Stay with me! Iran 40 days after remains Xenophobic

In 2008 it was the hope of an initiative by this publication to get Iranians motivated with the idea for Peace Through Tourism.

A few days ago was the 40th day of the one-day violent conflict and shooting between Iran and the United States and the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in Tehran. Many people commemorated that day in Iran.

U.S. soldiers are getting treated for brain damage in the United States, Iranians died, and 176 airline passengers vanished, mostly from Canada, flying on Ukrainian Airlines flight PS752. Should they be considered collateral damage?

The atmosphere on the streets in Iran is xenophobic and vainglorious. It means many people are showing a dislike or prejudice against people from other countries and are excessively proud of themselves. The economy is terrible, and international sanctions are affecting everyone in the Islamic Republic.

Iranians that told eTN in 2008 they love the United States are no longer able to obtain a visa.

This is some of the feedback eTurboNews readers and eTN ambassadors are relating to this publication.

People here in Iran are kind and very sad about what happened to that Ukrainian flight, some people are still crying. Ukrainian Airlines launched a memorial.

eTN Reader Mahtab Ghassemzadeh from Iran reached out to eTurboNews saying: “I am trying to keep the memories of these innocent people alive forever by writing two books, one with all the information of all the passengers and crews. I am missing information about a few crew members. The other book is my poems which I have composed for the victims in the past 40 days. One is called STAY WITH ME and the other is called ETERNAL FLIGHT.”

His letter to the editor:

Dear editor of eTurbo News:

I am Mahtab Ghassemzadeh, an Iranian writer and poet. I was very happy to read the article you had published about the inauguration of a park in the memory of the Ukranian flight victims.

I would also like to inform you of what Iranians, who have been deeply hurt and saddened by this horrible event, have done in showing their sympathy for the survivors of the flight.

As a writer, I was active from the very beginning in initiating the ceremonies of candle lighting and observing the mass participation of Iranian people to show their grief about this horrible event throughout the country.

I, along with thousands of people, changed our profile in social media to black color to show our sympathy for the victims and their survivors.

Many artists and especially poets expressed their grief by composing poems and wept for this sad event.

I, myself, have met with many survivors and have started collecting information in a book form about the passenger and crew victims and am publishing a poetry book by the name of Eternal Flight, dedicated to children victims of the PS752 flight.

I am also publishing my poems dedicated to the victims of the flight under the name of Stay with Me.

As a writer, I try to keep the names and memories of the victims permanently present. I hope I succeed in this endeavor.

I am missing names and information about a few crew members to be included in the book. Any information about the crew members will be greatly appreciated.

I wish you and eTurboNews success.

Best wishes,

Mahtab Ghassemzadeh
[email protected]