The Campaign against Crimes Against Humanity in Iran
presents
A Town Hall Meeting on Human Rights
Time: Saturday, September 26th 2009 , 9:00 am – 4 pm.
Place: South Hall Riverside Church (490 Riverside Drive, New York, 1, 9 line 116 Street)
Program
Theoretical Reflections: 1. Abdolali 
Bazargan, The Basis of Governmental Legitimacy; 2. Shahrnoush Parsipour, A Critique of the Dual Structure of Iranian Thought; 3. Farzin Vahdat, The Social Structure of Iran and Democratic Demands; 4. Mohammad Reza Nikfar, The Importance of Legal Representations Against Injustice
Political Development: 1. Reza Baraheni, How Can We Build Democracy?; 2. Ahmad Sadri, Reflections on the Justification of Violence; 3. Ebrahim Soltani, A Wise Transition to Democracy; 4. Arash Naraghi, Characteristics of Outlawed States in the International Community
The Dangers that Lie Ahead: 1. Hamid Dabashi, Conflict and Interaction between the Movement for Civil Rights in Iran and Regional Politics; 2. Majid Mohammadi, Forthcoming Challenges for the Green Movement; 3. Mansour Farhang, The Iranian, American and Israeli Triangle; 4. Hossein Kamali, Looking to the East and Winking at the West.
Likely Scenarios: 1. Abdolali Rezaei, The Complexity of the Current Situation; 2. Reza Fani-Yazdi, Who is Hegemonic? 3. Ali Mirsepassi, What Are the Iranian People Aspiring Toward? 4. Ata Hoodshtian,The Question of the Movement’s Leadership.
Akbar Ganji: Prospects for the Future
Musical Performance by Faramarz Aslani, Arash Shojaei, Sahar Dehghan, Rana Farhan Group
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Regarding the Town hall on Saturday for Iran:
I went all-day in the hopes of learning something and being educated about the recent events in Iran. Although I enjoyed my day there, I have to say I was disappointed that all of the presentations were in Farsi.
I have no objections to Farsi-speakers having such presentations, but since the flyers I saw were all in English, I had no way of knowing that the day was oriented primarily to Farsi-speakers. Since this was the case, I am wondering why all the flyers were done in English? I found this to be misleading and somewhat off-putting. If Iranian ex-pats wish to talk to each other in Farsi for a Town Hall, then why not put the flyers in Farsi so it is clear that that is what the day is about?
I thought this was really unfortunate. I was disappointed and discouraged, as I know several other English-speakers were at the event. Several people offered to translate for me, which was very nice, and eventually a summary in English was presented for some of the talks. But a 5 minute English summary hardly does justice to a 30 minute presentation in Farsi.
The recent events in Iran have opened up interest in the USA to the people of Iran in a way that hasn’t been seen since the Iranian Revolution of 30 years ago. If Iranian ex-pats want to continue talking only to each other in Farsi, that is certainly their right. But I think an opportunity is being lost to capture and hold the interest of the rest of us who don’t speak Farsi and who care deeply about the events unfolding there.
I know you are in touch with the organizers of this event. I hope you can express my feedback to them. If an event is in Farsi, then the flyers should indicate that (maybe by being in Farsi instead of English)?
But I would encourage the organizers to consider ways to be more inclusive of supporters such as myself who do not speak the language.
You’re absolutely right.
I gave the organizers a piece of my mind on it.