retournée

I came back to Brooklyn, got busy, got sick, went away again, and upon return, found myself sick once more (if I were writing to you in Turkish, I'd resort to my peculiar use of the first-person -miş "tense"; hastaymışım well conveys the bewildered realization of the relapse). In any case I am very busy again already, and losing my patience with being ill. Even my eyelids feel bruised and weary.

As you've probably read, last week Haleh Esfandiari was released from Evin Prison on bail and then allowed to leave Iran. She is now recuperating with her loved ones in Austria. Parnaz Azima has also had her passport returned has been given permission to leave. Their freedom is a great relief and cause for celebration, although the conditions are complex--in Haleh's case, the deed to her mother's apartment was taken as bail, and her legal status in Iran remains unclear.

But Kian and Ali Shakeri both remain in Evin Prison. Kian has been in solitary confinement for nearly 120 days now. His wife, who is pregnant with their first child, is nearing her due date. In recent days, Iranian judiciary officials have made statements to the effect that Kian will be released on bail when "the investigation" is over, but they've given no date or timeline, and previous promises to his family and others that he would be released by a given date proved to be empty promises. The next week or two, with the run-up to the beginning of Ramadan and the forthcoming visit of President Ahmedinejad and Foreign Minister Mottaki to the UN, are critical. So now would be a good time to write letters, write blog posts, sign the petition, tell others. Keep checking the Free Kian site; new material is going up each day. Thank you so much to all of the readers and commenters who have done so already--I see every single name that goes onto that petition, and I have gladly noted many of yours. And of course thank you to all the lurkers and pseudonymous commenters who may have done the same--even if I didn't recognize your name, I'm grateful it's there.

That matter, and attempts to spend time with the several dear ones pouring back into New York, occupy most of my waking hours. But I'm missing this place, and all the other blogs and internet storytellers I am accustomed to visiting, and hope to return to making the rounds soon.

Also, back here in Brooklyn, a particularly nasty episode of local Islamophobia/anti-Arab sentiment has been infuriating me for weeks now. See next post for details; as always I am trying to do something productive with my anger, though most usually I fail.