An Alternative to Where's My Vote

Since the last presidential elections in Iran the slogan of the protest movement has been: "Where's My Vote".

While I have to confess I didn't vote in the elections, I supported both the protesters as well as their slogan. For me the slogan wasn't just about the votes cast and thrown out in the 2009 elections, they were for all votes that we cannot cast for candidates of our own choice.

However, since two years have passed, I believe if we want to start another round of protest, we need another set of slogans. Slogans that obviously refer to the events of 2009, but take the reality of today into account. The sad issue we face is the great number of people who've been killed and the greater number of people locked up.

I suggest the following slogans:

Where's My Teacher?

Where's My Classmate?

Where's My Friend?

Where's My Son?

Where's My Daughter?

Where's My Journalist?

Where's My Lawyer?

Where's My Mother?

Where's My Father?

Where's My Filmdirector?

Where's My Busdriver?

Where's My Musician?

etc. etc.

Every Iranian has a friend who's been killed, locked up, or has left the country. The majority of students I spoke to outside of the country have said they left the country without the intention to stay, but really don't want to go back to their country.

Also, every Iranian knows someone who's a supporter of this regime. We know millions of people who live in a separate reality with no access to the articles we read, people we speak to, Youtube clips we watch. Consequently they refuse to believe the injustice that goes on in their own country (though the ones I've spoken to do have a strong sense of justice, they curse the regime of the Shah for locking up, torturing and killing innocent people). Ask them the questions I just wrote. Where are these people? Why do you trust a government that needs to survive by killing and locking up students, teachers, lawyers, journalists, etc?

Just kick those shins a little bit. If we all do it, it might be more effective than the next protest that gets a few thousand people into the street, exposing them to the batons of the Baseej militia.

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Here's something heartwarming. A dissident action in which speakers are distributed in Tripoli, blasting the forbidden anthem of the country.

Happy Birthday

We arrived in Ireland two days ago. Many hours of delay because of Obama's arrival, and an elated crowd, much more excited than when the Queen of England visited a week before. However, the highlight of my day was not Obama's visit, it was celebrating the birthdays of Bahman Amouyi (husband of journalist Jila Bani-Jaqoub) and Masoud Bastani. These two men are political prisoners adopted by Amnesty's Ireland Iran group. The celebration is to let them and their families know that they are not forgotten.

Here's two articles that give you a bit of an idea of who these two men are:

http://www.radiozamaneh.com/english/content/iranian-journalist-protests-against-violation-prisoner-rights

http://www.rahana.org/en/?p=9322

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So this is it. two years pass since the mock elections of Iran, and when we get involved it's to comfort the relatives of those who stuck out their necks for the rest of us. Is there no one else who will raise his voice or his fist?

Maybe this is another reason why I obsessively follow the news in Syria and Libya, to comfort myself with their eventual success where Iran has failed, and hope that their success will inspire us.

Fight on, my brothers, fight on, my sisters. And with fight, I also mean dance, laugh and sing.

We've got our own daily internet comic

This is a curious little thing, a daily internet comic about the struggle for Iran. It started about 2 weeks ago:

http://www.zahrasparadise.com/

Bahman 22 - What a sad day, what a glorious day!

First of, being Persian, distressing times make me write poetry:

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Why I Have Hope - 2


The outcome of today's turmoil be damned
tomorrow a boy and a girl, who have just met
will make love in the empty house of a friend



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But what a turmoil to wake-up to! If you want the up-to-datest, here's some good bloggers to check out:

http://homylafayette.blogspot.com/
http://www.sidewalklyrics.com/

Caller to ePersian radio: Their celebration ceremony went to sh**! I saw security forces take a foreign journalist away. They took his notebook and everything and drove him away. The police is patrolling the streets and stopping anyone they can get their hands on. Ahmadinejad was giving his speech and just a few hundred meters away, the people were fighting security forces.

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In the Netherlands we're getting ready to protest 17.00 - 19.00 local time in the Hague, Amsterdam and Groningen. I'll post some pictures later tonight.

Green Timeline

The opening of the Green Timeline exhibition was a great succes. I've you've missed it, no worries, you can still attend in the following weeks.

http://greenexhibition.blogspot.com/

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In the meantime unrest continues in Iran while everyone wonders what Bahman 22 (Februari 11th) will bring. One of the biggest uncertainties about this situation is that not only the Green Movement is not really a movement at all (it lacks a proper leadership, or even an ideological motor other than "change"), which gives its spontaneous strength, but that there's a few paralel battles being fought.

There's local fights in regions unhappy with the government:
50 detained in Lar: http://persian2english.com/?p=6112 / http://persian2english.com/?p=5969
Kurds are being arrested and even executed: http://persian2english.com/?p=6028
And rest assured that unrest is brewing in the Baluchestan and Ahwaz provinces.

Not only have an immense number of Human rights activists been detained but also regular students. The plan is to scare them from participating in actions and demonstrations, but ironically, students thrown out of school and forbidden to travel have nothing else to do but organise actions. http://persian2english.com/?p=6091

Many clerics are fed up with the ruling class and keep critisizing the government. Amongst them is one of Khomeini's grandsons: http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/02/reformist-cleric-condemns-1.html / http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/02/ayatollah-khomeinis-protr.html

There's also still a reformist faction in parliament (though it gets smaller with each election): http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/02/call-for-prosecution-of-f.html

But maybe most important of all is the regular person in the street who's not a cleric or a student, doesn't belong to an oppressed minority, but is simply fed up with his low wage (or maybe isn't paid for months), is unhappy that the banks are not allowing him to withdraw funds, and is worried about the cut in food and gasoline subsidies. They are also increasingly stirring and demanding their rights:

Interview with union leader: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/01/irans-new-labor.html
Massive lay-offs with months of pay yet to be paid:
http://www.iran-resist.org/article5736.html
End of subsidies:
http://www.themilitant.com/2009/7349/734954.html

Art and Executions

If you're an Amsterdam reader of my blog, you might be interested to know that today between 16.00 and 20.00 we'll have the opening of the exhibition "Green Timeline". The exhibition is the visual diary of an anonymous demonstrator, a thorn in the side of this regime. She has walked the streets of Tehran in many demonstrations. She has shouted "Allah-o Akbar" till her voice became hoarse, she has spraypainted slogans and "V" signs on walls in the middle of the night. And all this she has recorded in her own unique way to show the people of Amsterdam.

If you cannot make the exhibition today, send me a mail so I can put you on my mailinglist and let you know what days the Mezrab / Art Cage exhibition space is open. Mails go here: sahand@sahebdivani.net

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In other news: today might be the day 9 political prisoners are executed on Enghelab (revolution) square. http://persian2english.com/?p=5849

Yesterday, in a gut reaction the the first to hangings last week I wrote the following poem. It's still quite raw and unedited:

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What Hangs there?


Imagine a kite tangled
up in a tree

rudely awakened from the dream
of flying

what hangs there?

when that, which was the beloved,
seeps out through numerous pores

looks back and thinks

"it is a strong rope that
carries all that shame and does not
break"


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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