Posted on 12/20/2005 10:49:00 PM PST by Khashayar
I've got my Christmas strip planned out already. It involves rescuing Santa from the clutches of the ACLU.
I guess there's an awful lot I don't know and certainly don't understand about Iran.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
WOW! Great pics. Thanks.
Merry Christmas
History of Jihad against the Zoroastrians (snip)
How the Muslims forcibly converted the Zoroastrians of Iran to Islam
Today we do not have an idea of how a merciless jihad transformed Zoroastrian society into a Muslim one. We have definitive assessments of those few Zoroastrian communities which survived the devastating jihad conquests of the mid 7th through early 8th centuries. The Zoroastrians experienced an ongoing, inexorable decline over the next millennium due to constant sociopolitical and economic pressures exerted by their Muslim rulers, and neighbors. This gradual, but continuous process was interspersed with periods of accelerated decline resulting from paroxysms of Muslim fanaticism- pogroms, forced conversions, and expropriations- through the latter half of the 19th century. Boyce describes these complementary phenomena based on an historical analysis, and her personal observations living in the (central Iranian) Yezd area during the 1960s:
…in the mid nineteenth century disaster overtook Turkabad, in the shape of what was perhaps the last massed forcible conversion in Iran. It no longer seems possible to learn anything about the background of this event; but it happened, so it is said, one autumn day when dye-madder - then one of the chief local crops - was being lifted. All the able-bodied men were at work in teams in the fields when a body of Moslems swooped on the village and seized them. They were threatened, not only with death for themselves, but also with the horrors that would befall their women and children, who were being terrorized at the same time in their homes; and by the end of the day of violence most of the village had accepted Islam. To recant after a verbal acknowledgement of Allah and his prophet meant death in those days, and so Turkabad was lost to the old religion. Its fire-temple was razed to the ground, and only a rough, empty enclosure remained where once it had stood....read more
http://www.historyofjihad.org/persia.html
Hello, my FRiend. How are you doing?
These are great pictures. I don't understand how Christmas is celebrated when Christians are persecuted and killed - there was a pastor killed the other day.
It is a strange situation in Iran. They seem so isolated sometimes, yet there is so much in these, and the other pictures you have posted, that is familiar to us. I'm not surprised that the people, as opposed to the government, want to be closer friends to the US.
I'd love to become the future Prime Minister of Iran though or I can become the ambassador of my nation to the US
hehehehehe
he got selected by the supreme leader in a sham election!
Khashayer, the state department has this travel advisory on Iran:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_920.html
Is there much truth to this? My husband is always in Manila on business and has no trouble in the business district even though there is a travel advisory for the Philippines. There is also one for Israel/West Bank and everything was fine when we were there last month; in fact, it was actually less risky in Bethlehem/Jericho then Tel Aviv where they are occasional bombings.
Are there places in Iran where we should not go? Or are tourist sites just fine as in Israel/West Bank?
Just come to Iran and people will greet you as if you are one of them!
Well, I'd suggest you not to travel alone in South Eastern parts of Iran near the Pakistani borders but the rest of the country is okay!
Americans (unfortunately) can not travel alone in Iran! You should have a friend there that can take you wherever you want!
http://www.astronomywithoutborders.com/
Americans in Iran
Are there official guides in Iran that one can hire? I think sometimes most of Iran and Iraq are in San Diego so perhaps I can track down a guide family here :).
Yeah!
Lonely planet 2005 version, as guide book, is a good one!
All kinda of maps and guides are also available inside the country!
But the travel agency that prepares your entry permit (VISA) will also provide you with a translator or a guide too!
Just make sure you get tour packs from reliable agencies.
Go and visit Shiraz, Esfehan, Masouleh, Kish Island and Tehran!
You'll be fine!
I fear time is running out for the "democracy" movement in Iran. Your president is digging in deeper and deeper like a tick. It will get harder to dig him out. If the world hasn't learned anything about Bush yet, they should know he doesn't bluff. If they think we are bogged down in Iraq and can't do anything, that would be a big mistake.
I've always felt closer to the Iranian people than any others in the Middle East because I think they understand more about the westerners than others. I pray for the best, but am afraid the worst is coming.
Peace on Earth,....please!
Very interesting post and homepage, not what I expected to see!
Best wishes and a Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas to you, friend. And Navroze Mubarak when that day comes!
By the way, are you Zoroastrian? I have many Indian Zoroastrian (Parsi) friends but I have never met an Iranian Zoroastrian.
In memoriam to Ebraham Biglari. Senior Sargent, Mokhabarat. 1979. RIP.
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I know that many Iranians are very pro-American. I'm glad to hear that most people there know that Mr. A is a nut. Hopefully you can do something about him before we have to. The history books are full of little runts who thought they could remake their countries in their own warped image, unfortunately.
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