Everyone knows of my obsession with Persia IRAN, something dating back to the time when we had some family connection to that land. As I grew up I became enchanted by its culture, literature, music and films and classic books.
I am a Jew with strong connections with Israel and even my friends inside Iran do not wish me to visit Iran, as they cannot guarantee the erratic behaviour of their government. Many foreigners have been detained, some for years, in their notorious prisons for being “spies for the Zionist State”
In my heart of hearts, I look forward to a time when Iran and Israel would be friends and be the light of the Middle East and Turkey, to bring technology and happiness to people of the region. OJALA!
Here is an article from BBC UK that I reproduce in full. In these times of global anxiety, the ideas and behavior of kindness are welcome. Here the example of IRAN.
The first snows don’t tend to fall in Mashhad, tucked up in the mountains of north-east Iran, until January, but by December, the nation’s second-largest city is already in the icy grip of winter. Reportedly out of concern for the city’s sizeable homeless population, an anonymous local took to the streets in December 2015, painting a wall in bright colours and installing pegs and hangers. Beside it, a painted message in Persian read: “If you don’t need it, leave it. If you need it, take it.”
Kindness is rooted in Persian culture, with buskers inviting passers-by to take their earnings if they need it (Credit: Sarah Reid)
Mashhad’s residents answered the call with enthusiasm, donating warm clothes they could spare. An instant hit on social media, these “walls of kindness” soon spread throughout Iran and beyond, with the initiative taking various forms.
Bakeries began leaving out baskets of bread encouraging those who couldn’t pay to help themselves; and as buskers strummed their guitars on street corners, signs in their tip jars invited passers-by to take the money if they needed it. Tehran’s fast-food outlets introduced a system whereby customers could pin a meal order to a noticeboard for someone less fortunate to trade in, reminiscent of Italy’s caffè sospeso (suspended coffee) tradition revived in Naples around a decade ago, whereby a cafe patron can buy a coffee in advance for someone less well-off.
While charitable giving has always been an important Islamic custom, the walls of kindness movement is rooted in Persian culture, which reveres the language of ancient poets such as Rumi, who espoused the virtues of kindness. This spirit of kindness has also manifested in taarof, or the Persian art of etiquette, in which politeness holds the place of honour in every social interaction. Despite the coronavirus pandemic that has tested the nation’s philanthropic spirit to the limit, these gestures of kindness towards strangers continue today.
