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The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

Priorities

14 comments on Priorities

Priorities
: Read Iranian weblogs and you’ll pick up a current of anger at the Iranian government for not spending money to build stronger, safer structures in this earthquake-plagued nation. Iran For Dummies says:

Iran as every one knows is on the seismic line, we have experienced deadly earthquakes:

– Sept. 16, 1978; northeast Iran; magnitude 7.7; 25,000 killed.

-May 10, 1997; northern Iran; magnitude 7.1; 1,500 killed.

-June 21, 1990; northwest Iran; magnitude 7.3 to 7.7; 50,000 killed.

-June 22, 2002; northwestern Iran, magnitude 6; at least 500 killed….

They can’t refer this tragedy to Al-Qaeda; they can’t fool us with the will of God or the holy experiment placed by Allah. I as an Iranian blame this tremendous casualty and deaths on government and lack of precautions for people

14 responses to “Priorities”

  1. Roger L. Simon Avatar
    Roger L. Simon

    Jeff, the Iranian bloggers that you highlight gives us all hope for the human race. In a country governed by psychotic religious thugs, it is heartening to know rational humans still exist and thrive. May they succeed in overthrowing their leaders… and soon. It is also interesting to note that the mullahs have refused help from Israel alone among nations. Perhaps some day all of this will be reversed.

  2. MommaBear Avatar
    MommaBear

    And those sick-in-head mullahs have immediately banned ANY aid from “the Zionist groups”. They’d rather see their citizens die beneath the rubble than let in the rescue teams if they are “tainted by Zionism”.

  3. Rezwan Avatar
    Rezwan

    What would you expect from those Mullahs who detained the Iranian dancer Farzaneh Kaboli and 24 of her students for dancing in public for an all women audience? They did it in the name of preventing moral corruption. Humanity and cultural identity are not included in their morality.

  4. Cecile Avatar
    Cecile

    Obviously, even if it was the end of the world, they would rather let their citizens die than receive help from a civilised country. The mullahs are the ones who are morally corrupt.
    I wonder if they will accept help from the US…

  5. Faramin Avatar
    Faramin

    Yes, Cecile
    I am gald that they apparently they have accepted the help from the US.
    I believe it is criminal if they do not accept help from ANYONE. Any help, no matter from where, must be appreciated and welcomed.

  6. Marcel Perez Avatar
    Marcel Perez

    The religious and political control of Iran by the mullahs and their designees should not be (but is ) the obstacle preventing swift aid to the tens of thousands of disaster victims.
    The reality is that political considerations dictate how much foreign intrusion can be allowed, despite the grave and immediate need for help. Iran has historically dealt with earthquake disasters within the context of internal control and management. Exposure to the instant news story no longer allows any nation to ignore the plight of even it’s lowest regarded citizens; so this disaster has let loose world-wide concern that Iran repond swiftly and effectively to this situation – even if it means having to, at least temporarily, set aside some of the social and political prejudices in the best interest of the victims.
    Iran is too financially poor and too technologically poor to deal with this major disaster. The mullas will have to pull in their horns and accept assistance from whomever offers it. No one expects that the price of helping Iran will require a major shift in her regional political posture; the mullas will see to that.

  7. MommaBear Avatar
    MommaBear

    With all due respect, the idea of Mr. Gillmore is not the kind of thing that politicians running for office should be doing; that could turn into a “shouting match” about who’s supporters are “better people”, etc.
    Any donations for disaster relief should be done strictly from the point of wanting to help, not vying for ‘political points’.

  8. Kathy K Avatar
    Kathy K

    Faramin,
    I was very surprised the government accepted direct help from the US. Usually we have to go through third parties. I suspect they were afraid we might send help from a ‘neighboring country’, with air support, if they refused.

  9. Pedram Avatar
    Pedram

    Jeff, it’s a bit more complicated than that but at this point the only thing that matters is relief for the devastated cities and people affected by this. I’ll leave that discussion for when the urgency of the situation is over.
    (My site yesterday had record visitors, I apologize for the bandwidth problem that is solved now.)

  10. Jafar Avatar
    Jafar

    I am sorry the Iranian government did not accept help from Israel but there is a simpler way to explain it than saying ‘they hate the jew so much’. They announced the’d accept help from ‘ANY COUNTRY’ (i.e. state). They do not recognize Israel as a legitimate state. Accepting help from the Israeli government would go against this stance and could be used politically against them in the future. That might be why.

  11. Mike Avatar
    Mike

    I read an article that I think was cited in a JCPA Daily Alert a day or two ago, that after the last Iranian earthquake, a year ago I think?, that the Iranian Mullahs pocketed most of the International Aid money that was sent rather than use it to try and alleviate, aid or rescue people amidst the earthquake. The article said that the Iranian people felt this regarding the Mullahs.
    Mike
    PS Also another article said that Mofaz stated that he receives overwhelmingly signs of support from Iranians during weekly Israeli Farsi radio broadcasts. Mofaz is an Iranian Jew.

  12. Andrea Harris Avatar
    Andrea Harris

    Jafar: I think most of us hear already realize the reasons behind the Iranian government’s refusal of Israeli aid. The fact that they have decided to consider future political ramifications over the lives of their own people is still reprehensible, right?

  13. Andrea Harris Avatar
    Andrea Harris

    Ugh. “Most of us here.”

  14. Kerry Dupont Avatar
    Kerry Dupont

    Jeff, great blogging as usual. I came across this awhile ago on the web, it links to tons of Iran blogs. Sorry if it has already been posted here, I posted it at my site in November, since I knew that there was already a large democratic underground in Iran, and had been enjoying the fruits of our blogger friends in Iraq. http://www.activistchat.com/blogiran/unitedblogs.html
    You can also go to http://www.activistchat.com and find all kinds of news outlets from Iran there. I was not surprised that they accepted help from the US at this time. The Isreal development is sad, though not exactly unexpected. More than a few prayers have been said for the people of Iran today.