Collecting Stories

A Dutch journalist friend of mine has asked of me to forward the following message. He doesn't mention his name as he's still planning on visiting Iran.

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Dear fellow citizens,
By the end of this year I just would like you to know that I find it difficult to celebrate freely, knowing the burden of all these Iranians in search of freedom and justice.

For 7 times already I have had the joy to spend time in Iran and got to know Iran in many ways. Right now the paradox is that it's almost better to follow Iran from a distance. I'm constantly following all the news I can get my hand on and will be writing some articles about it as well. For this I need the help of you, the Iranians.

I will be focussing my reports on storytelling. This because most of the articles are about numbers, figures, shocking images, and wild speculations about the moves of the government and the opposition. What is lacking, in my opinion., are the stories of Iranians and the analysis and expectations of those who are in the middle of it all.

- What do you see/hear in terms of Iranian media (state and opposition-based)?
- Where do you see the next phase in this evolving story heading to ?
- What are people's motives for participating in rallies (either pro- or anti-govt.)?
- Do you see a trend towards a 'broader' opposition, in terms of normal people seeing the crackdown on protesters and the arrest of dissidents, starting to back the dissidents?
- What can you see about the internal structure of the Opposition? Is the 'Green' Generation working alongside the older, more divided generations? How much unity is there between religious and non-religious dissidents?
- Who - next to Moussavi and Kharroubi - are currently leading the opposition?
- What is the atmosphere among people on parties, meetings, etc.? Is the political drama the main element or is regular daily life asking attention as well, nowadays?
- Do you feel the amount of people moving out of Iran is growing?
- What do you know about the fate of prisoners and prisoner's families?
- What did you see in terms of police, basij, army clashing with protesters?
- What is that you want to share with the world concerning the fate of your country?
- Do people in Iran hear about the international support for protesters (including Obama's remarks)

In order to safely tell stories we have set up a new e-mailadress: storyran@hushmail.com .

It's very safe, especially if you make a Hushmail-adress yourself and encrypt the e-mail messages you send. Please be assured I intend nothing but the best for Iran and will guarantee to you that nothing against your will with happen with the inside knowledge you share with me.

You can be sure I use the provided information as coming from an anonymous source, unless you wish it differently. If you can, please spread around this message in circles of trusted people and sources. I trust you will know best who to contact.Again, if you reply: please reply to storyran@hushmail.com.

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I hope you guys can help him out

I'm BACK!

Honestly, when 3 months ago I signed off on this blog, and said I'd be back after new year, it was just a wild guess. I really had no idea if and when I'd return. However, the past few days me fingers have started to itch. I feel I need to write with a vengeance. And while before I wrote about whatever took my fance, I feel I need to write about the madness and the pain of Iran.

So here it is. I'm back. 2 days before I promised to. And to start off, please read this link about the violence in the air:

http://germantoenglish.wordpress.com/2009/12/30/some-thoughts-on-violence/#comment-134