ISSN: 1019-0775
No. 251, May 2015
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei’s Letter
to North American and European Youth
www.echoofislam.com
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei’s
Letter to North American and European Youth
Special Issue, May 2015
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Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Saeed Karami
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Ayatollah Khamenei’s Letter
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A Way to Avoid Colossal Mistakes
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The Letter of Iran’s Leader Is Inspirational
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A Message for Breaking Terrorism Back
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Italian Anthropologist Hails Iran Leader’s ‘Historical Letter’
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A Roadmap to Find the Right Way
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Fatemeh Ghasemi, Zahra Ghasemi
Dimensions of Supreme Leader
of the Islamic Revolution’s Letter to Western Youth
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Zarif Delivers Ayatullah Khamenei’s Letter for Youth to UNSG
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An Open Letter Like No Other
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Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter
to North American and European Youth
about Islam, particularly the
image that is presented to you
as Islam. Many attempts have
been made over the past two
decades, almost since the
disintegration of the Soviet
Union, to place this great religion in the seat of a horrifying
enemy. The provocation of a
feeling of horror and hatred
and its utilization has unfortunately a long record in the political history of the West.
In the name of God,
the Beneficent the Merciful
The recent events in France
and similar ones in some other Western countries have
convinced me to directly talk
to you about them. I am addressing you, [the youth],
not because I overlook your
parents, rather it is because
the future of your nations
and countries will be in your
hands; and also I find that
the sense of quest for truth is
more vigorous and attentive in
your hearts.
I don’t address your politicians and statesmen either in
this writing because I believe
that they have consciously
separated the route of politics
from the path of righteousness and truth.
I would like to talk to you
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Here, I don’t want to deal
with the different phobias with
which the Western nations
have thus far been indoctrinated. A cursory review of recent critical studies of history
would bring home to you the
fact that the Western governments’ insincere and hypocritical treatment of other nations
and cultures has been censured in new historiographies.
The histories of the United States and Europe are
ashamed of slavery, embarrassed by the colonial period and chagrined at the
oppression of people of color and non-Christians. Your
researchers and historians
are deeply ashamed of the
bloodsheds wrought in the
name of religion between the
Catholics and Protestants or
in the name of nationality and
ethnicity during the First and
Second World Wars. This approach is admirable.
By mentioning a fraction of
this long list, I don’t want to reproach history; rather I would
like you to ask your intellectu-
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter
to North American and European Youth
als as to why the public conscience in the West awakens
and comes to its senses after
a delay of several decades or
centuries. Why should the revision of collective conscience
apply to the distant past and
not to the current problems?
Why is it that attempts are
made to prevent public awareness regarding an important
issue such as the treatment of
Islamic culture and thought?
You know well that humiliation and spreading hatred and
illusionary fear of the “other”
have been the common base
of all those oppressive profiteers. Now, I would like you
to ask yourself why the old
policy of spreading “phobia”
and hatred has targeted Islam
and Muslims with an unprecedented intensity. Why does
the power structure in the
world want Islamic thought to
be marginalized and remain
latent? What concepts and
values in Islam disturb the
programs of the super powers and what interests are
safeguarded in the shadow of
distorting the image of Islam?
Hence, my first request is:
Study and research the incentives behind this widespread
tarnishing of the image of Islam.
My second request is that in
reaction to the flood of prejudgments and disinformation
campaigns, try to gain a direct and firsthand knowledge
of this religion. The right logic
requires that you understand
the nature and essence of
what they are frightening you
about and want you to keep
away from.
I don’t insist that you accept my reading or any other
reading of Islam. What I want
to say is: Don’t allow this dynamic and effective reality in
today’s world to be introduced
to you through resentments
and prejudices. Don’t allow
them to hypocritically introduce their own recruited terrorists as representatives of
Islam.
Receive knowledge of Islam
from its primary and original sources. Gain information about Islam through the
Qur’an and the life of its great
Prophet. I would like to ask
you whether you have directly
read the Qur’an of the Muslims. Have you studied the
teachings of the Prophet of
Islam and his humane, ethical
doctrines? Have you ever received the message of Islam
from any sources other than
the media?
Have you ever asked yourself how and on the basis of
which values has Islam established the greatest scientific
and intellectual civilization of
the world and raised the most
distinguished scientists and
intellectuals throughout several centuries?
and the reality, taking away
the possibility of an impartial
judgment from you. Today, the
communication media have
removed the geographical
borders. Hence, don’t allow
them to besiege you within
fabricated and mental borders.
Although no one can individually fill the created gaps, each
one of you can construct a
bridge of thought and fairness
over the gaps to illuminate
yourself and your surrounding
environment. While this preplanned challenge between
Islam and you, the youth, is
undesirable, it can raise new
questions in your curious and
inquiring minds. Attempts to
find answers to these questions will provide you with an
appropriate opportunity to discover new truths.
Therefore, don’t miss the
opportunity to gain proper,
correct and unbiased understanding of Islam so that
hopefully, due to your sense
of responsibility toward the
truth,
future
generations
would write the history of this
current interaction between
Islam and the West with a
clearer conscience and lesser
resentment .
Seyyed Ali Khamenei
I would like you not to allow
the derogatory and offensive
image-buildings to create an
emotional gulf between you
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to North American and European Youth
A Way to Avoid
Colossal Mistakes
Supreme Leader’s letter to European and North
American youth is the Islamic Revolution’s new
strategy in international cultural diplomacy
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Dr. Ali Jannati is an Iranian
politician, former diplomat, cultural figure and currently minister of Islamic Culture and Guidance, having being appointed
on 15 August 2013. We made
an interview with about the Letter of Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter to Western Youth, which you
can find it as follows:
1. What is the most important aspect of the Supreme Leader’s message
to European and North
American Youth?
It seems that the Supreme
Leader’s letter includes preliminaries which serve a pivotal message. This message, in
brief, distorts the assumption
that referring to information and
images about Islam, that today
are broadcasted by European
and American media, can depict a reliable picture of Islam
and since at the current time
the confrontation between West
and Islam has become unavoidable, the message encourages
the reader to gain a true and real
image of Islam in order to avoid
committing
noncompensable
mistakes.
Regarding that for answering other questions, some discussions are offered regarding
the preliminaries the Supreme
Leader used in his letter, it’s better to point briefly to the preliminaries in order to reach a clear
understanding about the relation
between such preliminaries and
Supreme Leader’s message:
● In this letter the goodwill of
rulers and owners of media car-
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter
to North American and European Youth
tels has been questioned.
● Addressing the youth, in
a fundamental issue which is
considered as one of the most
important problems of the current world, the Supreme Leader
somehow shows them that he
trust them and considers them
as people who have goodwill
and justice-seeking spirit.
● The letter questions the image western media depict of
themselves as the supporters of
human rights and justice-seeking regarding the background
of these governments in not-solong pasts like world wars, Vietnam War, etc.
● The Supreme Leader somehow has encouraged the Collective consciousness of the
western thinkers to criticize their
statesmen big mistakes whenever they face them. However, analyzing the chronology of
such mistakes and when they
have become general and dominated, it turns out that there is a
multi-decade delay.
● The letter unveils the media
trick that says western media
and rulers usually one or more
decades after the brutalities
they made already come to the
conclusion that they have made
mistakes. Because, this trick inspires the audience to consider
them as the good characters because they dare to confess their
even big mistakes. But what
is important is that it happens
when the stable door is closed
after the horse has bolted.
● He warns his audiences
to avoid the same condition in
which after several years they
would understand that their per-
ception of Islam was not correct.
● For him, Tekfiris and terrorist groups, as one of the most
important sources to publicize a
negative image of Islam, are the
product of western media to undermine Islam’s reputation.
● Then this question is emphasized that what aspect and
dimension of Islam has convinced the holders of power and
media in West to confront it so
harshly? Thus, he encourages and incentivizes the reader
to understand and study Islam
through the right ways.
● But how can achieve a right
picture and understanding of
Islam, the Supreme Leader, in
this step in which a question has
been raised in the mind of the
reader on how can determine
the correct account of Islam, offer a solution.
Tekfiris and
terrorist groups,
as one of the
most important
sources to publicize a negative
image of Islam,
are the product of
western media to
undermine Islam›s
reputation.
● Making direct relationship
with Islam through reciting Quran and reading Holy Prophet’s
history directly
In conclusion, it turns out the
Supreme Leader at first destabilizes the image offered by
western media about Islam and
at the same time necessitates
gaining a right picture of Islam
and introduces the direct refer to
the original sources as the best
way to understand Islam.
2. How can interpret the
Islamic Revolution’s Supreme Leader regarding
the challenge between
Islam and West? Is it implies the new challenge
between Islam and West?
The Supreme Leader’s letter
to European and Northern youth
was written regarding the new
political requirements across
the world and islamophobia and
iranophobia policies taken by
the western governments. If one
consider this letter and the condition under which it was written,
he will confirm that the world has
riddled with turbulence’s and
accidents which can destabilize the region and the world for
many years if are not faced and
interacted properly.
In a nutshell, it is a perception and understanding of Islam
which is broadcasted across the
world and the most important effective components of development of such perception can be
discussed through two main pivots. The first one is that fundamentalist Islamist used to commit any unethical and immoral
cruelty such as cutting hands
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to North American and European Youth
and heads, throwing people
from high buildings and burning
human beings and books, demolishing artistic works, etc. in
the name of Islam. The second
is that they suggest such cruelties with the best visionary quality and the best documented
form to their audiences. These
two components are those that
are recalled as the islamophobia
and the Supreme Leader has
written this letter to depict Iran’s
strategy against this strategy;
hence, it seems that the letter
needs to be interpreted beyond
a regular political letter which its
importance is dwindled away
over time.
In this condition, it is possible
to offer a more precise analysis
of the Supreme Leader’s letter.
This letter has been written in
order to neutralize above mentioned dangers and it is clear cut
that its long-term cultural objectives will be met only when the
general lines of confronting with
islamophobia, which have been
listed and pointed out in this letter, are followed continuously
and effectively through innovative and artistic media activities,
as same as the islamophobia
policies which followed by West
and terroristic groups. Therefore, it seems that this letter and
its main pivots must be treated
as the new strategy of the Islamic Revolution of Iran in the
first step of confronting with the
Islamophobia phenomenon and
in the second step to publicize
and promote Islamic values in
the new international condition.
On the other hand, the Supreme Leader’s letter unveils
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the new strategy of Islamic Republic of Iran in the International
Cultural diplomacy dimension.
3. How do you analyze
the fields of acceptance
of Supreme Leader’s letter
by the young generation
of USA and Europe?
The new principles of the
West’ civilization which calls for
people to stick with individualism, Epicureanism, secularism
and liberal democracy apparently have failed to saturate nature
of western thinkers and youth.
Inclination towards post-modern viewpoints among western
thinkers and scholars and introducing the west’s culture as
the sole reliable culture in the
world and acknowledging most
cultures regarding the time and
spatial requirements in which
they have been grown are signs
that show that western thinkers
have not be convinced with the
dominant culture over the western societies. As most people,
especially the youth, inclination
to spirituality and faith within recent decades somehow demonstrated that the religion-free culture of west fails to respond and
meet the epistemological needs
of people to a divine fact and
spirituality in their life; thus, to
tackle the problem they started
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter
to North American and European Youth
to seek for a certain sort of spirituality that is compatible with the
cultural values of west including
individualism,
epicureanism,
separate ways of religion and
governance. Most sociologists
and scholars have justified the
western youth inclination to the
new-emerging spiritualties and
some individualistic oriental religion with this reason.
In this new perception there
was no special position for Islam
for which Enjoining good and
forbidding wrong as well Jihad
against oppressors were strong;
however, was this individualistic
spirituality able to compensate
the epistemological gap in the
western culture? For those who
believed in Islamic teachings, it
was clear that according to “the
nature made by Allah in which
he has made men; there is no
altering of Allah’s creation”, the
they suggest
such cruelties
with the best
visionary
quality and
the best
documented
form to their
audiences.
religion that saturates all dimensions of mankind dimensions is
Islam, hence it was predictable
that although these fake spiritualties could heal the wound
of the west’s god-free culture,
but they could not bring about
a fundamental treatment for its
disease. What is seen today as
the unpredictable inclination of
western youth towards violent
spiritualties including Satanism
and recently inclination to Tekfiri groups such as Alqaeda and
ISIS are somehow the consequences of secular spirituality
failure to satisfy them.
Therefore, it is evident that the
divine nature of mankind needs
a religion which can meet his/
her all existing dimensions and
it is the pure Islam which puts
compassion and violence in their
proper positions. As you see,
the thirsty of audiences’ nature
to a religion which has such fea-
tures can somehow support the
effectiveness of this message.
It seems that the Islamic revolution’s trust in the Islam wholeness and his knowledge about
various dimensions of audiences’ nature has convinced him to
write the letter. It is necessary
to pay attention to this fact that
if the target society has the potential to accept this message, it
does not mean that out success
to transfer the message is guaranteed, but for this message is
transferred and heard, we need
broad activities in this field which
must be organized by the relevant organization and motivated
youth.
4. Despite the efforts of
hegemonic systems how
can the general diplomacy
of Imam Khamenei come
to conclusion?
To answer the question, its
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to North American and European Youth
better to make a comparison
between Imam Khomeini’s historical letter to former USSR authorities and the letter of Ayatollah Khamenei. Imam Khomeini
in his letter, regarding the media
requirements of his era which almost makes impossible to make
direct connection with another
nation, analyzed the situation
of this country according to his
understanding of its intellectual
and cultural principles and predicted the collapse of this superpower and tried to depict a
horizon for the foreign minister
of USSR. Therefore, Imam Khomeini’s letter is a letter with all
necessary details that would be
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required for transferring a message, accordingly we see that
Imam found himself obliged to
write a long letter and attached
anything that would be necessary to transfer the message.
For instance, he introduces several sources for reaching a correct account of pure Islam and
even he missioned a board to
answer possible questions and
ambiguities including someone
like Ayatollah Javadi Amoli.
In contrast, in letter of the Supreme Leader it must be considered that he has said that
speaking with politicians and
statesmen of west does not
seem useful, because he thinks
that they have separated the
way of honesty from politics.
Here the target audiences of
the letter are North American
and European youth, because
they are next generation of their
country and they can direct
the destination of their motherlands; on the other hand their
truth seeking is stronger in their
heart. Accordingly, it must be examined what is the best possibility to transpire this message to
American and European youth?
Today, virtual and social networks have not yet censured,
hence using such networks for
such kind of messages is ideal; however, this question is
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter
to North American and European Youth
Therefore, it
seems that this
letter and its
main pivots
must be treated
as the new strategy of the Islamic Revolution of
Iran in the first step
of confronting with
the Islamophobia
phenomenon and in
the second step to
publicize and promote Islamic values
in the new international condition.
raised here why this message
did not transferred by Iranian
state media such as Press TV
and Hispan TV. The answer is
clear, Ayatollah Khamenei were
seeking for releasing the great
capacity of Muslim youth in this
way. He took a giant stride to
build a new sort of culture and
accordingly the most important
factor for transferring this message are motivated youth who
access new media tools. As a
result most people who are involved with modern technology
are obliged to promote rather
the formal organizations of the
country.
It is important to note that Aya-
tollah Khamenei is used to invite
youth to do bog jobs for many
years; in this regard we can
point to justice-seeking, software movement, political analyses, etc.
The media-based point that
must be considered is that social and virtual networks are featured with certain requirements
in transferring a message. For
example, the message should
be short, eloquent, convincing,
etc.
The letter of Ayatollah Khamenei has been written in accordance with such requirements.
He has offered his message
through an attractive and short
format; therefore, preparing materials for sidelines of this message, so that to be appropriate
with this media is among the
activities that must be followed
by authorities and the youth
through the mentioned networks. It helps the message to
be broadcasted very properly to
the audiences.
5. How west has depicted Islam in USA and
Europe?
After Islamic revolution and especially after collapse of USSR,
Islam was posed as a new alternative for liberal democracy
among the Muslim thinkers and
even most westerners and liberal democracy advocates need
to find a fundamental solution
for this.
Therefore, two important
events should be happened,
one is media and propaganda
activities arranged by Zionist
enterprises and trusts including
producing movies, TV series
and documentaries which are
set in order demolish Muslims’
and Islam’s reputation continuously, another is raising and creating terrorist groups who work
behind the mask of Islam and
Islamic values and teachings.
They depict a violent, corrupted
and lusty picture of Islam to the
world. These two components
are astonishingly synergistic,
as the western media extract
the best and most attractive
and most real propaganda materials, that can approve their
claims, from behaviors of these
fundamentalist groups which
mostly are filmed documentarily.
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These videos are accessible for
everyone through online tubes.
On the other hand, these groups
sometimes have the best filming
equipment and create a pervasive and extended dread and
fear through such videos across
the world. This dread and fear
sometime do not let their victims
to dare to resist and as you see
many basements and cities surrender without a little resisting.
It helped them to progress very
quickly and without stop in Syria, Iraq, Sinai Desert, Libya and
Nigeria, etc. these two components have acted as two blades
of scissors and spare no efforts
to destabilize Islam as a whole.
After Islamic
revolution and
especially after collapse of
USSR, Islam was
posed as a new
alternative for
liberal democracy
among the Muslim
thinkers and even
most westerners
and liberal democracy advocates
need to find a fundamental solution
for this.
6. What do you think
about Islam’s future in
USA and Europe?
Undoubtedly our current behavior and function will be effective in future, the Supreme
Leader’s letter can be analyzed
in this regard, as well. Therefore, the target behind writing
this letter would be collecting
all facilities and using optimally them in order to achieve the
target and preventing them from
being wasted.
Today, North American and
European youth, regarding the
numerous failures of their sociopolitical systems, have become
ready to hear something other
than what is broadcasted by the
formal medial and their rulers.
On the other hand, new media
such as social networks have
developed an infrastructure by
which can bypass formal media
and make a direct relationship
with the reader or audience.
This letter not only has a message for American and European youth, but also it is meaningful and useful for motivated
Muslim youth. This letter shows
the way of fighting and resisting
against the Islamophobia, which
can be a religious imperative for
each Muslim youth. The whole
contents of the letter need documents for supporting; for example, violence and oppression we
see from advocates of human
rights across several past decades can be documented with
documentaries, movies, video
clips, poems and introducing historical books along with a brief
description about them. It has
been already done by west media and now we need to review
them or preparing a report about
activities of Hollywood on Islam-
Special Issue, May 2015
ophobia. Likewise, preparing
proper translations for the Noble
Quran, encouraging audiences
to communicate with Noble Quran and preparing documented
books and literature about the
Islamic history are among duties
and responsibilities that are important in this regard.
It is clear that if Muslim youth
find
themselves
responsible, they need to review Islam
through authenticated resources and literature, it can result in
elimination of many diversions
and distortion in their minds.
Finally, if all relevant organizations and institution of Iran and
more importantly NGOs and the
youth work on this issue, then
a capacity would be developed
in the country for promoting Islam, which is unique across the
history, because this promotion is possible without travels,
and hefty facilities and expenses and since this interaction is
done face-t-face and the receiver is active reciprocally, the
effectiveness of such relation
would be interesting. It helps us
to find many missionaries with
high motivation and familiarity
with language and culture of the
target society with lowest cost…
7. What are the executive
and practical solutions to
enhance the impact of this
message?
The Supreme Leader of Islamic Revolution has determined
the main agenda of new general
diplomacy of Islamic Republic of
Iran. He has pointed to several
preliminaries to reach the final
target which is the main and
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to North American and European Youth
pivotal message of the letter.
Raw materials are necessary
and vital for each preliminary
and deliver to people regarding
the requirements of such media.
Therefore, preparing documented sources for each preliminary,
especially using art works, can
be useful in this area. For example, despite what west media
try to show about Islam, Muslim never slaughtered people
during conquering Quds, but
they took there through peace
from crusaders. Likewise, the
violent behaviors of US army in
Vietnam, during the 16-year war
threw 500000 bombs over the
Vietnamese heads, they burned
forests and finally after leaving
45000 dead, 300000 wounded
and spending 150 billion USD
and historical digrace they leave
there through their warships.
The Islamic Thought Foundation, regarding its innate potential, can prepare a reference
website in this regard and invite
all readers, either the target
readers or those who are determined to play a key role in
transferring the message to cooperate. Both Islamic Thought
Foundation and Islamic Culture and Relation Organization,
based on their important and
valuable experiences in exporting the Islamic revolution’s message, can design a part in the
mentioned website for answering the questions of audiences
and they can use any point or
material that would be useful
and necessary in this website. It
would have a part in which users
can share their experiences and
exchange what they have found
and seen in their own country,
city or region.
Mosques’ artistic centers can
hold competitions in order to
identify the exemplary missionaries for this great mission.
It is necessary to remind that
the most important factor to be
successful in this area is involving the Iranian and Muslim
youth with this issue. They are
very talented and have high capacity and play a key role in this
regard.
I am very appreciated for the
opportunity you gave me.
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The letter of
Iran’s Leader
Is Inspirational
Anthony Hall
I had already read the inspired letter from the Supreme
Leader to North American and
European youth. I noticed that
the Ayatollah Khamenei referred specifically to academics who write about issues in
the past like the genocide of
Indigenous peoples, slavery,
imperialism and such.
The original misrepresentation of what did and did not
happen on 9/11 has been very
instrumental in giving murderous intensity to the currently
round of Zionist-fomented, Zi-
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Special Issue, May 2015
enemy of al-Qaeda with the
Zionist-constructed enemy of
ISIL/DAESH.
I have already explained this
process on a Press TV report
where I was asked to comment
on the phenomenon that the
US Armed Forces have been
parachute dropping weaponry
directly to ISIL units. As with
the outcome of the 9/11 deception, the real beneficiary of
the deceptions of ISIL/DAESH
is the government of Israel
whose operatives are clearly
hard at work stage managing
a psychological operation with
the object of further poisoning
the minds of Westerners.
onist-exploited Islamophobia.
The resulting stimulation of
Islamophobia is part of the
necessary task of preparing
a sick and psychotic mental
environment to create citizen
support for the military operations aimed at dividing Iraq,
a process that may well be a
prelude to the future eastward
expansion of Israel’s territorial
base towards the Persian Gulf.
This intensity of Islamophobia
in the poisoned minds of many
Westerners is being stimulated
anew with the kind of Zionist-fomented false flag terror events
that took place on Ottawa on
Oct. 22, in Sydney Australia in
December and in recent days
in Paris. These violent, stage
managed episodes are all a
part of truly diabolical process
of rebranding the so-called
Global War on Terror. A major
aspect of this rebranding is to
replace the US-constructed
Obviously these machinations
extend to Zionist plans for the
demise of the Islamic Republic of Iraq in its present form.
The background of this evil intent needs to be emphasized.
Clearly the recent background
of anti-Iranian operations includes Israeli-American cyberattacks on Iran’s peaceful nuclear energy program,
the Zionist-directed murder
of Iranian nuclear scientists,
frequent surges of economic warfare directed at Iran in
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter
to North American and European Youth
the name of so-called “sanctions,” and the Zionist-directed
MeK terror attacks. These and
many other acts of aggression
signal the unbroken intent of
Zionist forces, including the
Zionist federal government of
Canada, to destroy the Islamic
Republic of Iran as presently
constituted.
Justice-minded citizens of
conscience the world over
must join together to see that
this ongoing war crime, this
crime against all humanity, is
not pushed to its ultimate conclusion, to see that the process of aggression is reversed
to move towards peace, trade
and the reciprocity of harmony
between bothers and sisters
throughout the world. Indeed,
the prospect of moving towards peace, prosperity, and a
federation of enlightened stability in the global community
depends very much on working together to bring about a
future where the people and
government of Iran can assume their proper places as
well integrated members of
the community of nations, as
respected sources of spiritual
nourishment.
I would be happy to see these
words passed along in the direction of the Supreme Leader. I believe there are some
colleagues in Iran and elsewhere with enough knowledge
of my work that they could
vouch for the veracity of the
assertions I am making about
how my prior studies have
given rise to the ideas I am
expressing here and have expressed in a number of public
venues in North America and
Iran. As the Supreme Leaders
has emphasized, it is very important at this crucial moment
in history to raise awareness
in the West about the sources of Islamophobia; about the
way this severe contamination
of the mental environment has
been created and exploited by
Zionist operatives to advance
a very dark and demented
agenda of global despoliation.
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A Message
for Breaking
Terrorism
Back
Dr. Shahab Esfandiyari
A Review of the Islamic Revolution Leader’s Message to
North American and European Youth
The message of the Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution
of Iran to the North American and
European youth was followed by
many reactions and feedbacks
in media and academic circles.
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For example, Foreign Policy
described it “unexpected” and
wrote in his report, “through
an unusual letter, [Ayatollah]
Khamenei has asked North
American and European youth
to understand and identify Islam
before condemning it.” Perhaps,
the most important aspect of the
letter is its inclination to call for
people, especially the youth, to
“ponder” and “dialogue” about
the world’s status quo and to
gain a correct understanding
of the Islam. Dr. Shahab
Esfandiary, faculty member of
University of Arts, has analyzed
further aspects of the message
through the following article.
Fake Illustration of Muslims
Four years after 9/11 terrorist
attacks, four suicidal explosions
were committed in several
parts of London on July 7,
2005. It left behind 52 dead and
more 107 wounded. London
Police Department introduced
Muhammad Sadiq Khan as
the designer and suicidal
bomber of this operation; he
was born in Leeds to a parent
who has migrated to Britain
several decades ago. When
his confessional footage about
his incentives to do this was
broadcasted by Aljazeera TV,
more than content of his harsh
language against the western
governments his accent was
surprising for people of Britain.
He used to speak with the
Yorkshire accent and if his face
was not obvious in TV one may
confuse him with an aboriginal
Englishman. There was a
difference between this terrorist
and the usual model by which
“Arab/Muslim terrorists” were
shown in both western verbal
and visual narratives about
people who used to come out
of borders of these western
countries to commit terrorist
operations. He was not a
foreigner, but he was an insider.
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to North American and European Youth
He was not “other” but was a
“relative”. Finally the British
Police found a new explanation
for this phenomenon through
pointing to his travel to
Pakistan and Afghanistan and
participation in Al-Qaeda military
forts: Radicalization.
From that date downward,
any speech that make invoke
people to commit terrorist
operations was become a
new crime, called incitement.
Keeping books, pamphlets and
tapes containing such materials
would be punished under the
similar crime.
One of the most controversial
bills endorsed by the British
government was a bill that
allowed police force to keep
in detainment any suspected
one for ninety days without any
certain proof and evidences.
Opposition parties and most
scholars and academicians
called this bill misusing the
psychological
atmosphere
developed after bombings
in order to limit the public
freedoms. One of popular and
well-established newspapers
of London published a heartbreaking picture of a man who
has been wounded during
There was a difference between
this terrorist
and the usual
model by which
“Arab/Muslim
terrorists” were
shown in both
western verbal and
visual narratives
about people who
used to come out
of borders of these
western countries
to commit terrorist
operations.
the contests between police
and protestors and wrote in
its front page: “Tell Tony he
is alright.” The day after that,
the man whose picture had
been published by papers
wrote a letter and condemned
misusing his picture to support
the bill so called “anti-terrorism”
bill. This man was Professor
John Tullouch, the professor
of media studies of Brunel
University of London. He, like
most European academicians,
was among the opponents of
Iraq War and contribution of
Blair administration in that war.
In the disaster day, he was
sitting near Muhammad Sadiq
Khan in a subway station and
only a briefcase saved him from
severe damages to his chest or
even his death. However, he had
lost his ability to hear and speak
for a long time after that. But, all
of these pains and wounds did
not change his opinion about
the propaganda project of “war
on terror”. Several months
after regaining his physical
ability, interviewed with BBC. In
answer to a question that “are
you angry for being the victim of
a terrorist attack?” he answered,
“I am angry, but I am angry for
the autonomous and illegal
measures of governments who
flame the fire of such violence.”
Professor
Tullouch
was
invited by Britain’s ATV in the
anniversary of the attack and
asked him to go personally, as
a reporter, to the house in which
Muhammad Sadiq Khan used
to live in already and to make a
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three-minute documentary film
for the main part of nighttime
news of the network. John
Tullouch became familiar with
another face of Muhammad
Sadiq Khan. He found that
Muhammad Sadiq Khan has
used to work as a teacher
assistant at a school in a poor
and deprived neighborhood in
Leeds. His colleagues described
him as a hard-working and
kind man who helped weaker
children in training. More
investigations and inquiries
from the city council indicated
that Muhammad Sadiq khan
had been very active in fighting
against social damages and
abnormalities. John Tullouch
chose a photo of Muhammad
Sadiq Khan as the symbol of
this unknown aspect of his
personality; the photo showed
him in the school with a thinking
face and pen in his hand while
listening to a student.
In this very short program,
Tullouch talked with several
Muslim students who all have
been raised in Britain and were
neighbors of Muhammad Sadiq
Khan and let them to say their
words. Their main concerns
and worries were being
forgetting the real meaning
of Islam in the British society
and wrong mentalities and
imaginations about Islam. It
forced them to be marginalized
in the British society. In fact,
in this TV program, professor
Tullouch introduced “reaction”
to warmongerings made by
western governments across
the world as the main cause
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of such terrorist behaviors;
while western media and
policy-makers call terrorism
as an affirmative action based
on a certain culture, a religion
or an ideology which aims
at undermining the western
civilization.
After a while professor Tullouch
published his book, One day
in July which included his
memoirs and analyses about
the bombing and its aftermath.
He finishes his book with a letter,
“a letter to Muhammad Sadiq
Khan”. In this letter, addressing
Muhammad Sadiq Khan he
writes, “I am encountered with
several faces of yours, not a
single face. I know you were a
good listener. I want to speak
One of the most
controversial
bills endorsed
by the British
government
was a bill that
allowed police
force to keep in
detainment any
suspected one for
ninety days without
any certain proof
and evidences.
to you and perhaps thousands
other Muhammad Sadiq Khans
who have not yet deserved to
be talked with.” In this letter we
find John Tulouch as a thinker
and scholar who have let the
traditional position of Europeans
when they speak with others
and emphasizes the correct
understanding of the another
party.
For the author, Professor
Tulloucj and his co-thinkers
must be considered as a part
of “conversation axis” of the
contemporary world which
stands against the “terrorism
axis”. Unfortunately, because
of the media domination of
“terrorism axis”, the voice
of “conversation axis” is not
reflected properly in the western
societies. The “terrorism axis”
domination is so strong that
despite the unprecedented
and eye-catching rally of 1.5
million people in London on
2003 against the contribution
of British government in war
against Iraq, Tony Blair, Bush’s
war-mongering partner, was reelected as the prime minister in
the next election. If Tulouch and
his friends constitute the western
wing of the “conversation axis”
in the contemporary world, this
axis has serious supporters
in the Muslim World. The
Message of Ayatollah Khamenei
to European and Northern
American
youth
unveiled
another side of this axis in the
part of the world. While the
media, which are supported by
the “terrorism axis”, have tried
their best to indicate the violent
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Muhammad Sadiq Khan
and fake image of Islam though
misusing the recent accidents
of Paris and fuelling the fire of
grudges and deepening gaps,
at once one of the greatest
religious and political leaders
of the Muslim World writes
directly a letter to European and
North American youth and calls
them to start study and identify
Islam directly. There are various
points in this points which are
discussed her briefly.
Bypassing stereotypical
images of west
Firstly, the nature of deciding
to outreach, apart from the
content of letter, is a symbolic
action. There is a sort of
acknowledgement
in
any
speech which speaks to others
respectfully. Hence, it is said
that worst insult is ignoring or
denying the presence of others.
Perhaps most Muslims and even
some Muslim thinkers have dark
mentalities about western youth
and consider them sinking in
corruption and sins. In other
words, as we have westerners,
we have westophobists as
well in the Muslim societies
who have certain stereotypes
and imaginations about the
western societies, as a whole.
However the critical approach
of Ayatollah Khamenei’s letter
to western societies is not
none-dimensional.
Before
inviting western youth to cross
the pre-judgments and false
imaginations, he ignores some
stereotypical images about
western youth. For him, western
youth are more truth-seeker
than their grown-ups.
Conversation axis against
terrorism axis
The second of the letters is
that it has been written by a
man who is qualified to be
considered in the “conversation
axis” against the “terrorism axis”
regarding his legal and real
entity and character, because
he is a victim of terrorism too,
he is the victim of terrorists
who have been later supported
by the France government
who claims fighting against
terrorism. Rather converting his
physical pains to racist grudges
against all western people,
he considers western youth
separated from their terrorist
supporting
governments
and is worry about the future
interaction between west and
Islam. On the other hand, as a
legal entity, Ayatollah Khamenei
has led a great country for more
25 years and has proved that
he is not warmonger. Despite
several wars occurred within
three recent decades in the
turbulent region of Middle East,
he has protected Iran.
Inviting to correct
understanding
The third point of this message
is that its author is a great
religious leader, it content does
not ask the reader to convert
their religion, but ask them to
understand the Islam rightly.
Mutual understanding without
doubt can pave the way for
peaceful interaction between
world’s people and prevent
warmongers of terrorism axis
to reach their ominous targets.
Ayatollah Khamenei says, “I
do not insist you to accept my
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to communicate intellectually
and culturally with youth is
not new, but it backs to hi
revolutionary efforts before
Islamic Revolution.
Precise familiarity with the
modern media
or any other account of Islam.”
It is obvious that whenever
the heavy and dark curtains of
falsity and fraud by media of
“terrorism axis” on the Islam
face, then basically there will
be no chance to invite people to
Islam. The first step, according
to him, is correct understanding
and without prejudgment;
The addressee of letter is
the future builder generation
rather statesmen
The fourth point of the
message which differentiates
it from the highfalutin but
empty slogans of some past
politicians and statesmen
is its receiver or addressee.
Already, some politicians who
did not know the difference
between “negotiation” and
“dialogue” used to confuse the
international political space
(which is the area of war of
smiles and struggle on national
interests) with the intellectual
dialogues about civilizations
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Ayatollah
Khamenei has
led a great country for more 25
years and has
proved that he
is not warmonger. Despite several wars occurred
within three recent
decades in the
turbulent region of
Middle East, he has
protected Iran.
and cultures and intended
to start cultural-civilizational
dialogue with the oppressive
armed
enemy.
However,
Ayatollah Khamenei chooses
his letter’s receiver youth
rather western statesmen and
politicians. Using this approach
One last point about the media
and the so-called “medium” is
promoting the message. The
decision to promote the letter
and its message through social
networks rather TV and radio
channels indicates how much
he is acquainted with the new
media and their capabilities
and capacities. Todays, social
networks have challenged the
hegemony of written media
and old audio-video media
(which are controlled by the
masters of “terrorism axis”).
Choosing this “medium” for
promoting a message whose
content is about calling for
people to cross the hegemony
of stereotypes is very good
and smart idea. Although
most social networks are run
by masters of “terrorism axis”
and these media have already
made
cooperation
with
warmongering governments,
they cannot be fully controlled
by their owners because
there are too many users and
contents there which make
control very difficult. Because
of influence of these social
networks, we see that even old
media have forced to reflect
the letter.
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to North American and European Youth
based on the recent terrorist
attacks in Paris.
In his letter, Imam Khamenei
urged Western youths to try
to gain a direct and firsthand
knowledge of the religion in reaction to the flood of prejudgments and disinformation campaigns.
In an e-mail interview with the
Tasnim News Agency, Italian
anthropologist Tiziana Ciavardini discussed the significance
of the Supreme Leader’s letter.
Ciavardini is a cultural anthropologist, and the president of
Italy’s Ancis Anthropology Forum.
Here is the full text of the interview.
Italian Anthropologist
Hails Iran Leader’s
‘Historical Letter’
Italian anthropologist hails
Iran Leader’s ‘historic letter’
An Italian anthropologist described the recent letter by the
Supreme Leader of Islamic
Revolution to Western youths
as a “historic letter” whose im-
pact will be revealed in future.
On January 21, Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali
Khamenei wrote a letter asking
the European and North American youths not to judge Islam
Q – Regarding the recent
letter by Iran’s Supreme
Leader to the youth in Europe and North America,
how could it be (more)
effective in attracting
those youths to real and
authentic Islam?
A – What written in the letter is
very true, we must learn from the
real source. I hope that this letter could help the youth to study
Islam as a religion, and lessen
the bad propaganda against Islam. Ayatollah Khamenei said
that there had been a flood
of misinformation about Islam
in the West. Unfortunately, in
western countries people who
declare themselves as ‘expert’
on Islam sometimes are confused about understanding the
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reluctant to publish it?
religion. Even the one who tries
to tarnish the image of Islam,
most of the time doesn’t know
what he is talking about. This is
one of the reasons behind the
increase of Islamophobia in the
West.
Q – How capable this
message is in preventing
the ongoing Islamophobia in the West?
Iran’s Supreme Leader understands better than anyone the
importance of the new generation. He is talking to them
because he knows the elder
are already spoiled. He knows
that we must push our youth to
learn and study, since they are
the future. If we encourage our
youth to understand Islam from
the (real) source, we can hope
a better future with less people
afraid of Islam. Islamophobia
is just a fear of what we don’t
know. We have also in Italy
some cases of Islamophobia
since people confuse Islam with
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terrorism. With our immigration
policies, we have many Muslim
people here in Italy who have
escaped from war or difficulties
in their countries to find a better
life either in Italy or in Europe.
Unfortunately these people
may be stigmatized as people
who may import terrorism to Italy. Especially at this moment
that we are living in fear of terrorist attacks, in a state of maximum security alert.
Q – Do you think Western
mainstream media are
interested in widespread
dissemination of Supreme Leader’s letter, or
Western media empire is
A – When the letter first appeared in English on the website I told myself: this will be a
historic letter. As far as I know,
this is the first time that Iran’s
Supreme Leader talks to the
western youth in this confidential way. The letter seems
to me that he is saying much
more than the words written
on it. I was surprised as well to
see that the letter was not on
the first page of Italian Newspaper. The reasons could be
varied. Even though Italy and
Iran have great cooperation in
many fields and we also see
the new Italian government is
ready to talk with and invest in
Iran, still there are some media unenthusiastic to publish a
letter from the Leader of Islam
Republic of Iran. We can think
of it as a sign of respect: the important words from a religious
Leader could not be shared just
on a piece of paper, but still this
reflects my theory about the
prejudice on Iran. If something
bad (in western eyes) happens
in Iran, the news will be on
first page, if it is good news it
means no news. In this case,
they make a mistake. We will
see in the future the power of
words of Supreme Leader.
Q – How do you evaluate
the letter’s content?
A – The best of this letter is the
way the Leader emphasizes the
new generation’s education.
He with all his experiences and
culture knows that education is
the way to succeed. Not only in
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to North American and European Youth
school or university, education
is the way to fight the war and
bring peace on the earth. It is
very important that he didn’t
force the youth to convert to
Islam and be Muslim, but just
urged them to understand Islam and study from the source.
He did not refer to the violence
directly, but on the intellectual
conditions that allows ideologies of violence to exist.
Q – In your opinion, could
this letter be a new chapter in paying attention to
Islam by Europeans?
A – Yes this could be, if Western young generation spends
more time on intellectual fields
instead of material issues.
Some Western countries are
losing more values day by day
and most of the youth do not
have any hope for the future,
not even dreams. I am not a
Muslim, but I have not seen in
any other religion the devotion
I see in Islam. I think Islam can
help all of us understand better
the world we live in. The territory of Islam has given birth
to the most famous scientists
and intellectuals. How can we
believe that the same territory
has given birth to people who
spread death?
Q – Can this letter show
the differences between
authentic Islam and the
one that the Islamic State
in Iraq and the Levant
(ISIL) and other terrorist
groups have shown?
must ask ourselves who will
benefit or get power by showing Islam so hostile.
The letter seems
to me that he
is saying much
more than the
words written on
it. I was surprised as well to
see that the letter
was not on the
first page of Italian
Newspaper.
A – Whoever makes correspondence between Islam
and terrorist groups certainly
doesn’t know Islam. The Supreme Leader takes his distance from terrorist acts. It is
unthinkable that someone who
really believes in a religion may
commit these acts. How a religion of peace may suggest to
the people to kill other people?
Islam has nothing to do with
this brutality. What people do
not understand yet is that the
primary victim of this cruelty
is Islam itself. They operate in
the name of Islam but the reasons are not religious but just
political. These attacks and terrorist groups are damaging the
peaceful vision of Islam. We
Q – What is the next step
in order to enlighten the
youth in West to introduce
the real Islam to them?
A – We know that Islam is
spreading in Europe. We have
also seen an increase in the
number of conversion to Islam
in Italy. Islam is the second
faith in Italy. I think the next
steps must be taken by Western governments increasing
the useful projects to let people
understand Islam better. In Italy we have already schools with
scholars from diverse nationalities and I hope in future we will
be able to introduce lessons of
‘Religious Studies’ instead of
studying one religion. Studying
other religions does not mean
converting to other religions,
but learning more about something we don’t know. In the letter of Ayatollah Khamenei, he
wrote about ‘other’. This term
is exactly what we must understand. Other means knowing people who are different
from us and we must consider
diversities as great values to
improve comprehending our
nature.
Source: Tasnim News Agency
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A Roadmap to
Find the Right Way
States and Europe?
Ever increasing efforts of the
west to demonize Islam’s face
and preventing promotion of
this message indicate relatively ready condition for accepting
this message.
4. How Leader’s general
diplomacy would result in
conclusion through social
and virtual networks, despite efforts of the hegemonic system of west?
Dr. Zu-Elm is the professor of Kalam and Islamic Sciences
who acts as the faculty member in Islamic Culture and Thought
Research Center. He has published more than books including theory of development in Islam, effective experience of
Jurisprudential state, Islamic revolution, culture of criterion for
Noble Quran, etc. We arranged an interview with Dr. Zu-Elm
which you can find it as follows:
1. What is the most important pivot of Supreme Leader’s message to American
and European youth?
● Direct study of Quran and
Holy Prophet’s (PBUH) lifestyle
against imitative and inductive
accounts and perceptions;
● Fair and responsibility in facing with recognizing Islam and
negative perception of west
about Islam.
2. How can analyze the
letter of Leader of Islamic
Revolution in terms of the
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challenge between Islam
and west? Is it indicates
the new challenge between Islam and the West?
It indicate a more intellectual
and responsible-based future
which develops intellectual
communicative bridges to fill
the deep gap between Islam
and the west.
3. How do you analyze
the acceptance aspects
of Leader’s message, as
a Muslim Thought, in the
young generation of United
Personally I am disagree with
applying definition of “general diplomacy” for this letter. This message is based on divine mission
and performing religious duty to
invite people to the truth. Continuous and serious planning and
taking advantage of all strategic
facilities will pave the way for this
letter to be effective.
5. How Islam has been
depicted by hegemonic
system in United States
and Europe?
A violent, illogical and warrior
Islam…
6. How do you predict the
future of Islam in the west?
Certainly, Islam will be successful, if the Almighty God Intends.
7. Please name practical
solutions to increase influence of the letter.
Development and promotion of
independent works, which are
proper with the needs of audiences about questions and points of
the letter and using any possible
capacity to promote it…..
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Leader of the Islamic Revolution in later generation
of Europe and West?
A: In response to your question, it should be acknowledged
that a wave like tsunami rose
in the West as of 1960s which
covered two important aspects
in general. One aspect is related to disappointment and unhappiness of current civilization
of west or modernity. The next
aspect is related to inclination
to dimensions of existence and
life which is neglected in this
civilization.
The first dimension or “disappointment” and “dissatisfaction”, arising from current west
civilization, led to the formation
of an environment which was
then famed “postmodernism”.
In other words, criticism of modernity came to being with different aspects including value
crises, etc.
Dimensions of Supreme
Leader of the Islamic
Revolution’s Letter to
Western Youth
Undoubtedly, the recent letter
of the Supreme Leader of the
Islamic Revolution to youth in
Europe and North America
covers widespread and comprehensive dimensions.
To learn more about the details, NASIM News Agency
has conducted an interview
with Hassan Kachouian. He
clarified and analyzed dimensions of this letter.
Let’s review the interview in
questions and answers.
Q: How do you evaluate
the preliminaries of admitting message of supreme
In the same years of second
dimension, a severe inclination to religion was observed
among youth and west’s new
generation. Tendency to the
eastern Gnosticism and mysticisms, Buddhism, Hinduism,
etc. became prevalent in the
west in that time and different
movements like hippies came
to being which was followed by
protest.
These two movements have
been invigorated in the course
of these years and no weaknesses can be observed in
these movements. The more
steps are taken in this regard;
preliminaries of criticism, unSpecial Issue, May 2015
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happiness, and dissatisfaction of existing systems (including social, cultural,
economic and political systems) are developed. In recent developments such
as Wall Street Movement, it can be
witnessed that these movements have
been transferred to the public general
level.
Presently, there is not aspect of western lifestyle and the said issue is of paramount importance for westerners with
regard to the cases such as democracy
and other issues in terms of modern values and consequently, critical stance has
been formed with regard to these cases.
a wave like tsunami rose in the
West as of 1960s
which covered two
important aspects
in general. One
aspect is related
to disappointment
and unhappiness of
current civilization of
west or modernity.
The next aspect is
related to inclination
to dimensions of existence and life which
is neglected in this
civilization.
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It is advancing with regard to the religious tendencies and this issue was
mostly observed after the glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution. After the glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution, a
large sea wave “tsunami” spread across
the world. In the same direction Hindus,
Jews, Christians, Buddhism, etc. were
revived. For instance, issues happened
in Myanmar is the outcome and consequence of revival of Buddhism. Buddhism claims religious is free from any
violence and feels sense of existence
and enters the political arena and finally,
defend its identity.
Given the above issue, I do not agree
with these movements, rather, I point to
the reason and their root. The issues
happened in Myanmar is the outcome of
revival of Buddhism and such movement
came to being in Israel (Judaism) and
world of Christianity and other religions
across the world.
Q: Do you believe “Takfiri”
movement in the course of such
uprising?
A: Such tendencies came to being
since 1960s in the world. It can be said
that the Islamic Revolution also came
to being in such situation and this issue
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was improved comprehensively after the
glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution.
Occurrence of the Islamic Revolution
brought about a tremendous influence
among Muslim emigrants in Europe to
restore their Islamic identity. In the same
direction, many Muslim thinkers and
intellectuals have pointed to the said
issue that emigrants were not introducing themselves as “Muslim” before the
Islamic Revolution, rather, they were introducing themselves as an individual as
resident of Pakistan, Somalia, Algeria,
etc. Pakistani and African Muslims, etc.
returned to this Islamic identity in countries like France, England, etc.
Q: Is this issue considered as
consequences of the Islamic Revolution or outcomes as a result of
measures taken by the executive
officials?
A: No, the consequences of revival
of Islam were occurred by the Islamic
Revolution. For instance, Christianity
in these years was highly welcomed in
world under the influence of revival of
religion and the ceremonies which Pope
John Paul II participated in it is a solid
evidence of the said claim.
The sense of recurrence to the Islamic
identity by Muslims in the West created
an extraordinary feeling of fear among
westerners in order to prevent European
and western youth from being converted into Islam. Since then, the wave of
Islamophobia and converting Islam into
a monster and giant issue started. The
major fear of west world was inspired by
the tendency of the very westerners to
Islam, neither the Muslims who were in
west and wave of recurrence to the Islamic identity had been formed among
them.
The sense of
recurrence to the
Islamic identity
by Muslims in the
West created an
extraordinary feeling of fear among
westerners in order to
prevent European and
western youth from
being converted into
Islam. Since then, the
wave of Islamophobia
and converting Islam
into a monster and
giant issue started.
Of course, unfortunately, westerners
managed to curb and control this affair
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in one sense. In the same direction, organized and widespread measures were taken
in this regard which included
several preliminaries such as
cinema, the press, and political
circles. For instance, the issue
of apostate Salman Rushdie is
a clear example of these cases.
If a Muslim did not feel a threat
by Islam, there is no reason to
seek Islam and Holy Prophet
(S) and mar them.
During this time, making Hollywood films started with the
centrality of destructing and
marring real image of Islam.
When a fixed and constant policy entered the cinema and if a
film is made in related field consecutively, it is not meant that
the risk is related to today and
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tomorrow, rather, it is meant
sense of a strategic danger.
This path started since that
time and is intensifying continually. For instance, an issue
is raised in each of European counters every day, one
day, the issue of Hijab (Islamic
Dress Code) is raised and the
other day, the issue of minaret of mosques and the next
day, another issue is raised as
well. Eventually, it is observed
an insulting caricature in this
respect. These issues indicate
that west feels a serious fear
and such fear are not related
to the Muslims who are present
in these countries; rather, it is
beyond expectation. A glance
at sales rate of Holy Quran in
recent years, it is be grasped
out that the Holy Book is one
of the best-selling books in the
world. All these cases which
were explained indicate that
the trend has not only been
continued, but also it has been
improved and developed. Given the above issue, it is clear
that preliminary of acceptance
of the supreme Leader’s letter
to western and European youth
is very high.
Another point which is usually
ignored is this that westerners
had not considered approaches taken by easterners, for,
westerners were considering
the easterners with people at
second grade. Moreover, westerners were not paying due attention to the events happened
in eastern countries. Generally
Special Issue for Ayatollah Khamenei's Letter
to North American and European Youth
speaking, westerners were not
considering way of thinking of
easterners as important, let
along to refer them [easterners]
as an evidence for their claims.
But in the movement of Wall
Street, it can be observed that
not only westerners took Islamic countries as a role model, but also they [westerners]
compared themselves with the
countries like Egypt and Islamic
countries in banners and placards apparently.
These issues are very important and indicate that not
only western idea has failed,
but also it shows the direction
of the attitudes they are thinking about. Presently, west looks
towards the east and especially
Islamic and Islamic world. All
of these indicate the issue that
the west is very apt to admit the
valuable concepts.
All these cases
which were explained indicate
that the trend
has not only
been continued,
but also it has
been improved and
developed. Given
the above issue, it is
clear that preliminary
of acceptance of the
supreme Leader’s
letter to western and
European youth is
very high.
Q: There is a contemplation that this letter has
been written since the
West managed to act successfully.
Considering
that an aspect of Islam
has been displayed presently which indicates that
Islam is not a pure Islam
and Islamic Republic of
Iran felt the risk of the issue and for this purpose,
a letter was written to lieves that silence should not be
youth in this respect.
adopted in this respect; rather,
A: No. I do not agree with you. effective steps should be takSupreme Leader of the Islamic en as well. In other words, the
Revolution wrote the letter on Leader decided to enter the batthis purpose that a battle has tle himself. Suddenly, world peobeen formed between Islam ple cannot be addressed or recand the West. The Leader be- ommended to do special activity,
rather, social and cultural fields
should first be provided.
Given the above issue, Supreme Leader of the Islamic
Revolution predicted that time
is ripped and it is the best time
to do such move.
Q: Officials in the country adopted silence as
the Leader’s wrote letter
to youth in Europe and
North America. What is
the main reason here?
A: In response to your question, I should say that statesmen and politicians in the country have not considered a role
and position for themselves at
this juncture, rather they consider incorrect role and positions for themselves.
For instance, during Khatami
Administration, many efforts
were taken in this respect to
merge Iran in global system.
Perhaps, it can be said that Mr.
Ahmadinejad is the only person
who acted differently in this regard. He was thinking of a revoSpecial Issue, May 2015
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lutionary system for himself and
was of the opinion that such
revolutionary system should be
propelled. Some officials have
recently explained in their interviews that we are in a dilemma.
They are of the opinion that one
clear-cut way should be selected: either to be a revolutionary
system or be a responsible official in international system in
order to take advantage of its
interests. It is not meant that we
should be a major player for the
west in the region.
Q: West has not allowed
an accurate identification and recognition of
Islam. In many books of
humanities, it can be observed that West knows
Islam with Jihadi spirit
and this issue indicates
aggressive and hardline
attitude toward Islam. In
your opinion, which Islamic aspects, according
to the letter of Leader, can
attract western addresses
in this field?
A: If west has changed in every field, it has not changed in
one field. When Islam came to
being in Medieval Ages, westerners felt fear of Islam due to
its development and penetration. However, they [westerners] created an image of Islam
in their minds. In this image, Islam and Christianity stood along
with each other i.e. Islam [which
is manifestation of aggression
and violence] and Christianity
[which is manifestation of love
and peace]. West thinkers and
intellectuals also have such an
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When Islam came
to being in Medieval Ages, westerners felt fear
of Islam due to
its development
and penetration.
However, they [westerners] created an image of Islam in their
minds. In this image,
Islam and Christianity stood along with
each other i.e. Islam
[which is manifestation of aggression
and violence] and
Christianity [which is
manifestation of love
and peace].
image from Islam. For example, a thinker like Marx Weber
has the same imagination on
Islam in his works. In this image, Islam only knows sword
on one hand, moving forward
with sword and violence, and
on the other hand, Islam was
found with “debauchery “characteristic, for, they could not
match themselves with Islam
and eventually, they resorted
to mar the real image of Islam.
Generally speaking, westerners left no stone unturned in
order to destroy real image of
Islam in their minds.
Even in late century i.e. 19th
century, Holy Quran has not
been translated fairly in western countries and motivational and arousing subjects have
been reflected towards Islam
in these countries as well. This
is the framework and an image
that has been formed approx.
900 years ago and has also
been intensified during these
years with various events.
The most important point that
should be taken into consideration here is this that Islam is a
two- dimensional religion. Given the traditions, other religions
have been introduced as a single- dimensional aspect.
Of course, it is not meant that
Christianity has not committed
any crime in the course of history. The mass killing and massacres happened during Medieval
Ages and crucified wars, etc.
are considered as crimes and
felonies committed by Christians. Let’s draw a comparison
between Islam crucified wars
wit Christianity. When Christianity occupies Holy city of
Quds, many people are killed
while Islam has nothing to do
with people and westerns acknowledge this affair.
Therefore, Islam is a religion
that has two aspects simultaneously. Basically, Islam is
meant a religion of perfection,
compassion, and mercy, for
mercy and compassion always
overtakes violence and aggression. To learn more about this,
it should be noted that the Holy
Prophet of Islam (S) was not
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to North American and European Youth
forerunner as beginner of war
and was making his utmost effort in order to prevent war from
happening. Given the above
issue, Islam is a two- dimensional religion and it should be
introduced in two aspects.
Q: Considering the similarity of this letter with the
letters wrote by the late
founding father of Islamic
Revolution, Imam Khomeini (RA), what is the
main reason behind repetition of this letter. How
do you evaluate effectiveness of this latter?
A: Politic can be viewed in
two aspects. One aspect is
in ordinary form. Even, Imam
Khomeini’s move with regard
to Salman Rushdie does not
include in its ordinary form. A
glance at works of Toffler and
many others, it can be grasped
out that Imam Khomeini’s move
with regard to Salman Rushdie
or his conveyance of message
to Gorbachev is manifestation
of emergence of a type of different politics.
When your word does not
include within the framework
of an ordinary diplomatic policies, you can resort to define
a new different form of politics.
It should be noted that politics
is not confined to government
in the global arena; rather, individuals, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), etc. have
turned into players of arena of
politics. Therefore, general politics becomes very important
in this situation and measures
taken by supreme Leader of
the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Khamenei and imam Khomeini (RA) can be defined in
this framework. That is to say
that there are parties and individuals in new situation that
play an effective role in world of
politics but they cannot be accessed in ordinary framework
and eventually, they cannot be
addressed.
This is an aspect of story. Another aspect of the story, that
the late Imam Khomeini (RA)
and Leadership place special
emphasis on them, is this that
we consider our revolution as
sequence of Nabavi tradition.
Given the above issue, conveyance of message to Gorbachev
or to youth in Europe and North
America will be meaningful in
this definition.
As far as story of Salman
Rushdie is concerned, merely
defending Islam is not the main
objective of the late Imam Khomeini (RA). Therefore, letter
of leadership can be analyzed
in this respect and it is not a
matter of today and yesterday.
It is heard repeatedly western
democracy and liberal system
has vanished and the Islamic
Republic is the other alternative
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Muslims, but also it is eaten by
all European and western people.
Q: Message of the Leader of Islamic Revolution
handed over to youth in
Europe and North America. What is the role of
system and government
in clarification and dissemination of message of
the Leader? What is the
role of people in this respect?
which has come to being in the
world.
Q: To what extent this
letter will influence the
audience? Some foreign outlets have weakened
feedback
and
reflection of the news
according to the statistics of western resources like Tweeter, etc.?
A: This issue cannot be evaluated based on foreign media
outlets, because, addressees
of this letter are not media companions. Secondly, these organizations are moving forwards
based on preplanned programs. A brief look to Tweeter,
you can find subjects on Iran.
For example, it is not allowed
message of the late Imam Khomeini (RA) to Pope John Paul II
to be published in dailies. Even
the message was not published
even funding at local dailies.
I lived in English for about six
years and during these years,
only three news on Iran were
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published in British media and
dailies, so that the three of
them were disappointed and
bad news on Iran.
Q: The activities done
by the West to show Islam as “religion of violence” marred real image
of Islam on one hand and
caused Islam as an important religion in world
on the other hand. Is marring Islam considered as
important for the West
which carried out such
measures in this respect?
A: After the glorious victory of
the Islamic Revolution in Iran,
revival of Islam in the West was
found with various aspects. The
issue of lawful (halal) meat was
considered as one of the aspects in compatible with the living condition of western countries. Western courses have
come to know that lawful meat
dubbed “Halal” is more beneficial for human health condition.
Eating lawful “Halal” meat has
not only been spread among
A: Two moves should be taken into consideration with regard to one message. Firstly
message should be published
or disseminated to addressee.
For this purpose, our cultural
advisors and envoys, embassies, trans- boundary organizations such as radio and TV,
When your
word does not
include within
the framework
of an ordinary
diplomatic policies, you can
resort to define a
new different form
of politics.
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to North American and European Youth
etc. can play a leading role in
conveyance or publication of
the message. Clarification and
opening message should be
carried out at the next step.
However, various aspects of
this issue should be discussed.
At first step, it should be tried
to disseminate or convey the
message rapidly. At the next
step, it should be tried to prevent ambiguity of the message
in a way that the message
should be conveyed accurately
and precisely and doing such
activities will guarantee effectiveness of the message more.
Q: In your opinion, what
was the most important
pivot of message of Leader in this letter?
A: Leader’s message is very
brief, transparent, accurate and
precise. The message followed
with various satisfactory aspects. In my opinion, the most
interesting point in the message is as follows: “Why western intellectuals and thinkers
always adopt posterity in historical point of view?”
Q: To what extent we
have been successful in
export of revolution to
other countries?
A: The most important events
happened after the glorious victory of the Islamic Revolution in
1978. In other words, Islamic
Revolution in Iran is the brainchild of many important events
in world ranging from the event
happened in Latin America to
the developments in the Middle
East region. Every influential
activity done in world is inspired
by the Islamic Revolution to a
great extent.
In other words, most important events have been affected
by the Islamic Revolution in
Iran, the revolution which challenged the existing civilization.
Various individuals with queer
and strange policies came to
being in order to control Islamic revolution and for materializing their objectives, they left no
stone unturned.
How much is the palpable
costs that Islamic Revolution
has imposed to U.S. during Iran
and Iraq war?
Let’s consider only two wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan. How
much cost did the two wars impose to U.S. economy?
Q: Since Takfiri movement has been disseminated and spread across
the world, do you think
that it is an obstacle for
export of real and pure
Islamic Revolution to
world?
A: Forming Takfiri movements
is one of the blessings of West
which started as of Taliban
came to power. The Liberal
West had not any power to create social and popular movements in world until before the
Islamic revolution. Concurrent
with the Islamic Revolution,
western countries managed to
form quintets in Latin America
and consequently, they created
Taliban in Islamic world.
vantage of irrelevant governments in their favor and enlivened historical animosities
among people. One of Takfiri
Friday Prayers Leader in a
mosque in England told me that
he was interested in behavior
of the late Imam Khomeini and
Islamic revolution.
Given the above issue, Islamic Revolution in Iran managed
to export pure Revolution and
teachings to the Islamic world
in particular.
Western countries took adSpecial Issue, May 2015
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Zarif Delivers Ayatullah
Khamenei’s Letter for
Youth to UNSG
Iranian FM, while addressing
Ban Ki-moon in a letter and
expressing worry of islamophobic symbols in the West,
delivered Ayatollah Khamenei’s ‘Letter to Western Youth’
to the UN chief.
In a letter dated late January,
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wrote to
UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon to warn against increasing Islamophobia in
the western world. Zarif has
also criticized western double standards towards values
such as freedom of expression
and has urged international
consensus in reaching practical solutions to bring violence
and extremism to an end. The
letter was sent along with Ayatollah Khamenei’s message to
the youth in North American
and Europe which was released in mid-January with the
hashtag #Letter4U mostly on
Twitter and other social media.
Here is the full text of the letter:
29 January 2015
In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Excellency,
I wish to draw your kind attention to the quite unsettling and
pervasive manifestations of
Islamophobia, which have further escalated in the aftermath
of the recent terrorist acts in
Paris. The unjustifiable killings
by members of an infamous violent extremist group – whos-
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to North American and European Youth
eraison d’etre and emergence
recently as a player in our
region is known to all – have
been condemned by the Muslims across the globe, in clear
and unequivocal terms, including governments, religious institutions and authorities, civil
society and prominent individuals. The fact that such senseless resorts to violence has no
place in Islam and its exalted
teachings, nor acceptable to
Muslims, is not in doubt; notwithstanding the campaign by
the perpetrators promoters of
Islamophobia try depict it otherwise.
The issue for us, in the Islamic Republic, and in the larger
Muslim world, is the prevalence of double-standards
when it comes to the question
of the proclaimed defense of
the universally respected principle of the ‘freedom of expression’. You might find this of interest that in 2008, a cartoonist
of the same magazine was instructed by the magazine’s editor to write a letter apology for
what was perceived to be anti-Semitic; and was summarily
fired once he refused. No such
approach and resolve has
ever been seen in the case of
frequent frivolous caricatures
defaming Muslim and desecrating Islamic values, which
appeared in that magazine
and other similar publications
in Europe; leading to exacerbated tension with the Muslim
community in France and the
Islamic world. As we all have
ruefully witnessed in recent
times in various societies in
the Western world, whether by
political quarters and personalities, the media, or the virtual
world, open assault on the religious values of Muslims, be it
the person of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), the Holy Qur’an
or the Islamic teachings and
values has regrettably become
the order of the day.
This inherently dangerous
phenomenon poses serious
threat to international peace
and security, and the acutely
needed ambiance of humane,
peaceful inter-state and inter-people relations and the
requisite recourse, by all, to
dialogue, understanding and
tolerance between and among
But how can
achieve a right
picture and
understanding
of Islam, the
Supreme Leader,
in this step in
which a question
has been raised
in the mind of the
reader on how
the plurality of ethnic, religious
and racial communities in our
world today.
Beyond the immediate and
necessary action to denounce
and condemn acts of verbal or physical violence, the
West and Europe in particular now needs to undertake a
sole searching exercise as to
the underlying reasons why
quite a sizeable number of
individuals and groups espousing extremist ideologies
and engaged in acts of brutal
terror and heinous violence,
in Europe and on a much bigger scale in Iraq and Syria,
happen to be second generation Europeans. This rather
bizarre and seemingly inexplicable phenomenon cannot be
a mere coincidence, nor can it
be easily dismissed or pushed
under the rug; it is part and
parcel of the current European
political landscape. It betrays
signs of a deeper socio-political malaise in the societies
concerned, and especially
in the policies in place as regards Muslim minorities and
their values and sanctities.
Recent analyses, prompted in
large measure by the high rate
of terrorist recruitments in Europe and North America, point
in the direction of systematic failure of these societies,
which has led to marginalization, alienation and disenfranchisement of these communities and their members, most
notably the second generation, born, raised and educat-
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ed in Western societies. It is
bewildering, and equally frightening, that Da’esh terrorists,
beheading innocent civilians
and dangling with self-satisfying depravity the heads of the
murdered hostages just happen to be speaking European
languages with native accent.
Pointing fingers of accusation towards others, whether Muslim countries, certain
governments whose policies
and politics might be found
disagreeable, or much worse,
Islam as a faith, even if politically-correct domestically and
of instantaneous or short-term
benefit, is simply unconvincing, and incapable of addressing serious problems at the societal, and now global, levels.
In writing this letter, Mr. Secretary-General, I do not intend to
lament obvious manifestations
of double-standards or find
fault with highly-sanctioned
policies by this or that Western
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As we all have
ruefully witnessed
in recent times in
various societies
in the Western
world, whether by
political quarters
and personalities, the
media, or the virtual
world, open assault
on the religious values of Muslims, be it
the person of Prophet
Mohammad (PBUH),
the Holy Qur’an or the
Islamic teachings and
values has regrettably
become the order of
the day.
government or society. Rather,
I share this concern with you
with a more serious objective
in mind. Considering the institutional capabilities of the Unit-
ed Nations, and as a career
multilateral diplomat who still
believes in the substantial potentials of the Organization, I
tend to remain hopeful that the
UN and its capacity and mechanisms can be brought to bear
on an issue of immense international impact and reverberations. Two Iranian proposals,
adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations
on Dialogue Among Civilizations (A/Res/56/6) and World
Against Violence and Extremism (WAVE) (A/Res/68/127)
can provide appropriate institutional framework for this
endeavor. More recently, in
a message that I have the
privilege to enclose, Ayatollah
Khamenei has taken the lead
in initiating dialogue with the
youth in the West on this cardinal issue.
I strongly believe we urgently
need to draw on our collective
wisdom, at the level of the entire international community,
to explore practical ways and
means in this regard.
Looking forward to be advised
of your resolute initiative, and
underlining my readiness for
further exchange of views on
this topical issue, allow me,
Mr. Secretary-General, to assure you of my highest consideration.
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An Open Letter
Like No Other
WAQAR RIZVI
Muslims,
their
leaders,
scholars and politicians, have
been asked, nay demanded,
infinite times to speak out
about extremism, terrorism,
or whatever other –ism currently incorrectly associated
with Islam. Ayatollah Khamenei has just responded to that
call in an open letter, albeit not
in a manner that fits in with
the current and popular narrative about Islam. He did not,
as was likely desired, apologize for the religion, or for
Muslims.
The mainstream media, as
well as the Western establish-
ment, seemingly knows and understands little about how Islam,
Muslims and their scholars think
and speak of the world around
them. When Ayatollah Khamenei
says that Western youth need to
stop relying on their media to
judge Islam, reading his own full
speeches and press releases
would be a good place to start,
as an example. The amount
of disinformation and twisting
that goes into how the media
presents any words spoken or
written by Ayatollah Khamenei
is such that one can genuinely
imagine a group of people sitting
somewhere brainstorming, ‘how
do we misuse this to attain our
ends?’ That is neither an exaggeration or conspiratorial if you
look at the evidence.
The direct and unprecedented
approach of addressing Western youth has seen Ayatollah
Khamenei one-up the West,
catching it off guard.
Fear of the ‘other’ is a weapon
which, as Ayatollah Khamenei
rightly addresses, has been an
effective tool used by the West
throughout the years to ensure
blind support for its political aims,
both domestic and overseas. As
stated in the letter, since the fall
of the Soviet Union, and the end
of the communist boogeyman,
Islam and Muslims were brought
to the fore to use as punching
bags to guarantee unquestionable support for pro-war policies,
among others.
To some all this sounds less
like a systematic defaming of
Islam, but of the activities of a
number of fringe Islamophobic,
right-wing groups. The evidence
shows otherwise. As proven
by studies and research in the
West itself, Islamophobia has
become an industry in and of
itself, making many who work
within it unimaginably wealthy.
These groups are very quickly
being able to buy their influence
on TV, in films, and in politics.
As time goes by, and as proof
of the continuous acceptance of
anti-Islam stances, the media,
through movies or otherwise,
feels more comfortable in portraying Muslims as successively
more negative. Its almost a competition at this point as to who
can do a better job of making
Muslims out to be the barbaric,
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uncivilized, violent people that
the current narrative describes
them as. The recent movie
‘American Sniper,’ as well as
the recent TV show ‘Homeland,’
are good examples of acceptable, propaganda-filled entertainment, meant to increase the
hype about a ‘Muslim-threat.’
One paragraph in Ayatollah
Khamenei’s letter deserves special attention:
‘I don’t insist that you accept
my reading or any other reading
of Islam. What I want to say is:
Don’t allow this dynamic and effective reality in today’s world to
be introduced to you through resentments and prejudices. Don’t
allow them to hypocritically introduce their own recruited terrorists as representatives of Islam.’
Ayatollah Khamenei, as in
every Muslim, simply wants others to judge Islam and Muslims
without prejudice and Islamophobia. No one is asking everyone to become Muslim, or to
become cheerleaders for Islam,
but for Muslims and Islam to be
given the same respect as all
other faiths and their followers.
The gem-of-a-statement here
is Ayatollah Khamenei’s plea
for Western youth to not allow
their governments and media
to ‘introduce their own recruited
terrorists as representatives of
Islam.’
Just days ago, The Independent reported that evidence
has emerged that 700 ‘moderate’-Syrian opposition members
joined the [un]-Islamic State terrorists. As Iran, Syria, and others
have been warning for years,
the line between ‘moderate’ and
‘extremist’ in the Syrian conflict
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has always been muddled. Yet,
the Western world insists on
arming, training, and financing
the ‘moderate’-opposition which
lives on the brink or in line with
the extremist ideologies the
West now claims it is fighting
against through its anti-ISIL coalition. If that sounds confusing, it
is meant to be.
The [un-]Islamic State did not
appear in a vacuum, and evidence shows US-allies in the
Middle East enthusiastically
funded, trained, and armed the
terrorists, with American weap-
Ayatollah
Khamenei, as in
every Muslim,
simply wants
others to judge
Islam and Muslims without
prejudice and Islamophobia. No one
is asking everyone
to become Muslim,
or to become cheerleaders for Islam,
but for Muslims and
Islam to be given
the same respect as
all other faiths and
their followers.
ons, under the guise of fighting
President Assad of Syria, while
poisoning their minds with a
warped version of Islam propagated by Persian Gulf Arab
monarchies to further their political interests. Many, including
Western Muslims, were recruited through an organized and
crisp social media campaign to
join the fight. That these very
countries, this very West, now
claims moral authority in fighting
its own Frankenstein is hypocrisy of the highest order.
For the media and politicians
to turn around, while knowing
full well those who are responsible for the rise of these terrorists, and ask Muslims to apologize for, and condemn terrorism,
while calling for ‘reform’ within Islam would be comical if the consequences weren’t so real. For
many Westerners, the drones
that fly over the skies over many
Muslim countries’ skies are an
after-thought, but for those on
the receiving end, the Islamophobia that begins in the minds
of racist Islamophobes eventu-
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ally translates into the death of
their innocents, seen as worthy
collateral-damage.
As blowback from support for
terrorists and warped ideologies
is felt across the Western world,
instead of reflecting on its own
role in this, the West has conveniently put Islam into the void
where its own good name must
stand. Muslims and Islam are
seemingly in a lose-lose situation, where the vicious cycle of
founding terrorist groups, acts
of terrorism, and inescapable
blowback all come back to bite
them.
It is time for some honest reflection on the use of Islam as
a convenient scapegoat, and to
ask the Western world to put its
money where its mouth is, when
it comes to its claims of freedom, equality, and respect for
all. There is still time, and much
hope that the next generation, as
addressed by Ayatollah Khamenei, will rise above the previous
one’s blunders, towards a world
truly in line with stated Western,
and in fact global, ideals.
Special Issue, May 2015
39