An Iranian-American academic who works at a Washington-based institute is being held in a notorious Iran prison after being prohibited from leaving the Mideast country for more than four months, the institute and her husband said yesterday.
Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, was sent Tuesday to the Evin prison after she arrived at Iran’s Intelligence Ministry for questioning, the center said in statement. Iran has not confirmed that it is detaining Esfandiari, and officials in Tehran could not be reached for comment yesterday. “This is extremely disturbing news,” said Esfandiari’s husband, Shaul Bakhash, in a telephone interview from their home in Maryland. “I never expected they would jail a 67-year-old woman for no reason whatsoever.”
Esfandiari is an Iranian-American feminist scholar who left Iran when the mullahs took over. She documented the near-immediate subsequent denial of women’s rights in her Reconstructed Lives: Women and Iran’s Islamic Revolution.
Hat Tip: Eric.
54 Responses to “Haleh Esfandiari arrested”
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Chris, what’s the odds that this will be used as another context to push for an invasion of Iran?…
I’m sure it’ll be part of the mix should Bush get down to a sub-Nixonian approval rating.
But it sounds like State has been pursuing things on the QT until the last couple days, which is a good sign, I think, at least as far as her being used as an excuse goes.
I sure hope diplomacy works. We could rattle our sabres but we don’t have any spare sabres to rattle at the moment.
As for Ms. Esfandiari… Why did she go over there?! Very brave or very crazy.
She went to visit her 90-odd year-old mother, which she’s done every 4-6 months since she emigrated.
Of course, this is exactly the kind of thing that could NEVER happen here in the US…
…oh wait a minute. You mean since the Bushite junta, we HAVE done things just like this? Well, I’m sure WE had a good reason, War on Terra etc., but THOSE people need to be stopped…
Indeed, Mike. That’s the tragedy of it. It used to be I’d read things like this and be horrified. Now, it took me a second after I skimmed it to realize she was an Iranian-American being held incommunicado in Iran, and not one being held incommunicado in the U.S.
Since he’s a guy, maybe he won’t get raped. Maybe…
Esfandiari’s colleague Martin Walker describes why this is such a puzzling imprisonment:
In short, Ms. Esfandiari is an outspoken proponent of the virtues of Iranian society and advocate for understanding between Iran, Europe, and the United States.
I can’t imagine why the Iranian government would want to silence such a voice. They should be using her as propaganda (something I’m sure she would object to), not suppressing her.
Did somebody screw up big time? Or is the Ahamdinejad administration trying to stir up international resentment? I hope we’ll hear some official response from Iran soon.
Esfandiari’s colleague Martin Walker explains what is so puzzling about this imprisonment:
In short, Ms. Esfandiari is an outspoken proponent of the virtues of Iranian society and advocate for understanding between Iran, Europe, and the United States.
I can’t imagine why the Iranian government would want to silence such a voice. They should be using her as propaganda (something I’m sure she would object to), not suppressing her.
Did somebody screw up big time? Or is the Ahamdinejad administration trying to stir up international resentment? I hope we’ll hear some official response from Iran soon.
{Sorry if this turns out to be a double post — my comment was nowhere to be seen after I submitted it}
Sirkowski, what part of (emphasis added)
or
did you not read? It’s understandable to not know what gender a name from a different culture implies, but the article provided ample mentions of Esfandiari’s gender.
Of course, this is exactly the kind of thing that could NEVER happen here in the US…
Well, the story won’t load here, but is there any indication she’s been denied her rights, such as they are, under the tender mercies of the Iranian justice system?
Phoenician, you understand I’m not defending the “tender mercies of the Iranian justice system”, but rather pointing out that the US no longer has a leg to stand on when it comes to judging them…
Right?…
“the US no longer has a leg to stand on when it comes to judging them . . .”
So it’s fine then, I guess? A 67 year-old feminist scholar is locked up, apparently without cause, by an authoritarian regime. But until our government regains some state of perfection, we’re okay with it?
We can make the world a better place by criticizing the US, and we can make it a better place by criticizing the Iranian government. Even if the US has lost a great deal of moral standing, its citizens at least are free to say what they want about pretty much anything they want. We’re welcome to criticize injustices where we see them.
I’m not sure why the bad judgment of our government should silence our good judgment about an injustice in another land.
Jesus christ, James no one was arguing that this is okay. They were simply drawing parallels between this and what is happening in the US.
“So it’s fine then, I guess? A 67 year-old feminist scholar is locked up, apparently without cause, by an authoritarian regime. But until our government regains some state of perfection, we’re okay with it?”
Of course “we” are not “okay with it”. It is wrong whether they do it or we do it.
I was simply pointing out that where we might have had the moral standing and world respect in years past to point out the “wrongness” of this act and have our objection taken seriously, as it stands now, we are roughly as morally believable as any other 3rd world dictatorship.
This, among many other things, was what the Bushites threw away in their effort to make the whole world worship our awesome and manly codpiece.
The goodwill, moral authority, respect, and benefit-of-the-doubt that took us decades to create was thrown away in a matter of months…
Miranda, it’s a little more than drawing parallels. If you read through MikeEss’s posts, he seems to be providing reasons why it’d be a good idea not to discuss the matter. It might be a pretext for invasion, we don’t have a leg to stand on because we do the same things . . . Maybe I’m crazy, but I think single-mindedly focusing on the admittedly terrible policies of this administration sometimes blinds us to truly horrific things going on in other countries. And drawing parallels isn’t particularly helpful to a suffering academic locked in an iranian prison.
The complaint, James, is that the US actions have lessened our ability to effectively object to these injustices, not that they don’t count as injustices if we are at all unjust also.
At least, that’s my complaint.
James, I think you’re reading too much into what Mike said. He never stated that he doesn’t think this should be discussed. He just said that he hopes it is not used as a faulty premise for invasion. That doesn’t mean that he’s downplaying it or doesn’t think anyone should talk about it, just that he does not want it to be exploited for the current administration’s political goals.
And as far as whether discussing such things is an exercise in futility, I doubt that hand-wringing comments on a blog are really doing her much good either.
“Miranda, it’s a little more than drawing parallels. If you read through MikeEss’s posts, he seems to be providing reasons why it’d be a good idea not to discuss the matter.”
james, I really DO think these things should be pointed out and discussed.
But given how we have behaved over the last 6-years, we shouldn’t be surprised if the first thing most people think is “There those American militarists go again. They really don’t care about that woman, but they want to use her fate as a reason to bomb somebody.”
Ans why would they think that? Because that’s exactly what we’ve done before…
On a totally apolitical note, her husband, Shaul Bakhash, is a professor at my university. I had him for a pretty small class on Political Islam and he is one of the nicest, most genuinely brilliant professors I’ve ever had. He’s a man with a small stature and a big personality, and one of the few instructors here who bothers to get to personally know all of his students. I feel so bad for him, and his wife. I really hope this turns out okay for them. This has been a sad, rough year for our government department, between the death of another professor of Middle Eastern studies and the sudden death of David Halberstam, who was a close friend of one of my current teachers and author of the book we’ve been studying all semester. There’s been too much sadness here and I can’t imagine what Dr. Bakhash and his wife are going through right now.
If you read through MikeEss’s posts, he seems to be providing reasons why it’d be a good idea not to discuss the matter.
You must be new if you read Mike’s habitual sarcasm as a call to ignore this woman’s plight.
What he’s actually saying, as he said above, is that the US government is no longer in a position to go to another country and say, “Hey, you should release this woman, because arresting people for no reason and locking them up for long periods of time is immoral.” Iran would laugh in our face if we tried to argue that our locking people up with no evidence is fine, but their locking people up with no evidence is bad and should stop.
Geez, hair trigger much?
Thanks Mnemosyne…
We should be happy that some of Haleh Esfandiari’s jailers are women. Well, at least according to liberals like Jill over at Feministe.
http://www.feministe.us/blog/archives/2007/05/04/arrested-by-the-fashion-police/#comments
drydock, do you have a point?…
Yeah, criticizing liberals or feminists who think having women as part of the Iranian security aparatus is “progress”.
drydock, so you think not having women in the “security apparatus” is better?
And what does the presence or absence of women in the Iranian security forces have to do with the topic at hand?
Or are you just looking for any reason (no matter how bogus) to complain about “liberals or feminists”?…
I think drydock needs to have someone read Jill’s post to him again.
MikeEss “drydock, so you think not having women in the “security apparatusâ€? is better?”
I think supporting people struggling against the iranian state is better, including Haleh Esfandaris. Or maybe when she’s getting tortured she’ll be saying “at least they’re women”.
Chris– Maybe if you read the comments a little better, you’ll notice a lot of commentators, presumably feminists had the same position as I did.
drydock, you’re back to not having a point, aren’t you.
No one has said here that it’s good for Haleh Esfandiari to be arrested.
No one has said here (except you) that it’s good that there might be women among the forces who arrested her.
I’m sure if you asked Jill at Feministe about here opinion, she would think that Haleh Esfandiari’s arrest was bad, regardless of the presence of women in the Iranian security forces.
So essentially: You don’t have a point, you want to stir up trouble, you want to derail this thread, and you’re looking for a reason to use the words “librul” and “femnist” in some unsavory way.
I’m thinking Chris needs to dig up another good bunny YouTube or something…
Some of those other commenters — mythago being an example — characterized Jill’s post pretty accurately. You did not. What’s more, they did said characterization over there. You brought it here for some reason, which reason I can only imagine is lefter-than-thou trolling.
Which sport I generally enjoy, being lefter even than thou.
But I only enjoy it when it’s not being done in chickenshit fashion. You wanna slam Jill’s post, have the courage to discuss it over there rather than bringing it up as a thread hijack over here where she may not see it.
buck buck buck — I’ll drop it Chris. Your thread. If I’m off topic then I’ll be quiet.
“buck buck buck” - quoting yourself, Mr. Dock?…
ooops… buck buck buck was aimed at myself, if it wasn’t clear
Thank you, drydock. Sorry for getting irritable. I’m just tired of the blog wars, and prefer that the “look what she said” stuff gt a rest — and I’ve done enough of it myself.
And Mike, click on through to drydock’s blog. Good stuff over there. Including a link to one of my favorite Ellen Willis essays.
So no, no bunnies for drydock.
I did click through after the “buck buck buck”, but was even more confused by the Jill reference. I also read Jill’s thread.
I’m not hating, but I’m confused as to what was achieved (or was hoped to be achieved) by bringing Jill’s post into this…
?
So it’s fine then, I guess? A 67 year-old feminist scholar is locked up, apparently without cause, by an authoritarian regime.
The problem, James, is in the term “apparently without cause”. Making the big assumptions that there was no cause, that the Iranian system has measures in place to protect the innocent, and that those are not overridden by government fiat, there’s little actual problem and it is indeed “a huge misunderstanding” which will clear up. I’m not sanguine about Iranian justice, but we’re anticipating gross injustice where none has actually been shown to have appeared yet.
Actually, this bit
Makes it sound like they’re chasing a security issue.
Or maybe when she’s getting tortured she’ll be saying “at least they’re women�.
Ahem.
“Although Dr Esfandiari went home every evening, the some 50 hours of questioning were unpleasant -to put it mildly and not free from intimidation and threat,”
Pardon me, but if that’s “torture”, what exactly is waterboarding and stress positions?
Pardon me, but if that’s “torture�, what exactly is waterboarding and stress positions?
Consensual if they don’t set up a safeword first?
I am fairly new here. And I take my youtube bunny to mean I’ve been perceived as trolling. If so, I apologize, and I’ll just say one more thing and move on. It wasn’t my intention to be a nuisance.
It may be, per phoenician, that there is no injustice here. I don’t know enough to say for sure. It’s certainly the case, as you’ve all pointed out, that we’ve managed to elect an administration of rubes who have gravely damaged our credibility on the international stage.
But I do think there is a space for left-wing and feminist criticisms in debates about foreign policy. Those criticisms can focus on the behavior of our own government and justly so, but they can also focus on the behavior of other governments. To the extent we deal with our own government, we add further charges to an already sizable indictment–an indictment which thankfully will no longer be particularly relevant in 19 or so months. But when we look abroad, I think we can have an impact much further into the future.
What, exactly, should be done or not done about Iran? It’s an important question and one that I think the left blogosphere has not fully engaged. If we never engage the question, then it is almost sure to be resolved on the terms of those who have been obsessing over it–which is to say, the right-wing. And in that sense, I think that the unidirectionality of outrage toward the US government (which I, perhaps mistakenly, perceived on this thread) ends up hurting the left.
That’s all I was trying to say, and now I’ll happily return to my hutch and nibble on my carrots.
Ugh, the first thing I thought of when I read that is what happened to Zahra Kazemi. I hope this ends better for Ms. Esfandiari.
I repeat what I have said in Twisty’s blog in response to that girl being stoned in Iraq by jerks who decided to violate her right to love regardless of religion (http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2007/05/05/vile/): Feminist Terrorism Now! Men who terrorize women in the middle east won’t disappear on their own, women need to seek those specific men out and kill them before they keep killing. …CIA assassinations will fuck it up especially since CIA is not motivated to help the women. The most we can do is spread this idea to them and help them materially along.
Or, if not ‘terrorism’, feminist /force/, feminist /agency/. The women of the Middle East are capable of breaking the law to protect their own right; there were secret education groups during the Taliban era in spite of the wish, I just wish that they’ll have the way and the will to literally return stone for stone for once.
- MG
You had me confused there for a second, james.
That bunny was for a belligerent rightwing troll name o’ John. You’re arguing in good faith, so no bunny.
Ghaemi: She was arrested following weeks of interrogation about her work. The interesting point is that Dr. Esfandiari is a prominent international figure and an academic. She is an expert on Iran and her writings tell a lot about her and there is no reason to connect her to the U.S. [program to promote democracy in Iran]. Unfortunately it’s not the first time that the Iranian government…[charges innocent] people — even before the U.S. government started to follow such policy…. This is more a move by the Iranian government for its own interests and maybe it is part of factional fighting in Iran.
Ghaemi: Mrs. Esfandiari is an academic, a cultural figure, and a civil-society activist. Therefore, yes, all of these arrests are aimed at creating [security] conditions in the country. Two days ago another women’s rights activist [Zeinab Peyghambarzadeh] was arrested, two [student activists] from Tehran’s Amir Kabir University have been detained, and still a number of the members of the teachers union are in jail and all of these are a show of power by a certain faction [in the government] that is targeting independent individuals.
Radio Free Europe
Women activists in Iran:
http://ifex.org/en/content/view/full/81685/
and one of their web-sites
http://www.meydaan.com/English/Default.aspx
The Saxon in a Time of Normans wrote:
Well, that’s just it: having no rights there, she has not been denied rights she doesn’t have.
Ok, I missed the part about her being woman. She WILL get raped then.
Consensual if they don’t set up a safeword first?
I don’t believe the detainees in Guantánamo had a prior relationship with the US Army that involved them agreeing to other forms of interrogation, Chris. Feel free to provide links.
No, that won’t make it worse. Not at all.
There have been a number of feminist arrests/imprisonments in Iran in the past month or so. I’m disgusted, but not surprised. They call women’s rights activists threats to national security.
http://zaneirani.blogspot.com/2007/04/blog-post_29.html
There have been a number of feminist activist arrests and imprisonments lately. I’m disgusted, but not surprised. The mullahs and conservatives have call women’s rights activists threats to national security.
http://zaneirani.blogspot.com/2007/04/blog-post_29.html
My comment was eaten. Maybe it’s the link? I’ll try again.
http://zaneirani.blogspot.com/2007/04/blog-post_29.html
:))
Couldn’t help disturbing the libraries peace exploding in laughter at “freeing Haleh Esfandiari, a pretext for war!!”
For god’s sake people, give Americans a LITTLE credit! They are not THAT dumb to shoot themselves in the food over releasing a little lady, with meagre academic acheivement, and boring research (consisting of having Iranian hosewives tell their stories; like does Oprah and Jerry Springer!)
Whatever the WW institute is! A President had a PhD … so they give membership to everyone who has a PhD and they make them director of this and that program …
Anyways, poor thhing, I hope they will let her go! But hey, Iranians do not arrest EVERY American feminist scholar who sets foot in Iran; so let’s wonder more about why this obscure lady!