Hoder, aka Hossein Derakhshan, a friend and well-known Canadian blogger of Iranian background, is headed to Israel:
[from E:M | Visiting Israel, breaking a major taboo]
I'm going to Israel as a citizen journalist and a peace activist.
As a citizen journalist, I'm going to show my 20,000 daily Iranian readers what Israel really looks like and how people live there. The Islamic Republic has long portrayed Israel as an evil state, with a consensual political agenda of killing every single man and woman who prays to Allah, including Iranians. I'm going to challenge that image.
Hoder is a man of singular convictions, and I hope that the spotlight that this trip will bring leads to a greater understanding, rather than the growing division between anti-Semitic Iran rulers bent on creating nujes and Israel, who we have to imagine is their target.
Hoder wants to debunk the stereotypes on all sides, and is looking for support, including financially. Please spread the word, and break some coin.
[pointer from Dave Winer]
He's looking for trouble. I'll be warming up the popcorn on this one.
Posted by: Jay | January 24, 2006 at 10:34 AM
Awesome stuff. I am also of Iranian descent, but happen to be Jewish. My parents left the Islamic Republic at around 1980, glad that we aren't there right now with those coward Holocaust deniers. I really appreciate this guy going to Israel to investigate what Israel is like. I went on a birthright trip 2 summers ago, and it was the most amazing time of my life. Israel is a beautiful country with peaceful, albeit impatient citizens.
Posted by: Ben Bakhshi | January 24, 2006 at 02:14 PM