The Dictator, The Veil and The Nuke

A major theme in Joyce's Ulysses was the idea of parallax, that objectivity can only be percepted when one has every angle of the story, and in the twenty-first century, with news and propaganda being as interchangeable as they are, the idea of parallax is possibly the most important concept to take heed of in this multifaceted world.

Especially with Iran, one can never be too careful when watching or reading the news to question the seemingly normal image of Iran that is being drawn out.

I wrote an article for City on a Hill Press, UC Santa Cruz' studentrun newspaper called "The Dictator, The Veil and the Nuke: an Insider's Guide to Iran" that I will post in segments, and I'm curious to see what I will leave thinking of my own article after spending a month in this country of many faces. For now, I'm positive that the caustic rhetoric chanted in blazon mantras at Friday Prayers, the flagellating religious extremist screaming and bleeding in the name of Allah, the veiled and oppressed woman who like a lap dog finds honor only in her docility, and the president who wants nothing but to obliterate Israel with his oh-so-difficult to acquire nuclear arsenal are what Western media has given us. But from what I've seen and what I've heard, this is far from the truth.

But here is my personal effort to speak for the side of Iran that gets little to no media attention, the side of the people afflicted with the same human condition that afflicts us, the same drive for greed and glory, the same recession to benevolence and hospitality, the culture, the beautiful culture.

The Dictator, The Veil and the Nuke

The Islamic Republic of Iran lies on the proverbial axis of evil and wants to obliterate Israel. The nation is governed by religious extremists who think the term “women’s rights” is an oxymoron, that cutting down on fossil fuel use is a good excuse for the development of nuclear power, and administer draconian rule through the words of the Qur’an. The Islamic Republic of Iran hates America and needs to be reformed—or the world will be facing a third world war.

At least, that’s what the American government would have us believe.

When a few dozen students around UC Santa Cruz were asked what words were brought to mind when they heard “Iran,” the responses included oil, sand, burka, Muslim, war and revolution. But there is more to the country than the veil American media often places over it.
Alireza Ataei, president of the Iranian Student Network (ISN) at UCSC, moved from Iran to America when he was 16. He sees Iran misrepresented in American media on a daily basis.

“The American media is doing a horrible job in representing Iran,” Ataei said. “All we hear about is Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the [Iranian] president’s conservative views and policies. You never hear about Iran’s women’s rights movement, its fascinating history and culture, and the kids in [capitol city] Tehran who are in love with Western culture, its reform movements, etc.”

Ali, a journalist for Iranian media outlet Payvand.com, explained that he has seen a great divide between the Iran that American media manifests and the Iran that he knows.
“I honestly see a demonization of Iran still going on in a big part of the US press,” Ali told City on a Hill Press (CHP) in a phone interview.

“The people of Iran for the most part are against getting in conflicts or war,” Ali said.

Ali pointed to the ways that media portray Friday prayers to depict Muslims in Iran as fervently anti-American. Friday prayers are congregational prayers that have been implemented as both a rallying force and a political tool. Participants and prayer leaders chant anti-American slogans during the prayer.

“These things that you hear about Friday prayers is really such a small minority,” Ali said. “An overwhelming number of Iranians are 180-degrees thinking differently. It doesn’t get as much coverage as it should.”