Doc's Talk: Iran: A Big Lie and Getting Away With It

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Iran: A Big Lie and Getting Away With It

Avideh Motmaen-Far, Shabnam Assadollahi, et al

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4321/iran-big-lie

The truth is that the Rouhani administration has not been any more "moderate" than its predecessor, the Ahmadinejad administration. If anything, it is worse. The rate of executions, for instance, has increased even more alarmingly.

There is a common saying, "If you want to tell a big lie and not be caught at it, don't tell a complete lie; rather, tell two-third lies and one-third truth, for that way the crust of truth will cover the core of lie." That is exactly what Saeed Kamali Dehghan did when he wrote about the situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran under President Rouhani. In his latest article, published on May 15, 2014 in the prestigious Guardian, he claims that "Canada is getting it wrong on Iran;" and to prove that claim, he constructs a clever narrative that suits his aim much more than it conforms to reality.

He states that Canada broke off diplomatic relations with the Tehran regime, and claims that this means Canada, in a pro-Israeli move, has toughened its stance on Iran. What he does not say is that Canada has had no formal relations with the Islamic Republic for a long time. There was effectively no contact since the Canadian ambassador was expelled from Tehran in 2007. That expulsion came after Canada successively rejected the two individuals the Islamic Republic had nominated for the post of ambassador to Ottawa – both had apparently been involved in seizing the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 and taking its diplomats hostage.

Pictured at right, Iran's smiling President Hassan Rouhani. At left, his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Kind words, a smile and a charm offensive are not a substitute for real action." — Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

Since 2007, each country's mission in the other country has been headed, at Iran's insistence, by a chargé d'affaires rather than an ambassador, and relations have been drastically circumscribed. However, this was not the end: Canada later decided unilaterally to shut down the Islamic Republic's embassy and expel its diplomats due to strong allegations of espionage and sabotage against these diplomats.
Iranian activists in Canada, for their part, have been asking Ottawa to expel the Islamic Republic's diplomats since 2003, when the Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was murdered in a prison in Iran. They asked again in 2009, when the regime in Tehran stepped up its efforts to crack down on the protesters after the rigged presidential elections.
Kamali Dehghan also claims that while other Western countries seem to have seized upon the opportunity to engage with the "moderate" President Rouhani, Canada is doing exactly the opposite and instead is siding with "dodgy exiled groups" such as the MEK and "rightwing Israelis." As such, he not only attributes all those Iranians in Canada who are fighting against the tyranny of the Islamic Republic to the causes of the MEK and supposedly "rightwing Israelis," but also tries very hard to convince the reader that Canada is wrong not to accept Rouhani as a moderate.
The truth is, however, that the Rouhani administration has not been any more "moderate" than its predecessor, the Ahmadinejad administration, within Iran. If anything, it is worse. While Iran initially had the highest per capita execution rate in the world prior to Rouhani's taking office, the rate of executions has increased even more alarmingly under his rule. More than 600 executions have been carried out since he took office in August 2013 – with as many as 20 executions alone during the week of Rouhani's "charm offensive" at the United Nations.
Dr. Ahmed Shaheed, Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur on Iran, has thoroughly documented the horrific treatment the Iranian prisoners endure. According to his report: physical torture, including beating, whipping and assault occurs in 100% of the cases; sexual torture, including rape, molestation, and violence to genitals, occurs in 60% of the cases; and psychological and environmental torture, such as solitary confinement, are also prevalent.
One recent shocking example of the rampant violence perpetrated against the Iranian prisoners was the brutal raid by the prison guards against the Ward 350 Evin Prison inmates on April 17, 2014. Rouhani has not only remained silent about the crimes committed in Ward 350, he promoted Head of the Iran Prisons Organization, Gholam-Hossein Esmaili, to the position of Director General of the Justice Department in Tehran Province.
According to Dr. Shaheed's recent testimony, there are presently at least 895 prisoners of conscience and political prisoners in Iran. Among them are political activists, religious practitioners, human rights defenders, civic activists, student activists, journalists, labor activists and other civil society activists. And most of the opposition activists imprisoned before Rouhani became president are also still incarcerated.
As for tolerance, despite President Rouhani's initial promises to ensure greater tolerance of religious minorities in Iran, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, recently issued a fatwa calling on Iranians to avoid any interactions with members of the Baha'i faith. Nevertheless, the persecution of the Baha'is continues under Rouhani even more thoroughly than before. A number of Baha'is have recently been murdered; a larger number expelled from work and school, as well as sent to prison, and the old Baha'i cemetery in Shiraz has been razed to ground by bulldozers.
In the meantime, the Islamic Republic also incites hatred and violence against other religious and ethnic minorities, and violates their political, social, religious, economic, cultural, linguistic and educational rights. Balochis, Kurds, Arabs, Azeris, and Christians have recently been imprisoned on spurious charges such as "spreading corruption on earth."
Although Rouhani speaks eloquently about gender equality, women continue to face widespread and systematic discrimination in education, employment, state benefits, family relations and access to justice. Journalists are still prosecuted under Rouhani. Lesbian and gay people also continue to be victims of discrimination and violence under Rouhani.
We just wanted to bring these facts to Mr. Kamali Dehghan's attention so that he will know, in case he does not know, that this is why Canada is not fooled by the Islamic Republic and warns that "kind words, a smile and a charm offensive are not a substitute for real action." In the end, we must congratulate Mr. Kamali Dehghan for his clever choice of words throughout his recent article that casts reality in such a misleading light.
Just to mention one case, when he says that "Zahra Kazemi died while in jail in Iran under torture because of a skull fracture," he attempts to downplay that Kazemi was indeed ruthlessly raped and then killed in prison under torture -- a murder committed by Tehran's Chief Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, who struck her on the head and thereby caused the fatal skull fracture. No need to mention, of course, that he got away with it.

Dr. Avideh Motmaen-Far, Journalist, Political Activist,Toronto
Shabnam Assadollahi, Human Rights Activist, Freelance Journalist, Ottawa
Dr. Ahmad Mostafalou, Political Activist, Montreal
Afshin Afshin Jam, Human Rights and Political Activist, Vancouver
Shadi Paveh, Human Rights Activist, Ottawa
Sima Tajdini, Human Rights Activist, Toronto
Mehrdad Rahbar, Human Rights Activist, Artist, Vancouver
Marie-France DelBorrello, Human Right Activist, Vancouver
Mehran Mahboobi, Workers Rights Activist, Toronto
Cyrus Assadi, Retired Engineer, Ottawa
Soheyla Dorostkar, Human Rights Activist, Ottawa
Dr. Nouri Assemi, Ottawa
Dr. Manouchehr Assemi, Ottawa
Nina Taban, Toronto
Shahbaz Sobhani, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Parivash Zati,Retired Teacher, Toronto
Shahrzad Haddadi, Retired Nurse, Ottawa
Mehran Amiri, Human Rights Activist, Vancouver:
Shohreh Ghanbari, Artist, Human Rights Activist, Vancouver
Moe Eskandarpour, Human Right Activist, Vancouver
Mehrdad Amiri, Human Right Activist, Montreal
Shirin Mehrbod, Singer, Human Right Activist, Montreal
Taha Hassaniani, Journalist, Political Analyst, Toronto
Mansoureh Nasserchian, Political Activist, Radio Producer, New Brunswick
Hamid Ghahramani, Political Activist, Toronto

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk