Poletik 50 - مهمان هفته شیرین عبادی

Poletik: A program from the dugouts.

Hosted by Kambiz Hosseini

No. 50

Hi I'm Kambiz Hosseini

and this is Poletik, people.

A program for the Hasan Rouhani Generation

and beyond.

A generation hiding in the bunker
and telling you to take action.

Poletik says "No" to the death sentence against
political prisoner Arjang Davoodi.

Poletik says "No" to the unjust judicial
process and inhuman sentences.

Poletik says "No" to illegal actions by
security agencies in political cases.

Poletik says "No" to increasing punishment
from 15 years to death sentence.

Poletik says "No" to severe sentences by
the judiciary against prisoners of conscience.

Last week the national Iranian volleyball
team achieved a great victory.

We don't want to be accused of

discriminating between
football and volleyball

and therefore we're going to dedicate

this show to the powerful presence

of the Iranian national volleyball team

in the world championships.

Here are some exclusive pictures

of Iran's presence in the world
volleyball league.

Dear viewers, we're sorry about
problems in the live broadcast.

It happens. It's live.

This is my show!

Lift your finger from the
censorship button.

The censorship guy's finger is
stuck on that button.

I'm afraid when he's driving in his
car he can't help pressing that button

and censoring half of his car.

Then when they're asked about
what they're afraid of

they say we're not afraid of anything.

Nothing at all!

Zarif: I'm not afraid of anything.

So what's talking about?

Reporter: Can I ask you about the internet?

You and the president are active
on Twitter.

You have sent messages of
congratulations to Jews.

And you have written very negative
messages about Israel.

But as a whole I find it very interesting

that these efforts are part of your
effort to open some doors.

But at the same time Twitter is
banned in Iran.

What are you afraid of?

Zarif: I'm not afraid of anything.

Or else I would not use it myself.

Oh yeah! Mr. Zarif isn't afraid of anything.

But he thinks people want the government
to protect their children

by censoring and filtering the internet.

That's what the people want!

People themselves are demanding
to be censored!

Why can't you understand this?

Zarif: [Immorality] is not the
only use for the internet,

but a group, a portion of our
population sees it in that light

and expects the government
to protect their children

from the profanity and pornography
and prostitution and other…

What is he saying?

God Forbid, is he saying that children

are ignoring their parents' orders

and going on the internet to look

for blasphemy, porn and prostitution

and "like" Javad Zarif's posts on Facebook?

Not only the parents of Iranian kids

but also it seems the parents of Polish
kids have also asked

their government to protect them.

Polish Foreign Minister:

From Isfahan I tried to log on to the website
of a major Polish newspaper and,

unfortunately I could not do it…

I was told that the website
was blocked by censorship.

For us coming from a country that
fought for freedom of speech,

that came as a shock.

We asked a question.

Whenever we get into a hole
we ask questions.

The question was about a

Minister of Islamic Guidance

in Iran in previous years,

the country you live in
and I no longer do.

The parents of the poet
Nezami Ganjavii

asked the Iranian government

to protect their children from

the story of "Khosrow and Shirin".

Here's the news:

Minister of Islamic Guidance
Mohammad Hosseini says

We have censored "Khosrow and Shirin"
for children.

Bravo! Great Move! Thank you!

That was in the previous government.

It doesn't count.

It's good that they dealt
with Nezami Ganjavi.

Meanwhile the family of
the Great Leader

has asked the government
to protect his children

Even though the kids have
all grown up adults now,

still the family want
to protect them.

Ayatollah Khamenei came on
TV and said "Ash" (soup)

but it was censored.

You don't believe me?

Here it is:

Khamenei: Some people are

pretending to be hotter than ...

When they censor things

they increase people's
power of imagination.

Today if people see two
holes in the ground

they might think they are
Angelina Jolie's nostrils.

If they see a cobweb

they might say it's
Nicole Kidman's hair.

It has come to a point that
you won't dare

show Windows XP's
desktop image to anyone!

Do you remember it?

It was a field with a curve on top

that some people said
if you zoom back

it shows certain body
parts of certain people.

In recent years curves and bends

have been quite an issue.

A few years ago the head of the
ethical division of the police force

said women's clothing should be
long and hide body curves.

Here's the news:

General Rouzbehani said tight clothes
have become a new fashion

and he insisted that they will
not be tolerated.

He added that women's clothing
should be long and hide their body curves.

Body curves are an issue for this guy.

It has become such an issue that

people have become sensitive to
any kind of curve.

If they see a rainbow they might say

it's the bad body part of so and so.

That's the rainbow you see behind me.

Continuing with the curvy discussion

shopkeepers now have to cut off

the curves of their mannequins

so that people's wild imagination
won't lead to any confusing ideas.

The mannequins you see behind me

have had their breasts cut off.

Those of you who go to Ferdowsi Bazaar
in Tehran know better what they are.

What's interesting to me is how

the country's rulers have created policy

based on their imagination of what
the people are imagining.

If they had focused their thoughts
on Mendeleev'a periodic table

they would have discovered
a couple of dozen new elements.

Now show us this clip:

These beautiful Iranian women

are representing us in Italy

where everyone is good looking.

The Iranian women are so beautiful that

eyes were popping out

at the Iranian state TV and

they showed flowers and birds

whenever Italian TV showed
Iranian women fans.

Viewers thought maybe these
women wanted to...

... in the middle of the stadium

and that's why they are
being censored.

They were cut out of the broadcast

because maybe, God Forbid,

they were kissing, or hugging.

But as you saw in the original
Italian broadcast

the Iranian women fans were

just sitting and cheering for Iran

in a very nice and classy way.

They were all hip and cool.

But Iranian families demanded

Iranian state TV not to show those scenes.

Zarif:.. [Conservative populaton] expects
the government to protect their children

from the profanity and pornography
and prostitution and other…

This what the families want.

The situation has become such that

between me and you,

there are traditional things
among us Iranians

that should be considered.

Some of them are very bad.

These days when a guy wants
to get married

they ask the bride if her
family is informed or not.

In the past 20 years

thanks to censorship

and...

One of the other achievements
of censorship

has been that people now have
a good sense of direction.

What was that...?

Today if you ask someone in
front of the House of God in Mecca

where's the direction of the Qibla

he wouldn't know.

But if you ask where's the direction

of the Hotbird satellite signal

he will tell you the exact horizontal
and vertical coordinates.

People used to have a compass

to find the House of God.

Now they have a finder to tell

them how to connect to Hotbird.

What's the next achievement of censorship?

You couldn't find a better picture
of a satellite dish?

The other achievement of censorship
has been that ...

people have become sensitive to
natural disasters.

Before when there were storms
nobody cared.

Now when a wind blows, people say:

"The direction of our dish has changed."

There are the achievements of

trying to protect people's kids.

The filtering which Mr. Zarif is not afraid of

has created so many thousand
job opportunities.

Did you know that?

Someone writes a software in the
other corner of the world

and sells it to the Iranian government
to filter websites.

Then he writes a software
to break the filters

and sells it to the Iranian people

to access the same filtered sites.

Then we find out both softwares

are infected with viruses.

So he writes an anti-virus software

and sells it to both sides.

We are the only country in the world

where beautiful, fashionable people

get arrested if they go to sports events.

Or if they go to sports events abroad

there will be technical difficulties
in showing them on live TV.

But if the same people go to a
demonstration against the enemies

state TV will shove their pictures
down our throat

for a whole day or two.

This is a photo of Iranians who went
to Iran's volleyball game.

And this a photo of beautiful friends who

took part in glorious demonstrations.

In any case we thank censors for

increasing people's imagination

and we thank them for inspiring
scientific progress.

We thank the government for

forcefully protecting people's kids.

We thank it for boosting the
production of trays

for satellite dishes

and we hope all officials are happy
and satisfied with censorship

and so on...

Nateq-Nouri, the Supreme Leader's
representative, defended Rouhani's government

while Shirazi, another representative of
the Supreme Leader, in the Qods Force

called on youths not to be silent

and to come to the scene to
confront the government.

Jafari, also a representative of the
Supreme Leader in Kerman

said the Rouhani government is
taking a rational course.

Zolnour, the Supreme Leader's rep
in the Revolutionary Guards said

the religious faithful are distrustful
of Rouhani's government.

Meanwhile the Supreme Leader's rep
in Gilan said he supports Rouhani.

On the other hand Shariatmadari,

the Supreme Leader's representative
in Kayhan newspaper said:

The continuation of the Rouhani
government benefits Iran's enemies.

Then the Supreme Leader's rep
in Lurestan said:

The people are pinning their hopes on
the Rouhani government.

Ali Saeedi, another Supreme Leader
rep in the Revolutionary Guards,

pointed out 20 examples of Rouhani's
secular policies

and said a secular government will
be the revival of the Bani Ommayyids.

Bani Ommayyids?

Why Bani Ommayyids?

What's the big deal?

These statements are all coming from

representatives of Mr. Number One.

Shouldn't representatives of one person
reflect the views of that same person?

How many Supreme Leaders are
there in the country?

Each one of them has a different view.

If things were rational and
based on brain power,

representatives of a person or country

should express the positions of that
same person or country.

It's like Iran's representative at the
U.N. taking the position of Palestine.

[Objections]

OK. I apologize.

That was not a good example.

After all the Iranian government
does defend Palestinian positions.

I'll give you another example.

It would be like the Iranian government
reflecting the views of

the people of Lebanon or the
people of Egypt.

[Objections!]

OK. My bad.

Now that I thought about it again

I realized that the Iranian government

actually does defend the positions
of the Lebanese and Egyptian people.

Let's get out of politics.

It's like a Toyota dealership selling Hondas.

[Approval!]

Just imagine this guy is Toyota.

And this other guy is supposed
to sell Toyotas in one of the provinces.

But instead he sells Honda motorcycles!

You can't do that!

Can you?

You can't!

You really can't.

The question is why the Supreme Leader's
representatives make contradictory statements?

"That's the question."

That is the question.

One of the reasons is that in
the month of May

the Supreme Leader's views are
closer to this man.

In June he's closer to this man.

On Mondays he exercises.

On Tuesdays he has challenges.

On Saturdays at 11 in the morning

he has one point of view.

Then at 1 in the afternoon on
the same day he has a different view.

Just like the story of Hasani

the father does one thing and
the son follows.

One other reason could be that
the Supreme Leader's views are vague.

For instance the Supreme Leader

has told the Islamic Guidance Minister

the current Mr. Jannati,

not the old one,

this one,

that he has a lot to say to him.

But then he has said nothing else.

What does that mean?

Does that mean he's supportive?

Critical?

What does he have to say?

Does he have good things
to say or bad?

Does he want to say, Bravo!

Or does he want to say,
You suck!

What does it mean when you say,

I have a lot to say, but you don't
say anything to him.

That's why the Supreme Leader's rep
in Fars Province

doesn't understand what the Leader
means whenever he listens to him.

He telephone his friend, the Supreme
Leader's rep in Isfahan

and he says, the Leader was really
kind to the Guidance Minister.

He was so gentle and considerate.

The Friday Prayer leader of Isfahan replies:

Yes indeed the Leader is very
upset with the Minister.

So he doesn't even know what the Leader

means when he says he has a lot
of things to say.

Why don't you say what you want to say?

As a result the Supreme Leader's reps
keep calling his office.

Depending on who might be there
at that moment,

depending whether he's had his tea,
and is in a good mood,

he might answer the phone.

Let's say the Leader's son Mostafa
picks up the phone.

He might give his personal interpretation
of what the Leader meant.

He'll say he heard his father talk
and what he really meant was this.

But don't tell anyone!

When someone says, Don't tell anyone,

that means tell everybody!

You may ask why should the Leader
of a country have reps

other than ambassadors who represent
the country?

He not only selects Revolutionary Guard
commanders, but also

he has 10 reps here and there
int he Guards as well.

Not only does he pick the governors
and Friday Prayer leaders,

but he also has to have a personal rep
in all the provinces and counties

in Akbarabad and Mahmoudabad and
Hasanabad Oliya

as well as my own neighborhood.

Not only does he pick members of
the Council of Guardians,

which itself vets many other officials,

and controls the elections,

and objects to MPs who shout:
"Two! Two!"

and criticizes the impeachment of
Ahmadinejad's ministers.

Then when MPs DON'T impeach

Rouhani's ministers, he complains to them.

What we have here is agencies
and ministries

run by officials selected by the indirect
vote of the people,

or in fact the direct vote of the
Council of Guardians.

People! Friends!

What I'm saying is that these
same agencies and ministries

are being controlled by
another entity.

And then there's a rep from
the Supreme Leader

to control both of them!

Look at the Revolutionary Guards.

Its commanders are chosen
by the Leader.

And at the same time

there are representatives there
who are the Leader's direct aides.

That's why when you listen to

speeches by 7 Guards' commanders

it would seem there are 7 different
parties within this single force.

Each one of them has a
different point of view.

That's why a third of the country's budget

is spent by the government to

reconstruct the country.

implement reforms,

or carry out social justice.

Another third of the budget

is spent by parliament to
stop the government's policies

and another third of the budget

is spent by the Judiciary to stop plans

by the legislative and
executive branches.

The government spends
the national budget

to implement the
Leader's commands.

Let me repeat that.

The government spends
the national budget

to implement the
Leader's commands

and negotiates with the West.

Then the state radio and TV
airs programs

to implement the Leader's
other commands

regarding attacks on the government.

At noon, the government
represents the Leader.

In the evening, Kayhan newspaper
represents the Leader.

And at night, state TV's 20:30 show
represents the Leader.

Of course on Fridays. it's the
Friday Prayer leaders

who each one gives his view
of the Leader's views.

In the end, what's the point?

Khamenei wants everything to
be according to his taste.

That's one way of doing things.

But at least the Leader has
to have some taste and style

in politics and statesmanship.

Or at leader to have SOMETHING to offer.

You, Respected Sir,

are ruling the country in the
most ancient and traditional style

resembling King Nimrod.

You have nothing to boast about.

You have no taste.

At one point this country

was ruled by a tasteful man like Cyrus.

He had good taste.

He represented his modern age.

He wrote a declaration which
still to this day

held up as a hip document.

We were hip in those days.

We were all happy in that country.

You don't remember those days.

They were really good times.

We had taste.

Poletik: A program from the dugouts
for the Hasan Rouhani Generation

Hosted by Kambiz Hosseini

Your guest this week is Ms. Shirin Ebadi.

Ms. Ebadi is the winner of the
Nobel Peace Prize.

She is also the head of
Defenders of Human Rights Center.

Human Rights lawyer and activist
Shirin Ebadi was born in 1947 in Hamadan.

She was the 1st female judge but after the
Revolution, women were banned from judging.

in 2003 she received the Nobel Peace Prize
for promoting human rights and democracy.

Ebadi's clients in Iran included families of
slain dissidents and imprisoned Bahai leaders.

She founded the Society for Protecting
the Rights of the Child in 2005.

Ebadi founded Defenders of Human Rights Center
in 2001 but was forced to shut down in 2010.

Ebadi and her family were forced to leave
Iran under pressure in 2009.

Hosseini: Thank you Ms. Ebadi for
coming to our show.

Everywhere else in the world

when someone wins the Nobel Prize,

the people of that country
speak proudly of them.

Like right here in the U.S.

When Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize
even his opponents congratulated him

and it was considered a
moment of national pride.

Why does the Islamic Republic
oppose you so much.

Ebadi: The reason why the Islamic
Republic opposes me is that

we consistently collected evidence
of human rights abuses in Iran

and we are continuing to do so.

And officials are upset with me

because I defend those who oppose
the state and fight for democracy.

They are particularly upset with
why I don't charge for my service.

Hosseini: Why don't you charge them?

Ebadi: Because they have no money to pay.

These are people who have been
persecuted for years.

They usually have no money to
pay for legal services.

That's why we recognized that such
individuals who go on trial

are eventually forced to accept
state-appointed lawyers.

Therefore we tried to help those who
are fighting for freedom.

I and some friends established the
Defenders of Human Rights Center.

About 20 lawyers worked with us.

And still do.

Hosseini: Inside Iran?

Ebadi: Inside Iran.

They work without any fee.

Hosseini: When international organizations
and groups such as yours

point out the government's
human rights abuses

officials often resort to the claim
that what they are doing

is not against human rights

and in fact they claim such rights
don't exist in our Islamic culture.

How much truth does that hold?

Ebadi: Their claim is completely wrong.

Human rights is a universal principle.

It is compatible with any
culture or religion.

I'm going to tell you about
one of my experiences.

When Khatami was president

the 6th Parliament passed a bill

confirming Iran's membership in the
convention against torture.

The Council of Guardians vetoed the bill.

They said it was against Islam
and therefore will not be passed.

At that time I wrote a
column and asked:

Are you saying torture exists in Islam?

The convention bans any form of
torture and physical punishment.

And you're saying that's against Islam?

So this argument is just an
excuse to mistreat the people.

Hosseini: We here are proud of
your Nobel Prize.

Are you in touch with other
Nobel Prize winners

like Obama or the Dalai Lama?

Can you pick up the phone
and call them

and ask Obama or the Dalai Lama
how they are doing?

Can you do that?

Ebadi: I am in touch with some
of the Nobel Prize winners

and we collaborate internationally.

Hosseini: Who for example?

Ebadi: The Dalai Lama for example.

Hosseini: Give him my best regards.

Ebadi: I will certainly do that.

In October we will have a meeting

in Dharamsala, where Tibetan
refugees are based.

But we have not had any joint
international actions with Mr. Obama.

Hosseini: Obama is acting as if
he's above you.

What do you think of the nuclear
negotiations.

How do you think the outcome
of the negotiations

will impact the human rights
situation in Iran?

Could it make things better or worse?

Ebadi: I hope the Iranian government

will reach an agreement with the West

and the sanctions are removed.

Because these sanctions have
caused a lot of harm.

The important thing is that we
must inform the public

about the dangers of having
nuclear technology.

Specifically regarding the
nuclear power plants.

In Bushehr we have a
nuclear power plant

which has been under
construction for 30 years.

The cost has been very high,

in addition to the sanctions.

The plant, under the best
circumstances

can only produce 3 percent
of Iran''s electricity.

Also the plant has been constructed
on three earthquake fault lines.

My question is, have they thought
about the people if there's a quake?

And what are they going to do with
the nuclear energy waste?

Where will they burry it?

Hosseini: You have studied law.

Your daughter has also studied law.

There are many who are
studying law in Iran

and trying to become fair,
conscientious and independent lawyers.

Can that happen under
the current education system?

Ebadi: That depends on the
individual's point of view

as well as society's circumstances.

When we were studying law,

intellectual things like the
theater, or political activities

were very attractive to
young people like us.

I remember when I was
attending law school,

it was very bad if one
of us used a taxi.

We would be accused of
being spoiled.

Instead we would try to
take the bus

to show we are with the people.

Today young people
only think about money.

That's because unfortunately society
has been driven towards a direction

where values are only material ones.

Our program has come to an end.

I thank you very much for watching.

I want to say something quickly.

Do we have time?

In the following 2 weeks we will
not have new shows.

Instead we will show you a
compilation of previous shows.

Be with us next week at 10pm Tehran time

via Radio Farda's Hotbird satellite channel.

You can watch the best segments
from our past 50 shows

on my Facebook page.

After these two weeks we will
be back with new shows

about current evens in Iran.