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January 24, 2006
One-Man Peace Mission: Hoder Goes to Israel
This morning I got an email from Iranian blogger Hossein Derakhshan on the Global Voices email list saying he's getting ready to travel to Israel as a citizen journalist. Hoder, as he's known online, was born in Iran but is a Canadian citizen, allowing him to travel to Israel. However, the decision may make it very difficult for him to visit his homeland any time soon. Hoder writes
This is huge for me.This might mean that I won't be able to go back to Iran for a long time, since Iran doesn't recognize Israel, has no diplomatic relations with it, and apparently considers traveling there illegal. Too bad, but I don't care. Fortunately, I'm a citizen of Canada and I have the right to visit any country I want.
I'm going to Israel as a citizen journalist and a peace activist.
As a citizen journalist, I'm going to show my 20,000 daily Iranian readers what Israel really looks like and how people live there. The Islamic Republic has long portrayed Israel as an evil state, with a consensual political agenda of killing every single man and woman who prays to Allah, including Iranians.
I'm going to challenge that image.
There are many Iranian Jews residing in Israel now -including the president and the minister of defense. Many still speak Persian and love where they were born and raised. I'm going to talk to them and show Israel and Iran from their point of view....
As a peace activist, I'm going to show the Israelis that the vast majority of Iranians do not identify with Ahmadinejad's rhetoric, despite what it looks like from the outside.
I'm going to tell them how any kind of violent action against Iran would only harm the young people who are gradually reforming the system and how the radicals would benefit from such situation.
Safe travels, Hoder. I'll be following your travels with hope in my heart and my fingers crossed. -andy
Posted by acarvin at January 24, 2006 8:27 AM
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