Reflecting on an American-Iranian Handshake

The fun thing about staying in hostels: you never know who you will meet! For my last night in Europe, I was at the AO Hostel in Berlin. I was in a six bed dorm room, but everyone was out partying until very late; all except for myself and this middle aged middle eastern man.

As I entered the room, this man, in excellent English says "hello, how are you doing?" He introduces me, and we had a great converstion from midnight until 4:00am. Mohammed Ali (that's really his name) is about 60 years old, and is from Iran. He is in Germany in preparation for a major knee surgery.

We chatted about US/Iranian politics, about the Muslim and Baha'i religions, and about the Farsi Language. He wrote the alphabet for me, and explained how it works. (Alphabets are a big fascination of mine.)

Anyway, from what he said, Iran is a decent country, with much better freedoms and cultural integration than the picture which the Western media portrays. I know our media and news certainly casts a very bad light on the happenings and way of life of Iran. He seemed to paint a really good image of the country, and it's official policies.

I have no doubt that there is a lot of propaganda on both sides, about each of our countries. Even though my limited research on the internet seems to indicate Iran does have serveral shortcomings in the area of human rights and religious freedoms, I think that Americans and Iranians are not a funamentally different people, but are living, breathing, caring human beings. It is a tragedy that our politicians plot division, teach intollerance, suppress truth, and draw up battleplans. And for those offences against God/Allah's plans, both sides are guilty, and both have transgressed. I guess a little humility, and willingness to reach out and talk to someone from a different walk of life can go a long way. It is certainly the "Christian" thing to do.

Though I did get my new friend's email address, It is doubtful I will ever see him again, but I can know we will keep each other in our prayers, and pray for peace for both of our countries. By all means, I highly recommend all my American friends to travel and meet people from other places, and expand your horizons; it sure is a fun way to improve one's knowledge of the world!