Mission

 
Kourosh Foundation was registered in Virginia in April 2006 as a not-for-profit organization, dedicated to the promotion of a culture of tolerance, acceptance and pluralism in the Middle East, with Iran and Persian speaking people, particularly young adults and children being the focus of Phase 1 of its development plan.

Goals

1. To bring awareness of the causes, dangers, and consequences of prejudice and discrimination by providing documentary information on current and 20th century atrocities such as the Holocaust and the Armenian Genocide which were the end results of unbridled prejudice in those societies.
2. To amplify the fact that discrimination in any form is a violation of basic human rights and to show that one of the fundamental requirements of the development of a democratic society and democratic governance is the guarantee of basic human rights of all citizens.
3. To promote a culture of tolerance by re-introducing Iranians with aspects of their cultural heritage which is inclusive and against discrimination.

Objectives

1. To provide free and universal access to information in Persian on past and current atrocities, in film and other multimedia formats.
2. To produce and adapt educational materials about the causes and consequences of prejudice and discrimination, directed to educators and students.
3. To provide reliable information on specific incidents of discrimination and injustice against minorities in Iran.

Why focus on Iran?

Historically, political change in Iran has always had a great impact on the Middle East. The Islamic Revolution in Iran profoundly changed the political dynamic of the region, and resulted in the radicalization of the population and spread of fundamentalism throughout the Middle East. Promoting a culture of hate, discrimination and misinformation has become a policy of the Islamic Republic. In December 2005, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the President, as well as other members of Iran’s ruling elite initiated a nefarious policy of denial of historical facts about the Holocaust. Iranian Foreign Ministry officials were instructed to assemble an “academic conference” to examine the “scientific evidence” for the Holocaust. The Islamic Republic has resorted to a systematic dissemination of misinformation, and historic revisionism regarding Nazi atrocities committed in World War II, thus promoting ignorance and prejudice in that part of the world already over-burdened with the same. If unchallenged, the negative effects of such poisonous propaganda will be passed on to future generations.

Due to the discriminatory laws and practices of the government, all religious minorities including Baha’is, Jews, Sunni Moslems, Zoroastrians, Evangelical Christians, Sufis and even secular humanists are discriminated against to varying degrees. Jews and Bahais in particular face constant assault in the media and have greater difficulty securing government jobs. Baha’is are not admitted to colleges and universities. Furthermore, many have been reportedly imprisoned without cause, harassed and intimidated solely because of their religious beliefs. The International Federation of Human Rights and other credible human rights organizations have repeatedly issued warnings on the alarming situation of religious minorities in Iran, and have documented discrimination on a daily basis both in practice and in law, despite the fact that the Islamic Constitution recognizes Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism as official religions. The Baha’i religion, however, is not recognized, and its adherents have no legal standing and are classified as “unprotected infidels”.

It is estimated that 50% of the Iranian population is under 25 years of age, and 75% are under 50. Thus, the greater majority of the Iranian population today was either born after the Islamic Revolution of 1978 or experienced their formative years under it. As a result, they have been deprived of the freedom of thought and information, shut off from the world of knowledge, and have been exposed to incessant radical Islamist propaganda. The youth have had little, if any, exposure to unbiased history and facts about atrocities such as the Holocaust. Worse yet, there is very little information available on these subjects in their native language. 

Significance of the Name

Kourosh is the original Persian form of the name Cyrus. In Hebrew, Cyrus is Kores and in Greek, Kouros. Cyrus the Great was king of Persia (present day Iran) some 2500 years ago (click here) . He eventually ruled most of the Middle East, and is mentioned honorably in the Old Testament 23 times. Upon conquering Babylon, he issued an edict outlawing pillage, plunder, slavery, desecration of religious shrines, and religious conversion by force—all common practices of conquerors throughout most of human history. The original clay cylinder on which the edict was inscribed, and which the Foundation has adopted as its logo, is now in the British Museum. This edict is generally accepted to be the first proclamation of Human Rights in the history of mankind

Organization Profile

Trustees

Susan Cernyak-Spatz 
Was born in Vienna and lived in Berlin and Prague. She ran the gamut of the Holocaust ordeal from being a refugee in 1938 to internment in Theresienstadt in 1942, deportation to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1943, the Death March in 1945, and after three months in Ravensbrück, liberation in May of 1945. Susan is Professor Emerita at University of North Carolina, Charlotte, where she taught German and French literature. She continues to hold seminars and frequently lectures in the US and in Europe on her experiences during the Holocaust. Her autobiography Protective Custody: Prisoner 34042 has recently been published by N & S Publishers.

Joseph Klaits
Retired Director of the Jennings Randolph Fellowship Program at the United States Institute of Peace. He arrived at the Institute after a career in academia and government service, including stints at Catholic University, teaching European history, and the U.S. Information Agency as an officer in the Fulbright exchange program.

Jaleh Behroozi
Chair of the Board of Trustees of Kourosh Foundation, co-founder of Iranian Mothers for Freedom (US),  Founder of  Women’s Awakening organization (Iran),  she is currently the Director of Communications of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). She came to AIR from the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) where she was the National Project Director of LINCS, the Literacy information and communications system which she helped develop and launch.

Parviz Shokat
Peace activist and retired businessman currently living in Berkeley, California. His background is in print media and specializes in political campaigns. He is a life long proponent of Human Rights and political freedom. He has helped start up a number of NGOs in Iran and has organized support groups for them abroad. He is currently leading a lecture series on modernism and the challenge of traditional societies such as the Iranian society.

Arman Saify                        
Project Director, Secretary of the Kourosh Foundation, and currently the Chairman of AvantGarde Multimedia Services Corporation. Over the past 20 years, he has founded and developed a number of commercial enterprises. He has a BA in Political Science and an MA in International Relations, co-editor of “Focus On Iran”, (1989 – 1995) a monthly political publication, and a co-founder of Azadegan Foundation which is dedicated to democratization of Iranian society from within.

Advisors

Faraj Ardalan PhD.
Researcher and Program Producer, Voice of America Persian Program.  Peace activist and community organizer. Co-Founder, Iran House (Iranian Cultural Association of Northern Virginia). Liaison, Amnesty International.

Jaleh Pirnazar Ph.D
From the University of California, Berkeley in the field of Near Eastern Studies, Iranian Studies. Her research interests include Iranian history, literature, ethnic and religious minorities in Iran. She is a Senior Lecturer in the Near Eastern Studies Department at Berkeley and has taught in this department since 1980. She teaches Modern Persian Language and Literature as well as Iranian Cinema. Her publications include "A Voice of Exile" in The Literary Review: Iranian Diaspora Literature Since 1980 (1996); "Iranian Jews, National Identity and Journalism 1915-1979" in The History of Contemporary  Iranian Jews (2000), "The Image of the Iranian Jew in the Writings ofThree Modern Iranian Writers", Iran Nameh (1995).

Ahmad Soroui
Co-founder of the Iran Futurist Foundation (US, Europe); founder of Iranian Cultural Foundation (California); co-founder of Iranian daily newspaper “Nedaye Azaadi”. He is an anti-discrimination activist with broad and close contacts with the academics and Human Rights activists in Iran, including Iran’s several secular and religious reformist student organizations. He is a prolific writer of articles in Persian mostly on subjects related to Human Rights. Currently he is a member of the editorial board of www.ayandehnegar.org, organ of Iran Futurist Foundation and a contributing editor to the website for the past 7 years.

Staff/Volunteers

• Arman Saify: Director
• Linda Eckert: Volunteer Principle Researcher/writer
• Max Ferman: Volunteer Web Designer, Programmer
• Lisa Navidi: Volunteer Writer/Editor