Mosaddegh at the Hague
If you go to the Netherlands
Visit The Hague court of Justice.
On a rainy night
Linger at its closed gate
And look through the iron rods:
There, in that lighted building
Across the rain-laden trees,
An old man stood
More than half a century ago.
He came from our homeland
To speak out against the oil cartels
Before the whole world.
He did not hold anyone hostage
And took only a few steps
To reach the podium.
Listen, listen
Even years after that bloody August (1)
One can still hear his voice.
He speaks in beautiful French:
"Mesdames et Messieurs!
Ladies and Gentlemen!"
Majid Naficy
September 24, 2005
1. On August 19, 1953 Mohammad Mosaddegh (1882-1967), the Iranian Prime Minister, was overthrown in a coup d'etat orchestrated by the American and British intelligence services, in collaboration with Kashani, a fundamentalist clergy and Zahedi, a Nazi-sympathizer general. They gave absolute power to the Shah who had fled the country a few days earlier. In 1951, Mosaddegh led the movement for nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which was under the control of the British. In June 1952, he traveled to the Hague to defend Iran's case in the International Court of Justice.
مصدق در لاهه
اگر به هلند میروی
از دادگاه لاهه دیدن کن
در یک شب بارانی
پشت در بسته اش بایست
و از لابلای میله ها نگاه کن:
آنجا، در آن عمارت پر نور
کنار درخت های باران خورده
بیش از نیم قرن پیش
مردی کهنسال ایستاد
که از سرزمین ما آمده بود
تا از بیداد غارتگران نفت
با جهان سخن گوید.
او هیچ کس را به گروگان نگرفت
و تنها چند قدم برداشت
تا به پشت میز خطابه رسید
گوش کن، گوش کن
حتی سالها پس از آن مرداد خونین
هنوز هم میتوان صدایش را شنید
که به زبان زیبای فرانسه میگوید:
“Mesdames et Messieurs!
خانمها! آقایان!"
مجید نفیسی
۲۴ سپتامبر ۲۰۰۵
from Hugh:
"Thanks, Majid. Beautiful tribute! What a loss!. Best regards "
I guess Kashani (along with the assassin Tahmassebi pardoned by the Majles and the Fadaiyan-e Eslam when they attacked Mosaddegh’s opponents) was a “good guy” when he was one of Mosaddegh’s key allies, before the “democratic” Mosaddegh dissolved the Majles and held his sham referendum with 99.94% Yes votes. The myth of Mosaddegh is one of we Iranians’ chief pathologies and our Big Lie.
Shirin Tabibzadeh wrote: "Baba velemoon konid ba in mossadegh, 65 sal gozasht, the guy was a loony. Think what you can do for your country now."
My answer: If there is one politician who we Iranians should be proud of him is Dr. Mosaddegh. His path was "democracy and independence" and that is what our homeland needs today.
Majid Naficy
Amir! Many Iranians regard Mosaddegh as the leading champion of secular democracy and resistance to foreign domination in Iran's modern history."
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Mosaddegh
from M. Simms, the editor of Vox Populi:
"Great poem! I’ve posted it to appear later. Thanks!"
from Manouchehr Gorguinpour:
"Dear Majid,
"It's beautiful, and one of those rare proud moments of our blood soaked Homeland, and People. We should all be proud of that old, but not DEFEATED / BROKEN WARRIOR."
Majid! Many more Iranians regarded Emam Khomeini as the leading champion of Iran’s Esteghlal va Azadi (I’m sure you’re familiar with the slogan), as well as its dignity and resistance to the Great Satan and the Little Satans. Mr. Mosaddegh was a secular democrat for aligning himself (initially) with Kashani and Fadaiyan-e Eslam and later the democratic Hezb-e Tudeh and then democratically dissolving the Majles and receiving a 99.94% Yes vote for his democratic referendum (Emam Khomeini received only 98.2%) — not to mention his prior history of democratic ballot stuffing and other electoral shenanigans.
from Louise Steinman:
"Beautiful important poem."
from Naomi Shihab Nye:
"It's incredible = how much we do not know, always. Thank you for this poem."
from Lloyd Hamrol:
"Thank you, Majid. Your poem is splendid, and a reminder of the difficulty that democratic sovereignty faces when challenging powerful economic and political interests, then and now."
from Hedayat Matine-Daftary:
"Many thanks! Regards"
Dear Majid,
Great post!! A well-deserved tribute to a man who tried his BEST in order to institute democracy, freedom and the rule of law, against Pahlavi dictatorship, their theft and embezzlement. America, that falsely, brags about championing freedom and democracy, throughout the world, put an end to that flame of hope and desire in favor of a blood thirsty dictator and cheap oil. In favor of a man subservient to the CIA/America ignoring the sovereignty of his country...as a result, and in conclusion, Iran ended up with the blood thirsty Ayatollahs!