Chesler Chronicles

Email This to a Friend

July 10th, 2009 11:10 am

Death to the Turbans, No More Stoning: Free Iran

Defiantly, bravely, they are marching for their freedom in the streets of Teheran. The mullahs’ men are gassing, beating, shooting and jailing them.

The people are chanting: “Death to the turbans,” “Down with the dictator,” “We want democracy.” The demonstrators are risking their very lives in order to tell the world the truth about Iran: that it is one gigantic prison in which elections are rigged, children are sacrificed to clear landmines from the fields, and women, intellectuals, and homosexuals are routinely jailed and murdered by corrupt dictators who sponsor terrorism abroad.

We tell children that if they “tell the truth, they will be safe.” But this is a lie. Truth tellers invariably get into trouble. Even in the West, whistleblowers get harassed, maligned, isolated, fired. Those who expose family “secrets” are treated as evil or crazy and are often driven out of the family. The evil-doers are protected, those who expose them are punished. This seems to be a fairly universal phenomenon.

While I am no fan of the Islamist Mir Hossein Moussavi or of his Islamist wife, at least Moussavi ran on a platform which promised to ban the stoning of Iranian women.

Last night I finally saw The Stoning of Soraya M. The film is both beautiful and terrible, painfully graphic, quite true to Sahebjam’s narrative, well worth seeing. I have been writing and speaking about this stoning for about five years now but I was still riveted to my seat. I had to cover my face several times as the actual stoning was re-enacted.This is ironic, given my stand against female cowering/”covering.” But this time, doing so allowed me to avoid the most unpleasant reality; perhaps this is a self-destructive act. We must face evil in order to stop it.

Some points about the story and the film which the reviewers may not have noticed:

First, Soraya Manoucheri could have lived–had she granted Ghorban Ali, her husband, an immediate divorce, given up her two sons whom Ali, a frequenter of brothels, had turned against her, and simply accepted her fate as a vulnerable, impoverished women with absolutely no way to support herself and her two daughters other than prostitution which is both shameful and illegal. This small amount of spirit, or outraged dignity that Soraya showed is precisely what doomed her. It makes no difference that the 40 year-old Ghorban Ali could have married the 14 year-old who had aroused his lust anyway, without having to divorce Soraya. He would still have had to pay some support and this he refused to do. He chose to falsely accuse her of improper behavior with her male employer and to have her stoned to death.

Second, although Soraya and her magnificent aunt Zahra were relatively “spirited” women, neither really believed that their lives were unbearably tragic and/or they were incapable of acting on that belief. To save her life, Soraya would have had to flee immediately, (yes, into the same dreadful poverty and prostitution); that, in the era of the mullahs, once targeted by an evil man, there would be no escape for her or for any woman. Failing that, Soraya would have had to wrestle the rifle out of the hands of the man guarding her, and turned it on him and then on herself in order to avoid the most torturous of deaths.

If they are lucky, Iranian prostitutes routinely spend many years in prison, as do rape victims. In 2001-2002, Iranian filmmaker Manijeh Hekmat released a film Women’s Prison which depicts the heartbreaking lives of women behind bars from 1979-1999.

Many prisoners have been accused falsely of being prostitutes, or have been forced into prostitution and then punished for it–or have killed their potential rapists or longtime rapists.

In 2007-2008, Mehmoushe Solouki, a Canadian-French-Iranian and a former inmate of Evin Prison, released yet another film, The Evil and the Good, about women in Iranian prisons. Solouki was–and still is haunted by the cries of other women prisoners, many of whom were women’s rights activists who had been arrested for marching for women’s rights.

“I heard the cries and yelling of other women prisoners,” she says. “I thought that they were terrorists, but when I asked about it, the answer was that they were women activists arrested during the ceremony of March 8 [International Women's Day]. I couldn’t tell whether this answer was tragic or comic…I have heard some things about Guantanamo Bay — that terrorists are kept there.” Solouki says. “But I can’t believe there could be a place in the world with so many students, intellectuals, writers, and women’s rights activists [as Evin prison].”

This is what happens when people tell the truth anywhere but especially in totalitarian, Islamist countries. To name only three Muslim countries: In Iran,
Afghanistan, and Iraq, women, especially dissidents, are not only forced to veil; they are also harassed and threatened, shot down, beaten up, and jailed, where they are raped, tortured in other ways, hung, stoned, and shot.

And all for telling the truth about their lives and the lives of others and for demanding a change: Less violence, more freedom, “democracy,” an end to stoning and to repressive female dress codes.

The stoning of Soraya M was a cultural honor killing. The people in her village, where she had been born and had lived all her life, were easily convinced that she had shamed and dishonored them and that only by shedding her blood could the villagers themselves be cleansed. (”Each stone will redeem you”–these are Ghorban Ali’s exact words, and they inspired the murderous-sexual rage of the all-male stoning mob. As did the fake mullah’s repeated cries of “Allahuakbar.” A traveling theatrical-musical company stays to watch the “entertainment” and also joins in by pounding their large drums in a way that excites and thrills the stoners.

This is precisely the kind of sexually-fueled Islamist rage that may account for family honor killings in which the poor female victim is stabbed 22 times or raped and then set on fire or slowly suffocated or stoned to death.

I am keeping the brave Iranian demonstrators close to my heart and I am always mindful of Soraya M, whose body was exposed to the dogs to eat and whose bones were then lovingly buried by her aunt Zahra near a stream that Soraya loved.

I want to thank Joy Rose of Mammapalooza for accompanying me down to see this film and for sighing right along with me. No woman should have to sigh alone.

Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:

1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.

2. Stay on topic.

3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.

4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.

5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.

The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.

These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.

11 Comments

1. George Jochnowitz:

Although telling the trutn can get one into trouble, democracy and truth are inextricably linked. Democracy means much more than majority rule; it includes freedom of speech and of the press. In other words, it is about opening up the world so that the truth can be discovered. It is the search for truth that links democracy to science. Democracy is the political realization of the scientific method, as I always say. You can read about it in my essay “The Blessed Human Race,” which can be found under Pp;itics/Religion on my website, http://www.jochnowitz.net

Jul 10, 2009 - 11:56 am 2. Norman Simms:

Phyllis, thank you for being brave.

Telling the truth does not mean you can’t have or shouldn’t have a human wince at the sight of such terrible punishment. That you averted your eyes for a moemnt does not mean that you turned away from the truth.

I fear those who look, not just with glee at the plight of the women they torure, but for those on our side (supposedly) who stare without comprehension and have no feelings of disgust–and rage against the perpetrators.

Norman

Jul 10, 2009 - 5:31 pm 3. Lynn:

My heart mourns for these souls. How much longer before their cries are heard and their blood is avenged. I can hardly bear the thought of the others who await the same fate as Soraya Manoucheri.

I dream of the day where the evil doers will have no place in this world to carry out their deeds and the only people in prison will be those who deserve to be there.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be willing and able to escape an oppressive life but have no where to go, no border to cross, no road that leads to freedom. I think that most of us in the United States have no idea what that must be like.

Jul 11, 2009 - 9:43 am 4. Betsy Nowrasteh:

Phyllis, thank you for commenting with such clarity and insight on THE STONING OF SORAYA M., a film I co-wrote with my husband. Our hope was always that it would not only move people as a drama, but that it would inspire discussion and awareness about stonings, as well as their evil cousins, honor killings and female genital mutilation. These practices target females, some as young as five, and are quite common in parts of the Muslim world. Unfortunately multi-culturalism has blinded many who seem to believe that life everywhere is just a variation on a day in Van Nuys. Tolerating the intolerant and justifying the unjust is weakness and evil pure and simple. Thanks again, Betsy Nowrasteh

Jul 11, 2009 - 10:54 am 5. Betsy Nowrasteh:

Phyllis, thank you for commenting with such clarity and insight on THE STONING OF SORAYA M., a film I co-wrote with my husband, Cyrus Nowrasteh. Our hope was always that it would not only move people as a drama, but that it would inspire discussion and awareness about stonings, as well as their evil cousins, honor killing and female genital mutilation. These practices target females, some as young as five, and are all too common in some parts of the Muslim world. Millions of devout Muslims, both male and female, reject these practices and bravely seek reform. It is their voices to which we add our own.

Jul 11, 2009 - 11:08 am 6. Omar:

Ms. Nowrasteh:

I had heard through second sources that Resa Aslan was invited to one of the openings of this film to address the audience and that he forthrightly sought to obfuscate and deny the role islamic law plays in such tragedies. I also heard (from the same sources) that the questions of a very knowledgeable and brave woman named Noni Darwish were brushed aside by Mr. Aslan and that Ms. Darwish was shouted down by audience members. Is there any truth to this?

Jul 11, 2009 - 1:55 pm 7. Violet:

‘We tell children that if they “tell the truth, they will be safe.” But this is a lie. Truth tellers invariably get into trouble. Even in the West, whistleblowers get harassed, maligned, isolated, fired. Those who expose family “secrets” are treated as evil or crazy and are often driven out of the family. The evil-doers are protected, those who expose them are punished. This seems to be a fairly universal phenomenon.’

Can anyone tell me how and why this phenomenon exists?

Jul 11, 2009 - 2:11 pm 8. Ann:

I have only recently come across this blog and am always deeply saddened and angry every time I read about these killings. My question is, what can we as individuals do to help put an end to these barbaric practices? I personally feel overwhelmed by such cruelty and helpless. We can pass this around to our friends but at the end of the day what does that achieve? Any ideas?

Jul 11, 2009 - 10:33 pm 9. Lauren:

Phyllis, sadly all your truth telling to me seems worthless. I say this because I experienced just this week being the truth teller. And while I had the facts and even the support of the (jewish) women on the very issue I was bringing forth, suddently (and not of my interjecting into the conversation) not even in the next breath but in the same I then heard, “Wait! They are bringing this to Obama? Well he can do no wrong. The man is just…he can do no wrong. He is just so intelligent. He does everything right.” So yes, I feel defeted. These were older ladies (to me) educated and Jews. We have too large a population of brainwashed citizens that have been brought up to, and passed on to their children, demonize those who do not think and conclude as they do.

Jul 12, 2009 - 3:25 am 10. Omar:

“The Whitewashing of Soraya M”

http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mtapson/2009/06/24/the-whitewashing-of-soraya-m/

” . . . Following Saturday’s screening was a panel discussion, not so much moderated as simply hosted by Iranian novelist Khaled Hosseini, author of the bestselling The Kite Runner, who personally selected the film for the L.A. Film Festival. The panel also included Soraya’s writer-director Cyrus Nowrasteh, starring actress Shohreh Aghdashloo, and Dr. Reza Aslan, billed as an Islamic scholar.
Heading off any concerns about possible Islam-bashing in the movie, Mr. Nowrasteh noted at the discussion’s outset that Soraya is actually a pro-Muslim film, because it shows how a few hypocrites can hijack a religion for personal reasons, not to mention that the story’s victim is herself Muslim. He went on to discuss his personal attraction to the story and the process of bringing it to the big screen. Ms. Aghdashloo eloquently responded to a couple of questions about her personal passion for the role and for addressing the real-world issue of stoning.

The Q & A was shorter-lived than many including myself would have liked, or at least less focused; one question, for example, was directed to Mr. Hosseini about his novels rather than the movie. But the focus really got blurry when Reza Aslan took the mic.

“Well,” he started, “I guess it’s up to me to put this into some sort of historical context.” If only he had, then people might better understand why the outrage of stoning still exists, and why it exists today only in territories in the grip of Sharia, or Islamic law. Instead Aslan proceeded to so dilute any context at all that people told me at the reception later, which he did not attend, that they either had no idea what he was talking about or simply tuned him out. What he did do, in several obfuscating turns at bat, was utterly whitewash Islam, its prophet Mohammed, and Iranian lawmakers past and present of any responsibility whatsoever for the practice of stoning.
. .
He began by asserting that “many cultures” struggled with the issue of stoning. I nearly interrupted him right there to ask, “Really? Which cultures besides those under the thrall of Sharia law? Do Laplanders stone adulterers? Peruvian Indians? The Watusi? Minnesotans?” Aslan clouded any potential for understanding by claiming that culture, not religion, is responsible.
. . .
The gist of his message was this: not only is religion inseparable from culture, but the words of, say, the Bible or Quran are utterly devoid of meaning in and of themselves, blank slates upon which we impose our own biased interpretations. Thus, to use one of Aslan’s own examples, if you’re a “misogynistic prick,” you’re going to view the Quran through that woman-hating lens and impose your own meaning upon it, regardless of what Mohammed, supposedly transcribing directly from Allah, actually wrote. Hence, Islam and Mohammed are not responsible for their followers’ misinterpretations, their patriarchal culture is.

No one would deny that religion and culture aren’t closely intertwined (though I would argue that religion influences culture more than the other way around), but puh-leeze – it’s beyond absurd to say that there is no substantive difference between Mohammed’s message and Jesus’, that there is no meaning inherent in their words, or that the massive edifices of their religions have not been built, shakily or not, upon the foundations of those words. It’s also disingenuous to suggest that present-day stoning has nothing to do with a seventh-century religious directive. It’s true that stoning is a pre-Islamic practice not mentioned in the Quran; but the tenets of Islam are based not solely on the Quran, but derive also from the hadith, or the tales of Mohammed’s life, and Dr. Aslan neglected to mention that Mohammed does command stoning as a punishment for adultery in the hadith.

Nonie Darwish, the Egyptian-American author of, most recently, Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law, and someone who knows a thing of two about women under Islam, stood in the audience and challenged Aslan at length about Mohammed and misogyny. He acknowledged one minor, innocuous point, but then dismissed her flatly with “Everything else you said is wrong” and handed the mic back to Mr. Hosseini. Not “That’s a common misconception,” or “Let me quote chapter and verse of the Quran to clarify things.” Just “Wrong.” End of discussion.
. . . .
______________

Why are we perpetually asked to LIE about the nature of islam and islamic law in order to be accepable in “polite’ company? Maybe if someone had spoken honestly about such matters in pre-revolutionary Iran, they might have avoided the past 30 years of misogynistic hell.

Jul 12, 2009 - 5:25 pm 11. Martin:

I just saw the movie, Soryaya M. To say the least, it was extremely disturbing. Might the situation for women in the big Iranian cities such as Teheran be even marginally better than the small, rural villages such as the one portrayed in the movie? Or is it just as bad throughout that country?

Jul 23, 2009 - 11:31 am