My evenings have been rather full the past week. I’ve had “Farewell” parties for many teachers that were getting transfered to other schools, which happens all the time. All the teachers in the prefecture get rotated to different schools in order to ensure that quality teachers get placed all over the place, especially in the little islands to the south. Without a rotation system, those islands wouldn’t have anyone to teach the kids.

The other thing keepin’ me occupied was an essay which I submitted to HAMSA’s (not Hamas) “Dream Deferred” Essay contest. I’m gonna post it here for anyone that would like to read the fruits of my labors! I believe if it wins it becomes the property of HAMSA, so I may have to take this down if it makes it.
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WOMEN OF IRAN WIN EQUALITY
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

TEHRAN, Iran — The Twins of Tabriz seem to have twisted the very fabric of time and culture in Iran, undoing thirty years of female oppression and hurtling the nation into a future of true gender egalitarianism. The efforts of their Homai Movement, and dozens of other grass-roots campaigns like it, have finally secured the rights of women in Iran.

Last evening, women and their families filled the streets in every major city, cheering and waving flags after learning that women would now be considered equal to men in regards to finances, employment, and the law. Women circled each other on bicycles; an activity that had been previously banned in may parts of Iran. Many young people were seen waving copies of the Homai Movement’s symbolic book, the Shahnemah, Firdowsi’s great Persian epic that depicts its female characters as kind, intelligent, and strong. Homai was the name of a woman in the tale that became the ruler of Iran for a time. The books were held high in the air and the people shouted the Homai’s slogan: “The heart of Iran is its people, and a heart must be whole lest it fail.”

The Twins are the heroes of the Movement. Fayir and Banu Khandil, both biology graduates, seemed filled with pride and resolve despite having been on a hunger strike for the previous weeks. They stood outside the presidential office waiting for President Ahmadinejad to sign the equality law into force, alongside thousands of supporters.

“Just as my sister and I are equal in name and blood, so now will the people of Iran be equal in the eyes of their own countrymen,” spoke Fayir when the law was signed. His sister Banu stood at his side, following with the declaration, “With this victory, Iran is ready to set an example for all its neighbors, and all the world, to pursue love and fairness even in the darkest times and the wake of oppression.”

The members of the Homai Movement are well aware that their historic achievement became possible after a series of very fortunate events. They make no hesitation to acknowledge the Dagher-Ortis essay and the infamous PaterFr4g hacking as critical to yesterday’s success.

Sociology and history Professor Ihab Dagher is the father of the renowned Dagher-Ortis treatise. His secretive research on the events leading to Iraq’s downfall was successfully smuggled out of the country before the United States withdrew from the smoldering failure of the Iraq Invasion in late 2006. Professor Dagher joined Dr. Jamie Ortis and her research team working under the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR). Using Dagher’s meticulous notes and observations, Ortis’ own research, as well as ingenious citations of the Koran, the Shahnemah, and other Arabic and Persian works, the team put together an impeccable dissertation on the clear advantages Islamic countries like Iran would have in the international, economic, and spiritual realms by embracing religious and gender tolerance. Though the treatise is imposingly lengthy, those who have read it cannot deny its pragmatic and inspirational force.

Of course, when the treatise was published on the Internet in early 2007 in English, Arabic, and Persian, the Islamic nations it sought to affect, especially Iran, were quick to block its distribution. The governments were easily able to keep out paper copies at their physical borders, and the powerful filtering software used by the national Internet providers swiftly blocked the electronic versions. When a small group of six students from the Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) in Tehran attempted to bypass the filters and obtain a copy of the dissertation in September 2007, they were arrested or killed in one of the most brutal police raids in the last decade. It was clear that the hyper-conservative elements of the government were aware of the treatise’s potential to “incite” reform. This horrific event ensured that no one else within Iran’s borders would attempt another illegal access. At the same time, civil rights groups demanded to see the treatise, often hailing the students as martyrs.

Clearly the IUST raid reached sympathetic ears across Europe, because only a month later Iran’s Internet service providers became victim to the historic “PaterFr4g” hacking. An individual or group in Europe took it upon themselves to access Iran’s filtering software through a weakness in the government operating systems, effectively removing all content control for the nation (some have even suggested the attack originated from Denmark, a misguided attempt at repenting for the Cartoon Riots of early 2006). Iranian techies frantically tried to restore control, but found that they had been locked out of their own systems. After nearly twelve hours on October 9th, computer engineers had to literally pull the plug on the server, physically severing Internet connection to the nation while they tried to undo the damage.

The damage, however, was done. In those twelve hours, the Dagher-Ortis treatise was downloaded by millions of Iranians. After reading only a few pages of the report, tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets in the largest spontaneous protest in recent memory. They waved trails of paper printouts like banners, white 8.5”x11” sheets filling the parks and town centers, people crying out for change and liberation.

Police were able to quell the protests quickly and thankfully without injury, but they could not undo the newly born spirit of egalitarianism. The ranks of existing civil rights groups swelled, and dozens more sprang into existence. The voices of Iran’s women, who were already highly educated and working in socially elite positions despite their segregation and many other limitations, could not be silenced. Moderate and liberal men could not ignore this spirit, indicated by the surge in activity by sons, husbands, and brothers. The Khandil twins started their own organization in Tabriz at this point, their philosophies born in physiological study given form and momentum from the Dagher-Ortis treatise.

The international community, delighted that Iran was pushing for civil rights from within, yearned to help. But if the world learned only one thing from America’s botch in Iraq, it was that if a country was to grow, it had to do so on its own, with only gentle support and quiet guidance from other nations. To be overt or heavy-handed would only lead to resentment or accusations of unwarranted meddling, and would actively harm the expanding movement. Americans especially wished to help, eager to create a positive new image in the Middle East and atone for their antagonistic history in the region.

Arizona-born Allan Ehren recognized these facts. He saw the yearning to help in his fellow citizens, and established the Conveyance Counsel in Chicago at the amazing age of 23. The Counsel organized massive fund-raisers across the country, and through the utilization of unassuming private diplomats and negotiators in Iran, channeled incredible wealth to support the efforts of organizations like Homai. Ehren addressed the Counsel’s efforts in an oft-quoted Newsweek interview:

“I’ll be the first to admit that we were taking an enormous risk. Our goal from the beginning was to provide the means for real, social change. We didn’t want to go into Iran with this money and tell the folks there what they were going to do with it. We wanted to let them change their own lives. The people out there weren’t oil tycoons with unlimited resources. They were the upper-middle classes to the lowest classes, and their efforts could be expedited with concrete financial support. Even with our solid application standards, we do risk losing funds to corruption by putting them directly into civil rights leaders’ hands, but to do it any other way would be saying, ‘Hi, I’m American, and I want to win your war against sexism with Operation Equality.’ This is their struggle in the end, and the Conveyance Counsel does not want to change that.”

Banu Khandil spoke on the partnership with the Counsel in another interview:

“At first we were accused of paving the way for another invasion by accepting this money. Even Fayir was apprehensive at first. But after the days of meeting with [Conveyance Counsel representative] Martin Tesai, we were certain of their noble aims. Now we are able to hold rallies, host banquets for leaders, produce publications. We have educated the populace and influenced the government at incredible speed. All this money has passed through our hands, and (laughter) Fayir still rides a rusty bicycle.”

Though having vast resources and strong support may make it seem like the Homai Movement had little opposition, the opposite was true. Outspoken conservatives hurled scarring insults to leaders. Police were quick to break up peaceful protests, but somehow lingered in their stations when anti-equality counter-protests reared their heads. Some prominent egalitarians were physically assaulted, being mauled in public protests or dragged off into alleys to be beaten by angry crowds. Banu herself suffered a black eye and broken jaw from an angry assailant at the Qom Rally in February, 2009, which was targeted by radicalists, partially in frustration from the death of Supreme Leader Khamenei the previous month. About the attacker, Banu said, “He was screaming at me for violating the decrees of the Koran. But I can’t help but wonder which passage inspired him to break someone’s face in wrath.”

However, each violent attack was counter-productive, pushing more and more temperate Iranians to support the Homai cause. The political and social climate had drastically changed. The police could no longer ignore the demands of the public, and a small handful of the anti-equality assailants were even arrested. The newly appointed Supreme Leader Chavosh Vahramian, though still conservative, did not want any more blood on the government’s hands. Similarly, the Iranian Guardian Council knew they couldn’t reject female candidates as they had in 2005’s Presidential election, fearing threats of hunger strikes (a tactic suggested by the well-educated and historically aware Twins). Ahmadinejad still won the popular vote, but having expressed strong support and respect for the female candidates in an attempt to win the suddenly moderate population’s support, he had inadvertently committed himself to pushing for women’s rights.

Yesterday, with Vahramian’s hesitant blessing, Ahmadinejad proved his commitment by signing the Gender Egalitarian Act into law, making history and establishing his second term as one geared towards peace and social reform. Fayir Khandil concluded the Twins’ victory speech with the following words:

“We have come together as a people, recognizing each other as equal human beings under Allah’s wisdom. And we have the youth of Iran to thank. Young people all over the country, many of them younger than even I, banded together, publicly calling for the casting off of ancient, small-minded law, and the rest of our society has been inspired by that call. The youth displayed courage and unity, and the world around us acknowledged our desire for a better life for our fellow Iranians by supporting our struggle. Now let us continue bettering life for ourselves and our country, so that Iran can become an inspiration for the rest of the world!”