The treason of the intellectuals
On Harry’s Place, Potkin Azarmehr makes a most timely protest against London’s School of Oriental and African Studies which is hosting a celebration of the 29th Anniversary of the Islamic Republic. For the second year running, therefore, SOAS is providing the Iranians with a propaganda platform for a regime which, among other horrors, persecutes its own students. As Potkin observes:
Well if you could give the SOAS Administration the benefit of the doubt last year, a repeat of the same ‘symposium’ makes it impossible and cretinous to do so this year. For once again, an invitation by the Cultural Centre of the Embassy of the I.R. of Iran, accompanied by a poster with the heading ‘In Praise of the 29th Anniversary of the Victory of the Islamic Revolution’, has been sent out to embassy staff and associates for a 3 ay event, 6-8th February at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, with the usual reception starting at 6:30 pm. At a time when only recently, 43 Iranian students, across Iranian universities, have either been arrested or abducted by the Islamic Republic agents, it is a travesty of common decency and human values for the SOAS university to allow this cultural facade by the Islamic Republic to be held in a British university.Here from the website of Kamangir is a list of some the Iranian students who have been imprisoned by the regime for voicing any dissent:
- Arash Paknejad (m), Mozandaran University
- Saeid Habibi (m), as member of student’s human rights reporters
- Anoshe Azadbar (f), Tehran University
- Elinaz Jamshidi (f), Azad University of central Tehran student of communication
- Mehdi Gerilo (m), Tehran geophysics center
- Nader Ahseni (m), Mazandaran University
- Behroz karimizade (m), Tehran University
- Nasim Soltan-beigi (f), Alame Communication University
- Ali Sa`lem (m), Polytechnic University, student of Master degree in polymer
- Mohsen Qanim (m), Polytechnic University
- Rozbeh Saf-Shekan (m), Tehran University
- Yaser (Sadra) Pirhaiaty (m), Shahed University
- Saeid Aqam-Ali (m), Yazd University
- Ali Kolaee` (m), Azad University of Shahriar City
- Amir Mehrzad (m), (high School Student)
- Hadi Salary (m), Rajaey University
- Farshid Ahangaran(m), Rajaey University
- Amir Aqai (m), Rajaey University
- Milad Omrani (m), Rajaey University
- Keivan Amir Eliasy (m), Master of industrial engineer
- Soroush Hashem-poor (m), Ahvaz University
- Farshad Doosti-poor (m)
- Sohrab Karimi (m)
- Javad Alizade (m)
- Mohammad Salleh Auman (m)
- Mehdi al-lahyari (m), Sharif industrial University, student of master degree
- Rozbehan Amiri (m), Tehran University, Student of computer sciences
- Bahram Shojaee (m), Tehran-south Azad University, Student of Chemistry engineer
- Saied Aqakhani (m)
- Majid Ashraf Nejad (m)
- Peiman Piran (m), by other student report about him*
- Aabed Tavanche (m), Polytechnic University
- Soroosh Dastestany (m)
- Amin Qazaei (m)
- Bijan Sabaq (m), Mazandaran University
- Anahita hosini (f), Tehran University
- Morteza Khedmatlo (m)
- Mohamad Pour Abdol-lah (m), Tehran University
- Bita Samimi-zad (f), Polytechnic University
- Behzad Baqery (m), Mazandaran University
- Soroosh Sabet (m), Sharif University
- Morteza Eslahchi (m), Allame University
Kamangir says:
In the past month and half, many students from different cities and universities have been arrested, on charges related to holding peaceful ceremonies for the celebration of the 7th of November, the National Day for Students. They have been behind the bars since.Shouldn’t SOAS be organising instead a day in solidarity with these students who are the victims of the Iranian revolution? But SOAS is not alone in grovelling to tyranny. Look at what’s happening across the pond at Columbia university. The Iranian news network Press TV reports:
A delegation of professors from the Columbia University is to visit Tehran to apologize to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The academic delegation is to apologize to the Iranian president over the offensive remarks made by the university's President, Lee Bollinger, prior to Ahmadinejad's address to the university students in September 2007. One of the university's professors who spoke on condition of anonymity told Mehr News Agency that the main purpose of the trip is to apologize to President Ahmadinejad.These ‘offensive’ remarks consisted of Bollinger telling Ahamdiejad home truths about his regime when the Iranian leader was — disgracefully — invited to speak at Columbia last year. Bollinger’s remarks were intended to lance the boil of that invitation. This was a wholly inadequate initiative since the invitation itself, which should never have been proferred, was a propaganda coup for Ahmadinejad, for whom it helped cement his power over the people of Iran — including these unfortunate students. Not content with that, a bunch of Columbia academics now intends to grovel for forgiveness for speaking truth to tyranny.
Truly, the observation that throughout history the intellectual mind has repeatedly shown itself to be in thrall to violence and the illegitimate exercise of power is once again being proved to be horribly spot on.
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Melanie Phillips is a Daily Mail columnist. She also writes for the Jewish Chronicle and is a panellist on BBC Radio Four's Moral Maze. Her most recent book is 'Londonistan', published by Encounter and Gibson Square.
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Shahnaz
February 5th, 2008 12:12pmMelanie Philips, spot on again as usual. What a disgrace for intellectuals to cosy up to one of the most anti-intellectual regimes in the world.
James Ross
February 5th, 2008 12:43pmSOAS like its near neighbour the Institute of Education is rabidly and idiotically pc and leftwing leaning. Combine this with its bias in favour of any non western regime(and its heavy Islamist presence) and these sorts of stunts are to be expected. The one good thing is that an awful lot of the nutters who support such odious regimes(and other causes)are clearly identifiable and working there crassness in the public eye. As such they're relatively easy to keep an eye on, unfortunately they are usually living on the largesse of the tax payer. We could ofcourse cease all funding for students who wish to study at these places, it might make these so called educational establishments more responsible, more accountable and possibly close a few of them down. The same could be said for some of our universities. How you legally and fairly discriminate against such places is another matter. Is SOAS though receiving any funding from Iran or other such states, whether through scholarships, endowments or some other means?
Adam Holland
February 5th, 2008 6:04pmThanks for this. If we in the West don't stand up for the victims of the crimes of the Islamic Republic of Iran, who will? This list of student victims reminds me of both of the pro-refusnik movement here in the U.S. and of Amnesty International's letter-writing campaigns of that same era (early to mid-70's). The idea was to publicize that the identities of victims of oppression was known in the West and that there would be some level of accountability. Not that this is a panacea, but focusing on individuals in prison is a strategy that has, and can continue to, save lives. With respect to the story about a delegation of Columbia University professors planning to visit Iran, it has been denied by the administration of the University and no list of names or other supporting facts have been published, as far as I know. Could this story be an urban myth?
Florian Brunner
February 5th, 2008 6:09pmDear Melanie, Thanks for posting Potkin Azarmehr's piece on the SOAS event. We have just heard from SOAS that the administration has cancelled the embassy's "celebration" of the Islamic Revolution. It is unlikely that the Islamic Republic's embassy will find another location like the SOAS Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre anywhere else in London with a 24 hour advance notice. Apparently the embassy's cultural attache office was planning to exploit this event in order to make up for the numerous PR desasters that the regime has experienced recently. I should add that the cancellation of the event was a result of protests from outside the university addressed to the SOAS principal Professor Paul Webley and pressure from staff members within the university, who found the "celebration" a disgrace for the university. Florian Brunner
Faryad
February 5th, 2008 10:57pmI have rarely known anyone who makes such valid points and sound arguments as Melanie Philips. Excellent as usual.
Winston
February 6th, 2008 4:22ama very good post. Shame on intellectuals for giving airtime and place to the criminals from Iran
Biensur
February 6th, 2008 8:16amIt now seems SOAS has cancelled the event. (according to Harry's Place). Seems like SOAS has a semblence of a conscience after all!
Bahramerad
February 6th, 2008 9:35amSOAS Principal An open letter to Mr. Paul Webley: Dear sir I would like to draw your attention to the following article at the bottom of my e-mail to you. SOAS has become a source of great disappointment and worry to all of us freedom loving British - Iranians - living and working for many years in England.We hate to see one of our esteemed universities being used and abused for political purposes and deadly propaganda by a Fascist Regime like IRI, and to be a place for them to propagate their odious policies and ideologies. They are implicit in facilitating and have been implicated for many years on direct attacks and killings of our British and Nato forces. We urge you to reconsider allowing them to use your premises for any kind of function.Please remember how they took our soldiers hostage — how they stoned and burned our embassy in Tehran and how on a daily bases they chant - Death to England and death to The Queen of England.These people will not hesitate to kill you or your students or more of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan if people like you show them weakness — let alone have mercy on thousands of underage kids, women and old men that they hang and stone and cut their limbs off, or show any kind of civilised behaviour to the thousands of university students that they beat and jail in order to stay in power for just a few more days.PLEASE STOP SUPPORTING THEM. Reply from SOAS : I write on behalf of Professor Paul Webley, Director and Principal of the School of Oriental and African Studies. Thank you for your email expressing concern over this week’s scheduled events.I would like to inform you that the event has been cancelled on procedural grounds.Please contact me with any further questions. Best Regards, Jamie Bruce -Jamie Lynne Bruce -Communications Manager -School of Oriental and African Studies -Office: +44 (0) 207 898 4005 -Email: jamie.bruce@soas.ac.uk
Achilles
February 6th, 2008 10:22am"Truly, the observation that throughout history the intellectual mind has repeatedly shown itself to be in thrall to violence and the illegitimate exercise of power is once again being proved to be horribly spot on." Couldn't agree more. Applies as well to defenders of Israel's disgraceful (and thoroughly documented) human rights record though.
Alex Bensky
February 6th, 2008 12:44pmThis reminds me of Willim F. Buckley's remark that he'd rather be governed by the first 500 names in th Boston telephone directory than by the entire faculty of Harvard University.
Joe Strummer
February 6th, 2008 2:40pmWhat is this macabre fascination that supposed "intellectuals" have for the crude but casual brutality of fascist regimes.?
Hereford
February 6th, 2008 7:18pmProbably a similar fascination to that a lot of us have with macarbe movies and white knuckle rides. more likely though is a belief, like Boxer in Animal Farm, that if they are good facilitators of those who will come to power, they will be spared. High IQ, low moral fibre often go hand in hand.
Fabio P.Barbieri
February 7th, 2008 8:42amAnyone who ever studied at SOAS will be left wholly unsurprised by this. For decades this college, riddled with post-colonial guilt and dominated by mediocre and careerist academics, has been a superfortress of relativism even within the British academic world, to the point of becoming a joke among its own colleagues. Edward Said's Orientalism is uncritically given as basic reading to all new students. And a financial crisis a few years ago has lowered the quality of both accommodation (you do not want to use the SOAS toilets, I assure you) and teaching. The place is in dire need of top-to-bottom reform.
Amir
February 12th, 2008 1:08pmMay I politely ask 'you west' please not to stand up for victims of our 'regime'. The last time you stood up in Iraq cost us more than a million civilian causalities, which comparing to our own regimes' atrocities is pretty significant!! So please let us alone if you don't mind!!!