anyMeta 4.6.58 - Atom module 0.3.22017-05-11T16:54:26+02:00http://www.couscousglobal.com/feed/atom/47/en?q_edg_owned_by=176Editors bloghttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/43192009-11-02T15:08:43+01:00THEO VAN GOGH<p>NOVEMBER 2ND, 2004-2009</p><p>5 YEARS AGO THEO GOT KILLED IN A HORRIBLE WAY AND WE STARTED OUR FIRST SERIES COUSCOUS AND COLA. THEO AND WE WERE AND STILL ARE ALL PASSIONATE ABOUT HOW TO LIVE IN A MIXED CULTURE. TODAY, ON ALL SOULS DAY, WE REFLECT.........</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/40562009-07-18T17:48:43+02:00Obama in Tanzania<p>Zanzibar 18 july 2009</p><p>Tanzania has more obama than Kenya.....posters, bussesm daladala, tangka....he isall over...<br/>
in the paper in Kenya they are upset about the speech he gave about corruption....why doesn't he focus on the good sides?<br/>
In Tanzania there is no pain in the papers....</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/39122009-07-01T11:53:58+02:00STARS FROM IRAN<p>FROM ONE OF OUR DEAR FRIENDS IN IRAN:<br/>
( WE WILL NOT GIVE NAMES ANYMORE OUT OF SAFETY)</p><p>Adam’s children are the limbs of one body<br/>
In their creation they are made of the same essence<br/>
If one limb is in pain the whole body will be restless<br/>
“ Saadi, Persian poet, 13th century”<br/>
<br/>
Today the limb in pain is Iran .<br/>
<br/>
Iranians have gone through a revolution; ten years imposed war, sanction and oppression. However we endured them all with patience and pride.<br/>
<br/>
All of the crises have made us stronger, wiser and more united<br/>
<br/>
The time to test our wisdom came a few weeks ago by Iran ’s presidential election;<br/>
We all decided to vote regardless of our differences.<br/>
<br/>
We voted to cry out for change.<br/>
We voted to say “No” to the government of lies and deception.<br/>
We voted to say “No” to the government that had embarrassed us in front of International community.<br/>
We voted to say “No” to the government that had stolen our confidence.<br/>
<br/>
Yet, they ignored our votes by rigging the election and silent our cries by the sound of their weapons.<br/>
<br/>
Now time has come to test our strength and unity:<br/>
Thus, we followed Dr. Luther king’s and Gandhi’s way by becoming green and peaceful.<br/>
We mourn peacefully for more than 100 martyrs who demanded their rights, a very basic right of “being counted, being counted as human being”<br/>
We keep our fury and desperation like a lump in our throat and let our tears roll in silence<br/>
<br/>
This is not politics. This is life. Adding one more democratic country to this world will make the world a better place for all of us and for our children. This is what Iranians are fighting for.<br/>
<br/>
Iranian government has imprisoned us in our own country by clamping down all the communication means.<br/>
<br/>
And this is where you can play an important role.<br/>
You as a human being regardless of your nationality, gender, religion or race.<br/>
You can be our peace ambassador:<br/>
By wearing green<br/>
By posting any of the attachments to the emails you send out<br/>
By translating this message in any other language and forwarding it to as many people as possible<br/>
By demanding your government not to recognize the Iranian Coup government<br/>
By isolating the government of Mahmoud Ahmadi Nejad financially<br/>
By... Be creative in supporting us!<br/>
<br/>
Join our green wave, together we can make our world as green and as peaceful as possible. We have many strong links in our green chain from Joan Baez , Bon Jovi and Kasparov to JieJek and Naom CHamski<br/>
<br/>
Join us before it is too late. Join us before they silence us. Join us in crying out our common pain “I am the common pain, cry me out!”<br/>
<br/>
Check these links to find more about Iranian government’s brutality. Then make your choice to be neutral or take the side of freedom fighters.<br/>
<br/>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neda_%28Iranian_protester%29">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neda_%28Iranian_protester%29</a> (Warning: the video is graphical.) <br/>
<a href="http://studentactivism.net/2009/06/16/attack-on-tehran-university/">studentactivism.net/2009/06/16/attack-on-tehran-university/</a><br/>
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arasmus/3639783499/">www.flickr.com/photos/arasmus/3639783499/</a><br/>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFHTBte8zZw">www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFHTBte8zZw</a><br/>
<a href="http://helpiranelection.com/">helpiranelection.com/</a><br/>
<a href="http://tribes.tribe.net/rawadvice/thread/4bc55924-44a9-4d6a-bf4d-f6be66d51aab">tribes.tribe.net/rawadvice/thread/4bc55924-44a9-4d6a-bf4d-f6be66d51aab</a><br/>
Reminder : While you are reading this message hundreds of Iranians are being tortured in prisons and forced to make false confession. Support them!<br/>
<br/>
“They bring down a star every night, yet this sad sky is still full of stars”<br/>
Shafi Kadkani, Iranian contemporary poet</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/39072009-07-01T11:54:59+02:00Filmdirector Mohsen Makhmalbaf<p>Mohsen Makhmalbaf<br/>
guardian.co.uk, Friday 19 June 2009 </p>
<p>I have been given the responsibility of telling the world what is happening in Iran. The office of Mir Hossein Mousavi, who the Iranian people truly want as their leader, has asked me to do so. They have asked me to tell how Mousavi's headquarters was wrecked by plainclothes police officers. To tell how the commanders of the revolutionary guard ordered him to stay silent. To urge people to take to the streets because Mousavi could not do so directly.<br/>
The people in the streets don't want a recount of last week's vote. They want it annulled. This is a crucial moment in our history. Since the 1979 revolution Iran has had 80% dictatorship and 20% democracy. We have dictatorship because one person is in charge, the supreme leader – first Khomeini, now Khamenei. He controls the army and the clergy, the justice system and the media, as well as our oil money.<br/>
There are some examples of democracy – reformers elected to parliament, and the very fact that a person like Mousavi could stand for election. But, since the day of the election, this element of democracy has vanished. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei announced that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won, and that whoever opposed this will be suppressed – a position he affirmed speaking today in Tehran. People wanted to have demonstrations within the law, but the authorities would not let them. This is the first time we have seen millions on the streets without the permission of the supreme leader.<br/>
Now they are gathering to mourn those who have died. The people of Iran have a culture that elevates martyrdom. In the period running up to the revolution, when people were killed at demonstrations, others would gather again in the days following the death. This cycle carried on for six months, and culminated in the revolution. Today they are gathering in Tehran for those who were shot on Tuesday, and if there are more killings, this will continue.<br/>
So why do the Iranian people not want Ahmadinejad as their leader? Because he is nothing but a loudspeaker for Khamenei. Under Ahmadinejad, economic problems have grown worse, despite $280bn of oil revenue. Social and literary freedom is much more restricted than under his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami. The world views us as a terrorist nation on the lookout for war. When Khatami was president of Iran, Bush was president of the US. Now the Americans have Obama and we have our version of Bush. We need an Obama who can find solutions for Iran's problems. Although power would remain in the hands of Khamenei, a president like Mousavi could weaken the supreme leader.<br/>
Some suggest the protests will fade because nobody is leading them. All those close to Mousavi have been arrested, and his contact with the outside world has been restricted. People rely on word of mouth, because their mobile phones and the internet have been closed down. That they continue to gather shows they want something more than an election. They want freedom, and if they are not granted it we will be faced with another revolution.<br/>
Thirty years ago we supported each other. When police used tear gas, fires would be lit to neutralise its effects. People would set their own cars on fire to save others. Since then, the government has tried to separate people from one other. What we lost was our togetherness, and in the past month we have found that again. All the armed forces in Iran are only enough to repress one city, not the whole country. The people are like drops of water coming together in a sea.<br/>
People say that Mousavi won't change anything as he is part of the establishment. That is correct to a degree because they wouldn't let anyone who is not in their circle rise to seniority. But not all members of a family are alike, and for Mousavi it is useful to understand how he has changed over time.<br/>
Before the revolution, Mousavi was a religious intellectual and an artist, who supported radical change but did not support the mullahs. After the revolution, when all religious intellectuals and even leftists backed Khomeini, he served as prime minister for eight years. The economy was stable, and he did not order the killings of opponents, or become corrupt.<br/>
In order to neuralise his power, the position of prime minister was eliminated from the constitution and he was pushed out of politics. So Mousavi returned to the world of artists because in a country where there are no real political parties, artists can act as a party. The artists supported Khatami and now they support Mousavi.<br/>
<br/>
Previously, he was revolutionary, because everyone inside the system was a revolutionary. But now he's a reformer. Now he knows Gandhi – before he knew only Che Guevara.<br/>
<br/>
If we gain power through aggression we would have to keep it through aggression. That is why we're having a green revolution, defined by peace and democracy.</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/39012009-07-01T11:55:34+02:00Netizens from China and Iran<p>18-06-2009</p><p><a href="http://shanghaiist.com/2009/06/16/chinese_netizens_reactions_to_iran.php">shanghaiist.com/2009/06/16/chinese_netizens_reactions_to_iran.php</a></p>
<p> On June 12, the tenth ever Iranian presidential elections were held in Iran and two days later, the publicized outcome catalyzed an explosive reaction.</p>
<p>Sitting President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, had won the election over his main competitor, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Several analysts and journalists from the U.S. and U.K. expressed doubts about the authenticity of the results. So, it seems, did many of Mousavi's backers - who have been fighting what they called a "deeply flawed" election through protest demonstrations. Aka lots and lots of rioting.</p>
<p>So what does this have to do with China? As always, the curiosity of democracy evoked a strong reaction within the Chinese netizen community, especially when it seems to have failed. And after scouring the web for what was being said, it looks like a pretty huge proportion are in agreement that not only is Iran flawed, democracy is as well.</p>
<p>Is it a case of 50 cent armies jumping on the chance to influence public debate, or really the thoughts of the bulk of the Chinese net-surfing peoples?</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/39002009-07-01T11:56:08+02:00America and Iran<p>washingtonpost.com<br/>
NEWS <br/>
Obama, Siding With the Regime</p>
<p>By Robert Kagan<br/>
Wednesday, June 17, 2009</p>
<p>The turmoil in Iran since last week's election has confused the foreign policy debate here in the United States in interesting ways. Supporters of President Obama, who until very recently had railed against the Bush administration's "freedom agenda" and who insisted on a new "realism," have suddenly found themselves rooting for freedom and democracy in Iran. And in their desire to attribute all good things to the work of President Obama, they have even suggested that the ferment in Iran is due to Obama's public appeals to Iranians and Muslims.</p>
<p>If so, this will be one of those great ironies of history. For, in fact, Obama never meant to spark political upheaval in Iran, much less encourage the Iranian people to take to the streets. That they are doing so is not good news for the president but, rather, an unwelcome complication in his strategy of engaging and seeking rapprochement with the Iranian government on nuclear issues.</p>
<p>One of the great innovations in the Obama administration's approach to Iran, after all, was supposed to be its deliberate embrace of the Tehran rulers' legitimacy. In his opening diplomatic gambit, his statement to Iran on the Persian new year in March, Obama went out of his way to speak directly to Iran's rulers, a notable departure from George W. Bush's habit of speaking to the Iranian people over their leaders' heads. As former Clinton official Martin Indyk put it at the time, the wording was carefully designed "to demonstrate acceptance of the government of Iran."</p>
<p>This approach had always been a key element of a "grand bargain" with Iran. The United States had to provide some guarantee to the regime that it would no longer support opposition forces or in any way seek its removal. The idea was that the United States could hardly expect the Iranian regime to negotiate on core issues of national security, such as its nuclear program, so long as Washington gave any encouragement to the government's opponents. Obama had to make a choice, and he made it. This was widely applauded as a "realist" departure from the Bush administration's quixotic and counterproductive idealism.</p>
<p>It would be surprising if Obama departed from this realist strategy now, and he hasn't. His extremely guarded response to the outburst of popular anger at the regime has been widely misinterpreted as reflecting concern that too overt an American embrace of the opposition will hurt it, or that he wants to avoid American "moralizing." (Obama himself claimed yesterday that he didn't want the United States to appear to be "meddling.")</p>
<p>But Obama's calculations are quite different. Whatever his personal sympathies may be, if he is intent on sticking to his original strategy, then he can have no interest in helping the opposition. His strategy toward Iran places him objectively on the side of the government's efforts to return to normalcy as quickly as possible, not in league with the opposition's efforts to prolong the crisis.</p>
<p>It's not that Obama preferred a victory by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He probably would have been happy to do business with Mir Hossein Mousavi, even if there was little reason to believe Mousavi would have pursued a different approach to the nuclear issue. But once Mousavi lost, however fairly or unfairly, Obama objectively had no use for him or his followers. If Obama appears to lend support to the Iranian opposition in any way, he will appear hostile to the regime, which is precisely what he hoped to avoid.</p>
<p>Obama's policy now requires getting past the election controversies quickly so that he can soon begin negotiations with the reelected Ahmadinejad government. This will be difficult as long as opposition protests continue and the government appears to be either unsettled or too brutal to do business with. What Obama needs is a rapid return to peace and quiet in Iran, not continued ferment. His goal must be to deflate the opposition, not to encourage it. And that, by and large, is what he has been doing.</p>
<p>If you find all this disturbing, you should. The worst thing is that this approach will probably not prevent the Iranians from getting a nuclear weapon. But this is what "realism" is all about. It is what sent Brent Scowcroft to raise a champagne toast to China's leaders in the wake of Tiananmen Square. It is what convinced Gerald Ford not to meet with Alexander Solzhenitsyn at the height of detente. Republicans have traditionally been better at it than Democrats -- though they have rarely been rewarded by the American people at the ballot box, as Ford and George H.W. Bush can attest. We'll see whether President Obama can be just as cold-blooded in pursuit of better relations with an ugly regime, without suffering the same political fate.</p>
<p>Robert Kagan, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, writes a monthly column for The Post.</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/38992009-06-15T17:16:39+02:00So confused<p>About Iran</p>
<p>government is now playing a masterpiece mind game, all people here are so confused about what is real and who to trust</p>
<p>about 5 hours ago from web now in the ~Times</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/38752009-07-01T11:57:41+02:00Our hearts and thoughts are with our friends in Iran<p>ALSO FILMDIRECTOR MOHSEN MAKHMALBAF : GO TO EDITORS BLOG</p><p>We are getting lots of emails from our friends in Iran and Iranian peoiple abroad about how difficult the situation is at the moment. here is one:<br/>
" Dear Friends,<br/>
As you know we had an election on Friday which turned out to be nothing but a great fraud. There are thousands of people on streets demonstrating against this government and regime. You can watch the videos and pictures everywhere on the web. It's a real coup here : The SMS system has been completely cut off since Thursday, cellphones are not available since last night, internet connections are slow, may websites have been blocked including : Youtube,Facebook,Twitter,..... , many people have been arrested, police is attacking people on the streets, beating them with batons, stones, electric shock ,etc and using all different kinds on gases , tear gas,pepper gas.,.. They have killed a couple of young people. All foreign reporters have been told to leave, Mousavi and Karroubi and many others under home arrest....<br/>
I can tell you about the situation for as long as you want, but that would be a real bother to you, I know.<br/>
We are all in a shock, I have been crying all the time about the current situation of our country.<br/>
We're experiencing a very bad situation and are expecting support from both inside and outside Iran. We hope to change the regime through a revolution, it has already begun.<br/>
Please, spread these news so that everyone is well informed about the difficult situation we're currently having."</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/38322009-06-04T14:56:33+02:00Performing Arts Lab in England<p>june 2009</p>
<p>www.pallab.org</p><p>We did a Performing Arts Lab in Kent, the UK. Theme was this website and more specifically 2 questions:<br/>
Is there such a thing as Global Intimacy, and if there is can I get it on camera?<br/>
And since we are launching our application Lypo this week, we had lots of discussions and inquiries about the Opposite: your perfect opponent in life and debate. </p>
<p>LYPO (Love Your Perfect Opposite) has been created because we believe you learn the most about yourself by talking to people who are different than you and who disagree with you.<br/>
It's the technological translation of the famous sentence: "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to death your right of saying that."</p>
<p>We are bored with just finding friends on social networks, we want to find our opposites and join the debate!<br/>
You will find some clips of the participants on the front page these days, later just search Opposites and you will find them.www.LYPO.org</p>
<p>In the lab we worked with 28 mostly young artist/journalists and campaigners, from different art-disciplines, different religious backgrounds and of very mixed identities. We did exercises, made new work, discussed it, had great dinners outside (yes, UK has sun as well...and we got lots of it!).<br/>
We talked about how different we were, and in what ways we are the same. Also about whether you should solve conflicts as an artist or make work about it and let it be. <br/>
To much political correctness going on.....<br/>
Everybody is struggling in the arts-world to find a place and survive, but at the same time everyone is highly motivated to find new forms and ways in theatre, film, dance, hip-hop music and visual arts. <br/>
We do not know what will come out of it yet, but we will keep you posted.<br/>
Thanks Susan, Jenny and Kathy for your spectacular hospitality!</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnewshttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/31532009-03-26T15:55:52+01:00Iran-USA<p>25 march 2009</p><p>Amsterdam</p>
<p>Everyday there is news about Iran and the USA in the papers. It seems the whole world is waiting to see what will happen in the future, nobody is believing anything. Not words anyway. Iran had its new year and we hope to het a small movie from our reporter Pantea there soon. She just returned to Iran to live there a while. She is 18, finished highschool and wants to live in the country she left when she was 2,5.<br/>
In the meantime you vcan read some observations, i wrote for Images and voices of hope:<br/>
www.ivoh.org:</p>
<p>In the days surrounding the election of President Obama, Maartje Nevejan, director of Couscous Global, asked American teenagers what they would like to ask their peers in Iran. In the first 2 weeks of February 2009 Maartje collected the answers in Tehran.</p>
<p>Images of Hope:</p>
<p>A whole private party dancing at 8 although it only started at 7.<br/>
Girls alone reading in a café, just like Paris.<br/>
No billboards of naked women on the streets.<br/>
Houses with graffiti that has no propaganda in it.<br/>
A girl skating on the music of DJ Tiësto, with pink hair peeping under her scarf.<br/>
A Venus statue of 7000 years ago. The realisation that if something is old enough, it becomes modern by itself.<br/>
No Idols, Big Brother, Skating on Ice, or American soap- series on TV.<br/>
After days of Nescafé a perfect café latte in front of me in café Godot.<br/>
Two black chadors casual waving in the wind.<br/>
Cool teenagers assuring me that in 2 years time Bush will be a hero instead of the worst president ever, "It is great what he did in Afghanistan and with Sadam".<br/>
Girls on the street with make-up and colourful scarfs, a band-aid on their nose from the nose job everyone gets at 18, smiling and flirting in their half long tweed coats.<br/>
All the tears I saw in the eyes of people and the ones in my own eyes.<br/>
Ahmadinejad who, after listening to the symphony for 30 years of Islamic Revolution, climbs on stage and proclaims that "We need more music for social events.More music!"<br/>
YouTube and FaceBook popping up on my laptop without censorship.<br/>
Everybody crossing the street when the light is red.<br/>
Snowboarding, skiing and bungy jumping 30 minutes from Teheran.<br/>
Laughing girls chatting English and French in a safe-house for prostitutes, infidels and refugees.<br/>
Black eyes expressing the hurt and humaliation of being called (Axis of) Evil. My cheeks red of shame witnessing this. The humour afterwards about the dumbness of both worlds.<br/>
The beauty of the Iranian women, all looking like Sophia Loren in the 50's or Amy Winehouse before she became a crackhead.Thank God they have to hide in chadors....we Western women would not have a chance.....<br/>
My male and female collegues, young filmmakers, being beautifully styled, perfect hosts and chefs at 20 years old.<br/>
Airport Khomeini in Tehran: 100 times more modern and cleaner than JFK New York.</p>
<p>Voices of Hope:</p>
<p>A boy who studies Baroque music for years, starts the first underground Baroque orchestra in the country, for baroque being decadent and Western is forbidden. " This music makes me cry" he says" and not because I am sad".<br/>
A girl practicing Industrial Rock music, which is Satanic and thus forbidden. She has send a demo tape made in her room to the USA and got a contract to play there.<br/>
The morning laughing, giggling and twitter of young girls in black chadors walking to school.<br/>
Leila, being sold by her mother at 9, put in jail for prostitution at 14, sentenced to be hanged at 15, then rescued by a safehouse and now, at 18, learning to read and write for the first time. She reads aloud for me.<br/>
The voice of Nafisi in the book: reading Lolita in Tehran.<br/>
The music we share on our mobile telephones while hanging in a telecabine for 8 km. high up in the mountains.<br/>
A girl saying " the whole issue of chadors and veils is soooo old-fashioned and over the hill. It doesn't mean anything anymore, it is just something you have to do."<br/>
A girl who came back after 4 years of studying abroad saying: "Before I left I never even thought about my veil, it was just the way it was, But now my veil hurts me every day, it really hurts."<br/>
Farideh answering how she copes with the daily restrictions:" I see it as a game, it is quite fun to invent things around the system."<br/>
A rap-girl of 21, wanting o be interviewed on tape: "I was alone when I was young, now I want to speak out. There are more girls like me and I want them to know that they are not alone".<br/>
Intellectuals from abroad, Europe and the USA, who al come back to start art galleries, movie companies, press agencies:" It is just like NYC in the '80. So exiting. You just have to go out of the country every 3 months to get rid of he poison, that's all."<br/>
A dancer teling about her experience of seing people naked in the dressing room and on stage in the West:" I was so shocked in the beginning, but after a while I got used to it. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing".</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All the interviews I had were actually voices of hope for me and proof that people are just incredible creative, inventive and intelligent.</p>
<p>Being in Iran for the first time has had many levels.<br/>
There was this frequent feeling of falling through realities and value systems of good and bad. Being close to Hafez, and very close to Ahmadinejad at the same time.<br/>
The first writing poetry about his love of red wine<br/>
The latter punishing anyone who drinks it....</p>
<p>And the common folks, living between the two,<br/>
Loving Hafez in their private sphere<br/>
And submit to the laws of the Ahmadinejad & Co outside, in the public sphere.<br/>
There is an opening now for dialogue between the USA and Iran<br/>
Countries who are both filled with propaganda about each other.<br/>
It will be exiting to witness if and how the conversation will develop....</p>
<p>As Hafez wrote in 1300 AC:</p>
<p>"There are different wells within us.<br/>
Some fill with each good rain,<br/>
Others are far, far too deep<br/>
For that."</p>
<p>Maartje Nevejan is an awarded Dutch director of documentaries, for Dutch Public Broadcast as well as for Al Jazeera. Her last TV-series " Couscous and Cola" was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2008.</p>
<p>View Maartje's gallery of Iran photos.</p>
<p>The website www.couscousglobal.com is on air since August 2008.<br/>
Nevejan was a participant in the 2008 summit of IVOF in New York.</p>maartje nevejanhttp://www.couscousglobal.com/id/176ARTICLEnews