One Picture Is Worth A Thousand Lashes

Droppingball1

If might sound like a throughly ignorant question, but a lot of people have been wondering why Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad drew world-wide attention last week for saying that Israel "must be wiped off the map." The statement was delivered in a keynote speech to a so-called “World Without Zionism” conference in Tehran attended by 4,000 hardline students.

As explained in the NYT, these types of comments are regularly issued by Iranian leaders and are promptly ignored. The fact that these weren’t, however, genuinely shocked and surprised the Iraqi President and his radical supporters. In Iran, it seems, there is a long history of the separation of rhetoric and policy.

If this distinction has long been taken for granted, however, what made last week so different?

I leave it to others to tease out all the political factors. Still,
there are so many to consider, such as the immediate sensitivity of
Iran’s relationship to Iraq; the ongoing brouhaha over Iran’s "good
nuke/bad nuke" dance; the political and propaganda role Iran currently
plays on the neocon’s Risk board; the tension between Ahmadinejad and
the ruling clerics (who are taking steps to curb presidential
authority); and the heat between MA and Hashemi Rafsanjani, who heads
something called the Expediency Council which has been quietly
acquiring more power to govern Iran’s diplomatic activity.

For The BAG’s purposes, however, I think there is still another factor in this firestorm having to do with "visual
rhetoric." Specifically, I’ve been wondering whether Ahmadinejad’s
words would have seemed as big if the news images that accompanied them
weren’t as stunning.

In the "old days," pols only emphasized the visuals around election time. That, however, was before the campaign became a perpetual adjunct of governance.

Nat-Endowment-Democracy America-Supports-You

When the Bush administration first appeared on the scene, their
capacity for "preparing the surface" and employing visual props was
truly groundbreaking. (It wouldn’t surprise me if, years from now, the
Bush is primarily remembered for "the branded background.")

What really surprises me, however, is how far and fast the
craft has passed them by. If you look at the visual impact of
Ahmadinejad’s presentation, I believe the closest comparison is not
Bush/Rove so much as this other guy who runs his campaign out of
Silicon Valley.

Stevejobsirancompare2

So my advice to the Iranian President is this: If you want to
maintain that healthy separation between policy and rhetoric, the main
issue is not whether or not to advocate the total annihilation of other
countries and religions.

The main thing to avoid is the creation of massive 3-D representations
of countries falling through hour glasses like their time is up. And
certainly, you should avoid depicting those countries either as falling
bombs, or as fragile eggs about to crack open by virtue of your own
hate.

(image 1: Behrouz Mehri/AFP/File. Tehran,
Iran. October 26, 2005. Via YahooNews. image 2: Larry Downing/Reuters.
Washington. October 6, 2005. Via YahooNews. image 3: Lawrence
Jackson/A.P. Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2005. Washington. Via YahooNews. image
4: Justin Sullivan/AFP/Getty Images. San Jose, California. October
2005. Via YahooNews.)

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Your Turn: Rove View Mirror

Samuel, Bill and Rosa

Lisa

So much anti-Semitism from the Arab world is ignored or dismissed as anti-Zionism ( to believe that Jews are the only people who do not deserve a homeland IS anti-Semitic.). Anti-semitic lies are repeated on news programs and TV shows. I think those of us who read Bag News know how important that visual element can be.
However, there is hope. While Jordan is not perfect (nor is Israel!), they have become good neighbors with Israel. While I was living in Eilat (an Israeli city which neighbors Aqaba, Jordan on the Red Sea), there was an attack on the border crossing; Jordan jumped into action to stop it and to find those responsible. The Jordanians that I knew personally were among the kindest, gentlest, and most hospitable people I have ever known. And now this: http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=Announcement3305” rel=”nofollow”>Jordan cancels anti-semitic TV show
Marysz

It might have been more appropriate to juxtapose a photo of Bill Gates, instead of Steve Jobs with the photos of Bush, (there’s some good photos of Gates with Microsoft backdrops at Google images). Like the Bush administration, the Windows OS is riddled with security flaws, viruses, promises more than it can deliver, and frequently crashes.
The Bush administration’s use of props is one more sign of the corporatization of government. The presidency is a “brand” that’s marketed like toothpaste or shampoo. And Orwellian doublespeak is a given . . . A May 2004 story by Dan Froomkin in the Washington Post:
” ‘Bush Backdrop Turns Sour’. . . the White House Web site’s ‘Building America’s Economy Photo Essay’ . . . shows Bush standing in front of a glorious red, white and blue ‘Jobs and Growth’ banner. Last week, Timken announced that the folks right there in that room are getting fired. Timken, the world’s largest industrial bearings maker, whose chairman is a major donor and fundraiser for the Republican Party, plans to shut down three factories in Canton and eliminate 1,300 jobs.”
http://keirneuringer.blogspot.com Keir

Thanks for mentioning this Iran business. I think it’s absolutely true that this is standard fare for Iran and the noise made by Western leaders about the “map-wiping” comment is disingenous. I wouldn’t defend Iran’s stance or its theocracy, but certainly this rhetoric has been around since 1979. The Qods day “holiday” that was being celebrated in conjunction with the conference is a creation of the regime to express solidarity with Palestinians. (I had to find that info on the Islamic Republic News Agency’s website).
As for “A World Without Zionism”…well, I detest nationalisms of any sort. I wouldn’t like to see Israel wiped off the map, but I wouldn’t mind most of the thugs in its government going the way of the dodo. And if the US president (bloodthirsty sociopath or just the puppet of bloodthirsty sociopaths?) can have words like “freedom” and “democracy” floating behind him while he proceeds to blow the bejeezus out of, well, whoever’s got the oil, I say let the silly puppet in Iran do his powerpoint presentations.
ummabdulla

I had heard a lot about his comments, but I hadn’t seen any pictures. The hourglass theme might remind Muslims of this verse from the Quran: “To every people is a term appointed: when their term is reached, not an hour can they cause delay, nor (an hour) can they advance (it in anticipation).”
But Iran has Al-Quds (Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem) Day on the last Friday of Ramadan every year, and it usually involves chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” (which are heard every Friday in Tehran, too), burning the flags of those two countries, and burning effigies of Bush and Sharon, etc.
I guess it made international headlines this year because the President himself spoke those words, and because the U.S. is already trying to ratchet up tensions with Iran over nuclear issues. (Although Iran acknowledges it has nuclear capabilities and has signed the relevant treaties, unlike Israel.)
readytoblowagasket

The BAG said: “I’ve been wondering whether Ahmadinejad’s words would have seemed as big if the news images that accompanied them weren’t as stunning.” I’m finding the hourglass image more curious than stunning, because for me it is almost impossible to determine what the image means, it is so out of context. Yes, the US sphere has hit the “ground,” but only a small piece has broken off; otherwise the sphere is intact; it’s not even cracked and certainly not destroyed. It’s damaged. The Israel sphere is hurtling quickly toward the “ground,” but is as yet intact. What does this mean? It doesn’t look like “death” to either the US or Israel. I also don’t get a visual parallel to bombs because, again, there is no destruction depicted. The two spheres are completely alone in the hourglass, and they have a relationship to each other — Israel follows the US. The hourglass image may be very sophisticated technically in Western terms, like the iPod graphic, but that doesn’t mean its symbolism follows Western symbolism, does it?
http://whatskeezelblogging.blogspot.com/ Jeff Keezel

I hadn’t seen the hourglass shot, but I was struck by the fact that the title poster for the conference mounted on the lectern and the wall behind were in English.
It clearly targeted western viewers. And now you’re telling me they are surprised at the reaction? I don’t buy their surprise…thekeez
Marysz

readytoblowgasket writes: “What does this mean? It doesn’t look like “death” to either the US or Israel.” about the hourglass in the upper photo. Perhaps this is a sign of an underlying ambivalence about the wisdom of such a stridently anti-American and Israeli foreign policy on the part of the Iranian public. Look at the passer-by. He’s not engaging in a political protest and he glances at the hourglass the same way one might look into a passing shopwindow. He also looks like he’s dressed in secular clothes.
MonsieurGonzo

i can’t figure out WTH the hourglass thingy is, either ~ but it sure is way-cool!
that Israel is a Theocracy and Zionism *is* racism, and Ariel Sharon is a war criminal ~ is pretty obvious.
this is a weird BAGpost… i can’t figure out whether BAGman wants to talk about the evolution of “branded backgrounds,” the market genius of Apple’s iPod “silhouette” campaign, or the way-cool OpArt behind the Iranian guy’s annual ritual / revenge fantasy-?
s’long as we’re just smokin’, dig this :
=> Central Mosaic
ummabdulla

That “passer-by” in the top photo is the Iranian President – maybe having just finished his speech?
Lisa

Zionism is not racism. It is simply the idea that Jews should have a homeland. How is that racist?
http://blog.thought-mesh.net Annoying Old Guy

As explained in the NYT, these types of comments are regularly issued by Iranian leaders and are promptly ignored.

Uh, no. The article you cite claims that this is “known to be Iranian policy” but that’s quite a bit different from being explicitly stated by Iranian leaders, as you claim.
The last such explicit statement that I am aware of was a number of years ago (and interesting, it was by Rafsanjani). That it was said by a high government official of Iran is sufficiently out of the ordinary to explain the uproar. That Iran is also presumed to be close to obtaining nuclear weapons (which has not been the case until recently) is another reason this statement stands out.
http://www.olywa.net/cook Geoduck

My first thought was that the Israeli ball is plunging into a carefully-shaped hole…
jt from B.C.

Media Lens Message Board
Lost in translation
Posted by Kebz on October 29, 2005, 3:04 pm, in reply to “fixated”
User logged in as: Kebz
Why those two nations you should ask yourself? Because Iran sees them as aggressors and an active threat to its regime. Perfectly natural then for the threatened to wish that the threat did not exist. By the will of god even the impossible becomes possible. That is a regular Muslim saying meaning that the impossible can be made to come true if god wills it. That is what he meant. If Israel and the US had full diplomatic and friendly relations with Iran then such a statement would not need to be made. The wish is not for the nation to not exist but the threatening nation. Such subtleties are regularly lost in translation or perhaps I should say easily mistranslated on purpose.
I found this comment on http:/www.medialense which states its purpose as “correcting for the distorted vision of corporate media.” They have an impressive list of contributors and do an excellent critical and rigorous job of taking on the BBC and the Guardian in particular.
I wonder if Juan Cole of Informed Comment would share the view of this translation and the posters opinion?
I don’t know what to make of the photo but I will give it some more thought. The arrogant antics of Bush, Blair and Sharon I understand all to well and why the media minions would embellish their tirades of self righteous indignation? (which usually works for mass readers as long as context and past history are not related to whatever has been expressed by so called recognized experts. The amateurs who have time and interest usually come to quite different opinions after having done a little homework.
The BAG

Sorry if I’ve confused. Yes, I was trying to highlight “the way-cool OpArt behind the Iranian guy’s annual ritual / revenge fantasy”. I also meant to imply that the dramatic presentation of the image was stunning, though not necessarily the specific content. …And yes, the shot depicts the Iranian President in mid-speech.
Last night was my first late blogging session after swearing off coffee. Maybe that’s what happened.
jt from B.C.

On further perusal this picture is truly worth more than a thousand words, I will try to confine mine.
The hour glass represents the History of Iran since about 1900. In 1923 Mohamed Mossadegh was elected to parliament and again in 1944 when he became Prime Minister and served until 1951. ( This was a democratic country well before the State of Israel)
In a complex plot (Operation Ajax) orchestrated by the British and US Intelligence Agencies he was overthrown. A popular leader his demise and humiliation was shared by a vast Iranian public ( yes it was about oil) and they remember.
The Shah was empowered and maintained by the US but eventually overthrown after a long history of horrendous crimes and economic plunder.
Then returned that delightful cleric who had been waiting in the wings in France.
When the US would not allow the extradition of the Shah to stand trial that precipitated the hostage crisis.
So from the falling sands of time the following things happened.
First the US was slightly cracked by the return of Khomeini, the hostage taking, and is being further broken and torn by the present Iraq adventure. And it is an undisputed fact that contrary to Rumsfeld’s wildest dreams (nightmares) the shite majority in Iraq and Iran are also brothers.
Second since 1920’s slowly but surely the creation of the state of Israel became a reality (notice now it a bigger sphere than the stars and stripe ball thus it represents a bigger threat and danger. The Star of David will occupy the smaller hole left by the gradual demise and displacement of the US.
This may be an illusion or a reality we will have to stay nervously tuned.
I believe that Israel would use the nuclear option before the US and I think this opinion is shared in Iran.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not the first leader to be motivated by fear and hubris. And like a previous commentator I believe that’s him trying to look casual while contemplating the finer points of chaos theory.
I’m in denial, with hope that all this is just a Halloween trick.