History Written on Clay

I went to listen to Professor Matthew Stolper's very engaging lecture about the Persepolis tablets at UC Berkeley this afternoon. What a nice and funny man this very distinguished scholar is!

Since I posted my earlier blog about the lecture, I have heard from a very interesting man by the name of Mr. Charles Ellwood Jones. It is an honor to find out about people who have so much interest in Iranian heritage which is now really world heritage. In his profile, Mr. Jones says: "I am the Librarian at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU. From July 2005 to February 2008 I was the Head Librarian at the Blegen Library of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Before moving to Athens I spent twenty-two years as the Librarian at the Oriental Institute, The University of Chicago."

You can follow news about the Persepolis tablets and developments in the case through Persepolis Fortification Archive Project's blogs here. Before I left I told Professor Stolper how proud I was of his life's work, dedicated to research about Iran, thanking him for all his hard work.

UC Berkeley Lecture: Embattled Tablets

You can't love Iran and not care about what has been happening over the past few years with respect to the priceless Persepolis tablets in custoday of University of Chicago's Oriental Institute. A lawsuit threatens to claim the priceless collection which has been kept on loan from the Iranian government since 1933. Those tablets belong to Iran and to humanity. They should never be considered the appropriate medium of severance pay to anyone. If the Iranian government is found guilty of any crime in a court of law, they should be responsible for monetary payment of damages. These tablets or any Iranian heritage artifacts are not suitable choices for settling such liabilities.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 14, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. Professor Matthew Stolper from University of Chicago's Oriental Institute will give a lecture entitled "Embattled Tablets: News from the Persepolis Fortification Archive Front" at UC Berkeley's Department of Near Eastern Studies, 254 Barrows Hall. I am going to attend this lecture. If you live in these parts and you can, please come and join me.

Photo shows Professor Matthew Stolper examining one of the Persepolis tablets.

Here's an excerpt from a 2006 article about the collection and the impending case. You can read the full article here.

"In a small, dark room on the Oriental Institute’s third floor, Matthew Stolper puts thousands of ancient Iranian tablets under the microscope. Studying the unbaked clay artifacts over the course of 25 years, Stolper, the John A. Wilson professor of Near Eastern languages & civilizations, has translated many of the tablets—their slanted lines are mostly Elamite cuneiform. Taken together, the circa-500 bc documents from the ancient capital Persepolis—excavated by OI archaeologist Ernest Herzfeld in 1933—form the “records of one office palace bureaucracy handing out basic foodstuffs,” Stolper says. “Food, wine, grain.” The records follow “people traveling through the region on business from the Mediterranean coast to India: ‘So-and-so gets so much barley and so much beer.’ When you connect them all, you get a complicated network.”

"If a group of litigants gets its way, the tablets may be split up and sold at auction, the proceeds compensating survivors of a 1997 Hamas suicide bombing in Jerusalem. Five American survivors and four family members won a 2001 U.S. court case against Iran, which trained and supported the terrorists, and were awarded more than $400 million in damages. Because Iran doesn’t accept U.S. court jurisdiction, the plaintiffs’ lawyer looked elsewhere for assets: American museums holding Iranian artifacts." (Read the rest here.)

The Iranian American Weekend

Kayhan Kalhor performs with Brooklyn Riders

I have been attending the Iranian Alliances Across Borders Conference in Berkeley this weekend. It has been a very good time meeting new people and catching up with old friends. My writer friends in Northern California and one from New York are here for the conference and it's been a pleasure hanging out with them. When we went to dinner last night, it was wonderful to look from one end of the table to the next, seeing authors, poets, artists, and musicians all having an Irani dinner together and talking about life! I am also impressed by the beautiful and intelligent young Iranians who have shown up at the conference, whether to present papers and ideas or to receive them.

I'm planning on going to watch Kayhan Kalhor, the Iranian Kamancheh master, perform with Brooklyn Riders tonight. I will let you know all about it! I will also tell you about the Fared Shafinuri concert my friends and I attended last night soon. It was fabulous! Have a great Sunday everybody!

Here and There, Life Goes On

Iranian jazz and blues crooner Rana Farhan performs Drunk With Love. Enjoy!

I continue to maintain my Nowruz energy level and optimism! My attempts at keeping my personal space organized has prevailed and I am glad to report that a lot of my former self is showing again, too! Heeh! It actually feels great! I am laughing more and though I am still way behind in my emails and calls, I am very slowly turning things around! In all of this I have a heightened and focused sense of love and appreciation for my family and for my close friends who are loving, loyal, and always kind to me.

April is turning out to be a busy month, with everything from work to family matters to volunteer assignments and events piling up on me with a full calendar again. No complaints, though, as I am now doing many of the things I really enjoy doing and hanging out with people I really like and respect. I will be meeting up with other writers from the Association of Iranian American Writers this weekend, and I'm really looking forward to the IAAB conference, too.

Later this month there will be a music festival for Iranian.com (Saturday, April 25th), and I have agreed to help out as a volunteer for that fundraising event. I will write more about this later. If you would like to help out, please either buy tickets to the concert which will feature Faramarz Aslani, Arash Sobhani, and Sahba Aminikia (and a surprise guest), or donate to Iranian.com to keep this important Iranian medium afloat and alive.

As chance would have it, I will be visiting with Fared Shafinuri and his band, Tehranosaurus in Berkeley this coming Friday! If you live in these parts and are available to meet some pretty talented young Iranians, let me know! I think we will be hanging out in Berkeley during the afternoon of Friday, April 3rd.

Before I sign off, I want to say one last thing. Life does go on. Even after the worst of events. Even after the biggest losses. I wrote over a year ago about my co-worker's visit to my office to tell me about her impending divorce after a long marriage. All last year I have been watching my friend deal with her new life, making progress one day and retreating on another, trying to make sense of her new life. Today she told me she is going on her first date after her divorce. I doubt anything will come of it, but I am pleased for my friend for picking up the pieces of her life, trying to make herself whole again, and moving on. Even the simplest and most mundane things appear hard and impossible for people who are going through traumatic events. A date is a pretty good start, I should think! Yes, life does go on.

Music of Heart and Soul

Fared Shafinouri sings Arianaz in Tehran. This is beautiful music and I'm sure you would enjoy it! Look at the sweet video clip of my beloved Tehran. I found him on YouTube last October. Here's his MySpace page where you can find other tracks of his new album. His music is so sweet and refreshing.

Fared and his band, Tehranosaurus, will be performing in Berkeley this Saturday night. I am going to see them perform. The concert will be the entertainment segment of the IAAB conference. Here's the concert's Facebook announcement. It will be at the Pauley Ballroom of UC Berkeley on Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 8:30.

Ross Mirkarimi in Berkeley

This coming Sunday, November 16, 2008, Berkeley Lecture Series and Iranian Student Alliance in America (ISAA) will host San Francisco Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi at a lecture on "The Historical Election Results." Ross (Rostam) is an Iranian American politician and one of the founders of California Green Party. He has an impeccable record of fostering diversity, community outreach, environmental policies, and good city management. He was recently re-elected as City of San Francisco's District 5 Supervisor. Ross is also a friend of mine. When his campaign first kicked off last May, I did a report of the event which was published here. (Heeh! If you go look at my report and photos, you can even see me in picture 25 next to Reza!). I am delighted for his overwhelming victory and I look forward to hearing his talk on Sunday. The man is an excellent orator with a voice unlike any other's! Come see for yourselves if you live in these parts. The lecture will be at 4:00 p.m. at UC Berkeley's 110 Barrows Hall. Here's a campus map.

Sweet As Can Be

Akihito Koriyama of Japan took two years to travel to many places including Iran. This is his photographic account of Iran and Iranians. This might appear a little slow to some of you. I simply LOVED the slowness and the overall effect of the video, because it gave me a chance to think about those scenes and those people. I hope you enjoy this and that it doesn't make you too homesick for Iran.

If I can, I will come back and write my Friday post late this evening after I return from an event* in Berkeley.

Berkeley Lecture Series presents "Baha'i Faith 101," a comedy performance with Mansour Taeed, featuring Professor Enayatollah Farhoumand Sangsari, Sociologist and Emeritus faculty of Columbia University; Friday, November 7th, 2008, 8:00 p.m.; Gaia Center, 2116 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704.

Mehrjui in Berkeley

Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui and author and Berkeley resident Anita Amirrezvani. Dariush Mehrjui and Fereshteh Davaran.

I met up with friends to go see two Dariush Mehrjui films in Berkeley this evening. I loved his movie, The Pear Tree. It is a movie based on a Goli Taraghi story about a middle-aged author who returns to his Damavand fruit orchard to overcome his writer's block, coming head-on with the lost love story of his childhood. It was a beautiful movie, moving and reminiscent of so much about my own childhood. We also saw his short film, The Lost Cousin, this one a bit more surreal and dark for my taste. He then answered questions and spent a little time signing a book about his films. Professor Ardavan Davaran, a college classmate of Dariush Mehrjui's, introduced him and shared some sweet and funny memories of their college years at UCLA as young students. He said Mehrjui knew he wanted to be a film director back then, but chose to study philosophy. When his friend asked him why he was going to study philosophy if he wanted to make movies, he said because I will learn all the technical stuff in time, but in order to make good movies I will need to learn about philosophy first. Well, he learned well! From his movie, The Cow, to his latest films, I have seen quite a few of this gifted director's films, but truth be told, the one movie he made which I believe was the funniest Iranian movie I ever saw in my life, was The Tenants (ejareh neshin-ha). I have that movie and sometimes when I feel low, I watch it to cheer me up!

I saw Mehdi, Nasim and Jay, Shadi, and a whole bunch of my other Bay Area friends to my endless delight! Mehran and Bayramali and I went to dinner afterwards, laughing and talking about life. I was reminded again of how fortunate I am to be living in this area and to have such superb friends. It was a perfect thing to do to bring sunshine into my Saturday, even if the rain poured relentlessly. Have a good Sunday everybody!

Trick Or Treat!

"Road to World Cup 2006," a video clip of a group of Iranians in Europe who travelled to Germany to see the games. One of the directors is M. R. Heydari, who lives in Sweden. This clip really moved me. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Happy Halloween and Happy Friday! I spent a solitary Halloween back at my house. My older son stayed in Santa Cruz to join the other 30,000 young people partying in Santa Cruz tonight. My younger son and Iden have gone to San Francisco to party at a friend's house. Did I tell you Iden is our house guest again for a couple of weeks? I am glad they are celebrating their youth, and I pray that they are safe. I had many trick or treaters at the door again this year. Treats were the order of the evening, so no tricks at this house! By now all is quiet in my neighborhood again and I get a chance to do some work.

Tomorrow evening I will go to UC Berkeley to see two of Dariush Mehrjui's films and attend a Q/A session where he will answer questions about his films. Here's the information in case you live in these parts and are interested to attend the program:

Berkeley Lecture Series Presents: An evening with Dariush Mehrjui; showing of “Derakht-e Golabi”, The Pear Tree, and “Dokhtar Dayi-e Gomshodeh”, The Lost Cousin (with Khosrow Shakibayie), followed by Q & A with Mr. Mehrjui; Saturday, November 1, 2008, 6:00 p.m.; 100 GPB (Genetics & Plant Biology), University of California, Berkeley, map.

I hope you all have a very good weekend ahead of you, full of joy, relaxation, and love. Remember to hold those who are dear to you tightly, kissing them often, and confessing your love to them! You have nothing to lose and something to gain when you pay close attention to those who are in your lives for a reason. Never take them for granted and in doing so, they will also take note not to take you for granted. So, fess up and be good y'all!

Tears To Parties In My Head

Watermelon harvest, Boushehr, July 23, 2008. More photos here.

I am humbled by your reception and response about my last post. Thank you very much. First chance I get, I will reply to each comment individually as I like to do but have been unable to do because of my many commitments and deadlines.

I am going to a short Persian literature class again this summer, starting tonight. My beloved Dr. Zari Taheri is back in the Bay Area for a few short weeks and she will be teaching us Nezami's Eskandar Nameh this summer. I am so excited! I'm not only going to learn from the very best, I'm going to see my special friends, too. Yippee!

My son is preparing for the Fall. As the amount of excitement seems to be growing in him, I have to face the mounting dread I feel for a separation from him. I am trying so hard to act and look cool and brave, but when I see him messing up the house or sleeping in his room, or when I hear him and his friends laugh and talk in the TV room, my eyes burn with the controlled tears that threaten to fall at the thought of his long absences in the house. I don't want to be a clingy mother, so I don't. Cling that is. Also, boys are naturally protective of their mothers. As a single mother, I would hate for my boys to feel guilty about leaving me to go pursue their lives. So I look even tougher on the outside than I feel on the inside, so that they feel free to make their own choices in life without reservations about me. Of course, once they are both gone, I will go find my dream house in Berkeley and leave the suburbs behind, living where I love to live. It would have to be a party house, though. You know, with a huge party room and a balcony, so that I can have my friends over all the time!

I'll let you know how my class goes tonight. Be good and happy you guys and have a good Thursday.

In The Company of Friends

I had lunch and tea with my friend, Omid Memarian, in Berkeley today. Omid has been spending his summer doing an internship at the United Nations with Inter Press Service this summer. He has returned to the Bay Area for just a couple of days before going back this weekend. On the last night of the Women's Conference in Berkeley, I had dinner with my friends. When Shahrnush Parsipoor showed up all dressed up to go to the party across the street, I couldn't resist taking a picture of her! Beautiful Luna Shad of VOA asked me to snap this photo of her with the brilliant author. I met sweet Sanam Dolatshahi, Khorshid Khanoom for the first time in person this past weekend. She and Leva posed for me. My good friends Nasrin, Vahid, and Enayat posed with Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi. I'm sorry I don't know the other lady's name (first from left), but they were all volunteering for the conference, and a great job they did.

Al-vade Vafa! Here are just a few of the many pictures I took last week. As I mentioned, life has been hectic but full of excitement and joy.

When I ran upstairs to pick up my keys and go to work this morning, I found a neatly written letter on my laptop, saying "For Nazy, open it when you get to work!" Curious, I opened it to find out it was a letter from my older son to me. He had written it last night after I had gone to bed. I'm not at liberty to share what it said, but it is one of the most meaningful and beautiful gifts I have ever received in my life. I was late to work again as I had to return to my bedroom to wash my face and reapply my makeup. It has been that kind of day for me, full of unexpected acknowledgements and waves of love and understanding. I wish you the same and a beautiful Friday everyone. I will be spending time with my cousin and my family after work tomorrow and if I have time, I will write again soon. Be good y'all and Happy Friday.

The Woman Singing in My Heart

Haydeh sings shahrashoub.

Our friend, Hashem, had a small restaurant in the nearby Albany. His mother cooked the delicious food, and he and his brothers managed the restaurant. Sometimes on weekends he would invite Iranian singers and musicians to perform in the party room upstairs. Our children were young and when we attended the small concerts at Hashem's restaurant, we had to get babysitters and plan our time carefully. He was so happy one time to tell us that Haydeh was coming to town in a few weeks. We reserved a table for 8 for that Friday night and went about telling our friends to come along and arranging for a sitter. When Friday night rolled in, we first went to dinner and then upstairs to the first table off the small stage. In a few minutes the band started playing and Haydeh walked on stage. She looked really good and happy. Because it was a small crowd, it felt so cozy and family-like to be in that room with the singer a whole nation loved. At one point, I asked her to sing "soghati ," and she immediately started singing it, honoring me to no end. We had one of the best nights of our lives in that sweet atmosphere. It was 2:15 a.m. when we finally decided to leave, because we had to let the sitter go home. The concert, however, wasn't over yet, and as we left the building, all the way across the road in the parking lot, we could still hear Haydeh's sweet voice, singing my most favorite of her songs, "Narges-e-Shiraz."

When I woke up the next day, I was still really jazzed about the performance I had seen the night before. As usual, I called Hashem to thank him for the wonderful time we had had the night before and to give him feedback on the performance. Hashem's brother, Saeed, picked up the phone. He sounded different than his usual bubbly self. Was he sad? I asked him what was up, and he burst into tears, telling me that Haydeh had died in the early hours of that morning. Since then, and for the rest of my life, I carry the sadness and honor of having seen Haydeh in the last concert of her life. She was a legend to all Iranians, but I have felt her loss on a very personal level for all these years. She continues to live in the hearts of millions of Iranians now, and I believe none more profoundly than mine.

Over The Flames

Charshanbeh Soori in Tehran, March 18, 2008. Photo by Universal Farshad (thank you!).

I went to Berkeley Persian Center's annual Charshanbeh Soori celebration tonight. I was accompanied by friends and family, and had a truly wonderful time. Each time I participate in traditional celebrations and rituals, my soul finds such peace and elemental joy. It is so important and rewarding for me to feel a part of a large and growing community of Iranians in this part of the world. It isn't Iran and it isn't Tehran, and I am deeply aware of all the effort it takes to make it look and feel "right" for all of us who have seen the splendid Charshanbeh Soori's of times past, and Nowrooz in full swing all over Iran right now. But it's an effort made by many loving minds, hearts, and hands. I was so proud to be a part of this community tonight. It's late and I have to be up very early tomorrow morning, so I cut this post short. Happy Wednesday everyone! This is a very important Wednesday on my calendar--the most important in some ways. This Wednesday needs its very own post, and I will write it soon.

Santuri in Berkeley

My friends and I went to see Dariush Mehrjui's Santuri in Berkeley tonight. I hope I don't offend anyone if I say that I was very disappointed. What is so special about another movie that depicts Iran's social ills? We have seen so much of that over the recent years both in real life and in the movies. I thought the lead actress's performance was not very good, though I thought Radan pulled off his part quite successfully. The role of the father was done very well, too, and of course the homeless drug addicts also delivered a believable account.

Perhaps I am not a fair critic of movies. I believe that cinema is about entertainment. It must be an escape from painful realities of life, which should leave you recreated and entertained in the end. I really dislike movies which make me sad, feeling cheated when the movie is over. In Tehran I once saw a movie, most of which followed some painful experiences I had had in my life. I didn't feel entertained, because I couldn't escape from the realities of my life for the duration of the movie, so I sat there and cried for two hours and the memory of that awful movie continues to haunt me to this day. Even in the genre of "real" and "social consciousness" movies, I enjoyed Offside a lot more than this one. Remember Makhmalbaf's Salam Cinema? It talked about social realities of Iran, but without inflicting pain on the viewer. Those are my kinds of movies. I even liked Bachehaye Aseman and Rang-e-Khoda better than this one.

The music was nice. Ardavan Kamkar, the youngest of the Kamkars Ensemble, had done a good job of bringing excitement to the film through music. Sorry if I am really off the mark here, but I like Kiarostami and Makhmalbaf and Tabrizi movies a lot more, because they provoke thought without too much pain, bringing a much softer approach to real life, occasionally making us laugh.

Have a good evening you all.

An Eventful Sunday

Dinner and interview with Maestro Loris Tjeknavorian, Berkeley, Sunday, March 9, 2008.

I can't believe how late I got home tonight. I went to traffic school all day, and ended up going to see Darvag group's excellent new play, In Memory of Kazem Ashtari, in Berkeley. I was delighted to meet Maestro Loris Tjeknavorian at the play. He graciously agreed to be interviewed for a piece I will be writing soon. In search of a good time where his busy schedule would allow the meeting, we ended up agreeing to do the interview after the play. So he and I and a group of good friends went to my favorite restaurant in Berkeley and got it done. He is such a charming man, a true Iranian, and is full of life and kindness and love and humor. The man is really really funny, I'm not kidding you! I will start working on my story tomorrow and will let you see it as soon as it's ready.

So, it was a really long, exhausting, and exciting day. This will have to do for now. I didn't manage to reply to my emails or to your kind comments this weekend. There simply aren't enough hours in a day, it seems. I'll have to work on my time management this week. Have a good Monday y'all.

Shahrnush Parsipur

I attended a lecture by Ladan Boroumand in Berkeley this afternoon. I will write about the lecture later. I saw my friend, Shahrnush Parsipur , who is a well-known Iranian author, there. She looked good and peaceful, as usual. We chatted some about Azar Nafisi's recent tour of the Bay Area. She told me about her new E-book, Men From Various Civilizations. As I went to check it out online tonight, I thought I would tell you about it, too. You can go to Shahrnush's website, read excerpts from her book and order it ($3). It's not a huge book, and you can download it onto your computer. The book has been translated into English. I saw many other friends there, too, which made me really happy on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Peace On Earth

Ashayer woman displaying Gilim weaving at Middle East Tourism Expo in Shiraz, November 2007.

I went to see a preview of the film, No End In Sight, at UC Berkeley tonight. The movie is about Iraq war and what went wrong to make one mistake into thousands of others, killing over 3,000 US soldiers and in excess of one million Iraqi's in the process. It was heart wrenching and sad, and it made me angry to see the ineptitude of US-appointed "managers" and "consultants" in Iraq, turning that country into hell. It was so sad. Occasionally, I read in some publications that some Iranians desire military action on Iran. Though I have always thought those Iranians idiots, I so wished I could find them and make them see this movie with me tonight, to see if after watching it they still want a military attack on beautiful Iran and its people. War is hell anywhere and for any nation. There is no such thing as a "sensible" war. All wars are senseless. Even so, the US occupation of Iraq has been one of the most senseless wars in the history. They showed a young Hispanic American soldier who had lost his eyesight and health to a roadside bomb. Disabled and sick, the last thing he said was that his only wish was that someday he realizes something good came out of this war, that he had lost so much not for nothing. I doubt he would get his wish, I'm afraid. I pray for peace on earth tonight.

Parsi and Persepolis in Berkeley

I went to listen to Dr. Trita Parsi present his new book, Treacherous Alliance, The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the U.S. Parsi is President of National Iranian American Council, and Adjunct Professor of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. Parsi's book discusses the different eras of relations amongst Iran, Israel, and United States. His most important point is that though the relations have been defined by each country's ideology during certain periods of time in recent history, currently it is one of strategy and not ideology. He discussed each country's motivations in behaving the way they do, and why having skipped diplomacy and starting at the present hot-headed critical stage of dialogue is costing every country so much and how this is threatening world peace. As I have said before, the best part of going to a lecture is when questions are asked and answered. Parsi is an excellent orator and his speech was flawless, and he particularly answered his questions well. I bought his book and when I have read it, I might talk about it.

Later, we went to a sneak preview of Marjane Satrapi's animated film, Persepolis. I had read her books before, but seeing the movie was a remarkable experience. In the movie, Satrapi talks about her childhood and her memories of Iranian Revolution, Iran-Iraq War, and growing up in Iran. Many sequences were funny, some of them were dramatic, but the majority of them were sad for me. I cried several times during the movie. I remember FarNice had said that she had cried during the movie and I had wondered at the time how an animation could make one cry. I found out how tonight. I recommend this movie when it opens in the US in late December through mid-January. Of course, the best part of tonight was seeing my friends, old and new, and feeling like a part of the large Iranian community in Berkeley.

And Words Flow Again...

The Twins.

I am glad to report that my "writer's block" has been cured for now. For several weeks, other than my blog, I was unable to sit down and write some self-imposed assignments I had been contemplating. Finally, I managed to get one of them out of the way today. This wasn't as easy as it sounds. Even when I can write about some personal feelings, it is so easy for me to dislike the final product and to push "delete" on it, a common occurrence of late. I am cured and it feels good! I had to lend my car to my son today, and without a car, all I could do on a Sunday was to work around the house and think and write. I think I will try this method the next time I become incapable of writing again! I am leaving for a two-day work-related trip tomorrow morning. I will write a post tomorrow night if I can manage it. Otherwise, I'll be back on Tuesday night. Be good y'all.

If you live in these parts, make note of the following events:

1. There will be a free film screening of Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis on Thursday, November 29th, at 7:30pm at UA Berkeley 7, 2274 Shattuck Avenue. The movie is in French with English subtitles. For your free ticket, call Persian Center at 510-848-0264 or email info@PersianCenter.org. Note: Admission is by ticket only.

2. Stanford's Hamid & Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies presents "An Evening with Forough" (Farrokhzad) with Professor Farzaneh Milani, Director, Claus Strigel and Mr. Hossein Mansouri. Event includes viewing of documentary: The House Is Black (on her life), Monday, Nov 26th, 5:30-9:00 pm , Cubberley Auditorium, Stanford University. RSVP to iranianstudies@stanford.edu by November 23rd.

P.S. Yes, they are related to me.

Protest in Berkeley

There was a gathering in UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza today at noon to protest a possible attack on Iran. The participants were also protesting the use of "water boarding" as a torture method used during US interrogations of terrorim suspects. There was a good crowd gathered around the speeches and the "water boarding simulation," which was heart wrenching to watch even in simulation. Most of the protestors were Americans. I went with my friend, Renaud. Renaud is a Frenchman and an American who was raised in Iran and graduated from Razi High School in Tehran. He speaks fluent Farsi and loves Iran. I talked about him, in a post in March.