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A Special Relationship: Musings of a Hyphenated American…

March 7, 2013 By Firouzeh Afsharnia Leave a Comment
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The Washington-AIPAC love-fest season is once again upon us.   The New York Times’ featured article sports a picture of Biden and Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, in loving embrace pledging support and allegiance, unconditional and eternal. Kiss! Kiss!

All talk of settlement freeze is shelved for the moment as the most formidable Washington Lobby – for all intent and purposes, agents of a foreign country – push for yet more resolutions choking Iran; seek blanket agreement for congressional backing of whatever measure Israel deems necessary to pursue their interests; and secure their 3.1 billion yearly aid even as sequestration threatens American jobs and economic recovery.   Not bad! If the forefathers could see the turn this democracy has taken, they would be thrilled I’m sure.

My reaction as a hyphenated American is pure horror!   My Persian side – because of the double standard applied to policy issues and the mess it has created by selective meddling in my region.  My American side — because of the constant hemorrhage of resource, blood and money due to this “special relationship” which seems only to benefit the Israeli hardliners and political aspirees in the U.S. Congress. My Persian side – because of the chokehold the sanctions impose on 70 million innocent Iranians destroying generations through lack of opportunities and basic needs; my American side — because it squanders any good will I presume to project in terms of standing up for human rights and democracy to my Persian side. On both fronts, this special relationship pits me against the world and my ideals; my hyphenated existence; and etches ever more deep scars of cynicism in the myth of exceptionalism my adopted country preaches day after day.

In a day and age where my American government routinely throws about terminology invoking notions of “Homeland”, “Patriotism” and “Security”, I wonder how so many of my compatriots can promptly pin their lapels with the American flag, applaud multiple invasions squandering over a trillion dollars at the first breach of air space on 9/11; yet remain unphased by our elected officials who routinely pledge allegiance to the Israeli flag; get fitted for a yarmulke and pose for photographs at the wailing wall before every election; and unreservedly throw about terms like “unconditional support” when support means continued undermining of the rights of other people, of international law and of our own national interests.

The peace process is all but dead in the face of continuing settlements on occupied land thanks to this alliance that extends blanket diplomatic immunity to Israel no matter how outrageous the act. Instead, the focus is squarely diverted on nonexistent nuclear ambitions of Iran even as experts fail to find evidence of such intentions.  The former director of IAEA, Hans Blix, has once again gone on record to confirm that Iran has not violated the NPT; that there is no evidence that Iran has plans to weaponize and that military threats based on mere suspicion is not justified. Yet the hysteria around nuclear threats seems to have a life of its own, continuing to escalate on autopilot as Israel and the U.S. bond in front of cameras just in case anyone had doubts as to how special, special was.

Advocates of this relationship say things will change organically.   Look – J Street is the answer to AIPAC and slowly we are witnessing criticism of Israel and this unique relationship creep into pop culture and mainstream discourse.   Journalists, thinkers, artists have taken a bolder approach to questioning the nature of this relationship and who it is really benefiting.  The recent SNL sketch and the spirited debate over Chuck Hagel’s confirmation are good examples.   The New York Times itself opened the article half-mockingly by referring to the “thunderous ovations” and “slick videos” of the annual conference captioning the Biden – Barak huddle, reminiscent of the 1970’s Brezhnev – Honecker embrace.

This week at the conference there was no mention of settlements. No mention of peace talks.  Instead standing ovations of the 13,000 strong friends of Israel, delighting at promises of military action against Iran.

“From the bottom of my heart, and with the clarity of my brain, words alone will not stop Iran. Sanctions alone will not stop Iran. Sanctions must be coupled with a clear and credible military threat if diplomacy and sanctions fail.” Netanyahu declared. Well, he should know, he is an authority on serial non-compliance yet shielded from action by a special friend who finds it more expedient to tackle the fall out rather than the root problem.

Soon President Obama will be making a visit to Israel – a first American president to go to Jerusalem. It is sure to ruffle some Palestinian feathers who dream of making part of this city their homeland. Contrary to his first term when he pushed for a halt to illegal settlements as a precursor to meaningful peace talks, there will be no more mention of a freeze.  There will be no criticism of Israel for the oppression of Palestinians on occupied land.  There will be no demands for compliance with U.N. resolutions.

Obama is going to Jerusalem to show that the American President does not bluff.  At least not when it comes to Iran.

Filed Under: Can We Talk?!!, Iran, Israel, Middle East and Beyond, Politics, Conflict, Africa, Middle East Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Existential Threats and Trayvon Martin: The bumper sticker politics of fear.

April 14, 2012 By Firouzeh Afsharnia 4 Comments

The first season of the Trayvon Martin reality show is finally over. George Zimmerman is behind bars 45 days after the shooting of an unarmed African American teen-ager which snowballed into a national soul searching crisis as to whether Americans are closet racists.

Activists, celebrities and ordinary citizens stepped up to express their outrage and demand justice. Tweets from Justine Beiber and Spike Lee along with thousands of irate phone calls flooded the airwaves; and civil rights politicians like Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson came out to denounce the act as an egregious example of racial hate crime.  The Rainbow Push coalition held hands, singing “We Shall Overcome” and the “Million Hoodie March” rallied in cities across America.   In a short period of time, over 2 million signatures petitioned for the arrest of George Zimmerman who continued to invoke self-defense under the “Stand-Your-Ground” law, which expands the rights of citizens to use deadly force in any public space if they feel threatened – albeit by a small framed, unarmed, skittles chewing minor like Trayvon.

The law which has been promoted by the National Rifle Association and Republican politicians have now been passed in 25 States and since its enactment in 2005, “justifiable” murders have increased several fold – 36 in Florida, up from 12 just 5 years ago.  Had the other 24 been literally getting away with murder before the law, or are we getting jumpier as a nation?

Mayor Bloomberg says it is clear that the law has undermined the integrity of the justice system, made the country less safe, and that it is promoting a culture of impunity.  Others call it “kill at will” or “shoot first”.   The national debate is curiously timely considering the broader global context.

In the past ten years, since the attacks on the twin towers, the U.S. has been increasingly basing its foreign policy narrative on the concept of preventive and pre-emptive attacks.  Dick Cheney even went so far as to make a case for action with as little as one percent probability of a threat clearly ruling out leaving his house in case of encounter with a discarded banana peel – a fear many of us wish he had heeded. Over the course of the past decade what started as a deadly attack by a handful of non-state loosely aligned actors in New York City, has lead to the invasion of several countries, the death of hundreds of thousand, and the displacement of millions in the Middle East and beyond as America consistently “stood its ground”.

George Bush rightly stressed his war on terror was not anti-muslim; no more than the Trayvon Martin case is anti black.  Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen and the proxy wars we wage in the horn of Africa and beyond are not about hate as much as they are about fear — fear that continues to get packaged and sold for political and economic gain by an increasingly violent America which uses violence as its principal currency as sure as it does its greenback.  We use violence as currency for entertainment, casually feeding it to our children in ever more brutal video games and demanding more of it in our movies — more than our European counterparts who seem to prefer sex – thanks to their Mediterranean DNA; and we use it as the prime currency to define ourselves as individuals whether at home, in our neighborhoods; or on the world stage by “standing our ground”, resolute and uncompromising no matter how asymmetric, intransigent and one sided our demands.

We nurture violence through the exploitation of fear by the right wing with links to a multi billion dollar arms industry which brings jobs to constituents who fund their Washington representatives to preserve their livelihoods; by the political machinery where each side postures as the more patriotic by being hardest on crime – hardest on terrorism; and mostly we nurture fear and violence by a disconnected public who gladly consumes the messages of a lazy and complicit media who mostly amplifies the conventional narrative of power without trying to reframe the conversation.

The Iraqi WMD wild goose chase quickly became “support our troops”; a multi billion dollar military expansion across the globe was sold as “peace through strength”; and the “war on terror” became the catch all phrase for the pursuit of all things evil by our heroic forces whose patriotism bars them from asking why.

The result is a polarized world with a clear “us” versus “them” narrative framed by fear, resolved through force. As the Trayvon Martin story plays itself on an endless loop on national channels, another round of “negotiations” to stop Iran from enriching uranium is taking place so that we may get over the election hump before bombing yet another country. Who knew election season could be so hazardous to your health.

As others more astute than myself have observed, and Mark Twain’s powerful reminder we choose to ignore, the rhetoric rhymes alarmingly with the argument for the Iraqi invasion – the mushroom cloud was it?  It is ironic how asymmetric “strength” can in fact lead to conflict rather than peace.  Even more ironic that the citizens of the strongest, most powerful country should be so ruled by fear that they should seek to eradicate even the smallest, most minute possibility of harm to the point that they would be scared out of their wits by a hoodie, or see a country with no evidence of a weapons program an existential threat to themselves and their ally who, between them, own over 8,000 nuclear warheads.

Barack Obama has successfully fended off an Israeli attack for the moment even as he embarks on non-starter negotiations, demanding the unreasonable even as he ratchets up “crippling sanctions” against 70 million Iranians.  Israel for its part is preparing for a strike by securing bases in Azerbaijan and unleashing AIPAC on the U.S. congress.

Following the tsunami of outrage against the injustice in the Trayvon Martin case, Mr. Obama finally broke his silence and offered this measured response:  “If I had a son, he would look like Trayvon Martin.”

Mr. president, in this election season as you walk the fine line between your Nobel Peace Prize and your second term, consider seeing beyond color – beyond borders, to see every child, every where, as your own.

Filed Under: Can We Talk?!!, Elections, Iran, Israel, Middle East and Beyond Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

IRAN: News or Reality TV?

February 20, 2012 By Firouzeh Afsharnia Leave a Comment

A stern faced broadcaster opens against a backdrop of military drums and bold captions: “ The Sum of All Fears”!    He goes on to speak of President Obama as the “Commander in Chief” – and announces that the  “conflict with Iran is escalating”.

A map of the strait of Hormuz, reminiscent of war room paraphernalia flashes, pointing to the “apparent provocation” by an Iranian vessel, which got so close to an American navy ship that the latter was “forced to fire flares” in response to the “hostile action”.

Then came the MSNBC report, which in an eerie echo of the run up to the Iraq invasion, opened with: “…now that it looks like Iran is actually trying to start a war either with the United States or with Israel…” and went on to ask his guest whether there was still hope for diplomacy even after the attacks against the Israeli diplomats in Georgia, India and Thailand.

All this alarmist talk may be great for TV ratings, and perfect consumption material for an audience who by now fear all things Middle East, but it raises serious questions as to the role of media in a democracy and their responsibility to provide unbiased account of all sides over public airwaves.

In fact, the hostile elements were small smuggling boats, hardly a match for an aircraft carrier, not belonging to the Iranian government, its military or even the revolutionary guards and acting on their own. It would be like bracing for war with the Somali government in response to the Somali pirates – although wait – did we do that?  – Furthermore, the details of the bomb blasts are still unclear despite the almost buffoonish episode in Bangkok which left an Iranian legless, so let’s not buckle up for war just yet.  Perhaps they were behind the blasts, why pick India, or Thailand as staging grounds and risk losing friendly allies in a shrinking network of trading partners. More puzzling — if they did mean to teach Israel a lesson for the assassination of their nuclear scientists, why not take credit?  i.e. what is the point of taking revenge if the “revengee” does not know where the blow comes from?  It would be like the loan shark letting the banana peel take the wrap for the broken leg.

Yet, the Iranians have flatly denied all three attacks in contrast to the Israelis who have remained silent on whether they were behind the assassinations of the Iranian scientists, much like their policy on whether or not they own nuclear arsenal.  Or whether they arm, fund and train the MEK, a terrorist organization, to conduct attacks in Iran – points which merely get a passing mention in the press, and have been drowned by the hysteria over Iran’s nuclear program — no real investigation, no indignation and most certainly no bold headlines demanding U.N. action.

It is not surprising that Israel should push for war in spite of its own best interest.  It is also not surprising that the likes of Lieberman and Graham should wish to rule out diplomacy and insist on a red line, sooner, rather than later, even as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirms there is no evidence that Iran has decided to make a bomb.    The US and Israel both have an interest in placating hard line elements in their administrations and of course, what could be better than war-talk to distract from real issues like jobs, economy, and illegal settlements in an election year.

The single-visioned focus on the nuclear issue has already sidelined the human rights tragedy and snowballed into “crippling” sanctions, tightening the noose on ordinary people.  Over 70 million innocent Iranians – men, women and children increasingly find it difficult to get access to basics, with staggering effects on health care, nutrition, education and basic livelihoods, rippling through years to come.   We only have to look to Iraq to see the devastating toll years of sanctions took as it impoverished and displaced hundreds of thousands even before Bush unleashed his war on “terror”.  It is ironic that the West should be repeating the same scenario and tightening the screws on millions of civilians in Iran, all the while rising up in protection of the same in Syria – as though civilians have ever been anything but tools of manipulation for politicians anywhere in the world.

One thing is certain.   The days of the chivalrous state warfare are long gone and countries now work in parallel with covert operations, targeted assassinations, unmanned drones, proxies and contraband arm deals through third parties to accomplish their objectives.   They leave the justifications to the media, then brutally repress dissent or deftly horse trade on the Security Council to block opposition.  Iran is no exception, but let’s ask the right questions and hang blame at the door of the appropriate aggressor.

We live in a realistic world – and power seeks to consolidate, whichever its face and whatever its cost.  It’s the media we count on to give us the facts and hold each party to scrutiny.

Press!  Do your job!  This is news — not reality TV.

Filed Under: Can We Talk?!!, Iran, Israel Tagged With: , , ,

The Ahmadi Show…..where’s my veto!

October 3, 2010 By Firouzeh Afsharnia 2 Comments

Did anybody see Ahmadinejad on Charlie Rose? Or was it Charlie on the Ahmadi show? The clear voice of that same female translator that accompanies the Iranian president on every trip rang through again and again, reframing Charlie’s questions, interrupting his every sentence and wandering off into longwinded soliloquies placing the bewildered host on an hour long defensive.

The interview spanned the usual smorgasbord of issues ranging from nuclear misdeeds and medieval torture practices to the excellent health of the stock market in Iran – or so he says. But the main subject of the discussion was the latest round of sanctions freshly pushed through at the UN, designed to bring the Islamic Republic to its knees.

“Do you think this is a joke?” pressed on Mr. Rose. If sanctions and diplomacy fail, military option could be next, he reminded Mr. Ahmadinejad with an almost endearing hint of concern prompting him in turn to take it upon himself to enlighten Charlie about the birds and the bees of geo politics – as a friend – he was quick to add – “because I care about you Charlie” :) How sweet.

With a combination of false modesty and subtle arrogance, a nuanced particularity well known to Iranians, Ahmadi’s button eyes stared unwavering through his characteristic squint, two scruffy eyebrows standing up in mock indignation as he ran through a list of grievances including lack of sovereign respect, manipulation of the security council and egregious double standards.

The allusion was of course to Israel – the Zionist regime as he called it, refusing to utter its name – who continues to get away with occupation, violation of international law and – well yes – murder, while Iran is slapped with crippling sanctions and the threat of military action for as yet nonexistent evidence of nuclear weapons.

The parallel is compelling in spite of the effort it takes not to discount Ahmadi for the caricature he is – a diminutive figure, sadly lacking in stately pedigree who stares into the camera with the wounded-turned-indignant look of the long abused and misunderstood champion of the underdog and lies about the obvious: We don’t stone women, we don’t torture political prisoners, our economy is tip top – uh and we don’t grow any homosexuals.

Like many of my compatriots living in exile I am tempted to laugh him off as entertainment. But having persevered long after the US delegates left the General Assembly in a huff, I am loathe to admit that amidst the nonsense he spews about his own domestic affairs, he may have a few points about other things.

As the anger and indignation around his controversial visit to the UN tapered off, a new crescendo of discord was rising in the diplomatic hallways — the imminent expiration of the ten-month moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank and the inevitable breakdown of the peace talks.

To raise the stakes, Mr. Obama made a public appeal at the United Nations, reaffirming the importance of the freeze; a plea that was lost on Israel perhaps due to the Jewish holiday that kept its delegates away. More likely because Israel is the only country accountable to no one, answering to no one, a serial violator of international law whose condemnation is only kept at bay by a single U.S. veto.

10 – 9 – 8 – 7 …. As the clock counted down, settlers waited in the background, Israeli flags flapping in the wind, anxious to reclaim the land that Moses promised them two thousand years ago, the same time that the God of Muhammad extended a long lease to their Arab cousins. Property law is complicated in the holy land.

No can do, said Netanyahu; apparently as much a slave to his hard line coalition as the US congress to AIPAC. His only compromise — a magnanimous gesture urging settlers to turn down the party music a notch, but promptly putting the onus on the Palestinian leader to continue negotiations — so much for a credible peace partner.

As the clock hit zero, hundreds of balloons were released in the air and bulldozers roared back to life resuming work on at least three settlements across the West Bank the first of 13,000 homes already approved to be built over the next few years. Predictably the PA is aghast at the inability of Mr. Obama to make a dent in the Israeli position. “They are above the law”, said Hanan Ashrawi of the PLO Executive Committee.

According to B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights group, Israel now has 300,000 settlers on 42 per cent of the West Bank, and another 200,000 in East Jerusalem. The same report also states that even as a temporary freeze was implemented on the West Bank, the rate of demolition in and around East Jerusalem doubled during the same period. It seems that the Jews have no more control on their extremists than do the Moslems.

As pre-condition to talks, the Palestinian Authority, at the expense of undermining its own position, was forced to back down from pursuing the adoption of the Goldstone report. This was the independent UN inquiry investigating war crimes committed by Israeli forces during “Operation Cast Lead” which left 1,300 civilians dead and over 5,000 injured in the Gaza offensive of December 2008 – as if the name does not give itself away.

Continuing on the same predictable line, last week the U.S. struck down resolution 14.1, opposing a UN human rights probe into the “willful killing” and raid on the Mavi Marmara humanitarian aid flotilla that lead to multiple deaths in international waters last May – poising the U.S. 1 – 30 against the endorsement of the report.

Evidently the humiliation of Palestinians knows no bounds — so much for compromises that progressively sap one side of dignity while allowing the other to operate with brazen impunity. Had Israel been any other country…. Oh lets say Iraq or Iran …. At which point would expressions of “grave concern” and “deep disappointment” currently being offered by the United States have given way to placing other “options on the table”.

As an Iranian — as a lover of peace, justice and all that other good stuff, I do want to be on the same band wagon that condemns the Iranian regime wholly and completely, applauding the Western delegates who leave world forums when our badly dressed anti-hero climbs up on the podium. But truly — I can’t help but see him as a reminder of greater systemic injustices crafted and perpetuated in the hallways of power and force fed with a straight face through establishment outlets. Besides, I don’t for a minute believe that the U.S. loses sleep over the lack of civil liberties or the clampdown on free speech in Iran – no more than it does over the treatment of women who are reduced to silent corpses in black shrouds in Saudi Arabia – its close friend and ally.

“Its just politics!” Said Ahmadinejad to Rose who was looking increasingly pained at not being allowed to get a word in.

Ahmadi’s position concerning the nuclear issue stresses that NPT calls for global disarmament and non-proliferation by all parties.

“Iran is a sovereign state and will give no more — no less access than does the U.S. or Israel.” He insisted sending his eyebrows flying off in all directions once again.

This week news was released that the IAEA narrowly rejected a resolution calling for Israel to join the NPT and submitting to oversight. In spite of its policy of nuclear opacity, Israel’s status as the only nuclear power in the Middle East is common knowledge. The continued lopsided balance of power sustained by the U.S. and its unconditional support for Israel is a combustible cocktail that is tearing the region at its seams.

If the security council is an exclusive club of veto holding game changers, it is not entirely surprising that those outside with their faces pressed to the glass window will seek other ways to be heard. The Cold War era after all was marked by the relative stability of two poles of power keeping each other’s excesses in check by virtue of equal clout and credible deterrents.

So far nothing has been able to further the cause of peace in the region as it spirals further into conflict. In spite of the pretty speeches of Mr. Obama, a major cause of this Jihadi cancer is the continued occupation and the greater double standards that sustain it.

The Iranians are swearing up and down that it is not weapons they are concocting in Natanz. So what if they are? At this point we need a game changer. A practical alternative could be to consider settling for a new era of — Cold Peace.

Filed Under: Can We Talk?!!, Iran, Middle East and Beyond Tagged With: , , , , ,