Thanks for your mass medium, Nez.

What a great peek into the idea that humanity is borderless. I'll send this link to everyone I know.

Take care.

They be people toos....nah it can't be...or can they be? Not a sewer grate, or roaches spilling away to infest the middle east (which btw, is only in the middle form an Eurocentric point of view)?

Their be people thair...

Yes indeed....

Thanks for the pics man....

This is great, Nez

At first I thought, what the heck is Nez doing? It looks like he cut and past from a bunch of random tourism brochures (we're always so used to spin and being marketed to)

But as I continued I sort of felt a weight lifted, from me. It was like, oh, I'm just supposed to think about what normal people live like in Iran.

I remember when I was a kid and I'd visit people in the U.S. from Guatemala. Other kids, or even older people, assumed I lived in a jungle, that I didn't have computers or any kind of technology, or even cars.

I guess you hope that is people get older they developed a more nuanced view of the world. But this is the sort of propaganda we're subjecting our children with.

jeje...i never really know what i'm doing.

:) thanks bro

Wild madness! Where's the red eyes, the foaming mouths, the jaws that bite, the claws that catch?! (The jub-jub bird, the frumious Bandersnatch -- might as well take my jabberwocky to its full bent.)

This is awesome. Life, as it's living. We need a globe full of pictures. And I want to see the rest of that photo essay; it looks interesting. Anyway, thank you, 'mano.

Gorgeous, Nezua, thank you. It's pretty hard to vilify a people when we see them as Human.

yes...why we're now being sold the predictable pre-bombing raid vilification on the regular. I remember when CNN was showing all the executions on football fields before we bombed afghanistan. by the time those bombs flew, i was convinced that afghanistan was one huge stadium of public shootings.

thanks, janna

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M, el gusto es mio. great quote.

Doing posts like this affects the telling of that tale, pushing some powerful illegal drug here- empathy.

If anyone wants more just hit Hamed Saber's Flickr account
http://flickr.com/photos/hamed/
and spin off from there, Hamed is important because he made the Flickr add-on for Firefox that lets people get round state censorship (in many countries, some of which the US is a big ally of, freedom huh) and use Flickr to post pics, blog, connect. He's like the Godfather of Persian People's Photographers of Flickr!

great stuff. thanks for dropping that link, rickB.

yes you've been following M.E. blogs for a while now, it seems.

Well I figured why take the 'Great & the Goods' words for it, go to the horses mouth and would you know it, it turned out our elite was talking a load of shit. It's government and corporations who want wars, no one else. Iran (because of the Iran-Iraq war) has such a youth based population, they think their govt. is idiotic (just like us) and guess what they don't fancy being bombed back into the stone age (just like us). They haven't invaded anyone (unlike us), thousands of Jews live in Iran, they aren't bothered about going to Israel (because not all Jews are Zionists). IRI (Islamic republic of Iran-the Islamic revolutionary govt.) have become an idiot theocracy who treat other religions as second class (hello Pat Robertson, hello dominionists) but they don't represent Iran in its totality, unless you and the US readers of this blog all secretly love George Bush, so countries are just monolithic fan clubs for the leader of the day. Which erm, somehow I doubt. Also Ahmadinejad (loudmouth that he is) is not the supreme leader (unlike George Bush) so exclusive attention on him is dishonest of the politicians and media but they want a bogeyman (not least because he is not a big fan of globalisation).

It's about realpolitik/power (as Rafael made clear in a podcast and yeah 'middle' east is totally a eurocentric/orientalist term, middle relative to whom? But in the absence of a better term everyone understands it's a workable thing I suppose, in fact the meta blog Mid East Youth http://www.mideastyouth.com/index.php sort of shows this) they just don't want an Iran that can't be pushed around and also I think some of the current administration are no longer rational (if any neo-con ever was). Which means the disaster of an attack on Iran does not occur to them, to some extent other big players(China, Russia), even IRI are not worried about an attack because it will be the beginning of the absolute destruction of America's global imperial power. However the cost of that is many Iranian's lives and years of misery because it is likely the infrastructure will be hit, big players live with that cost, us people who have to suffer it would really rather they weren't disposable chips in global capital games. I sort of feel like I have friends there now, if there was an attack some of them could die, I guess that's the bottom line.

Or quick answer- yes I have, better than corporate media representations every goddam time, corporations make money from war, their media relfects this need in their duplicity.

you are right. what an idiotic term "middle eas"t is i never thought of that, how strange. thank you for pointing that out.

I did? I guess I did...jejeje....

This is the most beautiful diary I've ever seen. And I also think it could be one of our most powerful tools in speaking out against the madness that the looming war is becoming.

We all live in Jena
We all live in Iran
...

What a beautiful post, Nezua. Thanks for this!

yes, NL. you are so right. i mean about your last two lines. thank you.

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thanks michael. el gusto es mio

Great concept and selection, Nez! Packed with your usual visual and verbal wit.

Actually one of the reasons I love traveling so much is that after you've made friends all over the world and understood that people are basically the same everywhere, you hardly feel like bombing them. But as you say, is our adults learning?

Regarding the term "Middle East"...actually in Asia, the Iranian-Afghan region is described as "West Asia".

Peace.

I had something to say but rickb covered most of it. It might be an idea to also do one of your great graphics one day, Nez, that shows the time line from Ancient Persia through the Shah Reza era to the present and to note on that chart the different religions that dominated at different times and also the reactions of each era that were caused by the previous one's excesses. The mosque photo was my favorite there on your slideshow. The intricacies of the masonry and tiling are breathtaking if you are in those trades and can appreciate the ambition of the designers and craftsmen.

I'd just like to share a little "real life" thing that happened to me today that shows how blogging CAN change some things, one little change at a time.

At work we are currently involved with lots of discussions that are going on in one part of our community because 30-50 kids have decided to hang out at the local library because they have nowhere else to go. Because they are kids of color, they aren't really at the library to read books, and they get mouthy when people expect the worst of them - library staff and older white residents of the area have decided that they are a problem. At the heart of it all is that they have decided that they need to be afraid of this kids and that they need an armed police officer in the library to take control of the situation.

As a co-worker and I were talking about all this, we noted the parallels between what's going on here and in our build-up to bomb Iran. It all starts with the fear-mongering. I showed this diary to my co-worker and his reaction was to try and figure out how we could share with this community something similar to what you have done in this diary. Our idea was that maybe we could make a movie of some of these kids talking about themselves and letting folks make a connection to their humanity.

Thought you might appreciate how one thing leads to another...and on, and on...

And you might also get a kick out of my co-workers reaction to this diary:

Maybe as an amendment to the perennial anti flag-burning legislation, it could be added that we won’t bomb anywhere where baseball is played.

ah, thanks kai. interesante, los nombres.

and i'm totally with you on moving/traveling. the wider the range of experience, the better. seeing different styles, ways, dialects, looks. good for the brain.

agreed, RC. beautiful work and eye.

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NL, that's amazing! how one thing leads to another, yes!

and i love that you tied together what's happening with your library with our run up to bombing. i was writing a post on the SAME tie in, in a way. how its all connected, and too many are giving in to this war stance, this hypnotist's rap, this fear based on some idea we've been fed. that's wild.

yes, jeje. the baseball. i know, it's striking. but that gives away so much of our image of the place. our reaction to seeing them play baseball. as if.

I can't wait to read what you're writing about this. The thoughts about how we seem to feed the fear that leads to violence and war are filling my brain these days.

If I had your gift for art, I'd divide my canvas into two polarities. On the one side I'd surround fear with war and cops with guns. And on the other side I'd try to find some way to capture what you did in this diary; the connection of people to people/land to land and how that leads to peace.

There seems to me to be a disconnect going on between people. And the more we try to "secure" ourselves, the farther apart we get from each other...and the more afraid...and the more violent.

Excellent photo essay. All the things we're willing to destroy in the name of defending against an existential (sp?) threat. Mere eggs we need to break in the making of freedom's omlette, as it were.

I hope you all noticed there's not a single gay bar or homosexual in any of those photos...nowhere in the entire country. Wowwww. I have the impression that you love Iran enough to want to move there...and I hope you will. It *is* a nice country...and I'll be happy to see what happens to you when you start critcizing the ayatollahs there.

It´s delightful...I keep reading the women´s faces, placement in the groups and so on...And I keep noticing that they´re alot more mixed, the groups that is, than a gathering would be where I live (live in Sweden, I should point out).

The shot of Bolhassan keeps me thinking of illustrations we saw in the "after-school-church-activities" I had to attend to when I was a kid, more precisely of illustrations supposed to picture how it looked at christmas-time.
Your shot are really beautiful. I hope more people see it and start to think.

so "christian israel," am i right in interpreting your message as that for my crime of seeking humanity in other people, you wish harm and violence upon me? and that knowing this is happening to me, you would be happy?

thank you, jentzi. i hear it is very segregated in sweden. i have the impression racism is well-entrenched there, is that your experience? or am i drawing upon false impressions?

Christian Israel? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

Also why do we always get the same response from the troglodytes (or should I say five year olds)...

"Well, if you like it so much, why don't ya live there, eh, why doncha!"

But I guess seeing the people is not the point, these faces and places defeat them, they want to see demons and monsters. If thats the case, you might want to look under your bed. Like the that sticker on the right hand car mirror says "Objects may be closer than they appear".

Thank you! This is brilliant. I can't help but think how different many decisions made in the world could have been, if they were decided in the context of humanity rather than business and graphs and charts and bottom lines (that they will argue trickles down to people.) Wherever people meet to discuss events that will significantly impact people, large photographs such as these should adorn the walls making it impossible (okay, I'll settle for less likely) for them to make those decisions devoid of any consideration for the human cost.

I know after seeing this I will always try and keep the people and their lives visible. Thank you

Jill Howell

I hope you all noticed there's not a single gay bar or homosexual in any of those photos...nowhere in the entire country.

wow, I didn't know you had SEEKRIT POWERS that enabled you to look at a picture of a person and determine whether they were homosexual or not.

Use those carefully, now. With great power comes great responsibility - or at least great wankery, in your case.

Thank you, Pere Ubu, for your initial comments, and for warning our friend to ware those superhero powers. They do get us into trouble. :)

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Jill, you've made my day.

thanks so much for posting this... I wish you could also show in photos the amazing hospitality Iranians show to their guests. they are a people who would rather starve themselves for a month than let their guests suffer from a lack of choices.

there is far more i do not know about iranians than i do know. thank you.

Superb! Superb!

Lovely photos. My haircutter is Iranian, married to a German, living in N.C. She goes at long intervals to visit her family and says they all hate the government.

Look, too, at Iranian films. Children of Heaven is about a boy who loses his sister's shoes and they have to share a pair. It makes your heart smile. Netflix has a whole section of Iranian films.

Lovely photos, nothing I didn't know already but I congratulate you for posting them. Hopefully it will open a few eyes to the sheer raw beauty of the middle east... it's not camels and desert, craters and blood, oil and bullets. It's a land of rare grace, ancient history and culture.

nice one

Hi there,
Nice pictures, really interesting. As an Iranian who has not been back to the country since the day I left if back in 84, I really like to see Iran through the eyes of a non-Iranian.

Just for your information, some of the pictures you have are either not up-to-date or not from Iran.

The picture from Bam, is very old, the ancient city was almost completely destroyed during the devastating earth quake in December 26, 2003 killing close to 41 000 people.

The picture of the teacher and the Childrens is I am pretty sure is not from Iran. A woman showing her hair in public will be punished by the IRI thugs, and the poster on the left side of the image looks like it is from Iranian community in California.

Ah, thank you, Farhad. Now I have to decide if I replace them. I suppose, given my purpose, I should.

The picture of Bam is, actually, from 2003. Thank you for bringing me up to date.

I think you're being rather judgmental of whomever you're directing your comments to. Many of us have been to Iran, or know Iranians, and I know of no consensus who dislike the people as a whole. The issue remains, they wish to be a violent, repressive power which invades smaller nations that don't wish battle with them. This is a nation that sacrificed half a million people in a war 27 years ago because people are cheaper than machinery. These are a people who execute little girls for the crime of being raped. These are the people who kill men accused of being homosexuals, with nothing more than accusations as proof. Wonderful country of beautiful, enriched people, but a dangerous nemesis none the less.

maybe, Larendect, we are both being judgmental, if you can claim that "many of us," have been to Iran. After all, who is "us"?

I guess in this post I'm speaking back to the media that is feeding me nonsense. I wouldn't take it personally if you dont feel you are the target. I just won't be part of being hypnotized into cheering on some bombfest—psychological or actual—with the usual media blitzing of dire dangers dancing all about.

The issue remains, they wish to be a violent, repressive power which invades smaller nations that don't wish battle with them.

Hmmmm. Is my ironymeter broken? Because it is flippin' out!

Listen, clearly you have an issue with Iran. I won't try to take that from you. And I don't see a line in my post that even approximates "Go Iran! Greatest of nations!"

But they are not my "nemesis." And my opinion we ought first mind our own nation's transgressions against humanity and rights of due process, etc before we get to judging other violators. You know? Clean up our own house first and all that. Even our own personal emotional and intellectual states. It's so easy to point to other people. I think there's a little too much of that going on. We have plenty to mind right here in front of us. Sacrificed their own people? What did we do with Katrina? Watched our own people starve in septic stink? For entertainment? Or just plain stupidity? Worse? I could go on. And it's actually more important to me right now that we fix what's wrong in our own country before we bring the rest of the world up to speed. And one of the main things that's wrong with us is our media and the bullshit it feeds us.

Thus, this post.

The only thing wrong with Iran is thier strange, violent religion. It is a religion thats feeds on ignorance and violence. As long as they adhere to this barbaric religion they will be treated as barbarians. As well they should. the choice is thiers.

yes, i, too am against violence justified by a religion, or religious sensation, or religious conviction.

As long as they adhere to this barbaric religion they will be treated as barbarians. As well they should. the choice is thiers.

given this reasoning, how ought the USA be treated for the Bush Doctrine of preemptive war? she made a choice, too. so how ought the USA be treated? is the USA to be held to account by different standards? if so, why? what justifies our own indifference to life and to law? why is it so preferable to condemn those who do not represent us?

Beautiful blog. Thank you for this essay. May we all remember humanity.

thank you for the thought and the words, monica.

Very beautiful photo essay you've compiled, Nez. And your commentary was delightful. So thanks for that. I wish all memembers of congress would have to see it before they ever voted to declare war on Iran. Lovely.

I am by no means an advocate for war, but it cannot be forgotten that the people of Iran are denied basic human rights. The so-called "Freedom Tower" was designed by a member of the Baha'i Faith named Hossein Amanat, yet, in Iran, Baha'is are routinely persecuted, imprisoned and denied education. Are these the Iranians that are living in freedom?

Great, great post. And what a beautiful country. And I would have so liked to visit. And our declaring war on Iran will not bring its people freedom.

For the record, the second picture is not of Naqse-Jahan Square. http://flickr.com/photos/bucketfullofbuddha/9681261/in/set-239389/ is Naqse-Jahan Square. The third picture is not a mosque in Tehran, it's the mosque in Naqse-Jahan Square in Isfahan.

thank you, kian. i will adjust.

Sara, my point in this post is not that "hey, Iranians are living in freedom." But as Profacero points out above, that is not a relevant point here. And as you are such a freedom and rights advocate, I have some good news for you. Many people living in the USA are not living in Freedom. And they are close enough that you can do something about that! Such as many migrant farmworkers, people who bring you and me vegetables, or meat from the slaughterhouses. Many of them are persecuted and locked up and taken away from their families. Even when their kids are at school. Many are exploited by their employers, who know this deadlocked population will not complain too much. They have no rights. Right here where they contribute and make our lifestyles possible. Many of them fear the police, and won't even go to the emergency room when they get very ill. Is this the "Freedom for All" that Americans have? Is this the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free" that the Land of Liberty pleads she will tend?

You sense that my intent is to push back against the bomb-Iran propaganda, and you answer for the pro-preemtive bombing propagandists—with them, actually. You say you are not an advocate of war, then why is this the line you offer in response to a post titled "Another moment before we bomb"? Is this the line you would speak in that last moment? "Hey, but they aren't free over there"? Is that the voice you would offer up to the world given one last glimpse or thing to say about all of it before the bombs fell?

The issue remains, they wish to be a violent, repressive power which invades smaller nations that don't wish battle with them.

Name one country Iran is intending on invading. Name one country Iran HAS invaded, other than Iraq (which attacked THEM).