Makings of a Revolution?

Many people have been questioning whether the demonstrations in Tehran will be another Tiananmen Square, or if it looks more like the weeks before the Berlin Wall came down. Is this a revolution? I’m more inclined to think that the people of Iran just feel cheated, and are not willing to stand for it. The biggest question we are hearing is “Where is my vote?”. To me, that sounds like a far cry from ‘Overthrow this regime’. I think Westerners can easily look at this situation, and hope for an overthrow because ‘we’ (I mean the collective we) see it as a solution to what Ahmadinejad has turned Iran into (a provocative Nation probably pursuing nuclear weapons). But the truth is, all the people are asking for is to be heard. While they are mostly Mousavi supporters, I would be willing to bet that the desire for a fair election overshadows their desire for Mousavi in office. Of course, there is potential for them to change their demands if security forces and riot police keep responding with violence, but over the past couple days the people have shown a willingness to demonstrate peacefully, leaving the ball in the court of the government.

What is undeniable is that over the last few days, a cultural shift has happened in Iran. The mood of the Nation has gone from fear of repercussions against speaking out against the government in any way to the National soccer team showing their support, and a 4 day protest. People are now shouting in the streets what they once feared to whisper in their own homes. This is not to say they are not paying a price. There are rumors of kidnappings in the night, and chain murders. People on the ground are claiming anyone carrying a cell phone or laptop are being beaten. There are rumors that the government is trying to cut off electricity in Tehran to stop Twitter updates. The Iranians are not getting off easy, but they are showing that they are willing to pay the price to be heard.

For myself, I am glad to see our Nation’s (the U.S.) reaction. Bloggers have stepped up to fill in the gaps news print and TV have left gaping wide. President Obama has wisely kept the American agenda out of the way, while at the same time commending supporters of the demonstrators. This is a smart move, because it takes away from the Iranian government the ability to say ‘Look, the Americans support you, so you must be on their side’. By keeping out of the situation, we are insuring that the Iranian people are being heard.

An Open Letter From Iranians to the People of the World

I came across this video, and thought it prudent to document what it is saying not only in a video on Youtube which someday may be taken down, but to inscribe it in words here where my freedom of speech is protected, and where it will remain on this digital Signpost, not to be taken down. It comes from Youtube user account ‘moshen083′, and at the end is signed ‘Iranian Artists In Exile’. It begins with a poem, and goes on into an exhortation for the people of the world to support the opposition in Iran. Here is the transcript, with the video embedded after:

Human beings are members of the whole
a creation of one essence and soul
If one member is afflicted with pain
others members uneasy will remain
If you have no sympathy for human pain
the name of ‘human’ cannot retain.

This week Iranians turned out in record numbers not seen since the beginning of the Iranian revolution to change the current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Their willingness to exercise their Democratic right was both historic and uncommon in the Middle East. Iranians long for change the same way people in the United States and indeed worldwide longed for change after the Bush years. They were tired of an increasingly delusional President who has thrown their country into economic turmoil and portrayed their country as a conflict seeking entity in the Middle East. But today, the same Iranian regime that has denied a dialog with the world denied human rights, denied Democracy, denied the holocaust, is blatantly denying the will of its people by committing massive election fraud to re-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and arresting journalists and opposition leaders in broad daylight. Accepting this deception will be costly not only for the people of Iran, but also for the people of the Middle East with far reaching consequences worldwide. As you are listening to these words, the people in Iran have taken to the streets in Nationwide protests. Despite brutal Iranian government suppression tactics, the Iranian people are courageously fighting for their rights. As anti-riot police batons crush the bones of demonstrators whose only protest is election fraud, Iranians are screaming for the world to hear them ‘We denounce Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’.

The people of Iran now ask for your support. We do not expect you to fight our struggle, but to help us fight it. We expect people worldwide to put pressure on their governments and politicians not to accept the legitimacy of Iranian elections and the fraudulent Presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Democratic societies worldwide must not leave the Iranian people alone now that they have risen to the challenge. Instead they need to align their policies with the will of the Iranian people. Friends, we ask you not to let 70 million people in Iran to be taken hostage. Any government that accepts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the new President of Iran has betrayed the Iranian people, endangered world peace, and has no sympathy for human pain.

View the video here.

The Wired Front in Iran

Since before the elections, the Iranian government has been censoring and limiting access to social websites such as Facebook and Youtube. Over the last few days, they have basically shut down all web traffic going in and out of the country. Wired magazine has an excellent article, with some ways we can help at the end of the article. Check it out here.

Unrest in Tehran

As I type this, our fellow humans, our global neighbors, fellow academics, intellectuals, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers are protesting in the streets of Teheran, the capital of Iran. Rumors of vote tally tampering abound. Twitter reeks echos of Fascism. Unconfirmed rumors of government kidnapping and murdering in the dark of night. Facts are stifled by a government that has shut down almost all communication flowing into and out of the country. All we can see are Twitter feeds and leaked video and photos. But what the photos tell us beyond doubt is that people are hurting. People are exercising their voice. There is violence in the streets, raiding happening in college dorms, and vehicles being set on fire. Tehran knows not peace at this point in history; civil unrest is the order of the day.

“And then you realize: the Iranian people do not know either. So many feel so robbed; others perhaps stay loyal to the regime. There are a dizzying array of actors and institutions now interacting in ways we have absolutely no way of knowing and are beyond the ken of all but a few Westerners. But that too makes an act of faith necessary.” -Andrew Sullivan, reporter for The Atlantic

Right now motives and outcome are a big question mark. Two things are sure: 1. the people are upset and 2. the people are being hurt and killed. Who started the violence is a question we will ask for ages, and shall remain as much a mystery as the identity of ‘Tank Man’. Join me in support of our fellow humans who may soon find themselves in the role of ‘the least of these’, the oppressed, the downtrodden.

Musavi has said to the protesters: “be silent because this government has no fear to tear your breasts and spill your blood in all of Persia’s rivers”.