Our man in Tehran
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1116791.html9/24/09
I closed my eyes and imagined myself in a dark place. What kind of person was I in this dark place? A place where women are not permitted to sing, except in a choir. Where they may ride bicycles, but not motorcycles. Where homosexuality is punishable by death, but sex-change operations are actually encouraged by the state.
What kind of citizen would I be in such a place? Yesterday wearing jeans was prohibited; today it is permitted. Today chess is permitted, but tomorrow the chess sets will be burned in city squares - until the game is once again permitted. Laws and fatwas (religious opinions, in Islam) come and go. There is music that is forbidden, hairstyles that are forbidden and foods that are forbidden. A teacher of morality conducts virginity checks on female students. Nine-year-old girls are sent to death row. Women are stoned for adultery, drinkers are hanged from construction cranes, as are bloggers who insult the revolution. Nine million Web sites are blocked, even Google is often blocked, and police officers patrol the roofs of skyscrapers, shattering satellite dishes.
