Lili Gobi, a Persian film maker who’s excellent documentary on how the Islamic regime of Iran has forced so many women into prostitution that it could be measured as a percentage of the whole, wrote this article about eating during ramadam in Iran although soon, it could be about London and many areas around the world. Certainly many have been punished in Morocco in the past few years for this ‘crime’.
Reproduced here with permission:
Ramadan 2001, Iran, Tehran
My friends and I were not fasting, hiding in our car in a quiet neighborhood close to our university and having our lunch before going to an afternoon class. We tried to be careful not to attract attention. Suddenly somebody started banging the car’s window – it was a huge, scary Islamic Police officer who had caught us eating:
“ Eating in public during holy Ramadan? Pagan bitches…Get out of the car! You’re going to get lashed to death for not obeying Allah’s laws…”
We knew how to deal with this unpleasant accident – some money all he needs… We drive away while kept calling him a jerk…
Of course, not everyone is so lucky to escape misery so easily in Iran where you can easily get lashed for not following Islamic law – women are still being stoned to death there for having sex outside of marriage…
As an Iranian woman who grew up under a fanatic Islamic regime (which seized power after killing a hundred thousand students and political activists fighting for freedom), I still have nightmares about being a woman in a religious environment where survival demanded that you pretend to be a good Muslim and follow the regime’s version of Islam.
In order to go to school I was forced to cover myself when I was 6 years old – even during the dog days of summer. I could hardly keep it on my head a whole day. Of course, my parents had no choice but to force me to wear it for my own safety and theirs. The risk of punishment was all to real, and all my non-Muslim friends were forced to cover themselves and read the Qur’an at school.
The Islamic rules were enforced most heavily during Ramadan when it was forbidden to eat or drink in public during daylight hours and all restaurants were closed. People who didn’t follow the Islamic laws and were caught for eating or drinking in public would be subject to the harshest punishment, still most people I knew among family and friends in Iran never fasted nor celebrated Eid at the end of Ramadan as many muslims do in most Arabic or non-Arabic Islamic countries. Why? Because many Iranians outside of the regime never accepted Islamic culture as their own and were always fiercely proud of their ancient heritage, a rich, complex and deeply-civilized culture that still lives and breathes and sings even though Islam was forced on Persia some 1400 years ago. Continue Reading →


