Nothing but War
Jun 14th, 2009 by pedestrian
As you may already know, facebook, youtube, and Mousavi and Karoubi’s campaign websites have all been filtered in Iran. There is no SMS service. A number of leading reformist politicians have been arrested (some were subsequently released) and there are reports that many more will be imprisoned during the next few days.
A friend of mine emailed me these lines from the University of Tehran campus where there have been wide protests:
We are in the campus my friend, tear gas is being thrown at us like a heavy snow fall, the entire building I am in right now is filled with gas. Two of my friends were wounded thirty minutes ago. There is fire everywhere. I thought I came here to study but there is nothing here but war. I can only tell you this so you’d share it on facebook. I tried using a proxy to access facebook but its still not possible. Thanks so much. And by the way, please don’t mention my name because there have been wide arrests everywhere.
~NE
It seems ironic that 30 years after the revolution, at a time and place where many, especially among the exploding young population of Iran, were tired and quite indifferent to its fruition … We are on the streets fighting for it. We were born in war, and lived in war … But never believed this war would last so long. My friends are on their rooftops shouting Allah o Akbar like their fathers did 35 years ago. I always believed that we repeat history. I never felt, quite like the way I do today, that we are condemned to repeat it.
“We are in the campus my friend, tear gas is being thrown at us like a heavy snow fall…”
I can’t shake that image. Heavy snow in Tehran, such a peaceful image. Quiet roads, a white layer over everything, people inside and keeping warm. Something like this… http://www.flickr.com/photos/4youreyes/1883080420/
And the violence of tear gas being thrown, people being beaten, so many hopes and dreams crushed. It’s heartbreaking.
Hi,
I’m a journalist in France, for the news website http://www.slate.fr, writing an article on the Iranian election results.
I was wondering if you could give me some more details about the state of the internet and mobile phone right now in Iran? Do you have to use proxies or not? Is your blog still available in Iran? Are Facebook and Youtube slow but accessible, or impossible to connect to?
You say SMS service no longer works, can you still phone over mobile phones?
I will link to your blog in my article, but was wondering if you could answer those questions to get some more details .I would really appreciate it if you could drop me an email.
Thank you for your help
Cecile Dehesdin
It really is John. You can’t imagine the proportions. I can’t believe I walked that campus in joviality with my friends. I can’t believe what is happening to them.
Hi.
I’m french and I follow all this with a lot of interest.
How I wish you could make things change in your country.
I really wish you can overcome this regime and thus make the world change. My heart is with you.
A lot of people here, sadly, think this is western conspiration against Ahmadinejad and support him, just because they hate the USA. Sad but true. This must be fought.
I know I have no advice to give you in such dire straits, but just one thing.
If you manage to have women to demonstrate WHITOUT HIJAB, and the world to see this, this might help you more than you can think. A huge crowd demonstrating, half women HEAD NAKED, seen by the entire world; this would be a symbol that nobody would be able to ignore.
This would prove the world, and to all the western media who back up (more or less) the regime, that you reject it.
I’m not saying this would be easy in succh a situation. I’m just hoping, I’m just dreaming. Just a message in a bottle.
How I would be happy for all of you if I could see this become true.
Cheers and good luck to you all.
JJ
French, I will take the second part of your comment about the women as a joke.
As for the first half, we are NOT looking to overthrow our regime. If that’s how you Westerners misunderstand this whole scenario, I suggest you TURN OFF your television and attend to simpler matters which are more compatible with your brainwaves.
Thanks for reading.
Hi again.
Well, you may not be wanting to overthrow your regime, as you say it.
But here’s the point:
That’s exactly what it looks like from here.
It is said that beyond the election fraud, people are in the streets because they aspire for a deeper change that just one or the other candidate to be elected.
And Iranian exiled iranian opponents from outside your country are saying it, but I am a aware that I have no idea of how much they are representative of what Iranian people may think.
There are so many so called experts, reporting so many different things, but from here it is seen as a fight between two visions of how you people would like to see the role of your country in the world, I mean, the ones wanting the confrontation against what you call “us westerners” and the ones wanting all this to stop. Reports have been made here that 5000 lebanese hizb. fighters were in Tehran, speaking arabic and beating up people. So from here yes, all of this seems strange, and you are right in saying i may not understand everything right. Some people around the world see the US as pure evil . Not me. Some see your regime the same way. Not me. But almost everyone sees it as a clash between two visions of the future people want for their country, that’s a fact, and this because the dire international situation your regime has been putting itself in for so many years.
Sorry, sincerely sorry if I offended you, I didn’t meant to. Take it as mere ignorance from my side. In my country I can say I am deeply attached to what here we call laïcity, the separation of the state (politics) and the religious affairs.
May you peacely reach your goals, have more freedom, and thus, I repeat, make your country have normal diplomatic relations with UN and so on, because yes, I believe it is part of all of the problems.
Sorry for the long reply, I hope I explained myself a little bit.
And thanks for replying although I may have said something weird, I just said this because before 79 girls were going to university head naked, some say feminists in your country would like this to happen again. Again, I know I may be totally missing the plot, so excuse me for misunderstanding.
Take care.
French, I am sure that there are people out on the streets hoping that their efforts will mean that tomorrow morning, they will magically wake up in a different system.
But that is NOT the aim of most protesters.
We feel like the “republic” is being robbed from the “Islamic Republic of Iran”. That no matter how terrible our government, it has always counted on a backing by the people and that doesn’t seem to matter anymore. Our votes have counted, irrespective of other limitations … We just want that back.
The rest, I don’t think is a matter of priority.
And it looks that way to you from where you are, because your MEDIA and some EXPATS are doing you, and especially US Iranians, a great disservice by putting it the way they want it and not the way we do!
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.
Thanks Jessica … ummm … I think.
Pedestrian,
I understand you where upset by the words of French but he tries to support you (us),therefore I think we should speak to him on a respectful way although he may be wrong. The media are responsable of this misinformation not him. We need the support of the world opinion because the people of foreing countries can put pressure on their governements to not recognize the governement of Ahmadinejad and even do other things to put pressure on it.
And dear French : iranian women have been fighting during 30 years to show a few centimeters of their hair and they are jailled for that. They woul be killed if they followed your advice. And if they could take of their hedjab, they would maybe rather do it for themselves instead of dooing it to change the mind of western people. But thank you for being interest in what is happening in Iran and the fight for human rights.
Then, all the expat are not saying that “iranians want to overthrow the regime”. This is only true for the royalists and the “moudjahidins”. And expecting them (who probably only want the power in Iran), expats including students and other political opponents (from the leflt wing and the nationalist party) just try to make heard the voice of the iranian people. In France we demonstrate to say “where is my/their vote?”, “stop the killings in Iran”, “free the political prisonners”. French, you can go on “whereismyvote.fr” wich is the website of the comitee that organises the protest in France. And you have to know that when some famous people here (in France) speak and ask for a new laic regime (like the “philosopher” BHL, the movie maker Makhmalbaf, or even Reza Pahlavi on the TV channel France 2(shame on France 2!)), they speak for their own.
Last sunday 4 thousand people, iranian (political refugies and students) and french walked during 3 hours in the street in Paris and said during 3 hours with no break only this 2 words: “azadi” and “libérté”. Meaning both “freedom”.
We have to keep in mind that we all have the same aim: more freedom in Iran. People only disagree on the best way to get it. It can be within this system or with another system (wich is not very credible) this is does not matter. What matters is that 80% of the iranian people (in Iran and abroad) want the same Iran and at the end the respect of human rights. We have the same values, we need to stay together and not get divided. *Baa Man-O-Hamraah-E-Manee.
Azadeh
PS: there is a big demonstration in Paris the 9th of July (anniversary day of the riots of students in 1999) french you are welcomed to join us
Azadeh, thanks for your thoughts. I realize I may have been a little hard on French, but during the first few days of this ordeal, we were all a bit short on patience and I guess I let myself get carried away a bit.
For that, I do apologize.