Non, l’Iran n’a pas encore l’arme atomique. D’ailleurs ce sont les mollahs qui vont posséder cette arme du « jihad-fi-sabi-allah » (guerre pour la cause de Dieu), pas l’Iran, et dans le but de leur propre survie et l’expansion de leur Islam politique. Par contre il y a d’autres moyens que depuis l’installation de la République islamique, les mollahs ne cessent d’y rêver.

L’Iran est le deuxième pays producteur de l’Organisation des pays exportateurs de pétrole (OPEP), et avec des exportations de 2,7 l’Iran est le deuxième pays producteur de pétrole et le quatrième producteur mondial de pétrole brut, dont il a 138 milliards de barils en réserve, et il possède les deuxièmes stocks mondiaux de gaz, soit 28 000 milliards de mètres cubes, équivalant à 43 milliards de barils de pétrole.

Malgré ces ressources énormes, le pays est en ruine. Plus de 20% des Iraniens et plus de 40% des Iraniennes sont au chômage, 80% des chômeurs sont des jeunes, la société, ruinée par l’inflation rampante de 26% (selon la banque centrale).

Le régime islamique ne survit que par le pétrole qui représente plus des deux tiers de ses recettes budgétaires et de ses exportations. Pourtant le régime qui dépense des sommes colossales pour la technologie nucléaire et les achats militaires n’a pas mis en travail la raffinerie d’Abadan, longtemps la plus grande du monde, endommagée pendant la guerre Iran Irak. Faute de raffineries, n’étant plus en état d’exporter son pétrole, l’Iran doit importer 40% de son essence dont 36% par l’Inde.

Le président Obama a récemment renouvelé d’un an un décret pris en 1995 sous Bill Clinton interdisant toute implication américaine dans les affaires pétrolières iraniennes. Ce décret avait été pris à l’époque pour sanctionner le soutien apporté par l’Iran au terrorisme international selon les États-Unis, et sa quête d’armes de destruction massive. Il a été reconduit d’année en année par les présidents américains successifs. Le président Barack Obama a prolongé pour un an un embargo pétrolier sur l’Iran, parmi toutes les sanctions américaines et internationales imposées à la République islamique.

On est déçu de demander la même sanction de la part de la Russie et la Chine qui sont d’ailleurs des meilleurs partenaires des mollahs. Dans ces pays, il n y a pas une tradition de droits de l’homme qui puisse aujourd’hui influer sur les intérêts politiques et lucratifs. Mais l’Europe et l’Inde, la plus grande démocratie du monde, sont au centre de cette demande :

Le monde civilisé, surtout l’Inde et l’Europe, peut-il suivre l’exemple des Etats-Unis en abandonnant le commerce du pétrole et du gaz avec les mollahs ? Les firmes européennes (Total, ENI, Statoil…) font des commerces honteux avec ce régime illégitime. 15%, de la consommation gazière de l’Europe vient de l’Iran. L’Iran exporte environ 2,5 Mb/j de pétrole à destination du Japon, de la Chine, de la Corée du Sud, de Taïwan et principalement de l’Europe.

Les recettes des exportations de pétrole brut pourraient rapporter aux mollahs corrompus environ 90 milliards de dollars cette année (mars 2008 -mars 2009). Elles font près de 80 % des recettes budgétaires, desquelles une grande part sera détournée des caisses de l’État par des mollahs et leurs sbires (le transfert des milliards de dollars par Mojtaba Khamenei, le fils du Guide Suprême, fut récemment gelé en Angleterre), une autre grande part est consacrée pour la machine répressive.

Des sanctions supplémentaires, notamment dans les secteurs gazier et pétrolier prises à l’encontre de la république islamique peut considérablement accélérer la chute du régime impopulaire.

Le régime fait face aujourd’hui à des problèmes plus sérieux que la communauté internationale ne pense. Les iraniens montrent les signes d’une volonté qui peut aboutir à une prochaine révolution sociale. Dans cette première phase de révolution, qui est encore colorée par le mouvement vert de Moussavi, le peuple s’organise pour la lutte finale. Dans ce stade, Moussavi s’est imposé comme un « réformiste » face à ce vil Ahmadinejad qui incarne le régime détesté. Dans un stade ultérieur, le peuple devancera Moussavi en réfutant l’ensemble du régime y compris ce catalyseur, Moussavi lui- même.

Contrairement à ce que les médias à l’ouest décrivent, les protestations post électorales ne proviennent pas de Moussavi ou Karroubi, les candidats “réformistes” du même régime, mais d’une colère datée de trente années et accumulée sous le joug des mollahs. Derrière ces protestations prudentes, il y a une volonté de changement du régime, ce qui est fortement souhaitée par une grande majorité du peuple iranien, surtout les jeunes, qui en profitent de cette élection controversée pour viser l’ensemble du régime totalitaire de la République islamique.

Craignant un effondrement du régime par une révolution sociale, différentes factions du régime sont surprises par la mobilisation spontanée du peuple pour son droit à la liberté. Non seulement il dénonce ce coup d’État tramé par la faction d’Ahmadinejad, mais crient à travers le pays « Mort à la République islamique ! ». Ce qui a créé une fissure dans les différentes factions du régime qui maintenant s’accusent d’être responsables pour tramer une » révolution de velours » contre le régime islamique.

Malgré une lutte féroce pour le pouvoir, toutes les factions « réformistes » du régime essaient de calmer des contestations populaires en la limitant à une remise en cause des résultats controversés de l’élection en faveur de Moussavi ou Karroubi. Cette tentative s’est avérée à contrarier la révolution sociale. Enfin, si les tyrans parviennent à leurs fins et répriment ce jeune mouvement iranien, ils massacreront des milliers de gens et opprimeront d’avantage le peuple entier.

En ce qui concerne la communauté internationale, les mollahs approchent de la possession d’une arme nucléaire dont il est clair qu’elle sera une garantie de leur survie. Toutes les factions du régime sont fidèles à la constitution islamique, avec l’instance du Guide Suprême, et l’actuelle politique nucléaire. Elles se réclament des disciples d’ Ayatollah Khomeiny, le fondateur, du régime islamique — dès la prise du pouvoir en1979, Khomeiny réclama que son régime prenne en main tous les moyens pour exporter la révolution islamique dans le monde. Pour éliminer « les ennemies de l’Islam » Khomeiny donna l’ordre (fatwa de mort) d’éliminer tous les « ennemies de l’Islam). Des milliers de dissidents, intellectuels, « infidèles » (Bahaïs), ont étés arrêtés et exécutés, ainsi lorsque Moussavi fut le premier ministre 1981-88.

À but non lucratif, sans considère les intérêts mafieux des « Oil Companies », la communauté internationale a toute sa raison de soutenir aujourd’hui cette aspiration démocratique et laïque du peuple iranien et il n y a aucun risque que ce soutien soit contre-productif. La fin du régime islamique ouvre une nouvelle fenêtre à la paix et sécurité mondiales.

Souvent, les revenus pétroliers favorisent le prolongement des dictateurs, des cheiks corrompus, des mollahs criminels. En deux mots, une élite parasite, qui n’a pas d’intérêt à faire avancer la modernité, la justice sociale et la démocratisation dans leur pays. Dans le cas des mollahs, leur régime a déjà perdu sa légitimité, s’il en avait un peu, son existence ne repose que sur ces forces militaires, milices fanatisées, et institutions répressives.

Toutes ces organisations répressives sont financées par les revenus du pétrole. Non seulement à l’intérieur du pays, mais les mollahs aussi dépensent une bonne portion des revenus pétroliers à financer le terrorisme de Hezbollah et Hamas, ainsi que d’autre foyers de terrorisme dans le monde entier. Les mollahs entraînent le pays sur une pente dangereuse pouvant aboutir à une confrontation armée avec les Etats-Unis ou d’autres pays de la région.

Unfortunately King of Pop died yesterday at the age fifty! Rest in Peace.

I remember here in MEY, there has been a tribune for guys to write about Michael Jackson. Now I like you guys all around the Middle East, unite once more time under name of music, this time Michael Jackson and write about him.

When did you hear for the first time Michael Jackson and how did you find him?
Tell us about your feeling after finding out he’s dead yesterday.

In the case of the IRI, oil is the greatest income of state mafia which makes the regime possible to set up their repressive institutions, propaganda machine, thousands of plain clothes thugs to beat up angry people, apologists in the West, sold intellectuals from various factions of the regime who propagate that any the regime is both legitimate and can be reformed within its constitution, and terrorist groups to advance the IRI agenda in and out of the country. The regime also spends a part of this Iranian national resource to help the two Islamist terrorist groups, Hamas, Hezbollah to prevent peaceful solutions in the region.

The U.N. Security Council resolutions and EU have already mentioned the possibility of oil sanctions on the IRI due to its nuclear ambitions and its strategy to export violence in the region. In the light of such resolutions and added to them the ongoing brutalities after the coup, the world must timely step up: sanction on fuel supplies to Iran is the first step to shake off the regime and is now widely expected by both Iranians and the international community.

The domestic consume of gasoline is estimated 75 million litres a day, of which 36 million is imported from India. If the gasoline delivery is stopped, Iran’s domestic consummation, including that of the repressive machine, of the regime, can be paralysed within a week. In such a case the heroic people of Iran can better do the rest to send the whole regime in the dustbin of history.

India supplies a great part of the needed gasoline which helps the Mullahs’ regime to survive– it imports Iranian crude oil and exports to Iran gasoline after refining. In a perspective of an international solidarity with the oppressed people of Iran in struggle against the illegitimate regime of coup d’état, India as the biggest democracy of the world can play an important factor to side with the freedom-loving people of Iran in their struggle against the totalitarian IRI in Iran.

TEHRAN (AFP)–Iran’s parliament plans to scrap stoning and amputation of a hand as punishments in a revised version of the Islamic penal code, the official IRNA news agency reported Monday.

“Parliaments judicial commission decided not to put some Islamic punishments including stoning in the (revised) law in line with the interests of the country,” commission head Ali Shahrokhi told the agency.

He said the commission is also proposing the abolition of amputation and has considered the idea of a “special court for minors under 18.”

Once the commission has finalised the new version of the penal code, parliament will vote on whether to implement the revised law for a trial period.

Afterwards it will be discussed for final approval by the vetting legislative body, the Guardians Council. Source

I’d decided to write an article on stoning and i had even gathered enough data to show how much this punishment is not islamic and not possible to be practiced. Now after i read this news, am happy. They promised for more progress in Iran’s penal laws. Changes will come, regardless of whom on power.

Good news among all the miseries that western media feels completely ‘devoted’ to present the world about my country..

The March 18 Movement was born out of a tragedy. On this day in 2009, Omid Reza Mir Sayafi, Iranian blogger and journalist, died in Evin Prison in Tehran. The December before his death, he was sentenced to two and half years in prison for allegedly insulting religious leaders, and engaging in “propaganda” against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Omid Reza was the first blogger to die in prison and his death reveals that getting censored is far from the worst thing that can happen to a blogger.
This day, in memorial to Omid Reza, is dedicated to all bloggers around the world who run real risks simply to tell the truth as they see it. The March 18 Movement seeks to actively expand our sense of self to encompass those of us who are in danger and to extend the protections normally accorded to journalists to all those who spend their time and intellectual capital in sharing information about our world.

At Mideast Youth we thought that the best way to promote the movement was through a video, and therefore:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pour mieux connaître la colère et nature réservée des émeutes, il faut d’ailleurs connaître les quatre candidats présidentiels et leur lien avec le régime islamique :

Tous les quatre candidats ont été validés par le Conseil des gardiens parmi quelques centaines de candidats–le Conseil gardiens est une instance ultra conservatrice qui valide ou rejette des candidatures de toutes les élections selon le degré de loyauté des candidats au régime et à l’Islam. Voici un bref portrait de ces candidats du conseil.

Le candidat conservateur, Président Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, 52 ans, l’ancien maire de Téhéran, est un des dirigeants les plus controversés du régime. Il est connu pour ces idées anti-sémites, sectaires, et sur tout pour sa floue des paroles incontrôlables et souvent humiliantes. Il bénéficie d’un soutien du guide suprême, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pour un deuxième mandat–le guide suprême religieux dit le dernier mot sur toutes les affaires du pays. Ce pouvoir absolu est inscrit dans la constitution de la République islamique.

Dans les années 1980, Ahmadinejad travaillait au département de la « sécurité interne » des gardiens de la révolution et y a gagné sa notoriété d’interrogateur et de tortionnaire cruel. D’après la révélation du site Baztab « Ahmadinejad aurait travaillé pendant quelques temps comme bourreau à la prison d’Evine où des milliers de prisonniers politiques ont été exécutés dans les purges sanglantes des années 1980 lorsque Moussavi était alors le premier ministre.

Le deuxième candidat dans le camp conservateur, Mohsen Rezaï, était pendant la guerre Iran Irak, le chef du redoutable Corps des Gardiens de la Révolution l’armée idéologique du régime– qui d’ailleurs vient d’avertir le peuple en colère qu’ils seraient confrontés à une riposte “décisive et révolutionnaire” de leur part s’ils continuaient leurs manifestations.

Le troisième candidat était Mir Hossein Moussavi, Il est l’un des deux candidats « réformateurs » du régime islamique. Il était le premier ministre de 1981-1988. Son ministère d’information fut alors engagé dans le massacre des prisonniers politiques durant de l’année 1988 suite à un « fatwa » (ordre religieux) de mort ordonné par Ayatollah Khomeiny. Plus de 30,000 prisonniers politiques avaient alors été exécutés en moins de quelques mois dans les prisons à travers le pays. Moussavi est un islamiste obscur, un ancien « fou de Dieu », et un disciple de Khomeiny.

Le quatrième candidat était Mollah Mehdi Karoubi, l’ex-président du parlement sous Khatami. Tant Moussavi que Karoubi se déclarent être « réformateurs ». Tout en sachant que le régime n’est pas réformable, ils ont l’intention de garantir la survie du régime islamique à leurs façons présentées dans leurs programmes électoraux.

Compte tenue du fait que les élections en Iran ne sont pas libres et seulement sont destinées qu’à consolider le système et à régler le partage du pouvoir entre les factions du régime, et du fait que ces quatre candidats ne représentent que les intérêts du même régime, l’opposition iranienne qui principalement se compose de gauche laïque et démocratique (sauf le Parti Toudeh, pro Moussavi), des monarchistes, et de la principale opposition islamique au régime, Modjahedines du Peuple, ont appelé au boycott à cette » mascarade élection ». Selon certaines sources, quelque trente pourcent des iraniens ont boycotté l’élection.

Qui a voté des candidats « réformateurs » :

–Ceux qu’en souhaitant désespérément enlever au vil Ahmadinejad le pouvoir à n’importe quel prix.
–Ceux qui encore rêvent des reformes à l’intérieur du régime. Ce groupe voit en Moussavi les rêves pour un Iran plus laïque et plus libre.
–Ceux qui prennent un de ces candidats, sur tout Moussavi, pour un catalyseur des changements plus profonds.

Tant les électeurs des « réformateurs » que ceux qui ont boycotté l’élection, croient que cette élection est planifiée. Par conséquence, son résultat non seulement provoque une guerre de pouvoir au sein du régime, mais permet au peuple en colère d’utiliser ce conflit interne du régime comme une excuse pour exprimer leur colère. Aussi les candidats « réformateurs », de leur tour, en profitent de la colère du peuple pour gagner une bonne part de gâteau dans ce jeu de pouvoir.

D’autre part, le régime sait qu’une montée des luttes anti-régime risque d’être incontrôlable. Dans ce cas, Il est évident qu’un compromis soit possible entre Moussavi / Karoubi d’une part et le reste du régime d’autre part. En cas d’un tel compromis, le mouvement populaire qui est maintenant en train de s’épanouir n’a que deux perspectives possibles: soit il sera brutalement maté par le régime une foi réunis, soit il doit se préparer pour une lutte longue conter l’ensemble du régime.

Selon toutes les indications, les émeutes prennent de l’ampleur et cela malgré une forte présence des forces anti-émeutes plus une milita pro régime dans les rues, il y a même des rumeurs que le régime a renforcé ces forces en recrutant le Hezbollah libanais ainsi qu’une milita chiite de l’Irak.

Chaque jour qui passe, elles portent un coup décisif. Les protestations post-électorales deviennent un mouvement de protestation contre le système clérical, les manifestants à travers le pays maintenant scandent « mort au dictateur » visant le Guide suprême, Ali khamenei.

Les médias étrangers se sont trompés en attribuant ces vagues de colère à la seule l’ampleur de la fraude lors de la présidentielle en Iran, ce qui n’est rien de nouveau et existait depuis l’installation du régime. Ce mouvement à long terme serra non plus attaché aux valeurs islamiques de Moussavi / Karoubi. Le peuple sait qu’il est devant un régime qui ne tolère pas la moindre opposition sur tout de la part des « non Musulmans ». Pour cette raison les manifestants sont encore prudents, pourtant il y des manifestantes qui manifestement jettent leur foulard, la plupart des manifestants sont rasés et ne sont pas habillés comme les partisans du régime, ces jeunes manifestants est une jeunesse bien éduquée et consciente. Il suffit de voir leur apparence et d’entendre leurs slogans pour comprendre leurs désires pour des changements laïques et démocratiques.

D’une manière générale, la colère populaire dépasse les résultats électoraux, Elle montre plutôt que cette élection planifiée ne soit qu’une étincelle qui a libéré une éruption de colère parmi toutes les couches sociales d’une nation qui palpite depuis trente ans sous le joug des mollahs.

Bien que ces vagues d’émeutes ne puissent pas ébranler le régime et qu’il soit peu probable qu’il soit disparu du jour au lendemain, elles portent l’espoir de devenir un mouvement national, démocratique, et laïque en Iran. Les jeunes luttes qui viennent de commencer ont encore un caractère spontané, mais elles peuvent s’aboutir à un mouvement révolutionnaire. Elles s’annoncent un début de la fin du régime totalitaire des mollahs en Iran.

Ahmadinejad, Miracle of the Third Millennium [1], was a new phenomenon in Iran’s modern politics. As a demagogue, he is capable of convincing ordinary people not linked to intellectuals. This point could be easily observed in the results of the presidential election. Ahmadinejad barely had the support of intelligentsia, the educated people and experts. Rather, his main constituency was composed of rural, suburban and less-educated voters to whose tables were brought some of the oil revenues. Frequent visits he paid to provinces and the huge amount of cash his administration distributed among people were more than enough to convince ordinary people that he would be the one.

Considering pre-election events and official results, one can easily find out that there is a wide gap between experts and masses in today Iran. Lots of voters didn’t pay a minimum attention to the expert’s ideas and this led to the overwhelming victory of Ahmadinejad [2]. This might be a classic example of populist figures winning an election.

Let’s consider some of the examples of the gap between experts’ ideas and those of ordinary people.

In the term of economy, a better part of his supporters fail to understand that Ahmadinejad “is robbing our future to pay us.” With regards to oil income, most of the economists believed that we should follow the example set by Norway, i.e. turning oil revenues into a sustainable capital. (Many Arab countries followed that path.) Ahmadinejad, however, decided to share the cash with the people. It should be noted that, for instance, 50$ donated by the government means a lot to a simple farmer in a far-located village of Iran. However, this farmer can’t understand that deferring his gratification can lead to a more stable (and perhaps larger) source of income. (This is, again, a classic example of a traditional society compared to a modern one. [3])

In the term of politics, his fans can hardly realize long-term consequences of his policies. For example, many political analysts believe that “Ahmadinejad is the kind of enemy Israel likes to hate” [4] for he makes it possible for Israeli officials to justify some of their extreme acts. (As an instance, Israel publicly confessed to having nukes just few years ago for she thought she could justify it, at least partly, referring to Ahmadinejad’s policies and positions he publicly made.) However, many of the hardliners only support him as a symbol of resistance against Zionist regime and international imperialism.

In my opinion, Iran is experiencing populism, full scale. An important feature of this atmosphere reveals itself in paying no attention to the experts and intelligentsia. However, after a while, long-term consequences of populism will be made clear to masses and they will turn again to elites.

Societies usually need to experience populism. This is an almost inevitable part of democratization enterprise. And Iran is no exception to the rule.

Before the election, I used to think that the people were not still ready to swear by expert bodies for they were yet to realize long-term consequences of populism. I’m personally happy that Ahmadinejad won the election. It costs us a lot, true. In my opinion, however, better to experience it once and forever. Better to let Ahmadinejad complete his task.

Footnotes:
[1] A term used by a hardliner fan of Ahmadinejad, wife of his spokesman.
[2] In my opinion, even though there are some indications of limited fraud, Ahmadinejad won the election.
[3] “Communication for Development in the Third World”, chapter 3.
[4] A France24 commentator once used this phrase.

• The first category belongs to a Muslim population who voted for Mousavi or Karoubi by conviction; they still capitalise their hope in reforms within the Islamic Republic of Iran.

• The second one is those who voted for one of the “reformists” as a “catalyst” to ease the way for a secular and democratic regime. They voted for them as the lesser evils, hoping to have one of them pave the way toward freedom and secularism in the future.

• And the third category belongs to the Iranians who boycotted the election and want an immediate democratic and secular regime on the ruins of the IRI.

Without bringing up the value of democracy and secularism, without denouncing the 30-year-old IRI human rights violations, the first category is a hollow bubble which disappears soon or must be transformed, materialised, and polarised into a national freedom movement close to the ideals of the second, and especially the third category.

Now, according to the news coming from the ongoing anti-regime protests in and outside the country, the second category is joining the third one to the point that the Iranian youth do not want to risk their lives for the survival of such a regime under any form. They start casting doubt on the legitimacy of the regime and will join the third category which wants a total elimination of the IRI.

By asserting that the first category is not hostile to IRI survival, the regime will try to find a compromise with Mousavi or Karoubi to halt uncontrolled development of the movement. This is also an option which is desired by Mullahs’ international partners and all IRI lobby groups in the West which, among others, broker the IRI state mafia with the western Oil Companies and military investors.

The regime is highly prudent; therefore, it reinforces its troops on the streets. The IRI tries to separate “reformists” from the “agents of foreign enemies” or in fact from the second and third categories which are rapidly increasing. Khamenei openly threatened them in front of three hundred followers and plainclothes at the last Friday prayers, telling them to join the establishment before it is too late.

What concerns all secular and democrats is that we should avoid any mistrust and confusion which may result in an unnecessary rupture of these three different categories; it will be vital to focus on the unity of our nation in their fair struggles against the plague of the IRI as long as unity is possible; only thus will the first two categories get closer to the third category and so make regime change possible.

Only thanks to the unity, a possible desertion of state troops and their solidarity with their people can be expected. It would not matter to which category people belong.

This spontaneous movement improves and like any spontaneous movement it needs tactical phases to achieve its strategy.

Today crimes are being committed in Iran by a leadership that opposes the will of its people. Innocent lives are being taken by Khamenei and his servant Ahmadinejad and many of you sit on the sidelines and watch.

I know Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are very popular in your nations. Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are seen by you as the embodiment of justice, rightousness. The Islamic Republic is seen by your people as being the paradise where people can enjoy Islamic justice and progress. Some of you have benefitted by the resources that they spend on you day and night. When two years ago Israel destroyed Lebanon, it was the Iranian government lead by Ahmdinejad who poured every resources and fixed the areas with bridges, hospitals and houses. Do you know 20 years after the Iran-Iraq War, the areas where the war took place in Iran, has not been fixed!!! To add insult to injury, Ahmadinejad committed Iranian money to fix Iraq!!! You are bribed into supporting a system that oppresses the Iranian people. From Hezbollah in Lebanon, to Hamas in Palestine, to the Syrian and Iraqi government, Iran’s government pours resources for you while in an oil-producing nation its own people have to stand in line to get petrol for their car.

I ask you to examine yourselves and your conscience. How can these leaders who you think of as being your saviours, kill young women and men, their own citizens just so they can stay in power? How can they be running an Islamic system and steal from their own people?

Its time for you to put aside your Shia-Bias, Sunni-Bias, anti-Western bias or whatever it is that blinds you from seeing Khamenei and Ahmadinejad for who they are liars, thieves, and criminals.

O Arab Nation Where is Your Conscience?

Because beer is made of hops, malt, and yeast, right? No animals harmed or used in the production of any of those.

But The Rogatka (or “Slingshot”), a new “vegan” bar that opened up last week, defines itself not according to the content of its goods but by the ideals that it encourages.

And so for all you meat and dairy avoiders out there - you are welcome with open arms at the bar’s location on Yitzhak Sadeh street.

The ideologically focused bar was opened by the same “anarchist collective” that used to run the Salon Mazal bar off of King George street. The founders of the bar say that they hope their watering hole will attract environmentalists, left-wing activists, and other likeminded people with their cheap drinks and fair trade products.

And as a self proclaimed “anarchist collective”… they will also demonstrate what some would consider to be extreme views. The bar bans Israel Defense Forces soldiers in uniform, the carrying of weapons, and boycotts products made in West Bank settlements.

In the words of Adi Vintner, one of the bar’s founders, “we can’t hold views against discrimination and oppression, while at the same time support the infrastructure that exploits human beings and other animals. We wanted to show it’s possible and even worthwhile to live differently.”

So would you have a drink there? And if you have already, please let us know.

:: Haaretz

Read more about green activists (and green drinks)::

Are Green Activists Devoted, or Suffering from Disorders? You decide.

Come Say L’Haim At The First Green Drinks In The Middle East

Activists in Lebanon Create Human Chain to Protect Iconic Cedars from Catastrophic Climate Change

This post first appeared on Green Prophet www.greenprophet.com and was written by Karen Chernick.

Who the hell cares about your story, you little crazy Bedouin!!!

I am Just a little Bedouin boy that still so fresh like the vast burning desert, of a hollow feverish hot heart roaming the land in an everlasting search for the heavenly shade of God, and shade (for us bedouins) is like the warm sun for Scandinavians. Here we are burned by the hellish heat of sun pouring over our heads and so you (always) would find us lunatic hallucinating like fevered children. The sun did it work today and thanks god (YOUR GOD) that I am still alive!!

Any way, I still remember, one day when I stood beside the road leaving my sheep grazing behind the hill, just a little Bedouin boy bewildered by the vast open nature of God when suddenly the street (a modern black glistening one) appeared, as if from nowhere, to split the barren desert into two (endlessly) divided and probably quarreling parts.

The street, that splits the desert, is always amazing with every passing car, motorbike or even just a lingering bike of a lonely ghost.

There, I stood, beside the street, a little bedouin boy of seven distracted (or bewildered, as my grandmom used to rebuke me when I leave the sheep and stay the whole day there) by the bizarre snake that split the desert of our home, the Negev, when a hazy ghost appeared swaying in the distance. I suddenly remembered what my dad used to tell me: ” Don’t trust those Christians (and that was a long time before we knew the jews, “the worshipers of God and power”), they worship a wooden cross, they don’t believe in God, they are not clean at all, they eat pigs, frogs, dogs and even snakes,,, don’t take anything from them to eat… and even when they force you to take, just hide it and throw it later)…. why the hell I remember that????

At that time there were no jews on their “promised land” or at least it seemed to me so… So our tribe (that was tanned from the sun and the desert, that took the brownish color of the desert, and it’s dusty smell and even the dry taste of it) didn’t know nothing of strangers other than the “hateful crusaders.” Every tourist for us is a Christian (or a crusader if you like), every blond, everyone who doesn’t have the smell and the color of the desert is consider for us, and especially for me at that time an “alien” crusader!!!

Standing there, I saw the swaying haze of that crusader coming closer with a potential danger every finger (inch, the American way) and I felt frightened!!! The swaying haze ‘s got a long hair of a blond ghost (or a woman, it is the same) and horrored I picked a big stone this time, and stone is our only weapon in the desert, the desert that doesn’t bear but sand and stones. I anticipated the danger to hurl (at the most hurting point, as my granddad told me) the stone on the head. Arching to launch, the ghost was ten arms away (yards, the British “Christian” way) and I saw that face. A smiling face of a beautiful woman with long blond hair biking (swaying) along the street that split the desert and a soft sweet voice (of a bird) saying “shalom”!!!

SHALOM!!!! What’s that… but before she passed, I had nothing to say but to mumble the world SH-A-L-O-M!!!! and that was the first time I hear that word and also the first time to stutter it “sh a l o m”…. Such a lovely word that sounds of a bird’s singing in the bushes of Ein-Gedi!!!! I don’t know but she was heavenly smiling and probably she thought I was sitting there waiting for a bus or any moving ghost on the street that split the desert… But no… I cant move and leave my desert, I will stay with my sheep in “shalom”!!!

What strikes my already crazy mind and drives me insane is that ever since I heard that word “shalom” I never felt in peace any more… that word grasped me out of the “peaceful” desert to the gloomy hellish depth of war …. a war that started with that word “SHALOM”… what a misery I live in now!!

Sami, the bedouin.

Iranian Kurdish soldiers with Kurdish clothes in Iran’s army (Fars agency)

But he says other parties that boycotted the elections do not support the demonstrations. Kurds also demonstrated in several Kurdish cities. “Including Urmiye, Sena, Saqez, Kermanshah and other cities. But in Kurdistan it’s more difficult to protest, because Kurdistan is totally militarized and the regime always strikes harder in Kurdistan.”

But why don’t we hear anything about unrest in ethnic minority area’s? Shalmashi says that the focus is especially on Teheran due to lack of interest of the foreign media and pan-iranism. He says ‘already 5 people were killed in Kermanshah. There were also big protests in Urmiye and Sinne.” Shalmashi also criticized the decision of the Iranian branch of the PKK, PJAK, to boycott the elections at the last moment and doesn’t think they are support by America. Still the KDP-I official hopes Kurdish nationalist parties get more united and worked together as a front. Still this seems unlikely, due to the huge ideological differences.

On Twitter there were rumours spread that Kurdish organizations will organize strikes coming Tuesday. But @Tehranbureau tweeted that in ‘Kurdistan they don’t want to fuel regime’s fire so they are staying home’. The PKK-general Duran Kalkan said that Iranian Kurds are on the verge on ‘explosion’ due to resentment to the governments ‘terror’. But according to Iranian Ayatollah Khamenei the Kurds are loyal to the Islamic republic and America is trying to set up conspiracies against the Iranian state.

The Iranian-Kurdish PJAK released a press statement supporting civil disobedience. There haven’t been many news items about unrest in Kurdish cities. This could also be the result of limited PR efforts by Kurdish political parties and the lack of interest of journalists in the region. Organized attacks on Iranian targets by Kurdish parties could be used by the Iranian government to crack down on opposition members.

It was originally quoted from some staff of Interior Ministry that a second round would have been needed to determine the victor between Mousavi and Kahrubi, who according to them received respectfully the first and second place, while Ahmadinejad would have already been out of the race.

Nationwide from Monday on, millions of disappointed people have taken part in the post-election demonstrations carrying banners which said ‘Where’s my vote?” They protest against the “coup” plotted by the hardliners, supported by Ayatollah Ali khamenei, the Supreme Leader. Nationwide clashes erupted as riot police and regime’s militia attacked demonstrators and universities in Iran. Several demonstrators have been reported killed and many activists arrested. Riot police continues to clamp down on a growing demonstration by supporters of the “reformist” candidates. Despite regime’s repression, fresh waves of protests are nationwide reported and are thought to continue.

Prior to the 2009 Iran’s presidential election, a voting campaign was widely organised by the IRI and propagated by pro-IRI’s media both in and outside the country to bring as much people as possible to the urns to vote for one of the Mullahs’ candidates. A massive participation was announced by the regime as a proof positive that the IRI is “legitimate”. As Khamenei has constantly said, each vote is above all a “yes” to the Islamic regime.

In the West, with the help of IRI’s lobby groups, exported journalists, resident Islamists, state mafia close to different candidates, this demagogical campaign was to portray a legitimate and reformable image of the IRI.

A part of Iranian secular opposition, hoping that their vote to a “reformist” candidate would be considered as a “no” to Khamenei and his favourable candidate, President Ahmadinejad, fell into the regimes’ trap and voted Mousavi or Kahroubi as the lesser evils in a naive attempt to run President Ahmadinejad out of office.

In actuality, since the inception of the IRI, there have never been fair elections in Iran. Firstly, all candidates are pre-selected by the Guardians Council, a watchdog institution that has the power to reject any candidates. Secondly, all elections have been rigged and fraudulent so far that among the pre-selected candidates by the Guardians Council, the regime capriciously picks one out of the urns.

To look into the background of these four presidential candidates, we see their direct involvement in the crimes, repressive institutions, and the key government positions in the last thirty years of Mullahs ‘regime:

Apart from President Ahmadinejad, who is notorious for his thuggish behaviour and his black background in the repressive institutions of the regime, the other candidates have not a better past.

Mohsen Rezaie was head of the Revolutionary Guards for over 10 years, Mehdi Kahroubi was a former parliamentary speaker, Mir Hossein Mousavi was PM for 8 years during Khomeini’s leadership. During this time, thousands of dissidents were summarily executed. As a Hezbollah and a disciple of Khomeini and a PM of Ali Khameini, Mousavi’s hands were washed in the blood of many Iranians. The 1988 massacre of political prisoners which war ordered by Khomeini was helped by his Ministry of Information. During the Iran-Iraq War, his regime sent thousands of Iranians children onto the mine in the war zone.

After the 1979 revolution, new waves of people’s struggles against the ruling dictatorship have already started in Iran. They will gradually take form during the process of struggle; they are in their nature different from the issues of “reformist” opposition. Most people, even those who voted for the lesser evils, are not really concerned about power struggles within the Islamic regime. They want an end of the whole Islamic regime.

Most Iranians, especially the youth, want a separation of religion from state; they wish a secular and democratic state. Hence, if they intensify their today’s struggles, they will gradually separate their ranks of struggles from the power struggle-related rallies of “reformist” opposition. Of course these rallies may not take a long time and will extinguish as soon as an inner compromise has been acheived, but the longer these take, the more polarised and organised the real opposition to the whole regime will be, to the point that they not only cry “death to dictator”– hinting the Supreme Leader, Khamenei, — but also will directly target the whole regime by shouting across the whole country “death to the IRI”. The polarisation of our society does not forcibly mean a class issues; it assumes above all a freedom from the plague of the IRI and consequently a transformation of the power to people’s representatives.

Of course many of people working for the IRI– those who do not have people’s blood on their hands–are welcome to join the ranks of people, but this is only possible if people’s struggles turns into a solid and continuous freedom movement. We can not expect a Mullahs’ pre-selected president– Mousavi or Ahmadinejad alike– to join the camp of people because a freedom movement targets the whole Islamic regime by rejecting any form of political Islam.

In terms of their loyalty to the Supreme Leader and Islam as an ideology of state, there is no difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi, but let us see in the case of an odd twist of irony, if Mousavi wants to consolidate people’s position, he is constitutionally not in the position to do so. Under the cover of an Islamic regime, no president has such a power to clean up Mullahs and pave the path for a real democracy in Iran– presidential position is constitutionally so powerless that no president can challenge the Supreme Leader. The Islamic Constitution lets little power for the president vis-à-vis the absolute power of the Supreme Leader who rules over powers of both executive, legislative, and judiciary.

The question nowadays is how Iranian people can one day acquire their full freedom and what steps must be tactically taken initially. We should give our people respect for the courageous struggles they are presently showing with the empty hands against one of the most brutal regime of our history. In a long-term into the future, it is advised that our heroic people with the kind of self-organisation, self-esteem, courage, and patience needed for a regime change in Iran, must firstly consolidate their ranks before any premature rupture with the ranks of better organised “reformist” opposition.

It is evident and quite predictable that to halt the vibrancy of people’s struggles, there is a possible compromise in the air between a “reformist” president candidate like Mousavi and the Supreme Leader. In such a case, whoever the next president, the regime will spread its bloody clutches for other four or eight years. If the Iranians who want a regime change give up their ongoing struggles, they will dig their own graves. Therefore, these people must use the current protest actions to recruit, organise, and plan their further and final freedom-struggles.

Gaps between people and any faction of the regime, including Mousavi, emerge and persist as long as the Islamic regime exists. Most of the gaps in daily attitudes of people can be flagrantly perceived. This is what substantially explains the lack of an Islamic influence in our new generation who desire a secular Iran. This ideal is of course ignored by the regime and its “reformist” candidates.

Different segments of Iranian society are aware that under the IRI all Islamic inequalities are justified in so far as they are the consequences of three decades of repression in Iran–Man vs. woman, “sayyed” (Muhammad’s descendants) vs. non-sayyed, Muslim vs. non-Muslim, insider vs. outsider, etc.

Although, the younger generation suffers from a tangible lack of leadership, they have experienced with their flesh and blood the plague of the Islamic regime. They know that the IRI is essentially incompatible to be reformed and the main problem of Iran is the IRI entirely, not a scapegoat of it called today “hardliners” or else.

Because of a 14-century domination of an intolerant belief system over all aspects of Iranian social life, subjects like Islam and the related issues have not been discussed by Iranian intellectuals. There has been a fear among people to talk about these matters. Therefore, issues like secularism, democracy, modernity, social justice, gender equality, independence from foreign domination of “Islamo-Arab” culture, have not been serious civic issues of the past generations.

Today, thanks to the plague of Mullahs’ regime, the youth generation are more aware of such issues and this awareness creates the main gap between the Islamic regime, which in people’s consciousness represents an inspiration of a new “Islamo-Arab” invasion, and the Iranian civic society in struggles for freedom, democracy, and secularism.

Real Story

As a real Bedouin, who still lives in a tiny gathering of a bedouin tribe, I can understand tribalism, I actually feel it as I was grown up a tribalistic one of the old age.

Ages ago, as I was a sophomore at BZU, I got to have a Dutch jewish gf who wasn’t at all tribalistic like lots of her folk, but more of a human sense that was seeking the truth and was still not beguiled by the blinding truth of “ha yeshivot”. Later on she broke away and went on but still not finding the quenching truth that can justify her sense of humanity.

I got to know her when I was still young to understand and analyze, I was still stuttering at the threshold of the realm English Language and couldn’t really manipulate the tough and long linguistic terms we learn… but still the true sense of tribalism was in my blood. I knew, through my ancestors, that we are a unique tribe even among the Bedouins themselves, and accordingly got to keep the pure Bedouin blood running into our veins. Nobody can be a Bedouin but on the base of blood, and his father (at least) must be a real Bedouin. Some Bedouin tribes, up to this moment, never accept their daughters to get married to a “peasant” Palestinian that peasants are second class for them. I knew this, I lived and felt it and saw that it was nonsense at all, therefore, I took a radical way out of this mentality that blinds people and gives them a false feeling of confidence that they are distinct and unique as if they were the “chosen people”

At that time, my radical way out of tribalism was at its early beginnings and I felt it without really knowing what does it mean.

My gf was still astray coming back from Europe to find its roots in the “land without people” to achieve back her tribalism that I was stepping out of. I remember I told her (even without knowing that I was talking of a big and sophisticated “philosophical problem” that is bothering the world) the jews are like us the Bedouins who cant accept others but on blood base. They are really a Bedouin tribe. They follow a book that was written by a tribesman, a leader of a tribe that was roaming Sinai which felt like a tribe to protect itself from the “civilized” Canaanites at that time. The jews, were actually a tribe that invaded the Canaanite Kingdon from the peripheries to swing in slowly to the center of the dying out Kingdom of Canaan. They (just like us, the bedouins) were (actually are) a tribe that never accept the others but on the base of blood. No one can be a jew if not born for a jewish mother (father in the bedouin case) and if there was doubt about it, he got to prove it in a way or another, or pass a long and tiring approach of “yeshivot” and courses that drives him crazy at the end, like my x-gf did and succeeded finally to run away (purely jewish) out of here back home to stay years looking for a jew husbands to ensure that her son wont become “geniles” all their like. Finally she succeeded, and got her husband but swung deep in the tribalistic approach that I took a radical way out of!!!!

See, finally there are some similarities between the jews and the Bedouin!!! Funny but sad!!!

Tribalism is a strong feeling of identity to ensure a strong loyalty to a self-esteemed group of people based on blood. In this sense, I am already out after a long path I passed of mental maturity, however, the Israelis are tribalistic after passing a long path of “yeshivot”, seminars, coources and Halacha circles that take them back to the time of Mases “the God of Gods” and finally they got out proud of being one of the “chosen people” who are superior to the gentiles!!! And this is exactly what my x-gf did to ensure her sense of self-esteem as a pure jew!!!!

Even as a Bedouin, I can accept any human being to be my friend (actually I got a jew gf) and to share me my house. I accept even the jews to share me my land and to live equals (just humans) in one state for all. Although I was uprooted and alienated and my home was demolished but I still have the human sense to forgive and live in peace with all people…

But, when a tribalistic comes to me and look me down I can never accept him as a human and accordingly will retreat back to my tribalistic nature to protect me from the tribalistic invader!!!!

Tribalism is infectious: All the people used to live here peacefully in one land and culture till the tribalistic Zionism came and poisoned the atmosphere. In all the arab countries there used to be hundreds of thousands jews living successfully and peacefully. Iraq, just 80 years ago used to have hundreds of thousands jews some of them hi ranked in the government and society, singers, musicians, merchants, doctors…..etc What happened in hell?????

The infectious trabalistic Zionism invaded the area and poisoned the minds of people. The new Western tranbalism also accomplished the unfinished job of the Nazis… isn’t Traibalism = nazism = bedouinism = Zionism????

Any way, I took a radical way out of it!!!

My proofs and arguments on this topic are very long, maybe in future I write a whole issue; but I wanted to introduce a beautiful song called “There must be another way”, which aired for the first time at Eurovision 2009 Contest.

Lyric is in three languages of English, Arabic and Hebrew. Beautiful song and lyric to unite Jews and Arabs, and to heal the wounds that religion harrows and creates.

Watch here: watch?v=RN8B1xvCxI0

There must be another
Must be another way

עינייך, אחות / Einaich, achot
כל מה שלבי מבקש אומרות / Kol ma shelibi mevakesh omrot
עברנו עד כה / Avarnu ad ko
דרך ארוכה, דרך כה קשה יד ביד / Derech aruka, derech ko kasha yad beyad
והדמעות זולגות, זורמות לשווא / Vehadma’ot zolgot, zormot lashav
כאב ללא שם / Ke’ev lelo shem
אנחנו מחכות / Anachnu mechakot
רק ליום שיבוא אחרי / Rak layom sheyavo achrei

There must be another way
There must be another way

عينيك بتقول / Aynaki bit’ul
راح ييجي يوم وكل الخوف يزول / Rakh yiji yom wu’kul ilkhof yizul
بعينيك إصرار / B’aynaki israr
أنه عنا خيار / Inhu ana khayar
نكمل هالمسار / N’kamel halmasar
مهما طال / Mahma tal
لانه ما في عنوان وحيد للأحزان / Li’anhu ma fi anwan wakhid l’alakhzan
بنادي للمدى / B’nadi lalmada
للسما العنيدة / l’sama al’anida

There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another way

דרך ארוכה נעבור / Derech aruka na’avor
דרך כה קשה / Derech ko kasha
יחד אל האור / Yachad el ha’or

عينيك بتقول / Aynaki bit’ul
كل الخوف يزول / Kul ilkhof yizul

And when I cry, I cry for both of us
My pain has no name
And when I cry, I cry
To the merciless sky and say
There must be another way

והדמעות זולגות, זורמות לשווא / Vehadma’ot zolgot, zormot lashav
כאב ללא שם / Ke’ev lelo shem
אנחנו מחכות / Anachnu mechakot
רק ליום שיבוא אחרי / Rak layom sheyavo achrei

There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another way

English Translation

There Must Be Another Way
There must be another

Must be another way
Your eyes, sister
Say all that my heart desires
So far, we’ve gone
A long way, a very difficult way, hand in hand

And the tears fall, pour in vain
A pain with no name
We wait
Only for the next day to come

There must be another way
There must be another way

Your eyes say
A day will come and all fear will disappear
In your eyes a determination
That there is a possibility
To carry on the way
As long as it may take

For there is no single address for sorrow
I call out to the plains
To the stubborn heavens

There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another way

We will go a long way
A very difficult way
Together to the light

Your eyes say
All fear will disappear
And when I cry, I cry for both of us
My pain has no name
And when I cry, I cry
To the merciless sky and say
There must be another way

And the tears fall, pour in vain
A pain with no name
We wait
Only for the day to come

There must be another way
There must be another way
There must be another
Must be another way

This song made me curious to discover where and how Moldova is. I reached Moldova by Wikipedia out. The thing was amazing was Moldovan protests against parliamentary election result like Iran two months ago! Also situation was like Iran but in lesser extent.

Wikipedia:

The 2009 civil unrest in Moldova began on April 7, 2009, in major cities of Moldova after the results of the 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election were announced. The demonstrators claimed that the elections, which saw the governing Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) win a majority of seats, were fraudulent, and variably demanded a recount, a new election, or resignation of the government.
The protesters organized themselves using an online social network service, Twitter, hence its moniker used by the media, the Twitter Revolution or Grape revolution.

I wanted to know more about Moldovan wine, but I learned more about its civil unrests! I believe I’m trapped in politics!

The Iranian government is a unique organization among the club of nations. It has a complicated flow chart of authority in its chain of command and its ultimate arbiter is a religious figure (Keddie 2006). Since its inception in 1979, it has experimented and tried several ways of improving itself. While having a president, a prime minister, a supreme ruler and several other powerful figures of authority may seem confusing to the outside world, it is particularly frustrating for those who must interact with such a bureaucracy (Ganji 2008).

International organizations, other governments, domestic bodies and individuals all have reported strange and contradictory accounts of the Islamic Republic and their dealings with it. This discussion will focus on how this body has dealt with the nuclear issue and human rights.

We will examine the security apparatus that enforces the will of the clerics, and ultimately compare and contrast the options available both to the Iranians, and to the outside world concerning its future role on the international stage (Nasr 2006).

The Iranian revolution was a reaction to decades of perceived interference and meddling in Iranian affairs on the part of the US government and other countries (Keddie 2006). The Shah of Iran was a strong ally of the US and exercised much of his authority pursuing mutual and not so mutual interests. The poor and uneducated suffered due to some of his economic policies and the religious class routinely lambasted him, deepening a divide between western influenced intellectuals who were in charge at the time, and the middle and lower classes (Chubin and Zabih 1974).

Powerful figures emerged that acted as the prime voice of the opposition and despite the Shah’s attempt to silence them, they gradually gained momentum and unyielding popular support. SAVAK, the Shah’s secret police trained by the CIA and the Mossad, was notorious in their work (Keddie 2006). Torture, crushing dissent, propaganda and a host of other black operations began in their office. In the run up to the revolution, they were very busy. When the Shah finally left the country, the organization’s headquarters was ransacked and gutted. The lead individuals were executed and the people who worked in the organization on a day-to-day basis had a choice to make–switch sides or flee (Parsi 2008).

In the wake of the Islamic revolution, fledgling cleric administrators recognized the need to have a security organization that was able to collect intelligence and track down opponents of the regime (Kairouz 2007). Around 1980 up until 1982, various organizations were gather intelligence and their semi-official status frustrated centralized efforts to organize and carry out serious operations. The Basij, a militia style volunteer force, the Revolutionary Guard, the re-organized Army, and various institutional bodies gave up certain roles and reestablished the VEVAK—a successor to SAVAK (Wehrey and al 2009).

The acronym translates from vazirat etelat va aminat keshvar to the Ministry of Information and State Security. The security role is not confined to this particular organization. As with all things in the Islamic Republic, redundancy is the only constant. The Revolutionary Guard is designed and controlled specifically to enforce the will of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. It has its own Army, Air Force, Navy, and Special Force. On top of this organization are the actual armed forces, controlled by a joint command (Wehrey and al 2009).

The organizational logic eludes the conventional views of authority, the system that has emerged is inherently flawed, and not a representation of the peoples will (Chubin, Hoffman, and Rosenau 2004).

The entire system is based on the valiat-faqi, or rule by jurists, principle. Essentially it means the clerics, also known as mullahs, control the real power in Iran. This was the defining principle of the Islamic revolution and the one that Ayatollah Khomeni, the father of the revolution built his philosophy on (Nasr 2006). The reasoning behind this political preference is that it takes the traditional clergy of the Shia Muslims, and makes them the government.

Islamic law, the Shia form of it, has theoretically ‘adapted’ to modern days and its practitioners, the clergy, have institutionalized the religious laws over the entire population, Muslim or not. The inevitable outcome is that the law is often incompatible and ill-suited for day to day grievances and normal people are now caught in the quagmire of protesting a ‘divine’ system, or simply taking the injustice that filters out in the form of family, inheritance, and criminal law (Keddie 2006).

Indeed, Islam is the religion of over ninety percent of the people however, strong and united minorities exist in Iran that have a cultured history (Sanasarian 2000). To name a few, the Sunni Muslims, Jews, Christians, Sufis, Baha’is, Zoroastrians make up the religious minorities; Arabs, Kurds, Baluchis and other ethnic groups comprise an interesting mix of cultural diversity. The Islamic system thought up by the mullahs has little room for anything but Shia Islam.

Although the constitution of Iran recognizes some groups, it does not recognize all. These people live in limbo and cannot rely on the system that has governed their country for the last thirty years. Despite international pressure and Iran’s lip service to the UN resolutions on human rights, the Islamic republic is one of the most habitual violators among the general assembly (Chubin 2006).
Domestically and among the ruling clerics, this is of little consequence as their reasoning puts them above the laws of men. God is the ultimate authority, the clerics determine how, and what laws should be enforced (Nasr 2006). What has developed is a religious theocracy with little in the form of checks and balances, wielding an enormous amount of power and force over a population that is growing increasingly uneasy with the constant micromanagement of day-to-day living (Keddie 1995).

Freedom is a western ruse. Piety and devotion to Islam are the characteristics that the system rewards, and even then, it has to be the correct form of Islam. In the courts, ‘spreading corruption on earth’, ‘insulting Islamic institutions’, ‘deviation’ and ‘acting as a tempter’ all are common charges against people who voice their concerns against the government (Sanasarian 2000).

The intelligence apparatus, once tasked with quelling the dissenters against the Shah, has been reorganized to deal with those who would threaten the Islamic system (Wehrey and al 2009).

Most of the same people still worked in the organizations after the revolution and now it is manned by groomed protégés. Methods and techniques have only evolved but the mentality is sadly very dangerous (Parsi 2008).

Expatriate Iranians who fled the country in the wake of the revolution report harassment and intimidation when visiting friends and family, even thirty years later. Reports of hotel room tossing, being followed in cars, masked men abducting and then releasing people are common for those who make it known that the government of Iran is dangerous or who come under the slightest suspicion.

With all regimes that come to power through revolution, the modern world has made their actions headline news in real-time. This reality has changed the dynamic of the revolutionary game. On a more practical level, the government is not as bad as regimes in different parts of the World. The Iranian theocracy is truly in a category of its own.

While not as repressive as North Korea or as fanatic as Saudi Arabia, their own people increasingly portray its officials as incompetent and corrupt (Nasr 2009). The image of a high-ranking cleric caught on camera entering a house of a colleague and having intercourse with his wife does not help the image the mullahs have been trying to keep down.

Bearded men in robes preaching about morality who are then seen drinking and fondling boys has become a flash point not just in Iran, but across the World.

In all fairness, the Iranian government is not entirely bent on fundamentalism. It has progressive streaks that deserve attention. It has the highest female literacy rate in the Middle East. It has interesting social welfare programs such as subsidizing sex change operations and needle exchanges for addicts (Keddie 2006).

Its nuclear program has come a long way since the Shah of Iran began developing the expertise back in the sixties. This last point about the nuclear issue deserves more attention.

On the surface most people have heard about the Iranian governments desire to master the centrifuge process in order to pursue peaceful nuclear development. The facts are interesting. Iran is the world’s 5th largest exporter of oil. Its nuclear ambitions have been declared peaceful and the Supreme Leader has declared having nuclear weapons to be a sin (Chubin 2006). Iranian VEVAK has been caught and documented trafficking nuclear supplies from China and India and most notably Pakistan with the help of AQ Khan, a renowned nuclear scientist with expertise in weapons. Intelligence has indicated that there have been efforts to specifically develop nuclear weapons. Iran has used chemical weapons and its enemies, the US and Israel, both have nuclear and chemical weapons (Nasr).

Iran says it needs to develop nuclear technology in order to satisfy its power demands and it would like to move away from fossil fuels. Each of these tidbits can be argued by books of evidence, for or against the case that Iran sincerely desires a nuclear weapon (Keddie 2006).

Briefly, a devil’s advocate approach may let us see this in a different light. Intelligence can be fabricated, as was the case in Iraq. For the Supreme Leader to declare nuclear weapons a sin is a strong statement in a theocracy. Iran has been forced to work in the black markets due to sanctions. Nuclear energy is cleaner, cheaper and a smart move in today’s greener and more ecologically minded international community. AQ Khan did not give Iran a weapon, simply directions on general enrichment. The supplies that have been traced back to smugglers have been things that could go as much toward a civilian pursuit as a weapons one.
The will to have an open and frank dialog has been present for the last few years and round after round of security council resolution and IAEA inspection has produced mixed results (Kairouz 2007).

The Iranian public has invested deeply into the concept that it is their inalienable right to pursue civilian nuclear projects. It has become a point of great pride for many Iranians that their country has developed such technology. The Middle East has been the one place where many people have tried to keep anything nuclear from showing its face (Chubin 2006). With all the oil, who needs nuclear power—so goes the reasoning.

The reality of the situation is not about nukes. For the Iranians it is about pride and a country trying to find itself on the world stage. In the region, Iran has become a strong player and its influence reaches to every corner of the Middle East. It has strong trading relations with Germany and France. Its partners to the East include China and Russia. It is diametrically opposed to most things that the US pursues diplomatically and it has a strong group of nations that it negotiates with to follow suit (Nasr 2009).
The Iranian representation at the UN boasts of its status as one of the founding signatories of the convening treaty. It has sat on the Human Rights council and chaired various international organizations that promote dialog and understand among different religions. These various positions appear to be the legitimate position of a country that wants to be taken seriously in front of the International community (Ganji 2008).

Herein lays the crux of the Iranian dilemma. How does a country that goes about participating in various international organizations and demands respect to the point of belligerence simultaneously carry on with overt disdain for Israel, minorities, the US, most of the western world and all it stands for? The distance and disconnect between the ruling elite in Iran and the people on the street is very visible. As much as the regime tries to contain dissent and ‘deviation’, the world is no longer the 12th century and people will do what they want.

With Iran’s large Jewish population and over 300,000 Baha’is, a minority that is not recognized and routinely persecuted, the international community should focus on the things that the government cannot hide—it’s obvious intolerance of ideas other than its own (Dominic Parviz Brookshaw , and Seena B. Fazel 2007).

In 2007, Mahmud Ahmadinejad held a conference entitled the World without Zionism. He is known to publicly discount the holocaust and has a great fanatical outlook on messianic figures within Shia Islam. For example, he regularly attributes world events to the Mehdi, the Hidden Imam of the twelver Shia belief system (Wehrey and al 2009). With so much public outrage both domestically and internationally, those in the position to negotiate should twist the proverbial arm of the Iranian government not by threatening a point of pride, the nuclear development, but an embarrassing blemish and insult to a country’s sense of intelligence and class.
Human rights and sane policy have enough merit within and of themselves that the position could speak for itself. One would have to appear completely evil and cold to deny and do away with evidence presented in regards to a pogrom of truly deviant, institutionalized behavior on the part of a supposedly pious regime grounded in religion.

What makes this proposal difficult to swallow for those involved in negotiations with Iran is that there is little precedent for change when a country is confronted with human rights abuse evidence. China, Cuba, Russia, North Korea, and dozens of African nations all routinely and systematically oppress their people in order for a political agenda to be achieved.

However, in the case of Iran, the nuclear issue becomes a main headline in the struggle to manage the Middle East. If Iran is building a nuclear bomb, it would be the second Islamic country, after Pakistan to do so. It would also act a great catalyst to an arms race with rival countries surrounding Iran, most of which are Sunni Arab. Israel would be in a very difficult position and it would be inclined to take preemptive action as it has done in the past (Kairouz 2007).

As fate would have it, as this paper is being written Iranians are flooding the streets of Iran with a shocking sense of solidarity in the face of the ruling regime. The intelligence apparatus is vainly trying to stop news from getting out and is blaming ‘foreigners’, a favorite scapegoat in Iran, for the upheaval. No political demonstration of this magnitude has taken place on this large of a scale since the Iranian revolution itself. The prospects of a number of very interesting outcomes has dramatically increased within the last six days.

While the demonstrations are the result of a political election and apparent vote rigging, the debate has quickly shifted to broader issues that have been simmering for quite some time. Human rights, the right to assemble and protest, the accountability of the leaders and the legitimacy of the establishment itself have all come under recent limelight.

Historically speaking, crushing dissent has a mixed record among countries who are totalitarian and dictatorial in nature. In the short term in may fuel tensions and unrest. This is often met with more brutality. In the broader view, the world has come to be a place where people and their countries are growing tired of war and the people on the street want more to do with government. Although many countries still practice repressiveness, their doing so only deepens there inevitable fall from power. The USSR is a good example.

Undoubtedly, the world 2.0 is become a game of diplomacy and talks. A place where twisted agendas and unfair governments are being called out and their activities made known. The age of secret police appears to be coming to an end and while intelligence activity will always be needed, the role of the Gestapo-like groups is quickly fading.

Normal people and sympathetic politicians are having the will and desire to stand up to the established elite and challenge them. The prospect of bloodshed and civil war is still very real in a handful of countries around the World, and the citizens and peoples appear to be readying on a sub conscious level to do away with tyranny for the last time.

While these conclusions may be naïve, the evidence for these statements is apparent on the nightly news. Grassroots movements in Iran for example are trampling government efforts at containment and the peaceful nonviolent marches are a clear signal to the clergy that the people will no longer tolerate such abuse of power.

REFERENCE

Reformists believe that the results were ‘engineered’, and their supporters have waged limited rebellion against the ruling administration in some metropolitan areas. Referring to several cases of intervention, misconduct and paradoxical results as well as reports of reformist observers, they believe that Mousavi was the real winner and ruling party fabricated the results. The day after the election, several reformist figures, including the brother of former reformist president Khatami, got arrested. Moreover, some other prominent people, including Mousavi himself, are taken into home custody. Since few days ago, there has been a massive blackout on information resources. SMS service of two main operators has been completely cut since the night before election. Several reformist sites, even moderate ones such as aftabnews.ir, are blocked. Ministry of Interior Affairs permits no demonstration. Riot police is present everywhere and senior officials such as Rafsanjani who were expected to intervene are nothing but silent. From this perspective, putting together puzzle pieces, one might come to the conclusion that the whole event resembles a political coup.

On the other hand, hardliners could hardly expect to beat reformists and their ‘Green Wave’ in such a humiliating manner – Mousavi and his supporters chose Green as their symbolic color. Conservative analysts maintain that Mousavi and his companions were arranging for a Colored (Velvet) Revolution. Before the election, reformist resources and media orchestrated a massive propaganda to make people and observers believe that “the Green Wave should win if the original voice of the people is to be heard.” Finding out that Ahmadinejad is bound to win, according to hardliner analysts, reformist camp decided to run away forward. Few days before the election, Mousavi declared that he would be the winner if the people are not cheated on. And on the day of election, while people were still casting their ballots, Mousavi participated in a press conference and declared that he is the winner for sure. When the official results got published, public opinion was ready to accept that “it’s a fraud.” Then, Mousavi stated that he would not subscribe to the results. Later on, some resources informed people that Mousavi is pressed to accept the results. Mousavi and Karroubi asked people to wage a wave of civil unrest. Encountered with somehow heavy-handed response, demonstrations went violent. From this perspective, reformists are trying to direct a Colored Revolution.

In my opinion, Colored Revolution in Iran is set to fail for Revolutionary Guards and some hardliners are ready to take every possible measure to crack down demonstrations. However, they are yet to act. It might be due to two possible, yet completely opposite reasons. From one point, they may believe that the current unrest is not that serious. From another point, they may find it so unstable a situation that even one hasty move could cause serious problems. The truth will probably reveal itself within few days. Just wait.

Starting at 16:00 violent clashes erupted between demonstrators and regime forces in central Tehran.

With the complete media blackout in Iran, the people in Tehran were able to use services such as YouTube and facebook to post videos and photographs from the scene. Here’s a roundup of the videos from Tehran today.

Clashes on Jamalzade St.
Large demonstration around 17:30 in Tehran
More violent clashes
Shots fired by Basij, buildings on fire
Protesters yell “death to dictator” and “Allahu Akbar” as regime forces fire tear gas
More footage of protests and use of tear gas
Video of a boy being shot (Graphic) - facebook
Shots heard as protesters yell “Allahu Akbar”
Short clip of protests
Girl shot in Tehran today (Extremely graphic) Girl’s name is Neda Agha-Soltan, apparently
Footage from several protests today in Tehran
Protest heard on Fatemi st.
Protesters chant in Tehran “Iran has become like Palestine, why are you still sitting people?” - facebook
Regime forces attack Shiraz University, beat people
Protesters shown throwing rocks at regime forces, Tehran
Chaharbagh, Isfahan: Protesters throw rocks at regime forces
Street war in Tehran, regime uses tear gas
Burning streets of Tehran
Group of protesters carries the body of a young man (Graphic)
Protest in Azadi Square
Protest in Tehran, protester shot to death (Graphic)
Crowd retreats in terror with body of a young protester (Graphic)
Helicopters and fire in the skies of Tehran
Violent demonstration on Azadi Square
Man shot in Tehran (extremely graphic) - facebook
View from the streets of Tehran, fire - facebook
Bus burned in Tehran: part 1, part 2
Short video of protest in Tohid Sq.
Demonstration on Amir Abad Street, protesters chant: “We are no longer afraid of bullets, tanks and Basiji”, and “death to dictator”
Two men shot in protest in Shiraz (extremely graphic)
Tear gas and fire in Tehran: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.
Crowd carries dead body (extremely graphic) - facebook
Men shot in protest (graphic)
Protesters vs. regime forces on motorcycles - facebook
CNN: Home invasion during the night
Protesters chant in Tehran: “Don’t be afraid, We are all together!!”
Baseej volunteer breaks car window
Fire and protesters on Amir Abad street - facebook
Short video showing two men shot in the demonstrations (Graphic)
Explosion in government building, helicopters dropping chemicals
Regime forces disperse protesters
Government building blown up, fires
Government forces vs. protesters: Part 1, part 2, part 3
Protesters and regime forces clash on the streets (BBC Persian)
Protesters on the offensive against riot police in Tabriz
Chaos in Tehran - facebook
Regime forces on motorcycles disperse crowd with shots - facebook
The girl Neda before being shot to death
Protests on the streets of Tehran
Police station set on fire by protesters
Protesters get a hold of the riot police equipment - facebook
Civilian residence following Basij raid
Protesters chant: “by the end of the week, the leadership (i.e. Khamenai) in gone”
Large protest in Hafez Avenue - facebook
Protesters attack regime forces
Protesters gather around a men with a bleeding head (Graphic)
Baseejis attacked by protesters, young women defends one of them
Injured demonstrator facebook (Extremely Graphic)
Demonstraion in Tehran University
Protesters chant “Death to the Islamic Republic” in Azadi Square, Tehran
Police fires tear gas in Tehran
Protesters attack riot-police on Shadman St., Tehran - facebook
Students demonstrate at Tehran Jonoub University - facebook
Protesters carry a body of an injured demonstrator on Yadegare Imam Highway, Tehran - facebook (Extremely graphic)
Protesters set barricades in Tehran
Protesters on the busy streets of Tehran. Part 1, part 2
Clashes between large number of protesters and regime forces
Hundreds of demonstrators set up barricades and set fires in Tehran
Al-Jazeera (in English) shows footage of Basij opening fire from roof toward a group of protesters
Protesters chant and gun shot heard in Tehran, supposedly the one that killed Neda
Protesters shot in the head on Azadi street - facebook (Graphic)
Protest on Yadegare Imam highway, Tehran
Protesters protect a group of riot police that got trapped by protesters. Tehran
Footage from various streets in Tehran - facebook
Basij forces on roof use live fire on crowd protesters

June 21, 2009

On June 21, regime repression seemed to intensify. State media reports claimed that 457 people were arrested overnight. Violent protests with several thousands of participants occurred across from the UN building in the capital and Azadi Street, Forsat Shirazi street and other places. Throughout the night, the calls of “Allahu Akbar” from the rooftops were heard across the city.
According to reformist websites, on June 21 protests occurred in Tabriz, Shiraz, Isfahan, Sanandaj, Rasht, Arak, Sari and Ahvaz.

Video from June 21, protest on Forsat Shirazi street
Protesters march in silence in Tehran
Protesters charge forward, throwing stones - facebook
Protesters throw rocks at regime forces on motorcycles
Basij forces beat and arrest two protesters
Protesters create barricades on the street - facebook
Protest in Tabriz
Protesters chant “death to Khamenai”, “Khamanai, murderer! We are people not hoodlums” and “O government of coup d’etat! Resign now! Resign now!”
Protesters chant: “Mousavi was our vote” and “Allahu Akbar”
Two students shot in Tehran University Dorms (Very Graphic)
Protest in Shiraz during the night
Another night of chants in Iran
Protesters chant “Allahu Akbar” and “death to the dictator” while honking their horns in Shiraz
Police forces attack people on Vanak Square

June 22, 2009

On June 22, Mousavi supporters tried to hold a vigil in the memory of the murdered girl Neda, but regime forces prevented them from gathering. There was heavy police, Basij and IRGC presence in the city the whole day. Protesters were dispersed in 7 Tir, Meydoon squares and other places by using tear gas and live rounds shot over people. Hundreds were arrested. During the night, Mousavi supporters resorted again to the method of shouting “Allahu Akbar” from the rooftops as a sign of protest.

Protesters set car on fire in Tehran
Protesters march in Tehran - facebook
Protesters around 7 Tir Square
Protesters flee motorcycles - facebook
Regime forces and protesters on 7 Tir Square
Protesters gather to light fires in 7 Tir Square - facebook
Protesters beaten by regime forces
Tehran police try to break into building
Protesters gather to mourn Neda’s death in 7-e Tir Square
Protesters in Shiraz chant: “Bullet, tank, baseej, don’t scare us anymore” (Radio Farda)
Protesters chant “Death to the Islamic Republic” in Azadi Square
Protesters and regime forces in the city of Kerman
Demonstration in Kerman
Fires on Azadi Avenue and Zanjan Street
Young protester arrested by regime forces
Riot police on the streets of Tehran
Protest in southern Tehran
Protest near Tehran University
Explosions in Tehran

June 23, 2009

Protest in Tehran
Unrest in Tehran
Protesters and heavy regime presence in Tehran
Protesters charge police forces
Police brutality in Tehran
Iranian protesters rush the police

June 24, 2009

Protests broke out again in Tehran, this time in Baharestan Square, near the Iranian Majlis (parliament). Unarmed protesters were attacked by regime forces, who use helicopters to track down any gathering of demonstrators in the city. There have been reports of many casualties and several dead. The protests in other cities, such as Tabriz, Isfahan and Karmenshah have not diminished in size, and they are more violent.

Caller to NBC describes the regime crackdown on Baharestan Square
Protesters chant “death to dictator in Tehran
Video showing helicopters and smoke in the sky of Tehran
Peaceful sit-in by protesters and regime forces in Baharesten Square - facebook
Crowds gather in front of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran - facebook
Large presence of regime forces near the Majlis - facebook
Protesters in front of Majlis set fires and chant “Ya Hossein - Mir-Hossein”, “Allahu Akbar” and “death to dictator”
Tehran residence shows the destruction caused by regime forces to his apartment building
Protesters and regime forces in Tehran
Women, middle-aged men in the forefront of clashes in Tehran - facebook
Protesters set fires and chant “Allahu akbar” in Tehran
People being pulled out of cars and beaten by Basij forces

June 25, 2009
Large protest on Azadi Square

June 26, 2009
People in Tehran send out green balloons as a sign of protest - facebook

June 27, 2009
Mothers of protesters killed and arrested gather in front of the Revolutionary Court in Leah Park
Large protest in the city on Kermanshah
Clashes in Kermanshah
People chant “Allahu Akbar” at night in Tehran

June 28, 2009

Mehdi Karroubi arrives to the protests at Qoba mosque, Tehran
Protesters at Qoba mosque
Protesters chant “death to dictator” on the way to Qoba mosque
Protesters on Sharyati Street, Tehran
Protesters in Qoba mosque
Regime forces arresting people
Protesters and Qoba mosque
Protesters march toward Qoba mosque
Protesters inside Qoba mosque
Motorcycles arrive to the scene of the protest in Qoba mosque
Protesters in Sattar Khan street, Tehran (near Tohid Square)
Protesters on Shariyati street chant “death to dictator”
Protesters near Qoba mosque
Popular director, Reza Attaran, at the scene of the protest in Qoba mosque
Pro-Mousavi rally near Qoba mosque
More footage of Mehdi Karroubi among the people

June 29, 2009

Night-time chants from roof tops in Tehran

June 30, 2009

Regime forces damage private property in an alley of Valiasr Avenue
Rooftop chants at night in Iran

July 1, 2009
Anti-riot police in Tehran damages parked cars
Rooftop chants at night in Tehran: part 1, part 2, part 3
Students sing and protests in Kashan University
People in Zahedan attack Basij building

July 3, 2009
Group of young protesters confronts anti-riot police
Rooftop chants in Tehran: part 1, part 2

July 4, 2009

Rooftop chants in Tehran: “death to dictator” and “allahu akbar”: part 1, part 2

I care because i am a Baha’i, and my identity is not clearly defined along national boundaries. There is me, ever changing, shaped by influences that I choose. Many of these influences come from Middle East, and further. And, my ambition is not to comment on Middle East or Iran. I just want to reflect on a a short clip was posted on youtube, and made its way to me via Twitter in the days leading up to the #iranelection This clip surprised me and touched my heart deeply.

It showed people marching in the streets in Tehran, chanting words that someone had to translate for me: “Baha’is, we support you! People of Truth (Sufis), we support you! Zoroastrians, we support you!” At that moment I knew that something special and extraordinary was happening in Iran: to my knowledge this was an unprecedented public display of support for Baha’is, who are the largest religious minority in Iran, and one most severely persecuted.

Baha’is are denied education, prevented from conducting business, arrested under the most ridiculous pretexts, thrown into jail, and faced with accusations from grave to ridiculous: spreading corruption on earth, spying for Israel, running the BBC, and orchestrating the current unrest. Baha’i cemeteries have been destroyed and desecrated, including the grave of holy Quddus, a hero martyr of the faith; Baha’i houses burnt, one of the places of pilgrimage, the house of Bab in Shiraz, destroyed.

If so many people marched in the streets of Tehran and publicly shouted support for Baha’is, then it is a sign of great hope. That short clip communicated to me so much desire for change that no #CNNfail breaking news could, and I felt a connection with the people there, not entirely rational connection, but with a couple of reasons.

One reason was because I participated in demonstrations once too, during the Czech Velvet Revolution, back in the old days before I discovered the Baha’i faith and its strict rule of non-involvement in politics. I still remember the thrill of the experience. I remember making a choice, that I did not know where it would lead, but knew I had to make: to participate, and luckily, it turned out all good.

Second reason is because of already mentioned fluid identity. You know one of those slogans on Twitter was “today we are all Iranians,” one one level, you could say this is really corny. After all, what do hipsters in California know about hijab and moral police? But on one level, it was also true, in the sense that we all can share a kinship based on values such as freedom and justice, whether hippies in Berkeley, revolutionaries in Czech Republic, or freedom fighters in Iran. And in the same way that there is no line drawn on the surface of the earth that demarcates the countries, there is no compartment in me saying you are this or that. I am influenced by those I connect with, and I connect with those who fight fear, who fight for peace, who fight for justice.

I keep the people of Iran in my prayers daily.

At the end of his speech, he prayed to Mahdi, the Islamic (mostly Shia) survivor of the Day of the Resurrection, and told him, that he is old and has a wretched body, then offered himself totally to him. People cried and with an appeal to pity fallacy he won the crowd!

It seems people in Iran despite Ali Khamenei’s order to stop the protest, are still continuing their protest and their will against government. Last night again for the seventh night, people screamed “Allaho Akbar” or God is great and “Ya Hossein, Mir-Hossein”, from their houses’ roofs all around the country. Some say that last night’s scream was much greater, as an answer against Ayatollah Khamenei’s speech.

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoobi demanded a legal protest premission for Saturday 20 June, which weren’t approved. But it seems people are preparing for another protest.
Let’s see what will happen.

Updated
People with massive protests showed that Ali Khamenei’s speech failed! Today also Mir-Hossein Mousavi wrote a new letter to Guardian Council mentioning faults in eletion said that election result should be voided. It also seems that he is not very into Ali Khamenei’s yesterday command; command to stop protests.

What a site. Everywhere I looked I saw shir-o-khorshid flags, pro-democracy/anti-theocracy banners, and heard chants of death to khamenei,mullahs,ahmadinejad etc etc. However, there were two groups of people in this demonstration. There were the pro-democracy,free Iran group who support regime change. Then there were the Mousavi supporters,who came from the university of Davis, who couldnt care less about regime change, but had the nerve to sing the traditional national anthem.

These people were preventing others from taking pictures, and even telling people who were carrying the true flag of Iran to pretty much fuck off. I was there with some relatives, and we could just tell their leader was a IR sympathizer. Especially when he was yelling at people carrying the shir-o-khorshid flags to leave and not take pictures.

America is a democracy, its a free country. We all know that. However, why are these people scared of having their pictures taken? Why are they afraid at all? Isn’t the point of a demonstration to show that you are not afraid?

Believe me a lot of people there were upset that these people have caused this much division within the Iranian community in Sacramento. I’ve also heard that the same situation happened in LA not to long ago. That fact that Iranians in the West are this dumb, and misinformed about things is sad.

They see millions of people fighting with guards and security in Iran, and they think that all this is just so Mousavi can become president in an already fucked up system. Yeah..right.

Farsi (Persian) language is very different of English in statement structure. The most obvious difference is the position of verb in statement. For example:

In English: Today is a good day to study.
This statement in Farsi: Today, day a good to study is.

Google translator can’t translate this phenomenon and even sometimes omits the verbs, both in English to Farsi and Farsi to English.
Another problem is Farsi’s words multiple meanings. Google translation can’t understand what does these words in the context mean. In Farsi, a word can have many meanings related to the statement context.

By the way, Google’s English to Farsi translation is much better than the opposite which is bullshit I believe.

“Research was conducted by Morning Analytics (who perform social network analysis), and The Berkman Center For Internet And Society (at Harvard University) to discover which of the presidential candidates is more favored by bloggers. Actively updated Iranian blogs were placed into one of eight categories (based on interest or political opinion). Key findings: Mousavi is supported by the majority , Mousavi has more depth in supporter interests.

Click Here for virtual maps and a one-on-one comparison between the two candidates.

Much has been written about the failure of mainstream media around the world in covering the protests. At first, it seemed, the media didn’t understand how unprecedented and widespread the protests were, and by the time they wanted to cover the events, they were barred, kicked out and even attacked by the regime in Iran. Despite the filtering and slowing down of internet connections, people in Iran, and especially in the capital, were able to spread the news using websites such as Twitter, facebook, YouTube, flickr and FriendFeed.

Before I share with you my opinion on these phenomenal events, a quick recap. on June 12 almost 85% of Iran’s 46 million eligible voters went to the polls, following a heated campaign between President Ahmadinejad and his main rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi, former Iranian Prime Minister. The last days of the campaign saw massive rallies, heated televised debates (a first in Iran), accusations and recriminations of corruption and a general loosening of the restrictions on freedom of speech in Iran.

The results of the elections, which appeared only few hours following the elections, showed a significant win for President Ahmedinijad (62% for Ahmedinijad as compared to 34% for Mousavi). Many supporters of Mousavi suspected the results were rigged, since they felt a serious momentum behind Mousavi’s campaign in the last days before the elections. On June 13, Mousavi and the other reformist candidate, Mehdi Karoubi, refused to accept the results. Mousavi called the election a “charade” and called for the intervention of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenai. However, Khamenai accepted Ahmedinijad’s victory. The same day, initial protests broke out, and about 100 opposition leaders were arrested.

On June 14, the clashes between protesters and regime forces (Basij, police, etc), intensified. Large protests occurred in many cities around Iran, including Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, Karaj and more. During the night, regime forces attacked the dormitory of Tehran University, and using tear gas, motorcycles and brute force, left destruction and five students dead. Twitter users were able to follow this tragic event up close with the help of the student @Change_for_Iran who was at the scene.

On June 15, despite a ban by the regime, about million people marched in central Tehran, demanding a re-election. At the end of the rally, some protesters attacked a Basij headquarters with stones, and regime forces opened fire on the protesters, killing seven protesters. On June 16, 17 and 18 protests continued in Iran, including in Rasht, Tabriz, Zahedan, and huge non-violent rallies were carried out in Tehran. Agents of the regime  arreststed many reformist and opposition activists. Violent attacks on universities continued.

On June 19, Supreme Leader Khamenai lead the Friday prayer in the University of Tehran. In his speech he accused Western and Zionist elements, spies and media in fomenting unrest in Iran, vandalizing state property and attacking Basij members. The Leader threatened that if the protests were not stopped, the candidates (Mousavi and Karoobi) will be responsible for the consequences. Khamenai said that the election were fair, proved the success of the Islamic democracy and called everyone to unite behind the President elect, Ahmedinijad.

Mousavi enjoyed the support of many young people, who are tired of Ahmedinijad’s government and its ineptitude in many areas, and especially the high unemployment rate of university graduates and inflation. Other significant group supporting Mousavi are women, who have demanded more equality in grassroots campaign (like the One Million Signature Campaign) for years. The period prior to the elections allowed many people to express themselves more freely than in the past, and when they felt that injustice was done, because of this feeling and the momentum of the green movement, instead of accepting the results, the reformers chose confrontation with the regime (even if not violent one). Watching those protesters, many of them young women, I couldn’t help but think about the situation in my country, where voices demanding justice and more equality are rarely heard.

Looking at the region as a whole, many Arab leaders, including King Abdullah, haven’t congratulated Ahmedinijad for his victory yet. Those leaders are afraid of Iran’s ambitions in the region and the support Iran provides to extremists Shi’a networks in Arab countries. It seems to me that the main winner of this election isn’t Ahmedinijad, but Israel and hard-liners in the United States government. Ahmedinijad’s victory allows those people to portray Iran as aggressive and evil, not one seeking dialog, and maybe even justify an attack on Iran. I don’t think this movement will be able to change the whole system in Iran, but maybe, out of fear for the regime itself, the Mullahs will prefer to have a re-election, rather than continuing to face the wrath of the people. I hope this happens for the sake of the people in Iran and the stability of the region as a whole.