Report One, Part 1: "Lifting the Veil" - Arrival and Cultural Observations

 

FOR's Peacemaking Delegation to Iran: May 2007

 

 

Farrah Garan: Seeming Contradictions -- The Complexity of Persian Culture

As soon as the wheels hit the tarmac of Mehrabad airport in Tehran, our plane erupted into applause. These Iranians were happy to be home.

Between claps I fiddled with my scarf, distracted by this new accessory from which I would be inseparable for the next two weeks. As I helped my mother put her veil on, I eagerly anticipated the lifting of the veil which enshrouds Iran in my perceptions. Iran is a mystery to us Americans. Books and films on Iran can do no justice to this richly complex culture. An ancient history, filled with diverse ethnicities and deep spirituality, is woven into the collective consciousness. And more recent wounds from transgressions committed by both those within and without the land are still sore. Iranians are a layered people.

Our delegation has only been here for four days, and we have a very limited vantage point, but perhaps the several seeming contradictions I have observed will serve to illustrate the complexity of Persian culture.

• Iran is encircled by seven nations and has not initiated a war in the past 200 years.
• In this land governed by Islamic law, the greatest holiday is a Zoroastrian celebration.
• A mural of the American flag with the red stripes dripping bombs is painted overhead, yet the people we talk to gush that they love American people and they long to go there. We’ve heard again and again, “America very good, very good.”
• The women are required to be covered in dark, discreet colors, yet their makeup and nose job bandages are quite loud. And when the veil is removed, as it was at the segregated wedding reception we visited, bold highlights are revealed.
• Women make up 65 percent of the university population, but they are not able to leave the country without their husband’s or father’s permission.
• Women and men are separated on the bus, yet many bathrooms are unisex. In this place carelessly labeled one of the “axis of evil,” we have encountered the kindest, most generous people than in any other place. Strangers have given us warm bread, nuts and ice cream while just walking by on the street.
• The ban on alcohol is enforced, as we know from the smashed whiskey bottle we saw on the floor near the airport exit, yet the poetry of Hafiz, filled with words of wine and women, sells more than the Koran.

The words of Hafiz are filled with metaphor and symbolism, which is deeply rooted in the Persian soul. Perhaps some words of the great poet can best describe our sentiments in traveling to Iran to connect with the people and transcend the faceless policies that currently dictate our relationship to Iran.

I
Do not
Want to step so quickly
Over a beautiful line on God’s palm
As I move through the earth’s
Marketplace
Today.

I do not want to touch any object in this world
Without my eyes testifying to the truth
That everything is
My Beloved.

Something has happened
To my understanding of existence
That now makes my heart always full of wonder
And kindness.

I do not
Want to step so quickly
Over this sacred place on God’s body
That is right beneath your
Own foot.

As I
Dance with
Precious life today.

Farrah Garan speaking to women at a temple in the Caspian Sea region (Photo: Johanna Uitenbroek)

 

Geneva Woodruff : The Right Place

Prior to coming, I was told time and time again how lovely the Iranian people were. What I wasn’t prepared for was how warm and welcoming everyone has been to all of us since we arrived. Wherever we have gone – be it in the street, on a mountain path, or in a tea room – people have smiled, waved, and some have even put their hand over their hearts.

They have been eager to make a connection with us, whether it is verbal or nonverbal. Those who speak English – and there were many who do – have asked, “Where are you from?” When we say America, they say that they want us to know that they like the American people.

They also want us to know that what they don’t like is our government. Some have gone as far as to say, “Down with Bush, down with Bush.” We have told them we understand their feelings and also do not support President Bush’s policies in the Middle East.

One man asked me, “Why have you come to Iran?” I told him I came as an advocate for world peace. He assured me that I had come to the right place.

 

Stanley Rich: Compassionate Listening

The Persian poet Hafiz instructs us in compassionate listening to others. “How do I listen to others? As if everyone was my master speaking to me his cherished last words.”

My first four days in Iran have given me many opportunities to hear about the thoughts and life experiences of many ordinary Iranian citizens, as our group of delegates has visited many sites in northern Iran. On a rainy morning, while having tea in a café at Tochal, in the Alborz Mountains Recreation Area north of Tehran, I was privileged to participate in a long conversation with an Iranian pilot. This well-educated man shared his personal views about current life in Iran and U.S.-Iran political relations. His charm, openness, and deep knowledge helped to lift the veil of my shadowy knowledge about Iranian people.

On our second day in Tehran, a merchant ship captain gladly and eagerly talked with me for over half an hour, revealing how much Iranian citizens do indeed care for the USA and how they desire both nations to live peacefully together. I began to see that the vast majority of Iranians differ in attitude from the actual government itself. Most Iranians would like the U.S. and Iranian governments to move away from the political/military language of force to a higher moral level of dialogue, built on mutual respect and reconciliation.

Finally, my many encounters with the Iranian people on the street – among many others, a hotel cashier, a shop owner, a rice seller in the Anzali Bazaar, and a group of teenage deaf students – have collectively begun to lift the veil of shadows from my own heart and mind, revealing to me many of our commonly held values and aspirations.

Leila Zand (right) speaking with a fisherman in Anzali Lagoon (Photo: Johanna Uitenbroek)

 

Denise Ames: Lifting the Veil

Our cultural group decided to use the metaphor of unveiling to describe our experiences and observations in Iran. As I began to lift the veil, I saw parts of Iran that were hidden from me before my arrival. One part that intrigued me was the substantial influence of the Zoroastrian religion. This pre-Islamic religion is considered by some to be the earliest monotheistic religion. The rituals and symbols of this religion still permeate Iranian culture. This predates Islam, which came to Iran in the so-called Arab invasion of the 7th century. 

One of the Zoroastrian symbols that touched me was the colorful mosaic of a vase overflowing with flowers. It represents world peace, an apt symbol for our delegation. 

 

Go to Part 2 of the First Report

©2005 Fellowship of Reconciliation