Due to the relentless oppression of Ahwazi Arab people and successive Iranian regimes’ media blackout silencing Ahwazi voices, the only concept of Ahwaz in the minds of peoples in the Middle East and worldwide who have heard of it is a negative one, of a land of marginalisation, pollution and poverty.
This means that Ahwaz’ rich cultural history has been ignored or, in some cases, even appropriated by others, with the names of great Ahwazi male and female writers, poets, musicians, physicians, mathematicians, astronomers and countless others unknown. Here, Ahwazi activist Saeed Abu Samer sets the record straight, providing a very short list of a few of the celebrated Ahwazi figures whose names deserve to be far better known, regionally and globally.