1 report and 2 points

persian westender
by persian westender
27-Jul-2009
 

1- The day before yesterday, like many Iranians in abroad, I joined the rally held for solidarity with Iran green movement. In the rally which was held across the georgia street, there were too many participants, so many that accordingly we set a record in forming the longest human chain in the history of the Vancouver city. I also didn’t see any “flag fight” among the participants, there were only green and black balloons and no flags. Everyone who showed up should be proud of these two features of the gathering. After the rally people gathered at Art gallery and some lecturers and singers such as Kaveh Yaghmaei and Nazanin Afshin Jam gave lectures and sang songs.

2- In the long way back home, I was thinking about the effect of our protests and actions. Do these gatherings really make a big difference? Can they really be heard by Iranians inside Iran as well?  I personally felt somewhat relieved and discharged by my participation in the rally. I relieved after passively heard and saw a non-stop train of emotionally-charged news in the past one month or two. I guess these gatherings serve our psychological well-being more than the real cause in Iran. And I guess there is nothing wrong with it if that’s the case.

3- I've watched many videos from Iran’s street protests, I see that some similar slogans used in 1979 revolution, is being used by the people in streets ( like : “ I will kill he who killed my brother” [ how about sisters!] _ ”mikosham ankeh baraadaram kosht”). But mostly the slogans are unique to the generation involved in this movement. The best of all I believe is: “don’t be afraid, we are all together” _ “ Natarasid, maa hameh ba ham hastim”. This is a very pleasant slogan. 

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Princess

Definitely therapeutic

by Princess on

I had to leave the rally in London midway, as long before the elections I had booked matinee tickets for Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. So I went to the theatre with a green ribbon tied around my wrist and green face paint on my cheeks. Many people approached me during the intermission and afterwards to ask me what my outfit was about. I had assumed that everybody had followed the recent events in Iran, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Personally, I felt a lot more useful taking the message to people who would normally not seek it. We have a lot of work to do.

The best one was when an older British lady asked me after the play, is this in solidarity with the Iranian people? When I said yes, the poor woman seemed not to know quite what do say so she said, "Congratulations!" It felt weird to hear it at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I like the fact that she chose to say, Congratulations!

 


javaneh29

Hard to ignore the call of protest

by javaneh29 on

I think its hard to ignore the call of  protest living outside of Iran. I dont know about anyone else but I have felt a little help less... and by being part of what ever is organinsed 1. helps me feel Im doing something useful by making people aware, applying some pressure for action by UN and Govt of Uk, and 2. hopefuly providing some measure of support and encouragement to those in Iran.

Im in almost daily contact with friends and family in Tehran. They have felt supported by the calls and conversations, emails etc exchanged and part of that has been knowing that people outside of Iran recognise whats happening there and are doing something. At first they said they feel cut off, alone and that they felt the world has forgotten them. Now they ask what else has happened?

Yes the new slogans are great .. and I agree with TheMissus we have to get centralised and organised. I am hoping that a leader or leading organisation will emerge from all of this.

 Javaneh


persian westender

Yes this solidarity is

by persian westender on

Yes this solidarity is good for our moods in here, but I doubt that people in Iran could see much about what has been done outside Iran to get more motivated.  As you know very few of them have access to youtube, they even hardly can upload their videos (usually do it by sending emails to others outside Iran). But lets be honest, given they could see these rallies (lets say by satellite tvs), at best we are the ones who have the luxury of walking happily in nice and clean streets of fancy cities with fancy balloons in hands, waving hand and smiling, at the end we get the kudos of watching a mini concert. Contrast it with each step that people in Iran take in the streets, they may get any imaginable harsh treatment by the basijis. Buttons, being arrested, tear gas, you name it. They should run for their lives. We are bourgeois in our protest.

But no, I am not discrediting these rallies at all. I know westerners/foreigners who see these protests realize that people( both boroon marz and daroon marz) of Iran are different from what has been depicted in the media. They see that we are not a suppressed Middle eastern people any more, and people who have the luxury of living abroad did not forget their compatriots inside Iran and care about them.

Anonymouse jan, nice avatar! 


TheMrs

2- Of course these ralleys

by TheMrs on

2- Of course these ralleys make a difference: They show solidarity which is good for everyone's mood. If people in Iran see the youtube clips, I'm sure they will feel that at least we've got their back.

Also, international pressure is important. We won't change the world, but it's important to put pressure on the governement of Iran by attracting attention to the problems there.

But we are going into another phase. What we need now is to expand beyond our little communities. We should get people from other countries with political prisoners involved into huge ralleys. We should be getting people from various human rights organizations to join in and send their supporters. We should get unions and so on....included in these gatherings. Time to step it up a bit now.


Anonymouse

I agree with your 2nd

by Anonymouse on

I agree with your 2nd point.  It sums up the global day of solidarity, the questions surrounding it and the right answers in my opinion.  People in Iran will hear about the day.  Certainly when it is a "global day".

I like point 3 and the slogan too.  I also believe this is the slogan of this movement.  It is definately the strongest and most meaningful. 

Everything is sacred.