Experience
Calls For Action
To
the Editors:
It
tears at my very core to hear that there was a protest on the Oberlin
campus against Allied military involvement in the Middle East (and
presumably the rest of the world). Being an alumnus of Oberlin College,
I understand and sympathize with the pacifist ideal which was at
the core of this rally. However, I cannot think of a more inappropriate
course of action for the Oberlin community to take part in. I came
to the United States of America at the tender age of five, leaving
behind a homeland that I will most likely never know again. In 1983,
when I was four and my brother just ten, my parents sold their land
and belongings, and said farewell to much of their family, in many
cases for good, in order to SMUGGLE themselves and their children
out of the closed borders of Iran, to Italy and eventually the United
States. They did this so that my brother and I might escape the
certain forced social, mental and religious indoctrination that
we would have been submitted to at the hands of Irans newly
founded fundamentalist government. We left behind family members,
some of whom because of their political beliefs were arrested, imprisoned
and tortured so badly that, to this day, they fear contact with
us. Even as I write this, I realize that it is likely that I will
never see my native land, or many of my relatives. If it was this
bad in Iran, how bad is it in Afghanistan, where the fundamentalist
regime is far more brutal and invasive? Terror does not recognize
nationality, race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Terror
does not have a specific enemy, it attacks blindy in every direction.
Terror is the worst weapon of war because it destroys the heart,
and crumbles the spirit, leaving behind people who live, but are
not alive.
The individuals who run these fundamentalist institutions are, in
my mind, without a doubt currently linked with global terrorist
efforts. Their tactics of terror do not just touch Americans, but
the people of the Middle East as well. I know this from EXPERIENCE.
To protest military actions, with the goal of this protest being
the curbing of military actions against these inhuman terrorist
governments, and the blood-mongers who run them, is
to support the rape of liberty and human rights throughout the world.
The cause of peace is not always achieved through pacifism. At times,
serious actions must be taken to ensure basic human rights. As was
the case in WWII, and must be the case in this new war against terrorism,
human lives will be sacrificed to ensure the freedom and peace of
future generations. And should my government call me to sacrifice
my life for this cause, I will gladly give it.
I hope my words have at least presented a clear expression of why
it is that so many people around the world support this new war,
and why I am so deeply hurt by the blind pacifism that called the
Oberlin community to protest against this war. I hope too that I
have been able to present an aspect of this war that might not have
been obvious to some, or even many, and in doing so provide a service
to the Oberlin community. I thank you for your time.
Paul
Madavi
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