Dear President Ahmadinejad:
Thank you for your letter to the people of this country and your invitation to dialogue. I offer these words as a response to that invitation. I also offer an apology for the rude and disrespectful treatment given you by the government and media of this country during your visit in September.
I indeed deplore the behavior of the government of my country and its two party system. The Bush administration came to power through stolen elections, and in my eyes, has no legitimacy. I oppose the unconditional and unquestioning support both the Democrats and Republicans give to the government of Israel. I have opposed the war against the people of Iraq since the very beginning, and fight against the policy of torture and extraordinary rendition. I participate with an organization calling for the boycott of Israeli-made products at my community food store, and also work with groups calling for the restoration of democracy in Haiti, and for the freedom of political prisoners.
I even went to a demonstration of Iranians in Berkeley, California, held in Farsi, at the time of the Islamic revolution in your country. Even though I didn't understand what was being said, I could feel the great passion of the crowd, in their determination to rid Iran of the hated Shah, imposed on your people by the government of my country, after the murder of your President Mossadegh, in the first coup carried out by the CIA. Our government and media, in their demonization of you, neglect to point out the nefarious role of the United States in the history that has led to your presidency.
The Republicans and Democrats have rigged our electoral system, so that those of us who oppose imperial wars have no official voice. Even as the Democrats have come to power, because of massive opposition to the war in Iraq, I have zero expectation they will do anything to reverse imperial U.S. foreign policy; quite the opposite. They will never take a position that would oppose Israel. They stifle dissent, even running opposition candidates to any Democrat who dares to question Israel, such as Cynthia McKinney and Earl Hilliard. They reject all offers by independent parties to debate, such as the Greens or Peace and Freedom, for fear they be given credibility. We who oppose the two party system are left out. Therefore, I welcome this opportunity to have a dialogue with you.
To answer your questions:
1. Yes, I believe there is a better approach to governance. I work at a worker-owned, collectively-managed printing company and believe in cooperation and sharing. I seek a way for these principles to work between peoples and between governments.
2. No, I do not think terrorism can be contained through war, destruction, and bombing. That only creates more hatred and hopelessness, which leads to more terrorism, because people feel they have no other option. After the events of 9/11/2001, many people in this country asked the question, "Why do they hate us so much?" I believe the world would be a much happier and safer place today had we pursued the answer to that question, instead of the genocidal wars and occupations in countries such as Haiti, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
Question 3 answers itself. The "war on terrorism" is another form of terrorism.
4. Blind support for Zionist policy is self-defeating and isolating, not only for people in this country, but also in the long-term interests of Jews, many of who understand this and fight Zionism in the U.S. and Israel.
Regarding question 5, it's not what the Zionists have done for the people of this country that matters, it's how they influence those who own and govern it and who control the media. Our ruling class has historically been, and continues to be, WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) but their imperial interests coincide with those of the Zionists. In addition, many fundamentalist Christians rabidly support Zionism, because they believe current events in the Holy Land will lead to the second coming of Jesus Christ.
6. Yes, I support bringing home U.S. military forces occupying Iraq. It infuriates me that my taxes go to support a military occupation, the construction of permanent military bases, and the most radical privatization of any economy in the world. In addition the war budget endangers the effective delivery of social services that we need desperately in this country.
My questions are the following:
1. Do you really believe that approximately 6,000,000 Jews were not systematically murdered by the Nazi regime in World War II?
You speak of "truth" in your letter, yet have been quoted publicly several times, including in New York, questioning whether the genocidal extermination of Jews actually took place. I ask because I believe in historical accuracy, and also because I believe one cannot understand the craving of many Jews for a defensible homeland without understanding their history of pogroms and extermination in their European countries of origin. I say this not to defend Zionist policy, but to develop a basis of discussion.
I also ask because it wasn't just Jews the Nazis exterminated, but also the Roma people (Gypsies), Serbs, union leaders, leftists, mental patients, and homosexuals, which is particularly important to me, since I am homosexual.
2. What is your intention toward Jews in the land known as Palestine and Israel? Do you seek a solution involving all parties, or do you seek to drive Jews from the region?
3. In your letter you speak of the values of compassion, mercy, truth, justice, dignity, respect, and honesty. Do you think a person can achieve these values through a non-monotheistic path?
I was raised Christian, but have rejected Christianity because of its historical oppression of homosexuals and women, which continues to this day in most denominations. In your country homosexuals are stoned to death for sodomy. Recently, Shahab Darvishsi was executed in Kermanshah. Do you sanction these public executions? This does not make me desire to embrace Islam, although I do my best to practice compassion, mercy, truth, justice, dignity, respect, and honesty.
4. You write about "the quest for justice and compassion and empathy for all humanity." You speak of achieving human perfection by adhering to the values of Islam and monotheism. Does this apply to women as well as to men? In November in the town of Qara Bagh, Afghanistan, Taliban forces kidnapped a teacher, Mohammed Halim, partially disemboweled him, then tied his limbs to motorcycles and tore him apart, because he taught girls in his school. The woman director of the school, her husband, and eight children have all received death threats. Do you support this kind of punishment?
5. If you believe in aspired perfection by adhering to "unity, monotheism, morality and spirituality," why have the monotheistic religions been fighting and killing each other throughout history in the name of their gods? Why are Shia and Sunnis slaughtering each other today in Iraq?
6. Why are you writing to us in this country? Is it to engage us in an honest dialogue, from which we can work together to change the world in a positive direction for all humankind, or is this one more tactic in the endless wars between nations and religions? If it is the former, I would like to travel to meet with you or a representative of your government. I realize I am only a worker in a factory, while you are the president of a country, but you have asked for a dialogue, and I accept.
Charlie Hinton is a San Francisco resident. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's letter can be found at www.truthout.org/docs_2006/113006N.shtml