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پاسخ به آرنولد آگوست و ۱۱ عضو غیر ایرانی کنگره ایرانیان
چند لحظه پیش آرنولد آگوست یکی از ۱۲ عضو غیر ایرانی در کنگره
ایرانیان، در پاسخ به ایمیل دوم انتخاباتیام با من تماس گرفت
و گفت که ایشان متاسفانه با زبان فارسی آشنایی نداشته و
نمیتواند متوجه مطالب من گردد.
ضمن تشکر از ایشان متن ایمیل دوم و سخنانم در ویدئو ضمیمه را
همراه این پاسخ برای ایشان و ۱۱ عضو غیر ایرانی کنگره ارسال
داشتم.
این هم یک موردی است که میبایست در باره اش تعمق کنیم.
یکشنبه ۴ می ۲۰۲۵
از آرنولد آگوست سپاسگزارم که با من تماس گرفت و به این نکته
اشاره کرد که که دو ایمیل به زبان فارسی که من در راستای
فعالیتهای انتخاباتیام برای ایشان هم ارسال داشتهم را متوجه
نمیگردد.
به لیست اعضاء مراجعه کرده و متوجه شدم که حدود ۱۲ نفر غیر
ایرانی تبار در میان اعضای کنگره وجود دارند. خیلی کنجکاو شدم
که دلیل پیوستن شما عزیزان را به یک نهاد ایرانی متوجه گردم.
با ارسال ترجمه متن ایمیل دوم و سخنانم در ویدئو ضمیمه آن، از
شما عزیزان تقاضا دارم که دلیل پیوستن خود را به کنگره
ایرانیان برایم توضیح دهید.
این نکته را یادآور میشوم که در انتخابات ۲۰۲۰ که بعد از دوسال
رودررویی های قضایی، با هزینه هزاران ساعت تلاش و حدود دویست
هزار دلار، زیر نظر نماینده دادگاه برگزار گردید و حدود ۳۵۰۰
نفر در آن شرکت داشتند نیز تعداد چشمگیری از غیر ایرانیتبار
ها شرکت داشتند. حاصل آن پیروزی گروهی شد که مدت ۸ سال این
نهاد را در اختیار داشته و بصورت انحصاری و غیر دموکراتیک
اداره میکنند.
از بعد از آن انتخابات، با ممانعت از تمدید عضویتم در کنگره به
مدت چهار سال من را از شرکت در انتخابات محروم ساختند. در
انتخابات امسال، هییت مدیره کنونی و کمیته انتخابات، من یکی از
مسنترین و قدیمی ترین اعضای کنگره را در کنار دو کاندیدای
دعوتی قرار داده است که تا چند روز حتی نام کنگره ایرانیان را
نشنیده بودند. گزینه اول در انتخابات امسال مربوط به این مورد
میباشد که شما میبایست تایید کنید تا ما سه نفر بتوانیم در
انتخابات حضور داشته باشیم. این نمونهای از نگرش و نحوه
مبارزات غیر دموکراتیک افرادی میباشند که نهاد را به مدت هشت
سال در اشغال خود دارند.
همین افراد در انتخابات ۲۰۲۰ به حزب سبز کانادا متوسل شدند و
آنها را متقاعد کردند که افرادی مانند من جنگ طلب و وابسته به
صهیونیست ها هستیم. با کمک اعضای آن حزب که به کنگره ایرانیان
پیوستند موفق شدند که در انتخابات آنسال پیروز گردند.
تا زمانیکه ما در شعار و نه در عمل، و از طریق رفتاری غیر
دموکراتیک قصد داریم که در مقابل امپریالیسم بایستیم، جز تقویت
آنها و به کناره راندن و مایوس کردن فعالان اجتماعی و پایین
آوردن میزان مشارکت نتایج دیگری حاصلمان نخواهد شد.
حاصل اینگونه فعالیت کاهش تعداد اعضاء بود که از ۳۵۰۰ در سال
۲۰۲۰ به ۱۷۴ نفر تا قبل از ورود من به رقابتهای انتخاباتی
امسال بود. در کمتر از دو هفته از حضور من در انتخابات امسال،
بعد از چهار سال محرومیت، تعداد اعضاء به ۳۷۶ نفر از جمله شما
۱۱ نفر شد.
خیلی کنجکاوم که نظر شما و دلیل پیوستنان به این نهاد ایرانی
تبار را بدانم.
با تشکر از شما – مهدی شمس
متن انگلیسی ایمیل به ارنولد آگوست
I would like to thank Arnold August for reaching out to me
and pointing out that he couldn’t understand the two emails
I sent him in Persian as part of my election campaign.
After checking the membership list, I realized there are
about 12 non-Iranian members in the ICC. This made me quite
curious to learn why you, dear members, decided to join an
Iranian organization.
I’m attaching the English translation of my second email,
along with the transcript of the video message included in
it. I kindly ask you to share with me your reasons for
joining the Iranian Canadian Congress.
Let me remind you that in the 2020 elections—held under
court supervision after two years of legal battles,
thousands of hours of effort, and around $200,000 in
expenses—about 3,500 people participated, including a
notable number of non-Iranian members. That election
resulted in a victory for the group that has held control
over this organization for the past eight years and has
governed it in an exclusive and undemocratic manner.
After that election, my membership renewal was denied for
four years, effectively barring me from running again. In
this year’s election, the current Board and the Election
Committee have placed me—one of the oldest and most
longstanding members of the Congress—alongside two invited
candidates who, until a few days ago, had never even heard
of the Iranian Canadian Congress. The first question in this
year’s ballot relates to this issue—you must approve us as
candidates in order for the three of us to be allowed to
run. This is an example of the mindset and undemocratic
tactics of those who have occupied this institution for
eight years.
These same individuals turned to the Green Party of Canada
during the 2020 election and persuaded them that people like
me are warmongers and affiliated with Zionists. With help
from Green Party members who joined the ICC, they managed to
win that election.
As long as we merely claim to stand against
imperialism—while continuing to act undemocratically—we will
do nothing but empower those very forces, sideline and
discourage social activists, and lower participation.
One outcome of such behaviour was a sharp drop in
membership—from 3,500 in 2020 to just 174 before I
re-entered this year’s election race. In less than two weeks
since I returned to the race, after four years of exclusion,
the number of members has increased to 376, including you,
the 12 non-Iranian members.
I am very curious to hear your thoughts and learn what
motivated you to join this Iranian organization.
Thank you,
Mehdi Shams
____________________________
The translation of my second e-mail:
Dear Members of the Iranian Congress,
Through the video attached to this email, I have shared with
you the final message of the past term and the first message
of the upcoming term.
I invite you, starting right now—before the general assembly
and the announcement of the election’s results—to take the
first step toward not repeating the experience of 2020. Let
us commit ourselves to having a more active presence in the
ICC’s activities in the coming year.
Join the Iranian Canadian Congress Members Association (ICCMA)
today to help establish a balance of power within the ICC.
To join, all you need to do is reply to this email or
express your interest via message or comment in the Facebook
groups. There is no fee or any other requirement. This way,
we can collectively collaborate with the board or present
our demands. We will undoubtedly achieve better results.
If you haven’t voted yet, you have until 1:30 PM today,
Sunday, May 4th, to cast your vote. If you encounter any
issues, please let me know—I may be able to help.
Additionally, identifying these issues will allow us to
resolve them in the future.
Thank you for your cooperation, and I look forward to
greater collaboration between supporters and opponents in
the future.
Mehdi Shams – Candidate for the 2026 Iranian Congress
Elections
Video Title:
Competition for Power and Competition for
Service
Facebook Group Link:
Members’ Association of the Iranian
Congress
Translation of my speech in the video:
Competition for Power and Competition for Service
I fully understand the competition for power, but I do not
understand the concept of competing to serve or
volunteering. From the very beginning—during the founding of
the ICC, the drafting of its bylaws, through its activities
and 17 years of elections—our approach to this institution
has been shaped by a pursuit of power, which in recent years
has taken on an exclusionary form.
Sadly, we lost it.
We—the eight candidates of this year—missed an opportunity
to break this cycle.
I prefer to congratulate next year’s board before the
election results are announced, speak about the work ahead
of us in the coming year, and officially declare my
candidacy for the 2026 ICC elections.
Defeat and victory are not individual.
In a social institution, I do not see defeat or victory as
personal. Especially now, when even in the best and fairest
of elections, outcomes are determined by those who mostly
enter the scene due to personal relationships and loyalties.
The increase in members from 172 to 376 is a collective
victory.
Victories we can be proud of:
The enthusiasm and energy surrounding this year’s elections,
the presence of a different kind of candidate, and breaking
away from ceremonial elections—these are all victories we
can collectively take pride in.
A failure we should be ashamed of:
Just as what followed the 2020 elections—distrust,
disillusionment, discouragement, the decline in membership,
the withdrawal of many activists, the ICC being reduced to
issuing statements and hosting Clubhouse and Instagram
sessions, and the ceremonial elections of the past four
years—should all be seen as collective failures.
Those who paid the highest price were the very people this
institution could have helped—individuals and families whose
lives could have been made easier.
The burden fell on the vulnerable:
Newcomers who set foot in Canada but were forced to return
to that hell.
Refugees living in fear that the Conservatives might return
to power and resume deportations.
Elderly migrants who still have to bear the hardships of
immigration.
Workers who, had there been community solidarity, would have
been less vulnerable to exploitation by employers from
within our own community.
If we want to prevent a repeat of 2020, we need pre-election
agreements and commitments before results are announced.
The presence of the only independent and minority candidate
on the board could have accelerated and reshaped
transformation.
Slower, but on a different path:
Your continued support—as voters participating in the
initiatives I plan to carry out with or without the board’s
cooperation—can still lead us to the same results, though at
a slower pace and through a different path.
The Democracy Committee:
As I previously announced, I plan to establish a Democracy
Committee next year, with the board’s agreement. Let’s learn
democracy together, teach it, and implement it practically
within the ICC.
The Inclusion Committee:
By continuing our efforts for inclusion, greater
participation, and increasing membership, we can both
empower this institution and prepare ourselves for next
year’s elections.
Shahram Tabibzadeh—Candidate for the 2026 Elections:
I would like to add something new to next year’s activities.
Starting now, I will begin working to persuade Shahram Tabe
Mohammadi to run in the 2026 elections as a candidate.
An invitation to participate through competition:
Let our rivals also know, and roll up their sleeves now, to
find candidates who can compete with the two of us.
Let’s work together to ensure that next year’s voters are
those who, when casting their votes, will think only of the
interests of this institution—an institution they have come
to know and engage with throughout the year.
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