Games Over?

there is no g u l f or a r a b gulf that is persian gulf and will be persian gulf

I was disgusted by your recent RFE/RL email, in particular the report by Kristin Deasy on Iran's justified cancellation of the Islamic Solidarity Games. Can anyone really be so naive and insensitive as to transmit an email targeted specifically to Iranians (RFE/RL Iran Report) in which Iran's defence of its historical heritage is dismissed as mere 'bickering'?

Ms. Deasy's opening paragraph stated: "The Iranian hosts of this year's Islamic Solidarity Games have reportedly cancelled them after bickering with Saudi Arabia over the name of the large body of water (we're being very careful here) lying between the two countries."

" ........ we're being very careful here"??? By refusing to mention "the large body of water" by its correct historical name Ms. Deasy exhibits gross illiteracy at best and Neocon-Zionist fraudulence at worst.

The problem with VOA, whether in your written communications or Persian language broadcasts, is that you are so out of touch with reality that you have managed to alienate even that influential group of secular, Western educated Iranians that is sick to death of the waste, mismanagement and corruption that have plagued our nation both pre- and post-Revolution.

VOA has succeeded, better even than the pre-Revolution BBC, in uniting Iranians against foreign plots, and if I were the Iranian President I would make VOA compulsory viewing for the entire nation, as your hostile, one-sided "reporting" does more harm to U.S.-Israeli interests than any Islamic fundamentalists could hope to achieve.

But to get back on topic, please pass on the attachment to Ms. Deasy and discourage her from any further attempts to de-name or even rename the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf is as sacred to Iranians as the Holocaust is to Jews.

You owe an apology to all Iranians, whether secular, religious or simply apolitical.

Yours sincerely,

Hamid Varzi
Tehran
The Persian Gulf

Sorry, here's the attachment I referred to above:

THE MOST RECENT ARAB ATTEMPT TO RE-NAME THE PERSIAN GULF

Dear friends, May 2009

This has simply gone too far.

I respectfully request you to retaliate against efforts by Arab and some Western nations to rename the Persian Gulf as simply "The Gulf" or (Heaven forbid) the ‘Arabian Gulf’, by adopting the following measures:

Henceforth the following name changes are to be implemented in all discussions and correspondence:

The Suez Canal is to be referred to strictly as “The Canal” (the Panama Canal to remain unaltered for easy differentiation);

The Arabian Sea is henceforth “The Sea of India”;

Saudi Arabia is to be renamed “Wahabistan” in honour of its priceless contribution to 9/11;

Kuwait is to be spelt Q8, as it’s nothing more than a glorified oil field;

“Great Britain” is to be called simply “Britain” to reflect historical realities;

The English Channel is to be referred to simply as “The Channel”;

“La Manche” may be altered to “Le Pantalon” to reflect France’s propensity for dropping its trousers whenever economically expedient;

“America” is meaningless. In future please use either “Latin America” or “Colonial America” to distinguish clearly between the two. If you are an Iranian Monarchist you are permitted to chant “God Bless Colonial America”.

Israel is to be renamed ‘Of Zion’, or simply ‘OZ’ as in “Wizard of Oz” since it’s being assisted by “The Wicked Witch of the West” to pursue its fantasies of a “Greater OZ”.

Palestine is to become “Paliran”, since Iran is this Arab nation’s only pal.

Lebanon is to be renamed “Hezballon” to honour the Party that finally gave it some balls.

Iran itself should be renamed Persia to reflect its magnificent past, its magnificent future and its regional superpower status.

Yours sincerely,

Hamid Varzi,
Tehran, The Persian Gulf

Hamid Varzi says it all. Although I am an American of Arab descent, I completely support Iran's concerns about the name applied to this area.

thank you for second part. first I thought you were serious...

"The Persian Gulf is as sacred to Iranians as the Holocaust is to Jews." This does not desreve comment, just ridicule.

Dear Madam/Sirs:

I am appalled and nauseated, to say the least, to witness such blatant
historical revisionism financed by the U.S. government's Voice of America in
its quest to placate the Arab world with its misguided outreach.

I can understand the VOA's goal of transmitting emails with different views
but how about a program on historical references to the Persian Gulf and the
need to refer to it by its rightful name? It takes a very shallow and naïve
individual to presume that it is o.k. to refer to "the large body of water"
rather than by its factual name the Persian Gulf.

What also bothers me is that my tax money goes towards supporting your
programs. As an Iranian American, I am appalled by your poor judgment. If
your goal is to appeal to secular Iranians which includes many of my own
relatives residing in Iran and in villas on the coast of the Persian Gulf, I
suggest that you devise another program to undo the damage already incurred.


In the future, please be more sensitive to your target market --- Iranians
living in Iran --- and call it for what it is: the Persian Gulf. If you
have the slightest doubt, please send your researchers to examine maps used
by our gov't in the past.

Sincerely,

Farri Cress

the letters below are great. tempest, meet teapot!