Iran was not what we had though: Sid Ganis
Posted in: Honours of Iran, Persian culture, interview, iran foreign relations | Comments (0)
Foreign Policy Journal - Kourosh Ziabari: The contradictory signs and inconsistent overtures of Iranian and American officials to renormalize their long-muddled ties and become friends again are still indigestible, at least to ordinary observers. President Obama sends a benevolent, unprecedented Nowrouz congratulation message to the “Islamic Republic of Iran” and calls for a “new beginning” from his Oval Office, and then attacks the “Iranian nuclear and ballistic missile threat” a few days later in Prague.
The Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also welcomes the “concrete change” of Americans’ behavior and declares a readiness to establish negotiations, while his country arrests 3 American citizens in a week on charges of espionage.
Seemingly, both presidents are practicing the tradition of double standards of the hawkish Bush administration, which doesn’t seem rational at first glance; however, the issues are more profound than they seem!
Last week, unidentified sources in Iran revealed the incident of furtive phone call between the influential Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who had served two terms as the Iranian President and now holds the administration of Expediency Council, and the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Prior to these happenings, in early March, a 9-strong delegation of Hollywood directors, actors and playwrights made a trip to Iran in the framework of a goodwill cultural exchange between the Iranian House of Cinema and the U.S. Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
The American delegation included “American Beauty” star Annette Bening, four-time Emmy Award winner Alfre Woodard, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Frank Pierson, and Phil Alden Robinson. The delegation was headed by the President of the American Motion Picure Arts and Sciences, Sid Ganis, who had come to hold workshops, meetings, and visits in Iran.
Ganis is the successor of his fellow-delegate Frank Pierson as the AMPAS President and has produced several movies including the “Akeelah and the Bee” and “Mr. Deeds”.In an exclusive interview with Foreign Policy Journal, Sid Ganis talks about the warm welcome the Hollywood delegation received from the Iranians and the unexpected hospitality of Iranians. “We were met with an incredibly warm and hospitable welcome by the filmmakers of Iran, and the people in general,” he says. “Everywhere we went, people approached us to talk and take pictures with us.”
Answering my question about the impact of comments made by the Cultural Advisor to the Iranian President demanding an apology from the Americans, Ganis said, “People in Iran generally had very positive things to say about America and about our movies. So the comments made by this particular cultural advisor really didn’t affect our feelings about the value of our visit.”
Most Iranians, even if they don’t demand apology, are still offended by the movies “300? and “The Wrestler” in which their ancestors are portrayed as blood-thirsty and barbaric.
Sid Ganis confesses that the U.S. mainstream portrayal of Iran is misleading and unrealistic. “Our entire group was somewhat surprised to see how different Iranian life is, the way people live it on a daily basis, from the usual depictions we see in the media, especially the news media.”
“Iranians are very sophisticated, educated and culturally literate people and they have access to far more western media and technology than any of us had realized.” He adds, “We traveled freely around Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan and we didn’t see any signs of political demonstrations or speech directed against Americans.”
Kourosh Ziabari @ April 14, 2009
How the corporate media alienate Iran
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Foreign Policy Journal - Kourosh Ziabari: Prof. Pirouz Mojtahedzadeh is a prominent Iranian scholar of foreign policy and international relations. Alongside Prof. Hamid Mowlana, he is considered to be one of Iran’s foreign policy academia giants.
Despite his non-alignment to governmental organizations and his partial residence in London, where he chairs the Urosevic Research Foundation, Mojtahedzadeh explicitly defends Iran’s “inalienable right to possess peaceful nuclear energy” and criticizes the U.S. of applying double standards in the Middle East. He has been long avoided by the mainstream media outlets, as he represents an independent and objective voice regarding the issues of Iran.
Prof. Mojtahedzadeh obtained his professorship of Political Geography from the University of London and was a consultant for United Nations University from 1995 to 1996.
His recent book Boundary Politics and International Boundaries of Iran was published by the Universal Publishers in USA and he usually appears on independent media outlets, alternative newspapers and even the anti-Iranian chained radio and TV channels to propound his viewpoints.
Here is the first part of Foreign Policy Journal’s interview with Prof. Mojtahedzadeh in which he discusses a broad range of Iran-related issues, from the nuclear standoff to the Persian Gulf disputes.
Kourosh Ziabari @ April 8, 2009
Iranian Youths; Concerns and Ambitions
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Kourosh Ziabari - Guatemala Times: As Iran welcomes the arrival of spring with the countrywide celebration of Nowrouz - the ancient Persian festivity marking the commencement of New Solar Year - Iranian youths talk about their admirations, aspirations and concerns.
Near to 30 percent of Iran’s 70 million-strong population are the under-25 youths which constitute the dominant majority of country’s social body. Undisputedly, such a large host of young population can be an effectual and substantive factor in the prosperity and scientific progression of the society, provided that a prudent mobilization of these forces is taken into account.”
Iranian youths perpetually deal with a trilogy of different cultural prototypes offered to them. First of all, there is their nationality which forms a major part of their characteristics and should be preserved steadfastly; secondly, they have Islamic backgrounds, which they inherit from their parents as a religious legacy and should be dealt with constructively, and finally they are exposed to the spates of western culture targeting them through mass media, internet etc.
Actually, nationalistic feelings are considerably significant and remarkable among the youth generation of Iran. Arsalan, 18, who is a freshman of civil engineering, believes that being Iranian is a source of pride and honor: “Our historical backgrounds date back to at least 5000 years ago, where the ancient kingdoms of Egypt and Persia (the old name of Iran) dominated the whole world, so I’m personally honored of being an Iranian, the son of this ancient and cultured soil.”
One the other hand, religious beliefs also contribute to the formation of Iranian youths’ identity immensely, and most of Iranian youths practice their religious rituals enthusiastically: “we worship the Almighty God, believe in the Holy Quran and pay tribute to our beloved Prophet Muhammad. Islam is a religion of peace and equality in its very nature and I have no doubts it will gain more followers all around the world if the mass media portray it accurately and reveal its truths to the public opinions without bias and distortion” says Arsalan.
Kourosh Ziabari @ March 25, 2009
Eric Margolis on Iran and the Media
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Foreign Policy Journal - Kourosh Ziabari: In the tumultuous era of bribery and conspiracy, where the majority of political equations in the east and west are based on depraved arrangements, journalists must be practically artists and craftsmen to remain independent and out of harm’s way.
The pandemic dominance of certain lobbies over the mass communication media which are meant to be the passageway of veracious, reliable and undistorted information to the public makes it harder to be non-aligned and unbiased; however, Eric Margolis is among those journalists who have long braced themselves for the enormous costs of impartiality: “Trying to write balanced commentary on the Mideast has seriously hurt my media career and lead me to be banned from important publications and TV networks for whom I once wrote. I face constant threats and calls for me being fired from my newspaper chain, Sun National Media.”
Margolis admits the existence of such a complicated dominance “Religious conservatives and pro-Israel groups have very strong influence over the US media. Write a bad article calling Iranians nasty things and you may get one letter from an angry Iranian; Dare criticize Israel and you and your newspaper will get hundreds.”
The suggestion of an interview with the internationally syndicated journalist and media correspondent Eric Margolis was first made by a fellow journalist from Pakistan, Gul Jammas Husain of Tehran Times. He stirred me to engage in a conversation with Margolis, whose articles have appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Times of London, the Los Angeles Times and a number of other publications worldwide.
Having Margolis for an exclusive interview with Foreign Policy Journal was a precious opportunity to elaborate on the beliefs and notions of this veteran journalist whose recent article “Iran and the West: a History of Violence” caused a broad dialogue among readers, politicians and media personalities.
Kourosh Ziabari @ March 20, 2009
I want to devote myself to reality
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In an exclusive interview with Timeturk, Benjamine Heine discusses with Kourosh Ziabari his concerns, wishes, intentions and his programs for the future .
Regardless of his political stances, there is no doubt over the artistic dexterity of Benjamine Heine. Whoever has seen the artworks of this Belgian cartoonist admitted that he is a nimble and accomplished artist indeed. Aside from the exclusive techniques of sketching and brilliant coloring methods which he employs to personify his political cartoons, his ethical commitment and devotion to the cause of reality is what makes him different from the other cartoonists visibly.
Ben is a freelance journalist and arts instructor who has dedicated a large number of his political cartoons to the 22-day massacre of Gaza and its aftermaths. He challenges the inaction of international community and the indifference of superpowers in dealing with the suffering of Palestinian people, and criticizes the double-standards of US in the case of Iran’s nuclear issue.
Our journalist friend Kourosh Ziabari talked to him to elaborate on his political cartoons and the “why”s of his dedication to the matter of Gaza.
Kourosh Ziabari @ March 9, 2009