Azadeh

Dear Serendip has done me a great favor and translated my first Persian post. Here is her perfect translation:

When I asked from my country’s police:

“Why that night when I was stranded in the middle of Tehran-Karaj freeway without any gas inside our Peykan (cheap Iranian made car), he passed us by in his elegant Mercedes Benz and he refused to help me.”

He cussed at me and used foul language and expletives, many of which, I had not ever heard of before until that night. At the end, he wanted to take me to the police station but when I started to apologize profusely, he took pity on me and did not take me.

My country’s police, when they want to evict an Afghani worker from a building, they throw him down from the window of fifth floor building and it’s not important for him if he dies soon after.

My country’s police, arrests me, if I want to be the parents of a child that I gave birth to.

My country’s police, if he doesn’t like the way I have put my hejab on, cusses at me and beats me on the head with his baton.

But I can’t curse at my country’s police, because my uncle is a policeman and I love my uncle.

…but I want to curse those who have sanctified arbitrarily every which authority and power and have never allowed me to talk about them.

When My president lied.

When my parliament representative did not defend the rights of my teacher

When my police killed a human being because of his crime of being an Afghani

And when a father in the narrow alleyways of my city stoned his own daughter to death.

P.S. You can read the study by Stanford University and see how ordinary human beings like you and I can potentially become the most merciless prison guard in a matter of two days.

I was watching the photographs taken at the Miss Universe national costume parade published in Herald Sun. I was surprised by the very peaceful costume of Israel. Although I have so many problems with what Israel does in Palestine, this picture is carved in my mind as another aspect of Israel.

It could be just a coincidence, but here is the picture of what’s happening in my country these days. The police tries to support a state-run costume which many women do not want to follow.

Yes, the following is the costume of my country. And I am so proud of all the women who fight for their very basic rights.

Here is a list of some blogs condemning the police brutality.

p.s. It was reported that in response to the police warnings and brutality toward women’s dress, some of them unveiled themselves and others are threatening to do the same.