Israel, the homeland of brutality and cruelty

Kourosh Ziabari - Press TV: It's not that much of a surprise that Israel has one of the blackest human rights records in the world. It's not expected of the dogmatic regime which relentlessly kills innocent civilians, including defenseless children and women on a daily basis, to respect the rights of human beings and their dignity.

Israel is one of the gravest violators of human rights in the world and despite the unconditional US-sanctioned support which it receives in the stage of international community, human rights activists and organizations have usually lambasted this vicious regime for its violations of human rights and inattentiveness to the political, social and religious freedoms of either its own people or the citizens of the Occupied Territories.

One of the instances of human rights violation by the Israeli regime is the employment of disproportionate force against the peaceful demonstrations of the Palestinian citizens. According to the reports released by the US Department of State, Israel has for long used firearm and advanced ammunitions to cease the gatherings and demonstrations of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories.

On September 28, 2000, the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the Haram al-Sharif in al-Quds. On September 29, Palestinians held large demonstrations and threw stones at the police forces which had tried to disperse the protesters using tear-gas. According to the US Department of State report, "police used rubber-coated metal bullets and live ammunition to disperse the demonstrators, killing 4 persons and injuring about 200."

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Interview with Alain de Botton

Kourosh Ziabari - Alain de Botton is a Swiss public intellectual, author, philosopher, television presenter and entrepreneur living in the United Kingdom. He has written several books on literature, philosophy, art, travel and architecture. In August 2008, he established a new educational enterprise in London called "The School of Life". Among his prominent books are "How Proust Can Change Your Life", "The Consolations of Philosophy" and "The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work".

De Botton is an honorary fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The title was awarded to him in recognition of his services to art and architecture. His books are translated into several languages and are among the best-selling works of literature in so many countries, including Iran. What follows is the complete text of an in-depth interview with Alain de Botton where we discussed a variety of topics and issues concerning philosophy, art, literature, travel and architecture.

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Blurred destiny of Egypt in 2011

Press TV - Kourosh Ziabari :As the Egyptian 2011 Presidential election approaches, the international community's concerns over the grave violation of human rights and suppression of political activists and dissidents in this African country grows increasingly.

Unfortunately, what's demonstrable under the current political circumstances of Egypt is that the African country is no more a representative of the glorious civilization of the Ancient Egypt. The footsteps of tolerance and freedom cannot be traced in the policies of the government of Cairo and to add insult to the injury, we should confess that Egypt currently has one of the most repressive and tyrannical regimes in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohamed ElBaradei who was named as one of the potential candidates for the second presidential election in the history of Egypt has described the Egyptian democracy as a "sham" and called for an all-out boycott of the elections. "Total boycott of elections and signing petition are first steps to unmask sham 'democracy.' Participation would be contrary to the national will," wrote Mr. ElBaradei in a post to his Twitter webpage.

According to the constitutional laws of Egypt, every potential candidate needs at least 250 signatures from the Shura Council and People's Assembly, the upper and lower houses of Egypt's legislature, in order to legitimize his bid for presidency. The Shura Council and People's Assembly are overwhelmingly dominated by the supporters of the President Hosni Mubarak.

Iran, a victim of state-sponsored terrorism

Kourosh Ziabari - Those who mischievously called Iran a part of the so-called "Axis of Evil" and put its name in their fabricated list of the state sponsors of terrorism - the list from which the name of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime was removed in 1982 so that the United States and its European stooges could rationalize their unjustified, immoral and insane war against Iran - have blatantly forgotten that Iran has been long one of the guiltless victims of terrorism, sponsored by the United States, Israel, UK and their puppets in the Middle East.

Following the victory of Islamic Revolution in 1979 as a consequence of which the government of the US-backed Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi was toppled and the charismatic religious leader Imam Khomeini became the Supreme Leader, several efforts were made by the United States and its cronies to destabilize the newly-born Iran and sow the seeds of insecurity, fear and terror all over the country; a country which had released itself from the tyranny of the US-installed Shah and embraced a new era of prosperity and success.

At the early years of Islamic Revolution which promoted the establishment of a government ruled by the teachings of Islam and the law of God, the United States and its European cronies -- the so-called 'pioneers of human rights' -- unconditionally supported MKO, a terrorist organization which had explicitly expressed that it would take arms against the Islamic Republic and will fight until the subversion of Iran's government.

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Asia to Gaza: A peace-seeking journey

Kourosh Ziabari - The veteran anti-Zionist journalist and peace activist Uri Avnery believes that Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu is lying when he says that the Gaza siege exists in order to prevent the entry of illegal weaponry into the strip.

As a matter of fact, the anguishing blockade of 1.5 million people living in the enclave is exercised in order to lay on the line the political power of the democratically-elected government of Hamas and decrease its popularity in the eyes of the people of Gaza who have so far supported their beloved government unconditionally, even in the most excruciating situations of poverty, unemployment and homelessness.

The inhumane and merciless blockade of Gaza which was set in motion with the complicity of the government of Egypt in 2007 has caused a tragic humanitarian crisis in the region and provoked international protests, even in the United States and other Western countries whose governments have blindly submitted themselves to the atrocious statesmen of Israel.

Since the beginning of the imposition of siege on Gaza which is about to enter its fourth year next month, the Zionist regime has even prevented the entry of construction materials, automobiles, foodstuffs, medicine and other basic humanitarian needs into the strip. This siege seems so bizarre and nonsensical that has even irritated the American politicians. "When have lentil bombs been going off lately? Is someone going to kill you with a piece of macaroni?" asked US Republican Congressman Brian Laird in a March 2009 visit to the Gaza Strip upon finding that pasta, macaroni and lentil seeds are in Israel's list of forbidden commodities which should not be allowed entry to Gaza.

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Britain's black human rights record

Kourosh Ziabari - As the UK cracks down on the angry students who have taken to the streets of London over the past week to protest the overnight increase of the university tuition fees, the international community's concern over Britain's dark human rights record grows steadily.

According to the UK media, scores of students have been arrested during the protests, the majority of whom are accused by the Scotland Yard of what is called to be "violent disorder".

The son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour is among the arrested students. Charlie Gilmour was arrested after he was seen by the police forces while swinging from the flag of the United Kingdom, also known as the Union Flag. On Friday, he released a public apology, insisting that he had not realized that what he was climbing was the Cenotaph.

According to UK's Express, Home Secretary Theresa May announced on Sunday night that water cannons could be used by the police forces to disperse the protesting crowds. High-powered jets have been employed in Northern Ireland for many decades.

During the protests, a Rolls Royce carrying Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall was attacked by the furious protesters who splashed white paint on the car and shattered one of its rear windows. The UK Prime Minister outspokenly warned the protesters of the consequences of their "regrettable" action. David Cameron said that he wants to bring the full weight of the law against the protesters who attacked the royal vehicle and told the police to take lesson from the "regrettable" incidence, the Associated Press has reported.

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Russian federation of suppression

Kourosh Ziabari - Let's call a spade a spade and frankly acknowledge that Russia, despite being a political and economic superpower, is a domestically repressive regime which usually fails to tolerate its dissidents and critics. That's why Russia is one of the countries which are conventionally reprimanded for their black human rights record by the international community.

The recent "Freedom in the World" report by the US-based Freedom House organization indicates that Russia is one of the 8 countries in the Central, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union region which are described as "not free," a record which is dramatically dishonorable for the giant political superpower. This means that Russia is one of the 47 countries in the world which have received the least scores in political rights and civil liberties. This is while impoverished African nations such as Benin and Namibia have received the highest scores among the African countries and are titled as free nations.

The same goes for Russia's press freedom record. Of the 178 countries which were surveyed by the "Reporters Without Borders" for the recognition of the degree of press freedom, Russia perplexingly stood 140th, being preceded by the likes of Egypt, Zimbabwe and Israel which we already know have a black record of suppressing the dissident media and are home to a large number of world's incarcerated journalists.

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PGCC: The axis of treachery

Kourosh Ziabari - Unconditionally backed, financed and armed by the United States, the Arab states of Persian Gulf are broadcasting signals of their willingness to turn into the new enemies of Iran in an orchestrated effort to jeopardize and undermine the growing political dominance of the Islamic Republic over the Middle East.

The Persian Gulf Cooperation Council wrapped up its annual meeting in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday in the wake of the latest WikiLeaks documents which said Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and UAE had implored the United States to attack Iran so as to avert the alleged threat of a "nuclear Iran."

According to the classified information that the WikiLeaks released, Saudi Arabia which is home to the world's largest terrorist gang and has long awarded all of its financial contracts to the Saudi Bin Laden Group, obsequiously has asked the Bush administration to launch a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and prevent Tehran from acquiring "nuclear bombs."

The coincidence of the publication of WikiLeaks documents and the issuance of (P)GCC declaration which seemed to be an anti-Iranian manifesto rather than the joint statement of the member states transpired to be an embarrassment for the Arab world which seems to have yielded to Israel, the common enemy of the Islamic Ummah and focused on attacking Iran instead.

From one hand, Iran is seeing that the neighboring Muslim state with which it has co-existed peacefully for so long is turning into a hostile enemy which tends to betray it in a perfidious manner, and this is a bitter reality which is very hard to believe. Iran annually sends the largest delegations of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia and the government of Riyadh immensely benefits from the money which the Iranian pilgrims lavishly spend there; however, the Arab state which has allusively shown its inclination for normalizing the ties with the Zionist regime deceived its Muslim ally to cajole the United States subserviently.

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Interview with Wayne Madsen

Kourosh Ziabari - Wayne Madsen is an American investigative journalist and columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the political blog “Wayne Madsen Report”. He has appeared on ABC News, NBC, CBS, PBS, CNN, BBC, Al-Jezeera, MSNBC and Press TV. Madsen has written the introduction to the book “Forbidden Truth: U.S.-Taliban Secret Oil Diplomacy, Saudi Arabia and the Failed Search for bin Laden”. Madsen’s articles have appeared on a number of news websites and magazines including Global Research, Pacific Free Press, Online Journal, Counter Punch, The American Conservative, Tehran Times and In These Times.

Madsen has more than 20 years of experience in security affairs. As a U.S. Naval Officer, he managed one of the first computer security programs for the U.S. Navy. He has also worked for the NSA National Security Agency, the Naval Data Automation Command, Department of State, RCA Corporation, and Computer Sciences Corporation.

Madsen joined me in an exclusive interview and answered my questions about the 9/11 attacks, Israel’s dominance over the U.S. media and the prospect of Iran-U.S. relations.

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Interview with Prof. Robert Jensen

Kourosh Ziabari - Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center in Austin.

Jensen joined the UT faculty in 1992 after completing his Ph.D. in media ethics and law in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a professional journalist for a decade. At UT, Jensen teaches courses in media law, ethics, and politics.

In his research, Jensen draws on a variety of critical approaches to media and power. Much of his work has focused on pornography and the radical feminist critique of sexuality and men's violence, and he also has addressed questions of race through a critique of white privilege and institutionalized racism.

In addition to teaching and research, Jensen writes for popular media, both alternative and mainstream. His opinion and analytic pieces on such subjects as foreign policy, politics, and race have appeared in papers around the country. He contributes to local organizing in Austin, TX, through his work with the Third Coast Activist Resource Center, and the progressive community center 5604 Manor.

Prof. Robert JensenProf. Jensen joined me in an exclusive interview to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, the prospect of Iran-U.S. relations, the ongoing military campaign of the Israeli regime in Palestine, the biased coverage of the Middle East affairs by the mainstream media and the failure of President Obama in repairing the damaged picture of the United States in the global stage.

Prof Jensen believes that Obama is a less belligerent president than Bush. "Obama recognizes that the United States can't impose its will on the world in the fashion that it has in the past. Yet Obama is still committed to the maintenance of the empire. No imperial U.S. president or official has ever deserved a Nobel Peace Prize. In fact, I can't think of a single head of state who would be deserving," he says.

With regards to the U.S.-Israeli relations, Prof. Jensen believes: "United States puts up with defiance from Israel that it wouldn't tolerate from other client states, but we should remember that U.S. policymakers don't make decisions based on humanitarian grounds. They want to extend and deepen, or at least maintain U.S. power, and those policymakers believe Israel is useful in that regard."

Here is the full transcript of my in-depth interview with Robert Jensen, the professor of journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

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Interview with Prof. Robert Jensen by Kourosh Ziabari - Intifada Palestine

Interview with Erri De Luca

Kourosh Ziabari - Erri De Luca is an internationally-renowned Italian poet and writer. "Corriere della Sera" literature critic Giorgio De Rienzo has called him "the writer of the decade". He started writing since he was 20; however, his first book was published in 1989, when he was 39 years old. Upon graduating from high school in 1968, he joined the newly-established far-left, extra-parliamentary organization of Lotta Continua. The political activities of the organization were terminated early in 1976. Erri De Luca speaks several languages, including English, French, Hebrew and Yiddish.

He is the author of several books including "Montedidio" which has won him The Prix Femina award. Erri De Luca has translated several books of Bible into Italian, including Exodus, Jonah, Ecclesiastes and Ruth. His works have been translated and published in various countries such as Spain , Iran , Portugal , Germany , Holland , USA , Brazil , Poland , Norway , Danmark , Romania , Greece and Lithuania .

De Luca joined me in an exclusive interview and answered my questions on his works and his views on literature, culture, politics and society.

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İsrail'in şeytani politikaları...

Kourosh Ziabari - Eski bir terörizm uzmanı ve CIA’de bir ordu istihbarat görevlisi olan Philip Giraldi ile bir mülakat gerçekleştirdim.Philip Giraldi şimdi Milli Çıkarlar Konseyinde(CNI) baş direktör olarak görev yapıyor. CNI, Ortadoğu’da Amerikan politikalarının transformasyonu için çalışan kar amacı gütmeyen bir organizasyon.

İşte Philip Giraldi ile yaptığım o röportaj;

Kourosh Ziabari: Neden İsrail lobisi bu kadar güçlü, nüfuz sahibi ve yetkili? Neredeyse ABD’deki bütün büyük medya holdingleri durumu iyi olan ve İsrail devletinin çıkarlarına sadık kalma taahhüdü vermiş olan Yahudilere ait. Bazı uzmanlar İsrail’in Oratadoğu’da ki ABD politikalarının temsilcisi olduğunu söylüyorlar ama diğer bazıları da aslında ABD’de hayata geçecek olan politikaların aslında İsrail tarafından belirlendiğini söylüyor. Sizin bu konudaki görüşünüz nedir?

Philiph Giraldi: İsrail Lobisi çok güçlü çünkü ABD’de anahtar rolde olan elementlerin kontrolünü elinde tutuyor. Birçok kez örneği görüldüğü gibi İsrail’e “dostane yaklaşmayan” politikacılar yeniden seçilme noktasında ciddi problemlerle karşı karşıya kalıyorlar çünkü İsrail lobisi onların muhaliflerine para ve medya desteği sağlıyor. Bu, kongrenin İsrail’in ve onun lobisinin istediği herhangi bir şeye karşı durmaktan çekindiği anlamına geliyor. Aynı şey Amerikan başkanlığı için de geçerli. ABD’de her başkan adayı İsrail’e karşı dost görünmek zorunda aksi takdirde medyada bir saldırı furyasına maruz kalacak ve siyasi yaşamını sürdürmesi için gerekli olan milyonlarca dolardan mahrum kalacaktır. Ve bu İsrail’e olan desteği daha güvenli kılmak adına yapılıyor. Ve son olarak İsrail çıkarlarını savunanlar medyanın büyük bölümünü elinde tutuyor ve bundan daha da önemlisi yorum ve editöryal sayfaları kontrol ederek Amerikalıların Ortadoğu hakkında duyduğu şeylerin İsrail’in nişine gelecek cinsten olmasını ve İsrail’in düşmanlarına karşı da kıyasıya eleştirel olmasını teminat altına alıyorlar. Bunun sonucu olarak da İsrail ABD dış siyasetini, Ortadoğu ve İslam dünyasının çoğunluğuyla ilgili olarak kontrol ediyor ...

Israel es la amenaza más inmediata para el futuro del planeta

Kourosh Ziabari - Jeffrey Blankfort es un fotoperiodista estadounidense, productor de radio y analista de Oriente Medio. Es un bien conocido activista en favor de Palestina cuyos artículos y escritos se publican en muchas publicaciones progresistas.

Actualmente está presentando programas en KZYX en Mendocino, California, y KPOO, en San Francisco. Blankfort fue director de Middle East Labor Bulletin y co-fundador de Labor Committee of the Middle East. En febrero de 2002 ganó un pleito contra la organización sionista Liga Anti Difamación (Anti-Defamation League, ADL) de la que se descubrió que había espiado a ciudadanos estadounideses crítivos con Israel y sus políticas expansionistas.

Jeffrey me concedió una entrevista exclusiva para discutir sobre la influencia del lobby israelí sobre quienes toman decisiones en el gobierno estadounidense, el ilegal y clandestino programa nuclear israelí, las perspectivas del conflicto israelo-palestino y la inminente amenaza de un ataque israelí contra las instalaciones nucleares iraníes.

Blankfort es bastante franco en sus críticas contra el régimen de apartheid de Israel y cree que Israel es la amenaza más inmediata para el futuro de nuestro planeta ...

I paladini dei diritti umani dove sono?

Kourosh Ziabari - Uno dei miei migliori amici è affetto da un disturbo ossessivo compulsivo, una grave malattia mentale che ha quasi paralizzato tutta la sua vita. Gli è stata diagnosticata con la psicosi all’età di 15 anni e ora, più di un decennio dopo,è sposato e ha due figli.Gli psichiatri in Iran gli hanno consigliato di andare all’estero e di perseguire il suo trattamento sotto la supervisione di un gruppo di qualificati professionisti esperti, tuttavia, anche se era finanziariamente in grado di affrontare le spese di una tale soluzione è rimasto in Iran.

Gli psichiatri in Iran hanno prescritto diversi farmaci per il mio amico e lui li ha presi negli ultimi anni, tuttavia, quando l’ho incontrato qualche settimana fa, mi ha informato di una sconvolgente notizia di cui ancora non riesco a capacitarmi.Il mio amico mi ha detto che i produttori canadesi e italiani dei sui medicinali hanno cessato di esportare i loro prodotti in Iran dopo l’istituzione delle sanzioni contro l’Iran imposte dal Consiglio di Sicurezza delle Nazioni Unite ed è possibile che si rifiutino anche di esportare altri farmaci a seguito delle sanzioni.Mi ha detto che i suoi psichiatri non sono in grado di prescrivergli medicinali efficaci, originali per lo più, e questo può compromettere seriamente la sua salute mentale e anche mettere la sua vita familiare a rischio.

La mia reazione istintiva a ciò che il mio amico mi disse non fu altro che perplessità e confusione. Non riuscivo a capire il rapporto tra una serie di sanzioni che riguardano il “controverso” programma iraniano nucleare e la salute mentale di migliaia di pazienti che sono affetti da diversi tipi di psicosi in tutto il paese ...

Which "human" rights do you call for?

Kourosh Ziabari - One of my close friends is suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, a severe mental illness which has almost paralyzed his entire life. He was diagnosed with the psychosis at the age of 15 and now, more than a decade after that time, he is married and has two children. The psychiatrists in Iran have recommended him to go abroad and pursue his treatment under the supervision of a group of qualified, experienced practitioners; however, he was financially unable to afford the expenses of such a solution and remained in Iran.

Psychiatrists in Iran have prescribed several drugs for my friend and he has been taking them over the past years; however, when I met him a few weeks ago, he informed me of a shocking, unanticipated incident which I'm still unable to believe. My friend told me that the Canadian and Italian manufacturers of his medicines have ceased exporting their products to Iran following the imposition of United Nations Security Council's fourth round of sanctions against Iran and it's possible that they refuse to export their other pharmaceutical products to the country as a result of the sanctions, as well. He told me that his psychiatrists are not able to prescribe the high-quality, original medicines for him anymore and this may seriously jeopardize his mental health and even put his family life into risk.

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Interview with Alan Hart

Kourosh Ziabari - Alan Hart is an indispensable name in journalism. Unquestionably, he has been one of the most influential British journalists with an expertise in the Middle East affairs. A former BBC Panorama presenter, Hart was a close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. During his fruitful career, Hart interviewed several prominent leaders including Saudi Arabia's King Faisal, Jordan's King Hussein and Egyptian Presidents Nasser and Sadat.

He was a media correspondent for the Independent Television Network and has covered the Vietnam War and Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well.

He is a vocal critic of Israel and its expansionistic policies and has repeatedly reprimanded the Arab leaders for their implicit complicity with Israel in its suppression of the Palestinian nation.

Alan Hart joined me in an exclusive, in-depth interview to explore the prospect of Israel-Palestinian conflict, the roots of Zionist lobby's influence over the U.S. Congress, the 9/11 conspiracy theories and the possibility of a U.S.-directed military strike against Iran.

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Interview with Tobias Buckell

Kourosh Ziabari - Born in Grenada in the Caribbean, Tobias Buckell is a New York Times Best-Seller science fiction and speculative fiction author. Having lived in Ohio since 1995, Buckell started submitting his writings to magazines and newspapers since he was in high school. He sold his first short story in an early age and continued selling stories to the American magazines since then. He has published four novels of which the most prominent ones are "Crystal Rain" and "Sly Mongoose". He has also written several short stories including "On The Eve of the Fall of Habesh" which was published in November 2010. Buckell is a professional blogger who writes on different issues concerning science fiction literature. In 2008, he donated his book archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University.

Tobias joined me in an exclusive interview and answered my questions on his career as a science fiction author, the characteristics of

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Interview with Jeffrey Blankfort

Kourosh Ziabari - Jeffrey Blankfort is an American photojournalist, radio producer and Middle East analyst. He currently hosts radio programs on KZYX in Mendocino, CA and KPOO in San Francisco. Blankfort was formerly the editor of the Middle East Labor Bulletin and co-founder of the Labor Committee of the Middle East. In February 2002, he won a lawsuit against the Zionist organization Anti-Defamation League (ADL) which was found to have been spying on the American citizens critical of Israel and its expansionistic policies.

Jeffrey joined me in an exclusive interview to discuss the influence of Israeli lobby on the decision-makers of the U.S. government, Israel’s illegal, underground nuclear program, the prospect of Israeli – Palestinian conflict and the imminent threat of an Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Blankfort is quite outspoken in his criticism of the apartheid regime of Israel and believes that Israel is the most immediate threat to the future of our planet.

Israel is the most immediate threat to the future of the planet / interview by Kourosh Ziabari

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Interview with Prof. John Hare

Kourosh Ziabari - Prof. John E. Hare is the Noah Porter Professor of Philosophical Theology at the Yale University’s Divinity School. A British classicist, philosopher and ethicist, he is the author of several well-known and best-selling books in religion and morality including “God and Morality: A Philosophical History”, “The Moral Gap”, “Ethics and International Affairs”, “Why Bother Being Good” and “Plato’s Euthyphro”.

John Hare has in his background the experience of teaching philosophy at the University of Lehigh from 1975 to 1989. In his “God’s Call” book, Hare discusses the divine command theory of morality, analyzing texts in Duns Scotus, Kant and contemporary moral theory.

John joined me in an exclusive interview and answered my questions on the necessity of establishing a universal inter-faith dialogue between the followers of Abrahamic religions, the impacts of materialism on the decline of ethical and moral values and the role of religion in solving the problems of contemporary man. He also answered my special question on the objectionable incidence of Quran burning in the United States on the anniversary of 9/11 attacks.

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Introduction of Kourosh Ziabari in We Are Wide Awake

Interview with Maidhc Ó Cathail

Kourosh Ziabari - Maidhc Ó Cathail is a widely-published Irish author and journalist. He has been living in Japan since 1999. Ó Cathail’s articles and commentaries have appeared on a number of media outlets and newspapers including Tehran Times, Khaleej Times, Antiwar.com, Foreign Policy Journal, Information Clearing House, Intifada Palestine, Pakistan Daily and Palestine Think Tank.

Maidhc joined me in an exclusive interview and responded to my questions about the 9/11 attacks, the influence of Israeli lobby over the U.S. administration, the prospect of Israeli – Palestinian conflict, the prolonged controversy over Iran’s nuclear program and the freedom of press in the United States.

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Interview with Philip Giraldi

Kourosh Ziabari - Philip Giraldi is a former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. Now, he chairs the Council for the National Interest as the Executive Director. CNI is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the transformation of United States’ Middle East policy.

As a CIA officer, Giraldi served in different countries including Turkey, Italy, Germany and Spain. He is now a Francis Walsingham Fellow at The American Conservative Defense Alliance. He has appeared on several radio and TV programs including Good Morning America, MSNBC, NPR, Fox News, BBC, Al-Jazeera and 60 Minutes.

Giraldi works with the American Conservative magazine as a contributing editor and writes a regular column for the Antiwar website. He is an outspoken critic of the hawkish policies of the United States and has publicly decried Washington’s unconditional support for the state of Israel.

Philip Giraldi joined me in an exclusive interview to discuss the latest developments of the Middle East, the prospect of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the possibility of a peaceful compromise between Iran and the United States and the impact of Israeli lobby on the long-term policies of the White House.

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Kourosh Ziabari interviews Philip Giraldi

The Cost of Telling the Truth in the United States

Kourosh Ziabari - "Rick Sanchez is no longer with the company. We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well." This frosty statement was the conclusion of Rick Sanchez’s 6-year-long career with the United States’ cable news network, CNN.

The award-winning Sanchez who had served in CNN’s Spanish service and covered the September 11 attacks for the network was fired on October 1 after granting an interview to the Sirius XM’s radio show “Stand Up With Pete Dominick” in which he implied that the Jews are dominating the mass media in the United States and just pretend to be a downtrodden, subjugated minority.

Sanchez criticized CNN’s Jewish “Daily Show” comedian Jon Stewart for directing offensive jokes at him in his nightly programs and called him a “bigot”. Answering a statement by Pete Dominick that Stewart belonged to a Jewish minority, Sanchez said: “Yeah, very powerless people. [laughs] He’s such a minority. I mean, you know, please. What—are you kidding? I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart. And to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority?”

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Interview with Prof. Craig Blomberg

Kourosh Ziabari - Craig L. Blomberg is the Distinguished Professor of the New Testament, and has been a New Testament scholar since 1986 at the Denver Seminary in Colorado. Denver Seminary where Prof. Blomberg teaches is an evangelical graduate-level institution that was founded in 1950. Blomberg delivers speeches and writes on a number of Christianity, religion-related issues regularly. He has published several books on the New Testament of which we can name “From Pentecost to Patmos: An Introduction to Acts Through Revelation” and “The Historical Reliability of John’s Gospel: Issues and Commentary”. He specializes in the parables and the writings of Luke-Acts.

Prof. Blomberg joined me in an interview to answer my questions on the recent incident of Quran burning in the United States, the inter-faith dialogue of the followers of Islam and Christianity, the contribution of religion to the global peace and stability, the role of religion in solving the problems of contemporary man and the dissolution of the basis of traditional family in the 21st century.

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Interview with Shahid R. Siddiqi

Kourosh Ziabari - The 2010 Pakistan flood was one of the most unpleasant and painful incidents of the year which attracted widespread international attention due to its extensiveness and destructive impacts. The floods started in July following heavy monsoon rains and overflow of the Indus River in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of Pakistan. It is estimated that more than two thousand people lost their lives and over a million homes were destroyed since the flooding began. According to the United Nations estimates, over 21 million people have been injured or displaced as a result of the devastative flood.

Pakistani journalist and former Air Force employee Shahid R. Siddiqi joined me in an interview to discuss the aftermaths of the unprecedented flood which

encompassed the whole Pakistan in a matter of days and caused serious damages to the country’s agriculture, industry, energy sector, infrastructures and even politics. Mr. Siddiqi answered my questions about the government’s management of the flood and the distribution of humanitarian aid sent by different countries to the flood-hit regions. He explained that how the unanticipated disaster paralyzed Pakistan in an astonishing way and surprised the unprepared government which failed to manage the crisis appropriately. In this interview, I also seized the opportunity to ask Mr. Siddiqi some questions about the prospect of Iran – Pakistan relations and Pakistan’s stance on Iran’s nuclear program.

Shahid R. Siddiqi has been a broadcaster with the Radio Pakistan and the Islamabad bureau chief of the “Pakistan and Gulf Economist”. His articles and political commentaries appear in the Pakistani newspapers such as Dawan, The Nation and Pakistan Herald. He is also the founder of Asian American Republican Club. Siddiqi is a frequent contributor to Foreign Policy Journal, Middle East Times and Axis of Logic.

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A defense which deserves being called "holy"

Kourosh Ziabari - Almost 20 years have passed since the conclusion of 20th century's longest, most erosive war which was brutally imposed on the defenseless people of Iran by a belligerent and aggressive dictator who was finally pushed to death by the same people who had once persuaded, funded, aided and supported him in attacking and invading the new-born Iran of post-revolution days.
The expansionistic ambitions of the beloved puppet of the White House who was granted the honorary citizenship of Detroit as a reward for his unconditional subservience to the United States, transpired to be a deadly pandemic which claimed the lives of more than 400,000 innocent Iranians who witnessed the most breathtaking years the country had experienced contemporarily.

With the intention of revitalizing the forgotten pan-Arabist sentiments of the 1950s, confronting an emerging Shiite power in the Persian Gulf region and taking over some of the strategic parts of Iran including the Arab-speaking province of Khuzestan and the triple islands of Abu Musa, Lesser Tunb and Greater Tunb which were handed over to Iran 9 years earlier in a trilateral agreement between Iran, the protectorate of Ras Al-Khaimah and the representatives of British forces in the Persian Gulf, Saddam Hussein unilaterally nullified the 1975 Algiers Agreement in 1980 and attacked Iran.

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UANI: United Against the Nation of Iran

Kourosh Ziabari - Those who regularly follow the developments of Iran might have come across to the website of "United Against Nuclear Iran", a "non-partisan, non-profit advocacy organization" that seeks to "prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons"

UANI has compiled an elaborate list of the foreign companies and firms which do business with Iran and calls on its readers and visitors to send condemnatory letters and complaints to these companies so as to persuade them to withdraw their capitals and resources from Iran and stop doing business with a country which the United States and its European allies consider to be an emerging nuclear threat in the Middle East.

Interestingly, UANI has listed each and every foreign company which is active in Iran, from the food production companies to internet service providers, medicine manufacturers, industrial conglomerates, news agencies, transportation infrastructure providers and private consortiums, and its objective is to convince these companies to put an end to their activities in Iran.
UANI runs a divestment campaign which contains pressuring foreign corporations to stop conducting business with Iran. So far, it has succeeded in pulling out General Electric, Caterpillar and Ingersoll Rand from Iran's market.

UANI's advisory board consists of a number of U.S. government insiders and big shots who have close ties with the U.S. statesmen including R. James Woolsey, the former head of CIA, Fouad Ajami, a John Hopkins University professor and a close associate of the Council on Foreign Relations, Henry D. Sokolski, the former Deputy for Nonproliferation Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Gary Milhollin, the director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control and the publisher of "Iran Watch" website which is dedicated to promoting financial sanctions against Iran.

The activities of UANI, however, are not limited to lobbying for the intensification of sanctions against Iran. Each year and on the advent of UN General Assembly, UANI runs an advertorial campaign to prevent New York hotels from accommodating Iranian President and his colleagues and dissuade the city's convention centers from hosting events in which the Iranian officials are slated to deliver a speech.

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The questions of 9/11 are still unanswered

Kourosh Ziabari - It’s not unjustifiable or irrational to argue that the 9/11 attacks were designed and intended to rescue Israel from a political dissolution which was seen by many thinkers as its ultimate destiny, and to promote the cordial coalition of Bush and Bin Laden families. It’s no wonder that 9 years after the attacks on New York’s Twin Towers and Pentagon, Osama Bin Laden, who is introduced as an Islamic fundamentalist and terrorist that masterminded and directed the 9/11 attacks, hasn’t been arrested or killed yet.

For those who are familiar with the world of journalism, it’s comprehensible that Osama Bin Laden was simply a name which should have been put forward to become the target of ad hominem attacks by the mainstream media of the Bilderberg Group to appease the pain of Americans who couldn’t digest the tragic loss of life in a chain of suicidal attacks which were carried out by the agents of a political entity which has so far succeeded in surviving thanks to the ignorance of the American taxpayers who don’t know where their taxes go.

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The questions of 9/11 are still unanswered by Kourosh Ziabari

Interview with Kenneth O'Keefe

Kourosh Ziabari - Kenneth O’Keefe is a world citizen. As an anti-war activist and social entrepreneur, he renounced his U.S. citizenship on March 1, 2001 and burned his American passport on January 7, 2004 in protest to the United States’ Imperialism and called for the immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. O’Keefe is a former U.S. Mariner who served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and subsequently revealed the use of depleted uranium by the United States as a crime against humanity.

O’Keefe has taken part in a number of substantial anti-war movements and served as the director of Human Shield Action to Iraq. He founded a group of activists who traveled to Iraq to act as human shields to prevent the U.S.-led coalition troops from bombing certain locations during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In 2004 O’Keefe established an association known as the “P10K Force,” a group of 10,000 Westerners intended to act as international observers in the occupied Palestinian territories and help bring peace with Israel

In the fall of 2008, he served as a Captain and 1st Mate with the Free Gaza Movement, a direct action in which 46 people successfully challenged the Israeli siege of Gaza

O’Keefe was one of the international peace activists onboard the Gaza Freedom Flotilla that was intended to end the Israeli siege of Gaza Strip.

Kenneth O’Keefe joined me in an in-depth interview to answer my questions on his anti-imperialistic viewpoints, the prospect of Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the continued international controversy over Iran’s nuclear program, the chronic hostility between the United States and Iran and his experiences in the Freedom Flotilla mission.

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Kourosh Ziabari interviews Kenneth O'Keefe - Baltimore Chronicle

Kourosh Ziabari interviews Kenneth O'Keefe - Ramallah Online

This is America, the beacon of freedom

Kourosh Ziabari - The ninth anniversary of Sept. 11 attacks coincided with the offensive insults of the Americans to the holiest book of 1.5 billion Muslims around the globe. According to reports by the Reuters, near Nashville, Tennessee, evangelical Pastor Bob Old and another preacher used lighter fluid and a lighter to burn at least two copies of the Qur’an. Old called Islam "a false religion."

It was also reported that the American protesters objecting to the construction of an Islamic center and a mosque adjacent to the Ground Zero site tore pages from the Holy Qur’an and set them alight. Reuters also dispatched reports from the similar abuses to the Holy Qur’an in Lower Manhattan.

The terrifying plan of burning the Holy Book of Muslims was initially proposed by the pastor of an obscure, small, nondenominational church in Gainesville who had announced that he would be burning copies of the Holy Qur’an on the anniversary of 9/11 attacks. The plan was described by the global media as a publicity stunt by someone whose desire for gaining some reputation and attention by the international media propelled him toward thinking of such an evil action.

Although a global wave of protests which erupted immediately after Pastor Jones announced his plan for burning the Holy Qur’an on Sept. 11 dissuaded the attention-seeking preacher from realizing his mischievous intention, he inspired other people to go ahead with the plan and abuse a Holy Book which is venerated and adored by millions of people in the four corners of the world.

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Interview with Muhammad Abdul Latif

Kourosh Ziabari - Muhammad Abdul Latif is the imam of Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, California, and an instructor at ILM Tree, a home-schooling cooperative in Lafayette, California. He also teaches at Zaytuna College’s annual Summer Arabic Intensive program in Berkeley, California.

Abdul Latif converted to Islam in 1995 in Atlanta, Georgia, when he was 20 years old. He subsequently traveled throughout the Muslim world and, in 2002, relocated with his family to the San Francisco Bay Area to take advantage of the resources of knowledge and the community that had formed around Zaytuna Institute.

Mr. Abdul Latif joined me in an interview to discuss the cancelled plan of Dove World Outreach Center to burn copies of the Holy Quran on the anniversary of 9/11 attacks. We also discussed a variety of issues concerning the Islamic world including the growing wave of Islamophobia in the west, the plight of the Palestinian nation and the mainstream media’s portrayal of Islam.

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Does burning Quran solve your problems?

Kourosh Ziabari - You might be unfamiliar with the concept of “Wudu”. It’s an Islamic practice including the washing of some parts of body such as the hands, arms and face in order to get prepared for saying prayers or reciting the Holy Quran. It’s is of high value in the Islamic tradition, because it’s a preface to inner purity and satisfies the Almighty Creator who wants its creatures to be pure and clean once they want to talk to Him. Wudu is translated into English as “ablution”. One who is in the state of Wudu, that is has washed his face, hands, arms and feet, is obliged to adhere to some certain codes of morality, including devotion to honesty, justice and sincerity. One who is in the state of Wudu is supposed not to tell lie, not to judge with prejudice and partiality and not to state or claim what is unrighteous and unfair.

Prior to setting off for writing this article, I conducted “Wudu” and promised myself not to get out of the borders of honesty and objectivity. I promised myself to propose what is my concern in a manner that is justifiable and virtuous, and pose a few questions as someone who has been entitled to ask freely, without being disrupted by projection or disturbance.

It was on the news headlines that the Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center church pastor Terry Jones has decided to burn a set of Qurans on the advent of September 11 in an action which is deemed to be a remonstration against what is introduced as “Islamic extremism”.

Regrettably, Wayne Sapp who is an associate pastor of the Dove World Outreach Center has proclaimed that burning the Holy Quran is a direction God wants them to go. “We are convinced this is the direction God wants us to go. That’s the only reason we’re doing it in the first place,” he told the reporters.

First and foremost, it should be noted that the announcement of such a plan, regardless of its being done or not, is an immoral, condemnable and blameworthy action. The immorality and unacceptability of such an action would be underscored by the fact that an evangelical church which considers itself a propagator of Christian religious values has decided to burn a holy book which some 1.5 billion people around the world revere and venerate.

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Who pays for the loss of life in Iran?

Kourosh Ziabari - Since the victory of Iran’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 which toppled the U.S.-backed regime of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Iran has been facing with devastating and agonizing financial sanctions of the United States and its European allies who didn’t favor the post-revolutionary Iran’s doctrine of confrontation with the superpowers and its denial of Western liberal democratic values.

The 1979 revolution which put an end to 2,500 years of imperial monarchy in Iran was pivoted on theocratic and ideological values which the sumptuous, thrilling West usually tends to dislike and rebuff. Under the spiritual leadership of Imam Khomeini, Iranians declared that they wouldn’t need the support of Western and Eastern superpowers, will stand on their own feet and only seek to realize a political regime which establishes its bases and principles in accordance with morality and Islamic solidarity.

Iran’s ideological disagreement with the West and its efforts to fulfill independence as an Islamic state, however, cost for the Iranian people heavily. First of all, the United States spurred its regional puppet, the late dictator Saddam Hussein, on to launch a massive, crushing war against Iran so as to push the country’s newly-established political regime to annihilation. The 8-year war demolished Iran’s infrastructures irreversibly, caused irreparable damages to country’s economy and left more than 350,000 Iranians dead.

The 8-year resistance of the Iranian people, however, rendered the plans of the U.S. and its Baathist ally futile. Iran rose from the rubbles of 8-year war with Iraq and set out to emerge as a regional superpower gradually. Iranians recreated the country’s war-torn economy once again, renewed the obliterated infrastructures, appeased the pains of the families of 350,000 martyrs with compassion and brought hopes to the hearts of those who had come to think that a political state with the ideological pillars of Islam would be impossible to survive.

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Interview with Harun Yahya

Kourosh Ziabari - Adnan Oktar, internationally known by his pen name Harun Yahya, is a Turkish public intellectual, writer and speaker. He is a proponent of Islamic creationism and anti-Zionism. He condemns Zionism and denounces Darwinism as the source of terrorism. He runs the Turkey-based Science Research Foundation and Foundation to Protect National Values. He has written numerous best-selling books including "The Atlas of Creation", "The Muslim Way of Speaking", "Allah's Miracles in the Quran" and "The Errors the American National Academy of Sciences". Yahya's books have been translated in more than 20 languages.

He has been interviewed by several international media outlets, newspapers, TV channels and online magazines including Catholic Radio International, Russia's Pravda, Qatar's Aljazeera, Tehran Times, Saudi Arabia's Arab News and Swedish National Radio. Here is the complete text of interview with Mr. Yahya in which the latest developments of the Middle East, Israel's war threats against Iran, the prospect of Iran-Turkey relations and the ordeal of Palestinian nation under the Israeli oppression have been discussed.

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No end for US war of words against Iran

Kourosh Ziabari - Press TV: Aesop's fable of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf too often" is being heard from the mouthpieces of Israel and the United States these days.

The mainstream media around the world are enthusiastically adding flavor to the spicy food of "attacking Iran" which they've cooked for us. War threats are being renewed against Iran once more and overconfident politicians are trying their chance to see if they can release some believable predictions this time.

When Scott Ritter, the former chief United Nations weapons inspector in Iraq, courageously forecasted that the United States would attack Iran in 2005, everybody believed that undeniably, there would be an all-out battle between two of the most powerful countries in the world; however, no battle took place and Mr. Ritter fundamentally lost his credibility. He told the media on February 19, 2005 that the United States was seriously planning to attack Iran, "President George W. Bush has received and signed off on orders for an aerial attack on Iran planned for June 2005. Its purported goal is the destruction of Iran's alleged program to develop nuclear weapons." But June 2005 transpired to be one of the most stable and tranquil months of the year 2005 for Iran!

Three years later, a more entertaining show was staged by a man who seemed to be fervently interested in becoming the 21st century's Nostradamus. John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations who is internationally popular for his dexterity in blending satire with the politics prophesized that Israel would imminently attack Iran to destruct its nuclear facilities. The UK's Daily Telegraph victoriously featured this foretelling with the shining title: "Israel 'will attack Iran' before new US president sworn in, John Bolton predicts."

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A united Iran against a collapsing Israel

Cartoon by Carlos Latuff

Kouroh Ziabari - As the racist regime of Israel moves toward greater international isolation due to its aggressive, belligerent policies, Iran receives wider support from the world’s nations for its uncompromising resistance against the bullying superpowers and annulling their mischievous plots. The world is witness to the growth of Iran’s popularity while hatred and disgust against Israel builds up progressively. Iran is reaching out to the hearts and souls around the world while Israel ignites denunciation and deprecation in the four corners of the globe.

Since Israel raided the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on May 31, the flimsy existence of Tel Aviv began to splinter as the world nations collectively and categorically reacted to the atrocious mass killing of 9 peace activists in the international waters by the Israel Defense Forces.

Israel’s unlawful, brutal killing of the unarmed civilians aboard the Freedom Flotilla sparked such a remarkable international condemnation that even the most stalwart allies of Tel Aviv in the EU zone recalled their ambassadors from Israel and called for a thorough, detailed investigation of the incident which they described as offensive and violent. The international condemnations were so extensive and intensive that even the most pessimistic Israeli politicians couldn’t envisage. Four countries downgraded their diplomatic relations with Israel – in addition to the four countries that had cut their diplomatic ties with Israel during the 22-day Gaza war of 2008-2009, Twelve Latin American countries condemned the Israeli actions, Twenty-one European countries protested Israel and Twelve non-Arab Asian countries officially disapproved Tel Aviv.

The precursor of global protests to Israel was Turkey which had lost 9 of its citizens in the raid. In an insightful, thought-provoking and appreciable statement before his country’s parliament, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan strongly questioned Israel’s impunity from the international laws and called for a decisive end to the illegal actions of this regime: “It is no longer possible to cover up or ignore Israel’s lawlessness. The international community must from now on say ‘enough is enough’. Dry statements of condemnation are not enough … There should be results.”

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A tribute to art and artists

Kourosh Ziabari - There are signs in the world which indicate that art can still be an art form. George Orwell pointed out over 60 years ago that "in a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act."

We are locked in a time of universal deceit. The pillars of materialism occupy our minds and souls; we gradually discard our codes of morality and ethics. Multinational corporations are "teaching" us what is right and what is wrong. We've forgotten the stance of noble individuals who dedicate their life to our enlightenment, that is why we're being propelled to the edge of spiritual decline.

In the contemporary world, the owners of capital determine the destiny of political, cultural and economic equations. It's simple, because we've already submitted ourselves and our conscience to them. We're no longer concerned about the veracity of what we hear or what we see. The images are placed before our eyes, the sounds are broadcast universally; we accept the message. Two thousand years ago, it wasn't a drawback to be an ordinary citizen; what about now? Isn't it a disadvantage to be a passive, subservient citizen who doesn't play a role in shaping his own knowledge? Isn't it necessary to be a researcher citizen whose concern is to figure out the reality and put aside untruth?

The answer is clear. There are thousands, millions of media outlets, from the sumptuous TV stations to mainstream newspapers and the ordinary blogs of ordinary citizens. We have an ocean of thoughts and reflections about what has been just heard or read, yet we are typically defenseless when faced with the news, analyses and statements attacking us. What's the solution? How can we resolve our perplexity in this era?

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Israel Will Attack Iran: Will Israel Attack Iran?!

Kourosh Ziabari - Those who mastermind the U.S.-directed psychological operation against Iran have obliviously forgotten that we're now accustomed to seeing the uninteresting, exhausting charade of "will attack Iran"; you put the subject for it, either the United States or Israel.

Over the past five years, Iran has been recurrently under the threat of an imminent war which the mainstream media have overwhelmingly talked of; a war against Tehran to overthrow the Islamic Republic and bring to power a "democratic" regime which the "international community" favors.

Since President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad assumed office in 2005 as the Iranian head of state, he made attempts to reverse the passive, submissive stance of Iran towards the Eastern and Western superpowers and proposed new theories for an innovative international order. He accelerated Iran's nuclear program and made remarkable advancements in nationalizing the peaceful use of nuclear energy in Iran. He put forward insightful and astute questions: "why should Israel possess nuclear weapons in violation of the international law", "why should Israel occupy the lands which don't belong to it", "why should Israel repeatedly threaten its neighbors and wage wars against them", "why should Holocaust be used as a pretext to suppress the Palestinian nation?", "why should Iran be deprived of the peaceful uses of nuclear power while the United States, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China have thousands of nuclear weapons?"

These questions were not digestible for the United States and its stalwart allies around the world; therefore, some measures should be adopted to suffocate this man and the people he represents internationally. The reason was simple. Ahmadinejad and Iran would not make concessions and thus should be silenced at any cost. So, who is going to pay the price for silencing Iran? Are the military options plausible?

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El legado incomparable de Avicena

Kourosh Ziabari - Translation by Manuel Talens: Desde tiempo inmemorial Irán ha sido tierra fecunda en grandes figuras de las ciencias, las letras, las artes y la literatura, cuyo impacto sobre la civilización ocupará siempre un lugar de privilegio en todo el mundo. Su historia antigua está llena de seres de excepción que se encuentran entre los más notables de su disciplina de estudio.

A pesar de que las naciones europeas se jactan de ser las pioneras y precursoras en diversos campos de las artes y las ciencias, es bien sabido que muchos adelantos y progresos que hoy presentan como suyos se deben a los persas, un pueblo tradicionalmente diestro en las diferentes ramas de la astronomía, las matemáticas, la física, la medicina, la psiquiatría, la arquitectura, la filosofía, la teología y la literatura. Nombres sin parangón como los de Ferdosi, Rumi, Rasís, Rudaki, Al-Biruni, Al-Farabi, Al-Khwarizmi y Avicena dan testimonio de que Irán ha sido siempre una nación de ciencia, conocimiento y conciencia, donde la inteligencia crece y el talento florece.

Por mucho que vivamos inmersos en nuestras preocupaciones cotidianas y rara vez encontremos la ocasión de volver la mirada hacia las figuras que han dado forma a nuestra civilización y a nuestros conocimientos del mundo exterior, es de suma importancia que conozcamos a aquellos grandes hombres, así como las razones que los hicieron inquilinos eternos en los anales de historia.

Avicena es uno de los cientos de intelectuales iraníes cuyas contribuciones a la ciencia y a la literatura lo han convertido en un nombre inolvidable en la memoria del mundo; millones de personas lo admiran y respetan por lo que alcanzó y lo que fue: erudito, médico, filósofo y científico. Nació el año 980 en la antigua provincia iraní de Bujará. Escribió más de 450 libros sobre materias diversas, entre ellas física, medicina y filosofía ...

Iran's Nuclear Standoff: Who is The Loser?

Kourosh Ziabari - It's more than 8 years that the world's newspapers are filled with miscellaneous news, reports and commentaries concerning Iran's nuclear program. Controversy over Iran's nuclear program has spanned through two administrations in Iran: ex-President Mohammad Khatami's government and the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration. The term "Iran nuclear program" returns more than 6 million results in Google web search. Thousands of scholars, journalists, politicians and political pundits have made their own statement regarding this debatable subject.

Terminologically, Iran's nuclear program calls to mind the words holocaust, Israel, Zionism, Axis of Evil, George W. Bush, stretched hands and uranium enrichment. The world is watching the uninteresting continuation of confrontation over Iran's nuclear program and the opportunist journalists find this tedious charade the best subject to entertain their readers and enrich their portfolio.

Iran says that it needs enriched uranium to meet its energy demands and produce electricity. The United States and its European allies claim that Iran wants to produce nuclear weapons in order to launch a military strike against Israel. Israel, over the past 5 years, has been incessantly threatening Iran with a preemptive attack, warning that it would not allow Iran to achieve nuclear technology.

The United Nations Security Council, under the pressure of United States and its stalwart allies, has imposed 4 rounds of backbreaking financial sanctions against Iran to dissuade it from developing "nuclear weapons". Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected the claims that they're moving towards developing nuclear weapons and called the sanctions ineffective, valueless.

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Iran, Tajikistan, Afghanistan: Diplomacy of Brotherhood

Kourosh Ziabari - The Trilateral Summit of the presidents of three Persian-speaking countries of Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan wrapped up on 5 August in Tehran and recorded another unforgettable event in the memory of the three brother nations.

With innumerable cultural, religious, social, lingual and strategic commonalities, the three countries of Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan have demonstrated their potentiality to build one of the strongest diplomatic partnerships in the region and benefit the world nations through a unique, fruitful and constructive cooperation.

The people of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, whose countries were parts of the Greater Persia in ancient times, consider Iran as their cultural homeland and believe that the Iranian nation is the inheritor of their paternal legacy, the Persian civilization.

I had the opportunity to conduct an exclusive interview with the Tajikistan ambassador in Tehran for the local weekly magazine last month in which I discovered for the first time that the roots of cordiality and affinity between Iran, Tajikistan and Afghanistan are so deep and robust that one can hardly imagine.

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Interview with Dr. Fredrick Toben

Kourosh Ziabari - Dr. Fredrick Toben is a German author and founder and former director of the Adelaide Institute. He has written numerous books on education, political science and history and is best known as a historical revisionist who has extensively argued the veracity of Holocaust accounts by the Jewish historians. Due to his holocaust denial, he has been imprisoned three times in Germany, United Kingdom and Australia.

This is an in-depth interview with Dr. Toben in which we’ve discussed his viewpoints regarding holocaust, the unconditional supports of the United States for Israel, the plight of Palestinian nation under the Israeli occupation and the fate of Middle East peace process.

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The unrivaled legacy of Avicenna

Kourosh Ziabari - Historically, Iran has been a land of prominent, influential figures in science, letters, arts and literature whose impact on the global civilization will remain in place forever.

Throughout its ancient history, Iran has introduced numerous people to the world who have been among the most impressive, notable and valuable figures in their own field of expertise.

Although the European nations usually boast of being the foremost pioneers and harbingers in various fields of science and arts, they know well that they owe to the Persians the achievement of many peaks and breakthroughs which they introduce as being theirs. Persians have been traditionally skilful and dexterous in different branches of astronomy, mathematics, physics, medicine, psychiatry, architecture, philosophy, theology and literature and the unparalleled names of Ferdowsi, Rumi, Rhazes, Rudaki, Biruni, Al-Farabi, Al-Khawrizmi and Avicenna attest to the fact that Iran has been perpetually a land of science, knowledge and conscience in which cleverness grows and talent develops.

Although we are customarily grappling with our daily concerns and rarely find the opportunity to study about the figures who have shaped our civilization and our knowledge of the external world, it's vitally necessary to have a basic acquaintance with these great men and know the reasons why they did become eternal and everlasting in the annals of history.

Avicenna is one out of hundreds of Iranian intellectuals whose contributions to science and literature has made him an unforgettable name in the memory of the world and there are millions of people around the globe who admire and respect him for what he achieved and what he was.

Avicenna was an 11 th century Persian polymath, physician, philosopher and scientist, born in the ancient Iranian province of Bukhara in 980. He has written more than 450 books on various subjects, particularly in physics, medicine and philosophy.

He always considered himself a student whose knowledge is incomplete and imperfect. In a famous distich, he described himself this way:

My knowledge reached to the point that / I can know that I know nothing

Avicenna's exceptional talents emerged since his early childhood and by the age of ten he was proficient in memorizing and reciting the Holy Quran. In his adolescence years, he studied Islamic jurisprudence, philosophy and natural sciences. He started studying medicine when he was 17 and described the field as "not difficult" to study. By the age of 18, he had become a prominent physician and the Samanid ruler Nuh ibn Mansur, in gratitude to his services, invited him to attend the royal library where the young Avicenna could access to a number of rare and unique books. Avicenna set out to write his first book by the age of 21.

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Interview with Prof. Gilbert Achcar

Kourosh Ziabari - Prof. Gilbert Achcar is a renowned Lebanese academician, writer, socialist and anti-war activist. He left Lebanon in 1983 and taught international relations and politics at the University of Paris VII for several years. Since 2007, Achcar has been Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. He is a frequent contributor to Le Monde Diplomatique and ZNet.

Prof. Achcar joined me in an interview to discuss the latest developments related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel's attack on the Freedom Flotilla and the prospect of Israel's occupation of West Bank and Gaza.

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Persian Gulf is not only a name

Kourosh Ziabari - Press TV: The Persian Gulf is a body of water situated south of Iran, separating the Persian Plateau from the Arabian Peninsula; to the Iranian nation, however, the story is dramatically different.

To the people of Iran, the Persian Gulf does not just signify a name or a geographical phenomenon - they consider the Persian Gulf to be representative of their ancient civilization and a manifestation of their ancestors' supremacy in the region.

Historically, the Persian Gulf was a cradle of ancient civilizations and a strategic passageway that connected the Far East to Europe. It has perpetually been at the center of global attention - of both merchants and rulers.

The earliest civilizations which were recorded on the peripheries of the Persian Gulf are from 5,000 years ago, when the kingdoms of Elam and Sumer emerged. There is evidence to indicate that Elamites, Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians traded with the maritime principalities along the southern coasts of the Persian Gulf. The result was a trade in precious commodities such as pearls, gold and silver.

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Iranian President Honors Salem-News.com Writer Kourosh Ziabari

A Salem-News.com writer who consistently generates thought provoking articles about Middle East affairs, Kourosh Ziabari in Tehran, was honored by his nation's President at a special event that honors youth achievement in Iran.

We are very happy to hear of this extremely significant honor paid to our dedicated multi-linguistic journalist, whose work always brings a side of the story to American news consumers, that they miss entirely with mainstream media.

It is our consistent position at Salem-News.com, that people in the news regions are more qualified, and simply know more about local affairs and events, than news producers and anchors in New York or print journalists strapped to desks in Washington D.C., for that matter.

Prior to his joining our team, this extremely qualified writer told me about the rejection letters he received from American news groups, even the BBC and other European agencies.
When I saw his first written piece, I was more than happy to publish it... I was very motivated about the possibilities, and things have only progressed from there.

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Iran's Nuclear Standoff: Who is the Loser?

Kourosh Ziabari - Global Research: It's more than 8 years that the world's newspapers are filled with miscellaneous news, reports and commentaries concerning Iran's nuclear program. Controversy over Iran's nuclear program has spanned through two administrations in Iran: ex-President Mohammad Khatami's government and the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration. The term "Iran nuclear program" returns more than 6 million results in Google web search. Thousands of scholars, journalists, politicians and political pundits have made their own statement regarding this debatable subject.

Terminologically, Iran's nuclear program calls to mind the words holocaust, Israel, Zionism, Axis of Evil, George W. Bush, stretched hands and uranium enrichment. The world is watching the uninteresting continuation of confrontation over Iran's nuclear program and the opportunist journalists find this tedious charade the best subject to entertain their readers and enrich their portfolio.

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