I
am writing this from my flat in Vedado, Havana, Cuba while listening to Iranian
music.
I
have been thinking a lot about Iran and thanks to my friends inside Iran, I can
feel the empathy for this land I have always loved, even though I have never
visited it, having flown over it hundreds of times on Qatar Airways.
Why
don’t you visit Iran? My friends inside and outside Iran ask me. My friends in
Israel and USA would ask, are you mad even considering a trip to Iran, pointing
out to the number of people jailed for being “spy” for CIA or Israel.. I have
strong attachment to both USA and Israel; the two enemies Iran has sworn to
destroy but their ageing technology like their ageing leaders would never be able
to.
The
frustration of the people, such a nice group of educated people, in my opinion
the most educated and well prepared and westernized Muslim country, had to
suffer under this backward vision of a theocracy which the entire world would
decry. Not even the other many autocratic Muslim countries are so theocratic. Separation
of the STATE and RELIGION occurred in the civilized nations about five hundred
years ago, argued by philosophers such as Rene Descartes, I think therefore I
am….
In
the Muslim world we are still waiting for the world of a Descartes! The country
that is ready to meet the Renaissance is IRAN.. and each day I am proud of my
love for this country, so caught in the web of political intrigue and religious
orthodoxy and liberal minded people.
A
country which gave the world HAFEZ FERDOWSi KHAYYAM and the thousands of classic
writers and philosophers and giants such as SHAMLOO and SHEGOYAN who could
speak both German and Sanskrit! Not to
mention Makhmalbouf, Panahi, and films such as the Seperation..
IRAN
would join the rest of us in the world stage but this is not the time to travel
there and be falsely be accused of being an Israeli spy.
I
began to write about IRAN and got carried away by the sadness I felt but I
wanted to mention the effects of the BLOCKADE, I am sure the IRANIANS would
feel it, not the Guards or the Mullahs or the Theocrats but the average IRANI.
That
is the case here in CUBA. Which has withstood 60 years of blockade. The
apologists for this draconian action by the USA including the Miami Cuban
Americans would ask: but they can trade with others.. they do not know what an
American Embargo or Blockade means. Right now, there are Gas for cooking for
the population, Petroleum for the buses for the population are waiting in ports
to be shipped to Cuba but USA has completely blockaded their arrival until Cuba
gets its own ships at which time USA cannot stop the ships in the high seas.
These
things are at a macrolevel, very soon, flights from the USA to Cuban towns
outside of Havana including the popular charter flights would stop. Cruise
ships cannot dock in Cuba if their itinerary includes a USA port even if it is
a colonial one such as San Juan, Puerto Rico or US Virgin Island ports such as
St John or St Croix. This has affected simple artisans who made a living
selling handcrafts reminding the visitors of their short sojourn in Havana,
whose trade was devastating, plunging them into further poverty.
Do
you think the Government Officials are impacted? Do you think that people who
receive millions of dollars from family members in the very same USA are
affected? No..
Average
Cuban, who gets up to go to work and has a family and has to see his children
do well at school and those receiving pensions and are unable to work are
affected. It is the unfortunate and the unluckiest ones are affected.
I
am amazed that neither the politicians in the USA (whose sanity one questions)
nor the average American cannot understand the devastating effects of this
blockade…just simple, you cannot cook because the cooking gas containers have
been blocked from entering Cuba by their government.
Those
of us who love this country for intellectual and philosophical reasons rather
than the political or ideological ones, the blockade is felt in a different
fashion. I will give some examples
NEJM
or the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE is a prestigious medical journal read by
all erudite doctors around the world. Every week they send something called
NEJM Knowledge in which they present a case and give four possible answers.
After brooding about the clinical presentation, you can click on one of the
answers and it would open in another screen and give the explanation why your
answer is right or wrong. It is truly a wonderful way to keep your medical wits
about you.
Just
guess what happened when I read the case of an 82-year-old woman who became
incoherent after being put on Amitriptyline by her Family Practitioner, I
clicked on my choice from the four possible answers: exchange Amitriptyline for
Sertraline, another group affecting other parts of the brain.
This
note appeared on the screen.
The
country that you are accessing this from is not authorized to receive
I
have an Amazon.com account with a USA based credit card and an USA address to
ship to.
I
wanted to buy a book, order it from Cuba, to be shipped to the USA address
When
I clicked order now (it took me through the other steps)
You
are not allowed to use this service.
Same
story with apple.com or app store if you want to download an app. I have
SPOTIFY music streaming but cannot stream it while I am in Cuba.
Cuba
while being a Communist state, does not block any websites, unlike IRAN or many
other countries including the friend of USA, CHINA.
If
you think BLOCKADE of a nation such as CUBA and now IRAN affects only the sales
of BOEING Planes or Refrigerators or big price tag items, you are wrong. It
enters everywhere, makes the life of an average Cuban more difficult from
Medications, trying to buy an airline ticket from here, the list goes on and on
So
please do not be condescending of the 80 million citizens of Iran or the 11 million
Cubans in the island
Listen
to this proverb from the wisdom of the Native people of USA
Never
criticize a man until you have walked a mile in his moccasins. He who is
present at a wrongdoing and does not lift a hand to prevent it, is as guilty as
the wrong doers. Great Spirit, help me never to judge another until I have
walked in his moccasins. Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
This
is attributed to the OMAHA (UmoNhoN) tribe with whom I have a long-standing
relationship
