Posts tagged : "Culture"

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Why the Iranian government neglects the nation’s cultural heritage

Why the Iranian government neglects the nation’s cultural heritage

Persepolis Kourosh Ziabari - Stimson Center: Modern-day Iran is the inheritor of a hallowed civilization and ancient monuments that have survived millennia of invasions, natural disasters, and political upheaval. While Iran’s current diplomatic and economic isolation discourages foreign tourism, the country’s cultural heritage remains one of the nation’s key distinctions, cherished by Iranians and many others around the world who hope to be able to explore it in person one day. There are presently 26 registered UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Iran, more than in Japan, the United States and Greece on the roster of places catalogued by the United Nations’ cultural and educational agency. Among them are well-known...

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Iranian Celebrities Who Back the Protest Movement Face the Regime’s Wrath

Iranian Celebrities Who Back the Protest Movement Face the Regime’s Wrath

Kourosh Ziabari - Democracy in Exile: As nationwide protests have gained steam in Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the so-called morality police in September, the Islamic Republic has confronted dissent with new levels of severity. As of Sunday, 488 protesters, including 68 minors, have reportedly been killed, and with some 18,000 protesters arrested, detention facilities are overflowing. After several reported executions in the province of Sistan and Baluchestan, some of which haven't been documented, two protesters were hanged to death in a span of four days in Tehran and Mashhad. As the crackdown widens, artists and athletes who express solidarity with the protest...

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The French cultural center shuttered: What does cultural isolation mean for Iranians?

The French cultural center shuttered: What does cultural isolation mean for Iranians?

Kourosh Ziabari - Middle East Institute: At the start of January, Iran found itself embroiled in a new diplomatic spat. This time, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo’s publication of cartoons pouring scorn on the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruffled feathers in Tehran, and the foreign ministry vowed decisive action to prevent future affronts to “religious authority.” Unlike in Iran, media in the West are not supposed to take orders from the state, and the Iranian foreign ministry’s rage directed at the French government was obviously misplaced. Nonetheless, the Islamic Republic was quick to launch its first retaliatory measure, announcing the closure of a...

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‘Sacred versus’: Iranian opposition mirrors regime’s sins

‘Sacred versus’: Iranian opposition mirrors regime’s sins

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: The heinous stabbing attack against British-American novelist Salman Rushdie was so inexcusable that even the administration of hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi disowned it, contending that the Islamic Republic could not be blamed for that outburst of violence against the persecuted writer, who had just begun to exercise some publicity after keeping a low profile for several years. But as the literary world was rallying around Rushdie to reiterate his right to free speech and denounce aggression to stifle contrarian thought, it transpired that the attack, celebrated by hardliners in Tehran as an act of divine vengeance against an apostate writer, was also silently saluted by members...

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The complex legacy of the Salman Rushdie affair in Iran

The complex legacy of the Salman Rushdie affair in Iran

Kourosh Ziabari - The New Arab: The attack on British-American novelist Salman Rushdie at a literary event at the Chautauqua Institution in western New York on Friday shocked the world. The assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar, born in the US to Lebanese parents, leapt onto the stage and stabbed the author 15 times before being arrested by a state trooper. Rushdie, 75, was left with life-changing injuries but his agent has said his “condition is headed in the right direction”, although it will be a long road to recovery. Ever since the attack, headlines have been dominated by reports about Rushdie’s health and speculation about the attacker’s possible motives. Accusations have also swirled about Iran’s potential...

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Delving into Hawraman, Iran’s unexplored historical gem

Delving into Hawraman, Iran’s unexplored historical gem

Kourosh Ziabari - The New Arab: UNESCO World Heritage Sites are natural areas and cultural, man-made structures judged to be outstandingly paramount to humanity, designated by the United Nations’ cultural agency as landmarks that merit international attention and conservation at home. Iran, however, as isolated and cornered as it might be these days, hosts 26 such properties dotted across the country, and is the world’s 10th country in terms of the frequency of World Heritage Sites. The last Iranian monument to be inscribed on the World Heritage Sites inventory in 2021 is the cultural landscape of Hawraman. Encompassing an extensive area in Western Iran, spanning the provinces of Kurdistan and Kermanshah, Hawraman is a...

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Remembering Siah Armajani, the late Iranian-American architect

Remembering Siah Armajani, the late Iranian-American architect

Kourosh Ziabari - The New Arab: Many residents of Minneapolis, Minnesota, cross over the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge every day or move past it. It offers a unique vantage point to the well-liked Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, epitomised by the iconic $500,000 Spoonbridge and Cherry sculptural design. Most of the locals recognise Whitney, a Twin Cities philanthropist and civic leader who was married to the 1980 Independent-Republican gubernatorial candidate Wheelock Whitney and passed away in 1986. But to many Minnesota denizens and visitors of the Garden who happen to walk over the bridge spanning an interstate highway, or at least catch a glimpse of it from afar, the story behind the structure is almost undisclosed, unless one is...

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‘ManoFarsi’ not an innocent debate on language education

‘ManoFarsi’ not an innocent debate on language education

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: It is common knowledge that the Iranian government is in an acutely vulnerable position and that a blend of draconian international sanctions, public discontent at home, corruption and unremitting power struggles have drained its resources and resilience, stripping it of political leverage on the world stage. To the constellation of the Islamic Republic’s adversaries and opposition parties in exile, this fragility presents a unique opportunity to prey on and see if a coup de grace can be administered to what appears to be a languishing, heavily wounded antagonist. One day, a terror attack is orchestrated in the restive south of the country and when the suspected mastermind is arrested to stand...

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Iran’s hijab war as politics by other means

Iran’s hijab war as politics by other means

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: When a radical vigilante rammed his vehicle into two women in the Iranian city of Urmia on August 8 after criticizing their flouting of hijab rules, local authorities promised decisive action for the assault after the assailant’s arrest. But like those before him who have assaulted and attacked Iranian women over their state of dress, he’s widely expected to walk free. The attack, which went viral on social media, has reignited debate on compulsory hijab laws, with many questioning the sustainability and practicality of the strict Islamic dress code in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s hardline approach to the hijab is distinct from almost every other major Muslim country....

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The other side of Iran we are taught not to explore

The other side of Iran we are taught not to explore

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: For nearly two decades, the global media coverage of Iran has functioned in such a way that the name of the country has been bracketed with a pernicious nuclear program and malign conspiracies to destabilize the Middle East and beyond. That Iran has been receiving bad press for a long time is not a mystery or the allegation of a jingoistic mind. It is an inevitability attested to by the pundits and commentators of media organizations that let bias sweep through their reporting. There are plenty of reasons to feel bitter about Iran, perceive its regional role as counterproductive and consider its brand of statecraft as erratic. The Islamic Republic’s foreign-policy adventures have been...

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Systemic racism in the US assumes a variety of covert and overt forms: Faye V. Harrison

Systemic racism in the US assumes a variety of covert and overt forms: Faye V. Harrison

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: The tragic killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, by a former Minnesota police officer on May 25, was not the first instance of white cops resorting to undue force against Black citizens, but was certainly egregious enough that made the American people’s blood boil, sparking massive protests in the United States from coast to coast, prompting demonstrations in some 30 countries against racism and police brutality. The killing of George Floyd was exposed and went viral owing to the videos captured by bystanders who were witnessing the law enforcement officer Derek Chauvin applying a neck restraint on the unarmed man for nearly 9 minutes when he was put under arrest after Floyd was...

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International pressure can raise awareness of the problem of Islamophobia: Heiner Bielefeldt

International pressure can raise awareness of the problem of Islamophobia: Heiner Bielefeldt

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: There are many indications leading us to believe that we are living in an age characterized by the face-off of religion and science. Even so, although science is making headway in eliminating many of the humanity’s challenges, faith hasn’t surrendered its preeminence, and The Guardian reported in 2018 that 84 percent of the global population identifies with a religious group, with Christianity being the largest faith group, followed by Islam, Hindus and Buddhists. Sixteen percent of the people in the world, at nearly 1.2 billion, said they have no religious affiliation. Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right safeguarding the diversity and conscience of human societies. The ability of the...

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