Morteza Abdolalian This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. jexcanada.com - Canadian press on JEX

   www.jexcanada.com/pb/wp_2a6848 - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/9/2005   Last Visited: 12/12/2007

   Morteza (Mori) Abdolalian, JEX's co-founder, says the group's members, who hail from two dozen countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, reflect the rich life experiences of many new Canadians and can help local media see "the other side of the community."
   
   "We are the invisible journalists in Canada," says the political writer, who left Iran in the 1976 to study in the Philippines. "It seems that journalists in the West don't really see us as one of them, though we're just as well trained and experienced."
   
   A founder of the Iranian students association at Manila's University of the East, Abdolalian was critical of Iran's theocratic regime in the campus papers, Akhgar and Dawn. It was no surprise that he was greeted by intelligence officers at the Tehran airport upon his graduation in 1982.
   
   He was imprisoned twice by authorities, leading up to his ultimate escape back to the Philippines the next year. When he began being harassed by some Iranian students and embassy staff in Manila, he moved to Japan with a Red Cross-issued refugee passport. After being stateless for five years, he arrived in Canada in 1990.
   
   "We need to speak up for those who can't," says Abdolalian, who runs his own news Weblog at http://www.moriab.blogspot.com.

2. 2. www.jexcanada.com

   www.jexcanada.com/pb/wp_2a6848 - [Cached]

   Published on: 10/9/2005   Last Visited: 12/12/2007

   Morteza (Mori) Abdolalian, JEX's co-founder, says the group's members, who hail from two dozen countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, reflect the rich life experiences of many new Canadians and can help local media see "the other side of the community."
   
   "We are the invisible journalists in Canada," says the political writer, who left Iran in the 1976 to study in the Philippines. "It seems that journalists in the West don't really see us as one of them, though we're just as well trained and experienced."
   
   A founder of the Iranian students association at Manila's University of the East, Abdolalian was critical of Iran's theocratic regime in the campus papers, Akhgar and Dawn. It was no surprise that he was greeted by intelligence officers at the Tehran airport upon his graduation in 1982.
   
   He was imprisoned twice by authorities, leading up to his ultimate escape back to the Philippines the next year. When he began being harassed by some Iranian students and embassy staff in Manila, he moved to Japan with a Red Cross-issued refugee passport. After being stateless for five years, he arrived in Canada in 1990.
   
   "We need to speak up for those who can't," says Abdolalian, who runs his own news Weblog at http://www.moriab.blogspot.com.

3. 3. jexcanada.com - Press Freedom & Poverty

   www.jexcanada.com/pb/wp_f5b974 - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/13/2007   Last Visited: 12/12/2007

   Morteza Abdolalian
   ...
   Morteza Abdolalian is a free-lance journalist and is based in Toronto. He is also a poet and translator. He fled Iran. He hosts a blog called IRAN WATCH CANADA www.moriab.blogspot.com