Here is Hossein Derakhshan’s BBC account of his visit to Israel as an Iranian blogger.
Having been born and raised in a religious, pro-revolution atmosphere in Tehran, like many others from my generation, I knew nothing about Israel except that they were “a declining group of Jews who constantly conspire to kill Muslim and forcefully capture their lands”.That’s why for us Israel never existed except when Friday prayers would finish their “death to” chants with Israel. Everywhere else, even on maps, Tel Aviv was the capital of the “Zionist Regime” or “Occupied Palestine”….
The reaction from Iranians was surprisingly positive. Of the several hundred comments I received from my readers inside or outside Iran, most of them were quite supportive, saying they believed it was a good step towards peace and understanding…. However, only a few known bloggers dared linking to the material on my blog, which was already filtered by the Iranian government, or mentioning the visit….
The immediacy of the Internet will continue to bring people together. It could help diffuse tension, one person at a time. High speed.
When you finish a prayer by saying “Death to Israel” or “Death to” any country, you should realize that you are the lunatics.
Reminds me of the audio clip I have of a certain televangelist who told folks they should club drug dealers on the head with a rock… but “do it with love”!
As an American citizen of Iranian decent, I make my best attempt to stay close to the political developments in the world pertaining to the Middle East and strongly agree with Vermont Neighbor – “the immediacy of the Internet will continue to bring people together.”
Part of the problem we face as we engage in any heated geopolitical discussion is that we often forget that, in all of these discussions, we are in fact dealing with the fates of individuals, not faceless governments. Iranians and Israelis are all people – just like you and I. They laugh, they cry, they seek love, and above all else want they want to be inspired just as we all do.
That being said, it is incumbent upon the respective governing bodies involved, as well as the people constituting the respective nations involved, to recognize that as individuals we share a common dream – peace. More difficult perhaps, is that all parties involved must struggle to truly understand that fundamentally we all desire to achieve a common vision. Accordingly, we are charged with the task of achieving that vision, while working to preserve our respective cultures to the best of our abilities.
It is clearly a difficult task, but it is not insurmountable. Frankly, it cannot be if we are to continue to develop as a people. I am hopeful that a new generation of globally-oriented and culturally diverse individuals will recognize our intrinsic similarities and champion a new era of understanding between nations that is driven from the bottom up. I am also hopeful that the efforts of folks in the Web 2.0 community will play a role in this change, as global technology convergence we are working to enable will ultimately help fuel a broader event – social convergence.
Hooman Radfar
Chief Executive Officer
Clearspring Technologies