing 300 thousand people? Meaning we want to build houses for 300 thousand corpses? The good commander has declared that we can even dig mass graves?
“But the good commander has not said in standing up to this 300 thousand, how many young Iranians he expects will carry the title of “martyr” ! The commander has not said why he does not spend this much intelligence [that he seems to think we have] on development [and growth]? [But] that would be more difficult Mr. Commander, wouldn’t it?”
Monday, June 30, 2008
http://ghomaaar.blogspot.com/2008/06/300-300-300-300-300.html
* Politics and sports
“Football and Politics are two intertwined categories” is the title the most recent posting in Majid’s weblog called “Banquet Pavilion.” Throughout the post one claim is repeated like a mantra and that is that “football is not separate from politics.”
Before offering an interpretation of a photograph he has posted right below the title; a long panoramic shot which shows German, Austrian, Spanish dignitaries and heads of state next to the French UEFA president Michel Platini during the awards ceremony following the final match of the Euro 2008 football (soccer) tournament in Vienna, between Spain and Germany; Majid first offers a historical perspective on the function that football plays on today’s world stage.
The connection he suggests between the two categories, sports and politics, seems to involve a universal sense of “seeking domination” which according to Majid has traditionally been expressed by nations through wars. Two specific examples of such warring entertaining cited in Majid’s opening paragraph are “the gladiators” and “the crusaders”:
“I believe that if in the past the sense of dominance sought after by nations found expression in the crusades and the occupation of the soil of other countries; today, 11 gladiators plea the cause of their nation on a green rectangle.”
This sense of seeking superiority involves violence. Majid continues: “The relationship between countries today is much influenced by events that take place on this green rectangle. Violence is completely common in football; as is the case in the fields of combat.”
Majid continues his analysis by claiming that football in today’s world could go even as far as providing legitimacy for a nation-state. The example of this he offers is the case of the Bosnian nation, where, according to Majid, no one had recognized them as a nation-state before they went through their land-borders to the neighboring Albania and played a match against the hosts’ national side.
But apart from that, football can also melt the ice, Majid tells us, and as an example for that, he offers the meeting between the Iranian and American national sides in the group stage of the World Cup 1998 matches in Leon, France, which was followed by another officially friendly match between the two sides played in the United States. The first of these matches, according to Majid, was the first official encounter of the two nations since the Iranian revolution in 1979.
In fact, Majid implies that football can also represent the mood of the entire globe. “It was rare to find someone in 2007 who wasn’t happy for Iraq when they won the Asian Cup in 2007.” And this relationship between football and politics has long been recognized by competent politicians while those who overlook its intricacies, badly miscalculate to their own disadvantage. As example of this he offers a French case where the extreme right opposition politician Jean Marie Le Pen badly miscalculated the mood of his country when he criticized the star captain of the team, and the number one player in the world, Zinedine Zidane who is of North African extraction. On the other hand Majid offers the popularity points won by the government of Jacques Chirac when he invited the team to the presidential palace despite their loss in the final match against Italy.
And finally after this long introduction, Majid turns to the photograph on top of his post and addresses the sense of unity that this win represents for the people of Spain in the first place, but also the degree of civility it shows on the part of today’s world community. “Football is not separated from politics,” Majid repeats “it it were, the Catalans of Spain would not along with every other man and woman of this country celebrate their victory the whole night through.”
And the sense of superiority that Majid brought up in the beginning, now finds expression in this photograph: “At the final match, Heinz Fischer president of the hosting nation sat next to the German Chancellor to watch the game. A little further down Juan Carlos King of Spain was sitting next to his Queen Sophia. The sense of superiority-seeking that I am talking about truly made itself evident during the medals ceremony. Juan Carlos greeted all Germany’s men with open arms. Merkel did not address the Spanish men for anything.
“In the above picture Angela Merkel is watching with an artificial smile as José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the prime minister of Spain congratulates José [Luis] Aragonés [Suárez, the Spanish manager]. A few paces down next to Sophia, King Juan Carlos of Spain has the Spanish number one, Captain Iker Casillas, in his arms. “
Monday, June 30, 2008
http://bazmgah.blogfa.com/post-7.aspx
* Music and Politics
One day as a first grader, Behzad Afshari, the author of the weblog called “A Tree without Shade” tells us, he was expelled from the classroom by a teacher whom he had admired, and who had pulled his first-grade self by the ear and thrown him out of the class following clever questions about the uses of trees at night.
In a recent post Bahzad points to some peculiarities he has noticed of late in what he sees as odd attempts to bridge the divide between the official broadcasting agencies of Iran’s music and the music that, for a long time, has been officially rejected by the Islamic Republic of Iran, yet to which some would have access via the Satellite music channels.
“Mohammad Esfahani is a favorite of the Iran’s official broadcasting and those responsible for country’s music, and has a special following among Iranians in the country. DJ Alligator is also a well-known face for those who are into the satellite, and in some cases he even has a following. But [the question is] how could the possibility and atmosphere of collaboration come about? It seems as if we were asleep and things have been happening all the while. If we look at the root of this strange collaboration we will surely come upon clues that seem to suggest that certain groups on the inside have drawn up some plans of toleration and friendship with certain groups of Iranians abroad, and that these plans are being implemented. The peculiarity of the presence of [‘80s Irish soft pop musician] Chris de Berg could be analyzed as part of similar efforts. “
Monday, June 30, 2008
http://behzadafshari.blogfa.com/post-527.aspx
* Film and Politics:
“Rouznamak” [The Daily Letter] is the title of a group-blog that has a very elaborate yet well structured analytic post which deals with “The offensive distortion of history in Iran’s broadcasting agency.” The author of the entry, Tirdad Bonakdar draws evidence for his claim that Iran’s ruling cultural elite distort facts that not only target the life and achievements of the Pahlavi dynasty, and those who were in the democratic opposition, but also the constitutional revolution of Iran and everything else in between, from the TV programming produced by the Islamic Republic’s official broadcasting agency, throughout years. The specific occasion for this post has been a new one of these historically inaccurate and falsifying TV-dramas, which carries on top of the usual political sensitivities, also ethnic over- and undertones.
Here is Tirdad Bonakdar’s opening paragraph in which he describes his reasons and aims in writing this post:
“Last week I heard from friends that a new masterpiece along the line of Iran’s official broadcasting agency’s usual garble-and-distortion-filled TV-Series has been made to disfigure the role of the nationalistic uprising of the people of Azerbaijan and other Iranians against the upheaval of [Sayyed Ja’far] Pishevari in this indivisible part of the homeland. On Friday, completely by chance, I was witness to a re-run of this new drama on TV and felt obligated to write a criticism on what I saw. This critical essay has three parts. First I will analyze the precedence and the reasons for historical distortion in productions of the Iran’s broadcasting and then establish the framework of this new series, “Strange Years,” before finally challenging its presented claims.”
Tirdad Bonakdar thinks that the ideological roots of such distortion could be found in the leading leftist and Islamist Iranian intellectuals from before the 1979 revolution. As an example he offers Dr. Ali Shari’ati on the Islamist side and on Leftist side, a figure from the popular Tudeh Communist Party, Kianoush Ayari. The ideas found in these types of thinkers who had no trouble with manipulating the truth to their benefit in the name of a bigger ideological truth, are what, according to Bonakdar, finds expression in the works of the producers of Iran’s official TV programming after the revolution.
Monday, June 30, 2008
http://www.rouznamak.blogfa.com/post-306.aspx
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