Inshallah

Two of our members, Jane and Leanne (from left) with peace center staff
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(Thursday) Events this past twenty-four hours unfolded rather quickly, and I want to recount them as much as possible, while as I write this the other members of my group have no knowledge of where I have been today, or the opportunity that presented itself, but I hope to update them when they return from their day's activities. First, I’ll start from yesterday afternoon and get things caught up.

Yesterday we visited the Peace Museum that sits just a few blocks from our hotel, in Shahd Park. The museum was created mostly by veterans of the Iran-Iraq war, and we were given a presentation by a few men who were survivors of chemical warfare. Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons against Iranian soldiers in brutal assaults. as well as on the Kurds.  One famous Chemical Ali attack occured in Halabja in 1988 and killed  5,000.  Women and children died horribly painful deaths. The brutality of these weapons—the blisters and scars they leave, the burns on the eyes, the long-term effects as body functions degenerate, exposed children grow up manifesting serious health problems as adults—is extreme. One issue during the war was the lack of outcry from the international community when Saddam used these weapons against the Iranian forces. It was sadder still that the Iranians had no real means of defending themselves—their military was weak, and their strategy included simply sending men in blitzing waves to face the enemy, nearly defenseless. When they did finally receive some gas masks, they didn’t seal well over the martyr's beards they had grown.  It was mentioned that when Saddam was tried, no charges were issued against him for the use of these weapons during the Iran-Iraq war.

Posing with the vets--on the far right are David and our guide Sayed.
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The purpose of the center is to show the dark side of warso that perhaps it may be prevented.—as one vet pointed out, there are many military museums glorifying it.  When we finished the presentation, they brought us over for tea, fruit and cakes. We were surrounded by images of the wounded, but somehow it all worked. Our hosts showed us the typical Iranian graciousness, and others were there as well, including several young people (college-age) who volunteered for the center. We spent a couple of hours speaking with the staff, made up of artists, teachers and students.

With Nobel laureatte Shirin Ebadi (The shirt behind us is from Busboys & Poets cafe in DC, created by Arash Norouzi)
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Towards the end of the evening, I met Parisa. Parisa is a journalist, and has spent the past several years writing for reformist newspapers which inevitably get shut down by the government, forcing a new newspaper to be formed. Since the closing of the last newspaper, however, she has been writing for a political magazine in Italy.

We left the center and took a short walk around the park, past a peace monument and between colorfully lit fountains, all aglow against the backdrop of the December night sky. Later at the hotel, I ran into Parisa again. We spoke for a while longer, and she told me that she was to go to a peace meeting the next morning. Shirin Ebadi was to be there, along with some others. I asked if I might come along. She hesitated, but finally agreed. It made her nervous because I am an American, and there is always some element of risk involved. She wrote the directions in Farsi so that I could take a taxi in the morning, but refused to give them to me until we were outside. She wrote her cell phone number on the paper as well, then asked that I tear her number from the directions. It was very covert operations.  Like we were pretending to be in Iran, and we were going to...oh wait, I guess we are in Iran! Parisa mentioned that in the two hours she’d been in the hotel lounge, she noticed one man sitting by himself. He didn’t drink anything or meet anyone, just stared at us talking. Maybe it’s naive of me to think we wouldn’t be checked on, given that the government here is very aware that we are a peace organization, not just a tourist group. (Sorry for the guy who has to, because we're not all that interesting to watch.) I took the paper and followed her instructions.

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In the morning I took a cab to the address. I don’t know what I was imagining this meeting might be like. I'd been watching news images on the screen in the hotel lobby--Achmedinajad claiming victory against Bush before the roaring masses...   I met Parisa in front of the building in north Tehran where my cab dropped me. She rang the buzzer and we ascended the stairs to a suite of two offices and one small room with a conference table where a few people were seated. The organization these offices housed is Kalloone Modafeane Hoghogh Bashar, meaning, the Institute to Protect Human Rights. Against the far wall hung a peace banner with a white dove. On another wall, a UN poster, printed at the bottom W R and at the top PE CE, between them a dove carrying the letter “A” upward.

Parisa introduced me and explained, from what I could gather, that I was an American but with Iranian lineage, and that my last name was Zand, and that I was part of a peace organization. I told them I was with FoR and wrote down the website for one of the women.  Another woman, Dr. N, intercepted me and sat me down to explain the mission of the group. This was a group concerned with the rights of women in Iran. Their stance, as she explained, isn’t about overthrowing the current regime. They do not want regime change, and they believe in Islam. However, they believe in a New Islam, an idea I would come to understand a little more clearly as, with Parisa’s translation help, I pieced together some of the general points in the meeting.

One woman, J, an author of books on human rights, spoke for much of the session. I sat next to Parisa, who whispered and wrote notes to translate some of what was being said. Some of it had to do with marriage, a man’s right to have four wives (although not in Iran, maybe referring more generally to Islam), to divorce easily, to practice sighe (a temporary marriage that can last months, or even days. The reasoning is that sighe would protect people who want to have sexual relations from committing sin). She said that sighe equaled renting a woman. (I tried to Google sighe from here, but a screen comes up: Access Denied).

Eventually, Shirin Ebadi sat in the empty chair next to me. I was introduced again as an American with Iranian heritage. Ms. Ebadi welcomed me in English. Of course, tea was served constantly, and in the end about twenty of us sat around the table. Others took turns speaking around the table, discussing topics like stonings, how they are derived from ancient Judaism and spread to Islam, where it is now used by some Muslims, particularly Sunnis.

Parisa informed me of the million-name campaign—an effort to get the signatures of a million women to give to the majlis (parliament) in order to promote a dialogue about change. It should be noted here that this women's group is not a political organization. It is not an NGO (it applied, but was denied this status by the interior ministry). So their hope is to simply push reform through dialogue with the government. They are not attacking the government, but rather trying to modify its policies. They feel that if they can create a dialogue within the context of the Qoran, change will more likely be possible, as the debate will take place in the context of Islam. The language they use will be Islamic, Islamic women promoting their rights, not western ideas imposed on an incompatible philosophy. It's a delicate balance, as the government fears soft revolution.  Just this past week two members were arrested and imprisoned for discussing women's rights issues with other Iranian women.

I spoke with Ms. Ebadi individually after the meeting.  She explained a bit more about their mission, and how they are unable to accept financial contributions from the outside.  I asked her if there was anything we could do in support of her organization.  She asked me if we could help translate materials--articles and books--into English and Arabic.  I promised to explore the issue when I returned to the US.  I'm hopeful that either through FoR connections, through the academic community, or both, we can find a way to accommodate this request (If anyone reading this has any thoughts, please let me know).

What I took from the meeting is that there exists in Iran a women’s rights movement firmly planted in the edicts of Islam. It is not about regime change, nor espousing values from the West, but rather about promoting the evolution into this New Islam; an Islam that respects human rights and regards the equality of women. This change must come about internally (a point made to me recently in DC by my friend Anousha), so that the discussion can exist within the boundaries of Islam. Otherwise, the accusation from the government will be that the premise of the dialogue is flawed, as it is based on Western/ outside influence and ideas, and therefore opposes the government. The process must take place organically to the social and religious principles of Iran.

Parties who wish to aid the process can do so first by not interfering or forcing the issue, but supporting in spirit and by giving voice to these women through speaking engagements, university visits, by broadcasting interviews and publishing articles. This way, their message can be heard abroad, and change may take place from within.  Inshallah, as they say in Islam.  God willing.