Category: The Gaze of the Gazelle

Epilogue, October 2010

Half the people on the Circle Line are reading the Evening Standard; a dozen are reading books and the rest are just staring into space. I try to spot someone looking at the others. No one. No one looks into the eyes of another. This stillness on the move is a constant feature of London when the working day comes...

PART VII: We are not dirt and dust, we are the nation of Iran

(2009–2010) The people who had been disappointed with Khatami in his last two years as President and who had therefore refused to vote in the next election were now excited. Experiencing the four years of terror under Ahmadinejad had brought most people to their senses, especially the younger generation looking for quick results. One thing was clear: they had been...

PART VI: I am the one, ask the Hidden Imam

(2005–2008) One of the most important stories in Iranian mythology is of Zahak or Azhidahak. Thousands of years ago, the earth was ruled by a wise king called Jamshid. He was appointed by Ahura Mazda, God of Goodness and Light, to make life better for the people. Jamshid expanded Iranian territory, invented chariots, created medicine, developed writing, architecture, social classes,...

PART V: Dialogue among civilizations, but not among ourselves

(2000–2005) Paulo’s book was a huge hit. We sold 10,000 copies in the first two months and demand for it spiralled. Distributors came to us, begging to take on the title and bookstores called us incessantly to order more copies. My publishing career had finally taken off. In the first year, we published 10 titles and our marketing campaigns, unprecedented...

PART IV: Lie if you want to survive

(1995–1999) The smell of formalin, the sleepless nights, the strain of supporting Maryam and myself, the ongoing persecution of our generation which never had a chance to enjoy life, see the world or spend time with friends without fear of arrests, was not all that defined my life in those years. Iranian society, too, was undergoing significant changes and upheavals....

PART III: You rebuild the country, I will rebuild my pocket

(Summer 1988–1998) The summer of 1988 was the best summer of my life. The war was over and I was no longer afraid of falling bombs nor of being brainwashed to run through a field full of landmines. The Concours results had been declared and mine were good enough to secure me a seat at the prestigious Iran University of...

PART II: If you want the ultimate pleasure step on a landmine

(Autumn 1980–Summer 1988) Autumn 1980 A dog runs to fetch his bone. Suddenly, he freezes. The screen goes blank, and then across it appear a few words in the largest possible typeface accompanied by the threatening voice of the narrator. ‘Dear citizens, the sound that you are about to hear is the Red Alarm, meaning that we are being attacked...

PART I – Since your love became my calling

(Autumn 1978–Summer 1980) ‘Who is this Ayatollah Khomeini?’ I asked Madar, my paternal grandmother. I had heard his name over and over but I didn’t know who he was. Every night people went to the rooftops to see his face etched upon the full moon and I really wanted to know what he was doing there. ‘He is the vicar...

PROLOGUE

On the evening of 20 June 2009, at approximately, 7pm GMT a brief video-clip was posted on YouTube and Facebook. Within minutes it had been picked up and broadcast globally by virtually every news channel. A mere 47 seconds of film shook the world. It shows a young woman, shot in the chest and bleeding, fall to the ground. As...

Foreword to The Gaze of the Gazelle by Paulo Coelho

On 20 June 2009, a brief video clip was circulated all over the world. It showed the death of a young, unarmed woman called Neda, who had been shot in the chest while taking part in a protest in Tehran and was bleeding to death on the street. Few images in the contemporary world have had such an instant and...

Arash Hejazi’s interview with Radio Netherland about his memoir The Gaze of the Gazelle

As British embassy officials flee Iran, we speak to an Iranian man in the UK: Arash Hejazi. He’s the doctor who tried to rescue Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman who was shot during the 2009 protests in Tehran and became an icon of the struggle for democracy there. YouTube: Death of Neda (warning: graphic content) Arash talks to host Jonathan...

Book Review: The Gaze of the Gazelle, the memoir of a little boy who became a revolutionary for truth

Source: Middle East Book Review We talk about the tyranny of the Shah of Iran and the even worse tyranny of the Mullah’s that followed. We talk about the politics of Iran today and its role in terrorism, violence and the instability of the Middle East. We talk about the conflict that the United States started using their dictator pal...

Paulo Coelho: [The Gaze of the Gazelle] an Important and Life-Affirming Memoir

On 20 June 2009, a brief video clip was circulated all over the world. It showed the death of a young, unarmed woman called Neda, who had been shot in the chest while taking part in a protest in Tehran and was bleeding to death on the street. Few images in the contemporary world have had such an instant and...

The National’s Review on The Gaze of the Gazelle: Witness to a death that changed history

Source: Noori Passela, The National, Sep 16, 2011 Arash Hejazi is an Iranian writer, publisher, doctor and one of the few to witness Neda Agha-Soltan’s dying moments first-hand, when he captured it on a mobile-phone camera during the 2009 riots. It was his choice to upload the video, whichsparked an international media frenzy over the death of the bright-eyed young...

A review on The Gaze of the Gazelle: Witness to a death that changed history

Source: Noori Passela, The National, Sep 16, 2011 Arash Hejazi is an Iranian writer, publisher, doctor and one of the few to witness Neda Agha-Soltan’s dying moments first-hand, when he captured it on a mobile-phone camera during the 2009 riots. It was his choice to upload the video, whichsparked an international media frenzy over the death of the bright-eyed young...

The killing of Neda Agha Soltan & an extract from The Gaze of the Gazelle

Arash Hejazi John Angerson Martin Fletcher, Saturday Times Magazine July 23 2011 2:52PM Arash Hejazi witnessed the shooting of Iranian student Soltan in Tehran in 2009. What he did next would rock the regime – and change his life for ever The house is part of a bland new estate on the western edge of Oxford. In its sparsely furnished...