Wednesday, March 24, 2010

From Iran with Love: Neda's Fiancé Visits Israel

On Monday Iranian journalist Caspian Makan, the fiancé of Neda Agha Soltan, whose murder during a demonstration in Teheran on June 20 rocked the world, met on Monday with Israeli President Peres. Makan, who fled Iran via Turkey after serving time in Tehran's Evin Prison, came to Israel as a "peace ambassador".

According to the Jerusalem Post:

"Neda was an enlightened person, a freedom fighter, to whom nothing was more important than freedom. She loved humanity with all her soul, Makan told Peres.

. . . .

After she was murdered, she became a global symbol of freedom. Her courage and determination led to a closing of ranks among the Iranian people and hopefully, said Makam, would produce the results of which Soltan had dreamed.

. . . .

Peres told Makam that he understood how difficult it was for him to carry the burden of grief. He assured Makam that he would find friends and a very warm reception in Israel, and added that he appreciated the fact that Makam had given him the opportunity to personally convey his condolences over the tragedy and to express his hopes for Iran’s future.

Makam replied that he had been impressed by what he had already seen in Israel. It was in his a view a country that respected its citizens and allowed them total freedom – a situation that contrasted radically with that of Iran.

Before leaving, Makam said that he had come to Israel on behalf of his people as an ambassador of the peace camp. He had no doubt that Neda’s soul felt the warmth and the sensitivity of the reception he had been accorded in Israel."

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=171614

It is remarkable that this story did not receive greater coverage throughout the world.

There is no historic basis for hostility between Iran and Israel. As I have frequently noted, the current animus between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran is an orchestrated sideshow involving a power struggle between Sunni and Shiite Islam.

But let's ignore the macro and concentrate on the micro: Makam's visit to Israel was a powerful personal message of peace of the kind needed to bring sanity to the region.

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