iPouya | A Source on Politics, World Affairs, Society, and Cinema

He will be voted out of office, I promise, and then they’ll vote for the bill again: ASUC President Will Smelko vetoed a bill Wednesday that called for the University of California to divest from companies that have provided war supplies to Israel.The bill states that United Technologies and General Electric are supplying Israel with the technology necessary to attack civilian populations in Lebanon, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. While the bill passed the ASUC Senate last week by a 16-4 vote that followed four hours of discussion and about 80 speakers, Smelko said in a veto statement that the bill did not adequately outline an effective divestment strategy or address possible effects on UC and ASUC finances and “the perception of the bill as a symbolic attack on a specific community of our fellow students.”

“While the ASUC as a body has stated convincingly that it does not want ASUC and UC dollars going to fund weapons, war crimes, or human rights violations, this veto has to do with the mechanism by which the ASUC achieves its mission of building peace and goodwill in a way that avoids the shortcomings of the bill (such as a) … selective, one-sided focus on a specific country that lacks important historical context and understanding,” Smelko said in the statement.

I recently discovered this underground rapper and I must say, I’m glad to have done so. Actually, I didn’t really discover him per se, but rather someone posted one of his music videos on my blog’s comments section, which reminded me of the value of the blog. Sometimes I’m entirely tired of having this blog and at other times, I learn and get introduced to things through it (and through you) that I would not have otherwise have exposure to. Anyway, I’m going to begin posting his music videos. Here’s his “Long Live Palestine” music video. Here’s another video of the same song. Read his wikipedia profile here. FYI, he’s half-Iraqi, half-British not that really matters.

Ha’aretz: The fiance of the Neda Soltan, a 27-year-old Iranian woman shot dead during protests in in Tehran, met with President Shimon Peres on Monday during a visit to Israel. “I came to Israel as an ambassador of the Iranian people, as a messenger from the camp of peace,” said Caspian Makin.

[The divestment campaign was first launched at UC Berkeley when I was an undergraduate there. It took a long time, but the activists at Students for Justice in Palestine finally did it.]

Early yesterday morning, the University of California Berkeley Student Senate (ASUC) passed a bill to divest from companies that provide military support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Debate began the night before at 9:00pm and ended and six hours later when the vote was held at 3:00am. The session was attended by more than 150 students, educators and concerned community supporters, forcing the meeting to be relocated to a larger room. Never before has the senate chambers been so overcrowded, signifying the importance and interest in the issue of Israel-Palestine on the Berkeley campus. Ultimately, the bill passed with 16 senators in favor and 4 against.

During the debate, Rahul Patel, a Student Senator and supporter of the bill from the beginning, said that “In the 1980s the Berkeley Student Government was a central actor in demanding that the university divest from South African apartheid. Twenty-five years later, it is a key figure in shaping a nationwide movement against occupation and war crimes around the world.” He added that “Student Government can be a space to mobilize and make decisions that have a significant impact on the international community. We must utilize these spaces to engage each other about issues of justice worldwide.”

Emiliano Huet-Vaughn, a Ph.D. student in economics, co-author of the bill and a member of Berkeley’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), went to Gaza last July. He explained that the bill was informed by the devastation he witnessed as a result of Israel’s invasion of Gaza last winter, where civilian infrastructure was systematically targeted including schools, mosques, the education and justice ministries, Gaza’s main university, hundreds of factories, livestock, prisons, courts and police stations. Israel’s invasion resulted in the deaths of 1,440 Palestinians, including more than 400 children, and injuring another 5,380 Palestinians in Gaza.

The bill specifies two companies in particular, United Technologies and General Electric. It draws a direct connection between Berkeley’s investments in these companies and their products, used to indiscriminately attack civilians and infrastructure. Shoaib Kamil, a Ph.D. student in Computer Science explained that “We are not pushing for divestment from Israel. This bill is directed at US companies that enable attacks described as ‘war crimes’ in the Goldstone report.”

The Goldstone commission and report, led by respected South African judge Richard Goldstone, was authorized by the United Nations to investigate accusations of war crimes during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. The final report, submitted to the UN Human Rights Council last September, found that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes and called for both to conduct investigations. However, the Goldstone report was particularly critical of Israel’s actions, especially the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure by the Israeli military.

The ASUC has control over their $1.7 million budget and the bill calls for a committee to investigate the investments by the ASUC and the University of California Regents to ensure that no monies are invested in companies that are complicit in war crimes. Divestment will likely be implemented first by the ASUC. However, getting the Regents to recognize and implement the students’ call will be a more difficult task because students have little representation in the Regents’ decisions.

Ibrahim Shikaki, a Visiting Scholar from Palestine, spoke in favor of the bill although he did not feel that it was written from the Palestinian perspective. Shikaki explained that “If this were a Palestinian bill it would have mentioned my grandfather’s land that was stolen from him, or my friend who was shot ten feet in front of me … or my aunt who for weeks was denied travel to Egypt for cancer treatment.”

Mahaliyah Ayla O, a gender and women’s studies major and Jewish member of SJP, voiced her surprise after the bill was passed. Ayla O said “It is not that complicated, we should not support corporations that manufacture weapons to oppress people.”

Last year, the ASUC passed a bill establishing a sisterhood relationship between UC Berkeley and the three universities in Gaza: Al-Aqsa University, Al-Azhar University and the Islamic University of Gaza. With the passage of this divestment bill, Berkeley students are taking a stand against Israel’s human rights violations and war crimes and continue Berkeley’s commitment to being on the vanguard of student activism. In 1986, UC Berkeley was one of the first universities to call for a comprehensive divestment from companies that traded with or had operations in apartheid South Africa.

Dina Omar is a UC Berkeley alumni and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine. She currently works as the Membership Coordinator for the Arab Resource and Organizing Center.

NPR - Excerpt: “‘Much to my surprise, the Islamic scriptures in the Quran were actually far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible,’ Jenkins says. Jenkins is a professor at Penn State University and author of two books dealing with the issue: the recently published Jesus Wars, and Dark Passages , which has not been published but is already drawing controversy. Violence in the Quran, he and others say, is largely a defense against attack. ‘By the standards of the time, which is the 7th century A.D., the laws of war that are laid down by the Quran are actually reasonably humane,’ he says. ‘Then we turn to the Bible, and we actually find something that is for many people a real surprise. There is a specific kind of warfare laid down in the Bible which we can only call genocide.’ It is called herem, and it means total annihilation. Consider the Book of 1 Samuel, when God instructs King Saul to attack the Amalekites: ‘And utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them,’ God says through the prophet Samuel. ‘But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ When Saul failed to do that, God took away his kingdom. ‘In other words,” Jenkins says, “Saul has committed a dreadful sin by failing to complete genocide. And that passage echoes through Christian history. It is often used, for example, in American stories of the confrontation with Indians — not just is it legitimate to kill Indians, but you are violating God’s law if you do not.’

Foreign Policy Magazine - Excerpt: “In exchange for Rafsanjani’s loyalty, the supreme leader appears to have given him power over a new bill that will establish a National Elections Commission to reform the electoral process. Not only is this issue at the heart of Iran’s political crisis, but the commission would also determine the eligibility of individuals to stand as candidates in elections. And the Expediency Council, which monitors legislation and is responsible for any conflicts that might result over Iranian laws, will also decide the members who serve on the National Elections Commission. This significant change in the elections process will greatly reduce the power of the Guardian Council, a body of six hard-line clerics and six jurists appointed by Khamenei. Historically, this Guardian Council has banned many reformist candidates from running in elections, thus ensuring conservative control even in the face of growing public discontent. The guardians were also charged with hearing complaints about election fraud and complaints from banned candidates contesting their exclusion. Now, the National Elections Commission will hold some of these responsibilities.”

NIAC - Excerpt: “The National Iranian American Council applauds the passage moments ago by the House of Representatives of H.Res.267, the Norooz Resolution, and commends Representative Mike Honda (D-CA) for championing this historic resolution.”

“The Norooz Resolution passed by a 384-2 vote, marking the first time in history that the House of Representatives officially recognizes the ‘cultural and historical significance’ of the Iranian New Year.  The resolution also expresses appreciation ‘for the contributions of Iranian-Americans to society in the United States’ and wishes Iranian-Americans, Iranians, and all who celebrate Norooz a happy andprosperous New Year.”

Israel has long claimed that Palestinian civilians die at the hands of Israeli attacks only because Palestinian militants fire from among them and that civilians die from Israeli response fire. Palestinians have long claimed that Israelis deliberately target Palestinian civilians and even use them as human shields as they seek out Palestinian fighters.  Israel is now charging Israeli soldiers for using Palestinians as human shields. She the video here.

See the interesting al-Jazeera video here..

al-Jazeera video on how US-Israeli relations are now under strain.

Needs to get herself a clue: “Since a disputed presidential election in June set off enduring unrest, the opposition has timed some of its protests to holidays. The December protests came during Ashura, the commemoration of the martyrdom of Ali, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.”  So according to this NY Time’s correspondent, Ali (a.s.) was the grandson of the Prophet. OK, thanx, have a nice day.

NY Times - Excerpt: “The series of political and economic reforms I undertook in the Soviet Union in 1985, has been the subject of heated debate ever since. Today the controversy has taken on a new urgency — not just because of the 25th anniversary, but also because Russia is again facing the challenge of change. In moments like this, it is appropriate and necessary to look back. We introduced perestroika because our people and the country’s leaders understood that we could no longer continue as we had. The Soviet system, created on the precepts of socialism amid great efforts and sacrifices, had made our country a major power with a strong industrial base. The Soviet Union was strong in emergencies, but in more normal circumstances, our system condemned us to inferiority.”

Oh how this is funny.

I flew back from Cali to Ann Arbor tonight (had a marvelous spring break - thank you for asking) and I caught the latter half of the show… thought the Baldwin-Martin ‘Paranormal Activity’ spoof was laugh-out-loud funny and I enjoyed the Ben Stiller Na’vi act, though I generally do NOT like Stiller, not at all. I enjoyed some of the speeches, esp the ones with some substance to them, like the Mo’nique speech and the one where the guy talked about supporting youth to develop their creativity. The speeches where they just get up and thank their laundry list are lacking, no doubt, though I enjoyed Jeff Bridges’ speech, esp when we invoked his parents and his acting background. Needless to say, I was a bit disgruntled to see ‘Avatar’ get routed (Im a guilty fan). I wasn’t entirely surprised bc all the main critics predicted that ‘Hurt Locker’ would clean up.  Perhaps I should see the movie again to fully understand why but my initial assessment as to why it won best picture, other than it being well made, is the fact that it is the first Iraq War film that actually understands SOME, though not all, of how this war is different from other American wars. Most American dead have died at the “hands” of roadside bombs so it makes sense to make an Iraq War movie that is about that aspect and some of the tension that it encompasses.  Here’s a list of award count by number and by category.

[Excellent article on recent and historic developments in Turkey… thanx Asli] NY Times: ISTANBUL — The detention of top military officers in Turkey last week was nothing less than a quiet piece of history. The military, long considered untouchable in Turkey, was pushed from its political pedestal with startling finality. The moment, years in the making, was more whimper than bang. But it still raises an existential question for this NATO member: What sort of country will Turkey be? The question goes to the very heart of modern Turkey, a Muslim democracy whose military was a potent force in the country’s political life for most of its 86-year history. Its strictly secular ideology permeated all aspects of public life, including the education system, the judiciary and the bureaucracy. The military, long considered the ultimate guardian of that secularism, has overthrown elected governments to protect it. Not only has the military been politically defanged, but it has also proved unable or unwilling to fight back. Dozens of officers were detained last week, and several senior ones were arrested. Top military leaders met and managed to produce only a brief statement, never mind a coup.

Associated Press: Airlines not referring to the waterway between Iran and the Arabian peninsula as the Persian Gulf will be banned from Iranian airspace, the transport minister told local media Monday. The warning was directed specifically toward the airlines of neighboring Gulf Arab countries who have a history of referring to the body of water as the “Arabian Gulf.” “The airlines of the southern Persian gulf countries flying to Iran must use ‘Persian Gulf’ on their flight monitors,” Hamid Behbahani told the IRAN daily. Airlines ignoring the warning would be banned from Iranian airspace, while repeat offenders would have their planes grounded in Iran and “the companies’ flight permits to Iran canceled.” The report said Iran expelled a Greek flight attendant from the private Iranian airline, Kish Air, for using “Arabian Gulf” on a monitor over the weekend. Iranians are traditionally sensitive over the historic name of the waterway between Iran and seven Arab nations. Last month the Saudi-based Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation said it canceled the Islamic Solidarity Games in April because its Iranian host planned to use Persian Gulf on banners and medals. In 2004, Iran banned American National Geographic for using Arabian Gulf instead of the Persian Gulf. In 2005, National Geographic revised its world atlas to use Persian.

I usually post here on my blog and since my blog is linked to my facebook profile, each post also gets posted there too. This is one piece of news that was so pleasing that in my rush, I actually posted it on facebook and forgot to do it here. So in case you missed it: Palestinians in the West Bank employed symbolism to which people of the world in general and the US in particular could relate… they dressed up as Na’vi people from Pandora to parallel their very real plight with that of the fictitious but still relevant plight of the Na’vi. See the pictures here.

The number of attendees at the pro-government rallies on Thursday is staggering, STAGGERING, and serves as a wake up call to anyone who thinks that the regime does not have proponents. See the video here.

Foreign Policy - Excerpt: “Now, many of the greens are experiencing a sort of idealism hangover. Mohammad Sadeghi, the 27-year old Iranian-German who administers Mousavi’s official Facebook page, admits that he doesn’t know what comes next. He has always managed to be one step ahead of the manifold events of the past year, but now he’s at a loss. He created the Facebook page last January, before Mousavi had even officially declared his candidacy, back in the days when Facebook was still freely accessible to any Internet user in Iran. In the following months, after the page had attracted a small but devoted following, Mousavi’s campaign reached out to him, expressing its desire to consult and cooperate with him in the run-up to the election. After the election, Mousavi’s Tehran-based campaign and his Germany-based Facebook site experienced diverging fates. Layers of campaign staff were hauled off to Iranian prisons, while the Facebook site saw an explosion in followers. Sadeghi decided that he had a responsibility to independently continue the campaign in Mousavi’s name, to serve as a meeting place, conference room, and bulletin board for sympathizers and activists. By his account, the Facebook page played a key role in propagating the defiant nightly “Allahu Akbar” chant and organizing the protest schedule linked to major Iranian and Shiite holidays.”

The Guardian - Excerpt: “Anyone who has spent time in Iran and the Middle East knows about the hospitality of this region. It’s extremely disrespectful for a host not to offer a guest food or drink. To suggest that free food and drink were one of the motivating factors that brought hundreds of thousands out to Azadi Square yesterday is beyond absurd. This assumption that in order to support Ahmadinejad one must be from a poor, rural or illiterate background highlights a larger bias in the western media in their attempt to demonise the Islamic Republic and ignore its widespread support.”

The government is trying to build on the momentum resulting from its victory yesterday…. Mousavi’s kalame.org, rah-e sabz, and other sites have been hacked (as of noon time today) by the “Iranian Cyber Army” leaving this message:

« به احترام رفراندومی که در 22 بهمن برگزار شد ومردمی که رای دادند و به احترام ملتی بزرگ و وطنی به نام ایران »

«    بيشتر از اين مهره بازي افرادي که خود در آمريکا در امن و امان به سر ميبرند و از شما به عنوان مهره

استفاده ميکنند نباشيد »

Excerpt: “What’s at stake now is not just the survival of the reformists, but the very possibility of Iran’s eventual transition toward a democratic system. By reneging on its promise of justice and political liberties—and by refusing to take part in a national debate about what the ideals and goal of the republic should be—the radical conservatives have in effect negated the very notion of a republic, and of a nation of citizens with minds of their own and the political autonomy to express themselves. To get away with this backward march of folly, the hardliners seem to believe that they must kill the very children of the revolution—the ones who led the revolution and still feel obliged to honor its promises. By coercing the Iranian people to acquiesce to the absolute rule of an unelected guardian, the government is accomplishing a revolution in a literal sense, by creating a circular movement that ends where it started. In order to maintain their grip on power, acting in the name of religion, the radical conservatives in government are imprisoning the very leaders who helped bring an end to secular monarchical despotism 31 years ago.”

Click here.

that Iran is split and that division is fateful. If you look at US media and the commentary amongst the diaspora community, the image that is presented to us is that the government in Iran is an island surrounded by the a sea of opposition. I wrote this during the first week after the elections in June and it warrants mentioning again given the huge show of support the regime enjoyed today: “His [Khamenei’s] supporters are willing both to die and kill to protect him and the system, which is the main difference between now and 1979 -  the Shah had little support and when push came to shove, his few supporters packed their bags and fled the country. These people loyal to Khamenei think that they have the biggest claim to Iran since it was hundreds of thousands from within their ranks that died defending Iran during the Iran-Iraq War and will not walk way so easily simply because giving up is, as they see it, tantamount to betraying the holy sacrifice of all those martyrs of the revolution and war.”

It must be said yet again, the biggest difference between ‘79 and now is that large segments of society support the regime and that difference is a major one in contemplating the possibilities of revolution in Iran - an idea that many seem to believe is a realistic possibility. Other decisive differences abound but it warrants a longer conversation. Nor is Iran on the “brink of civil war” despite what Reza Aslan says.  The opposition is not armed, militant, or able to wage a civil war. In the last stages of the revolution in 1979, it can be argued that Iran was engulfed in a civil war and that’s because guerilla groups, namely the Mujahideen-e Khalq & the Fadayan-e Khalq, had long existed in Iran and had been fighting a low intensity war with regime since 1971 and that Iranian soldiers defected in the last days of the movement, allowing guerilla groups to raid the barracks and distribute arms to factions that had training and experience with arms. No such faction, experience, or availability of weaponry exists in Iran today, so talks of civil war are increasingly sensationalist.