Ahwazis Against Iranian Islamic Theocracy
British Ahwazi Friendship Society | 22.03.2005 17:31 | Anti-militarism | Repression | Social Struggles
The Ahwazi Arabs are among the world's most persecuted minorities. While global attention is fixed on the Israel/Palestine conflict, the Ahwazis go unnoticed. The indigenous Arabs of Iran are gagged and are denied the right to learn their own language or publish their own newspapers. They live in poverty, their land ritually confiscated by the theocratic regime in Tehran for the profits of foreign oil companies and the enrichment of an ethnically Persian religious elite. Who will listen to the Ahwazi voice?
The British Ahwazi Friendship Society was set up this month to promote the Ahwazi cause in the UK and the EU. This week, BAFS members are lobbying the UNCHR for international recognition of the plight of the Ahwazi people, which mirrors the suffering of the Palestinian people.
History
The Ahwazi people are estimated to number 4.5 million. They live mainly in Khuzestan, which was an autonomous emirate known as Arabistan before it was invaded by the Persian monarch Reza Shah in 1925.
Monarchist rule was followed by the theocratic rule of Ayatollah Khomenei following the 1979. But for the Ahwazis, this did not change the campaign of ethnic cleansing and cultural repression against them and other minority groups in Iran, such as the Kurds, Balochs, Turkmen and Azeris.
Human rights
Ahwazis have been subjected to forced migration in an effort to "Persianise" Khuzestan. Lands have been confiscated from indigenous Ahwazis and transferred to Persian settlers, who now comprise 30% of the population of Khuzestan. Since the 1979 revolution, over 200,000 hectares of land have been forcibly taken or legally stolen by the government. This scheme is designed to break up and change the ethnic composition and racial mix of the province.
The Iranian authorities do not permit any genuine Arabic newspapers and media in Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan). Ahwazis are excluded from the scene in the mass media. Instead, they forced to experience a systematic campaign of hatred and misrepresentation of indigenous Ahwazi in Iranian media.
Distribution of wealth
The Ahwazi homeland is the most resource-rich region in the Middle East. Producing 90% of Iran's oil, it contains around 8% of the world's oil reserve. Khuzestan is also a major cash crop producer, with its fertile lands producing much of the nation's sugar.
Although the province is the backbone of the Iranian economy, the indigenous Ahwazis live in poverty, without access to basic services. While the illiteracy rate in Iran is about 10%-18%, it is over 60% among Arab men in Khuzestan and even higher for Ahwazi women. In non-industrial rural areas such as Fallahieh (Shadegan), illiteracy among women is close to 100%. Indigenous Ahwazi students drop out of schools at 30% rate at elementary level, 50% at secondary and 70% at high school because they are forced to study the “official language”, Farsi, a language which is not theirs.
Militarisation
The Ahwazi issue is a matter of geopolitical security and stability. The Iranian regime has done its best to keep a lid on any civil uprising by the Ahwazi people by declaring the area a military zone. International observers, including media, are prohibited from entering the region.
In recent years, Iran has intensified the state of siege with massive militarization of Al-Ahwaz. According to the Human Rights Watch Report, "Millions of Land mines remaining from the Iran-Iraq war in the province of Khuzestan kill and maim indigenous inhabitants of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran every day". Ahwazi homelands are now being used to launch terrorist attacks within Iraq, with Iranian-backed groups using Khuzestan to infiltrate the neighbouring Iraqi province of Basra to carry out assassinations, kidnappings and bombings.
British Ahwazi Friendship Society stands for:
- The overthrow of fascist and racist theocratic rule
- The demilitarisation of Khuzestan
- The self-determination of the Ahwazi people
- The adoption of a democratic, federal and secular constitution for Iran
- Peaceful, non-violent resistance to the Iranian regime
- Recognition of Iran's multi-ethnic and multi-faith society
- The unity and equality of all Iran's minorities: Persians, Ahwazis, Kurds, Azeris, Balochs, Turkmen, Turks, Sunnis, Shias, Atheists, Jews, Christians, Bahais, etc.
- Education and support for Ahwazi refugees and asylum seekers in the UK
- Support for Al-Ahwaz TV, the world's only Ahwazi satellite channel
We are interested to hear from anyone who supports these aims. Please visit our website: www.ahwaz.org.uk
History
The Ahwazi people are estimated to number 4.5 million. They live mainly in Khuzestan, which was an autonomous emirate known as Arabistan before it was invaded by the Persian monarch Reza Shah in 1925.
Monarchist rule was followed by the theocratic rule of Ayatollah Khomenei following the 1979. But for the Ahwazis, this did not change the campaign of ethnic cleansing and cultural repression against them and other minority groups in Iran, such as the Kurds, Balochs, Turkmen and Azeris.
Human rights
Ahwazis have been subjected to forced migration in an effort to "Persianise" Khuzestan. Lands have been confiscated from indigenous Ahwazis and transferred to Persian settlers, who now comprise 30% of the population of Khuzestan. Since the 1979 revolution, over 200,000 hectares of land have been forcibly taken or legally stolen by the government. This scheme is designed to break up and change the ethnic composition and racial mix of the province.
The Iranian authorities do not permit any genuine Arabic newspapers and media in Al-Ahwaz (Khuzestan). Ahwazis are excluded from the scene in the mass media. Instead, they forced to experience a systematic campaign of hatred and misrepresentation of indigenous Ahwazi in Iranian media.
Distribution of wealth
The Ahwazi homeland is the most resource-rich region in the Middle East. Producing 90% of Iran's oil, it contains around 8% of the world's oil reserve. Khuzestan is also a major cash crop producer, with its fertile lands producing much of the nation's sugar.
Although the province is the backbone of the Iranian economy, the indigenous Ahwazis live in poverty, without access to basic services. While the illiteracy rate in Iran is about 10%-18%, it is over 60% among Arab men in Khuzestan and even higher for Ahwazi women. In non-industrial rural areas such as Fallahieh (Shadegan), illiteracy among women is close to 100%. Indigenous Ahwazi students drop out of schools at 30% rate at elementary level, 50% at secondary and 70% at high school because they are forced to study the “official language”, Farsi, a language which is not theirs.
Militarisation
The Ahwazi issue is a matter of geopolitical security and stability. The Iranian regime has done its best to keep a lid on any civil uprising by the Ahwazi people by declaring the area a military zone. International observers, including media, are prohibited from entering the region.
In recent years, Iran has intensified the state of siege with massive militarization of Al-Ahwaz. According to the Human Rights Watch Report, "Millions of Land mines remaining from the Iran-Iraq war in the province of Khuzestan kill and maim indigenous inhabitants of Khuzestan in southwestern Iran every day". Ahwazi homelands are now being used to launch terrorist attacks within Iraq, with Iranian-backed groups using Khuzestan to infiltrate the neighbouring Iraqi province of Basra to carry out assassinations, kidnappings and bombings.
British Ahwazi Friendship Society stands for:
- The overthrow of fascist and racist theocratic rule
- The demilitarisation of Khuzestan
- The self-determination of the Ahwazi people
- The adoption of a democratic, federal and secular constitution for Iran
- Peaceful, non-violent resistance to the Iranian regime
- Recognition of Iran's multi-ethnic and multi-faith society
- The unity and equality of all Iran's minorities: Persians, Ahwazis, Kurds, Azeris, Balochs, Turkmen, Turks, Sunnis, Shias, Atheists, Jews, Christians, Bahais, etc.
- Education and support for Ahwazi refugees and asylum seekers in the UK
- Support for Al-Ahwaz TV, the world's only Ahwazi satellite channel
We are interested to hear from anyone who supports these aims. Please visit our website: www.ahwaz.org.uk
British Ahwazi Friendship Society
e-mail:
info@ahwaz.org.uk
Homepage:
http://www.ahwaz.org.uk
Comments
Hide the following 5 comments
Another front for the CIA
23.03.2005 14:24
observer
Or... maybe....
23.03.2005 21:11
Predicatably some people will now defend the brutal theocratic Nazis that run Iran - who have murdered tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people since 1979. Is there an Indymedia-Iran? No fucking way! So let's not get all "radical" here and dis the disidents there because they're a lot braver and a lot more serious than we can ever hope to be here in cumphy UK.
Qwerty
Qwerty
Insulting and ignorant
23.03.2005 21:14
The Ahwazis resisted the Shah and participated in the 1979 revolution. But the imposition of theocratic rule led to a series of massacres throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The siege of the Iranian embassy was carried out by Ahwazi militants and crushed by the SAS. For further historical details, please visit www.ahwazstudies.org
I formed the BAFS after meeting with several indigenous Ahwazi refugees and asylum seekers in London, who felt alienated by the political system. While their land is being exploited by ENI and Sinopec for its oil and gas resources, they are kept in conditions comparable to those endured by the Palestinians.
Meanwhile, Ahwazi refugees in Iraq have suffered greatly as a result of the invasion of Iraq. They have had their homes burned down and they are being denied basic services by local Iraqi officials in post-Saddam, while British troops look on indifferently. I draw your attention to our appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers on behalf of the refugees:
Ahwazi refugees are not only suffering in Iraq, but also Australia, where they have held hunger strikes and have sewn their lips together to bring attention to the unjust policies of the xenophobic Howard administration. They have been subjected to the British asylum system, which gives large amounts of legal aid to corrupt lawyers who fail to turn up to appeals. They are also subjected to racist abuse in London's streets.
The BAFS does not take any side, but the side of justice, democracy, human rights, secularism and self-determination for the Ahwazi people and indigenous minorities across the world.
If you think this is wrong, then I suggest you examine your own values. For you are not on the side of the persecuted, but the fascists in power in Tehran.
British Ahwazi Friendship Society
Homepage:
http://www.ahwaz.org.uk
"
23.03.2005 21:34
"
Thanks
23.03.2005 22:10
Al-Ahwaz TV, which is supported by the British Ahwazi Friendship Society, relies on film smuggled out of Iran by video journalists who risk their lives. Recently, we were given some technical advice from Undercurrents, the video activist collective, and are going to utilise the group to train Ahwazi refugees in television broadcasting.
No-one wants war in Iran, especially the Ahwazis, who bore the brunt of the bloody Iran-Iraq War. So, please, don't accuse this non-violent movement, which dates back eight decades, of being in cahoots with Western intelligence.
British Ahwazi Friendship Society
e-mail:
info@ahwaz.org.uk
Homepage:
http://www.ahwaz.org.uk