Venue:                    Castello's Cucina, Living Choice 

 

 

Guests:                  Sina Amidpour, Arian Amrein, Fariba Behnia-Wilson, Hadi Djadidi, Madeleine Martin, Eucabeth Mokaya, Caroline Palacios.

 

Attendance:           27 members  8 guests

Haydn Baillie launched the meeting with the invocation tailored around the 4 way test. President John opened the meeting and gave Cobi, Rob Freak's pooch, a double blue (very fitting) coat to ensure he attends next week properly clad. The Bunnings BBQ yesterday produced a profit of $984 and the Thrift Shop netted about $1500. John is seeking to have local buildings lit up with End Polio Now messages on 23 October, World Polio Day. Please ensure wine order forms are back to Brendan Kenny by end of next week.

Paul Duke introduced Rosh, one of his former dental students who had previously addressed us about Iran....tonight is to be an update. Rosh's family fled Iran 30 years ago to escape the persecution of members of the Bahai faith by the regime. She runs a successful local dental practice and specialises in disease prevention. She has 2 teenage sons and loves to dance.

 

Rosh took us on a short journey via video of the countryside of Iran from the lush green hills and snow-capped mountains to the north, to the desert which covers much of the country and to the towns and cities. There were the relics of bygone eras, palaces from Victorian times, and ski resorts for the elite. She opined that Iran accommodated many people from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and was the first multicultural country of the world. Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire in 550 BC. There is an artefact in the British Museum which contains his declaration of human rights. At the beginning of the 20th century, the country was in terrible shape with disease and famine rife. This however changed in 1920 with Reza Shah who is regarded as the father of modern Iran through building of infrastructure, and instituting reforms in health and education. Women were no longer required to wear the oppressive hijabs. Rosh said that the exile of Reza's son in 1979 was due to the combined efforts of the islamists and communists helped by a gullible press and UK without backbone. Iran has been on a downhill slide ever since. The new regime massacred thousands, and  targeted women with removal of all rights....the men did not help.

 

On 16 September 2022, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, under suspicious circumstances after failing to keep her head covered. The country erupted. And the authorities dealt with the protestors harshly. Indiscriminate shootings and perhaps at times deliberate murder of young people (particularly women) became common. Rosh provided photos of a number who had been gunned down. And how did the west react? According to Rosh, appeasement and support for the regime became evident. The Social Forum of UN Human Rights Commission is now headed by an Irani. The US has paid billions of dollars for return of hostages. Germany is supplying spy equipment to the regime. Of further concern is that the best organised among those opposing the regime are the Mujjadin with their 'Taliban like' approach to religious reform.

 

Rosh remains hopeful that the impetus from the peaceful uprising will be sustained and provide a better future for the country. A poem followed.

 

Rosh was applauded for her illuminating address.

Upcoming Meeting

Mitre 10 and Bunnings Barbeques 

The Tale End.....