Iran newspaper cockroach cartoon controversy

Cartoon that started the controversy. The boy tries to address the cockroach using different forms of Soosk (Persian word for cockroach) and it answers Namana? (Azeri language, also Persian slang, for What?)

The cockroach also spoke in Persian.

The cockroach cartoon controversy of "Iran weekly magazine" arose over a cartoon, published in the Iranian holiday-magazine of Iran-e-jomee, drawn by the cartoonist Mana Neyestani, an ethnic Iranian Azeri.^[1][2][3][4] The cartoon, published in the children's section of the newspaper on May 12, 2006, allegedly insulted the Azerbaijani people by depicting a child speaking in Persian to a cockroach, which was replying in the Azerbaijani language, saying "namana?" ("what?"). However, namana is also a slang word used in Persian. In other sections of the cartoon, the cockroach also speaks in Persian (the second picture).

Contents of the article

The article which the cartoons accompany is entitled "How to stop the cockroaches from making us into cockroaches?" It is a satirical article in a children's weekly newspaper. The text of the paragraph in image 1 is translated as follows:

“

"First method: dialogue" Some people believe that one should not resort to violence as an initial step, because that will just take all the fun out of the process. So we must first try to come to the table like civilized people and have a dialogue with the cockroaches. But the problem is that a cockroach cannot understand human language [i.e., reasoned argument]. And cockroach grammar is so difficult--nobody has yet discovered which of their verbs end in "ing"--that 80% of the cockroaches themselves do not know it and prefer to speak in other languages. When even the cockroaches do not understand their own language, how could you possible understand it?! This is precisely why negotiations hit a dead-end and the sweet methodology of violence becomes a necessity!

”

The article's use of the key words "dialogue" (گفتمان) and "violence" (خشونت ورزی), plus discussions about problems understanding the language of the "cockroaches," can be interpreted as tacit references to the reformist's nomenclature in contrast to the language of the conservatives in Iran. The famous reformist motto "dialogue between civilizations" which former president of Iran, Mohammad Khatami was insisting on it, was a source of criticism among intelligentsia, because they thought when it was not possible to have a dialogue and mutual understanding among Iranians themselves (conservative-reformist), how could it be possible to have such a conversation between Iran and the western civilizations?^{[citation needed]}

In the cartoon, a child is speaking in "cockroach language" to a cockroach, but the cockroach replies "namana?" ("what?"). Namana is originally an Azeri word, but is also used as a slang word in Persian. In other sections of the cartoon, the cockroach speaks in Persian. Following the publication of the piece, some Azeris found it insulting. They objected to the depiction of the cockroach as speaking Azeri and the insinuation that the Azeri-speaking cockroach "cannot understand human language."

Aftermath

The controversy resulted in massive riots throughout Iran in May 2006, most notably in the predominantly Azerbaijani-populated cities of Tabriz, Urmia, Ardabil,^[5] Zanjan and Naghadeh and number of smaller towns . The riots were violent in some cases, with protesters damaging public buildings and throwing stones, prompting the reaction of the Iranian police.^[6] Such riots had occurred before in recent years in many Persian and non-Persian cities of Iran as well as Tehran, Mashhad, Arak, Shiraz, Qazvin, Isfahan, Sabzevar, Ahvaz, and Zahidan. In the current case, the violence clearly had ethnic components, but the far greater causes of the poverty and unemployment that vexes members of Azeri ethnic groups, are government corruption, inefficiency, and a general sense of lawlessness, which all Iranians, including Persians, must confront. Amnesty International claims that "hundreds, if not thousands, were arrested and scores reportedly killed by the security forces,"^[7] while the Iranian authorities say 330 people were arrested during the protests, and four demonstrators were killed.^[8]

The Iranian government promptly responded to the events by temporarily shutting down the Iran newspaper, arresting the cartoonist and the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Mehrdad Ghasemfar. It further accused "outside forces in playing the nationalistic card".^[9]

Possible foreign interference

See also: Iran's ethnic minorities and foreign interference

Emad Afrough, head of the Majlis Cultural Commission at the time, said that pan-Turkists were involved in creating the tensions.^[10] Other members of the Iranian government blamed it on the United States, Israel, and the United Kingdom, suspecting the incitement of ethnic strife in Iran. The United States has itself confirmed that it is conducting covert operations in Iran and is allied with Iran's neighbor, the Republic of Azerbaijan.^[11]

Abbas Maleki, a senior research fellow at Harvard University, stated:^[11]

I think that when President Bush says all options are on the table, the destabilization of Iran's ethnic provinces is one of them. Don't forget, Mr Mahmudali Chehregani, one of the pan-Turkist leaders agitating for a separatist Azeri agenda, was in Washington last year by invitation of the Defense Department.

Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA operative, had stated in the early 1990s:^[11]

Accessible through Turkey and ex-Soviet Azerbaijan, eyed already by nationalists in Baku, more westward-looking than most [of] Iran, and economically going nowhere, Iran's richest agricultural province was an ideal CIA [covert action] theater.

According to Touraj Atabaki, well-known expert on Iranian Azeris, there might be some truth behind the Iranian government's allegations of a foreign plot, yet the responsibility for the unrest lies first and foremost with the central government.^[12]

Cartoonist's apology and excuse

Later, Mana Neyestani wrote a letter to the head of Tabriz cartoonists and explained that using the Azeri expressions like "Namana"(what?) and "Sanana" (That is none of your business) in ordinary Persian is very frequent and shows the influence of Azeri Turkic in Persian language and using such expressions did not meant any insult to Azeris. He also said he has many Azeri friends and had no purpose and no reason to insult them ^[13].

References

1. ^ "Cockroach Cartoonist Jailed In Iran". The Comics Reporter. May 24, 2006. http://www.comicsreporter.com/index.php/cockroach_cartoonist_jailed_in_iran/. 
2. ^ "Iranian paper banned over cartoon". BBC News. May 23, 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5008420.stm. 
3. ^ "IFJ Criticises “Political Interference” as Cartoons Rows Put Journalists in Jail in Iran and Jordan". International Federation of Journalists. June 3, 2006. http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=3956&Language=EN. 
4. ^ "IRAN: Azeris are unhappy at being the butt of national jokes". IRIN (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)). May 25, 2006. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53543&SelectRegion=Asia&SelectCountry=IRAN. 
5. ^ fa:عباس لسانی
6. ^ Iran Focus
7. ^ Amnesty International. Iran, Annual Report, 2007
8. ^ Iran Says 330 Arrested Over Recent Cartoon Unrest
9. ^ Daria Vaisman. "The other cartoon protests: Large demonstrations broke out across Iran in May 2006 to protest a cartoon insulting to Azeris", The Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 2007.
10. ^ Iran-daily
11. ^ ^{a b c} Asia Times Online
12. ^ Iran: Cartoon protests signal Azeri frustration
13. ^ Iran newspaper cartoonist explained... Sharifnews (in Persian)