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Ashura in Iran

By John Tabin on 12.27.09 @ 2:26PM

Today is the Shiite Muslim holiday of Ashura. In Iran, it has meant bloody clashes between protestors and regime thugs:

Iranian police opened fire on protesters in Tehran on Sunday, killing at least four people, including a nephew of the opposition leader Mir Hussein Moussavi, as vast crowds of demonstrators flooded the streets of cities across Iran and fiercely fought security forces, according to witnesses and opposition Web sites.

The protests, taking place on the holiday marking the death of Shiite Islam's holiest martyr, were the bloodiest - and among the largest - since the uprisings that followed Iran's disputed presidential election last June, with hundreds of thousands of people thronging Tehran alone, witnesses said. There were reports of hundreds of injured people and numerous arrests.

[...]

The protesters deliberately blended their opposition message with the day's religious meaning, alternating anti-government slogans with ancient cries of mourning for the prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussein, the 7th-century saint whose death in battle is commemorated on the Ashura holiday.

"This is the month of blood, Yazid will fall!" the protesters shouted, equating Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with Yazid, the ruler who ordered Hussein's killing.

Just as they did during protests earlier this year, Iranians on Twitter have done a good job disseminating images and news (and, occassionally, unconfirmed rumors). This account has been especially active today.

View all comments (5) | Leave a comment

Alan MacDonald| 12.27.09 @ 3:33PM

Iran is less developed --- it has not yet learned how to control its people with the facade of a two-party 'Vichy' government (and media) to better hide its authoritarian impulse.

Iran apparently also does not have WWF, NASCAR, TV reality shows, or 24x7 'news' coverage of celebrity gate crashers in the palace to more politely distract their citizens from mass protests.

The ruling-elite Empire here could give some of their more advanced "Brave New World" style 'soft power' PR and control techniques to Ahmadinejad and Iran, so that they would have less need to use the older, Orwellian “1984”, 'hard power' techniques.

After all, it’s been almost four decades since Kent State and Black Panther control techniques have had to be used on the now-complacent and "Quiet American" populace.

However, all real Americans left, who have not been distracted or dumbed-down by our own modern, global, sophisticated, two-party, ‘Vichy’ Empire, empathize with the average working-class Iranians and we hope that your fight against the old-style visible elitist Empire in your own country is as successful as our ancestors’ was against the foreign, highly visible ‘red coat’ old-style British Empire that we overthrew.

Many people in many countries have overcome domestic dictators, and even visible foreign empires, and you will succeed independently, driven by your own frustration, courage, honesty, and solidarity.

The best we American people can do currently is to try to keep this damn disguised Global Empire from mucking you up. Please have similar empathy as we try to overcome the more guileful Global corporate/financial/militarist Empire that currently has our country (and others) by the throat.

Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine

Franklin| 12.27.09 @ 9:29PM

Obama will never support the people of Iran protesting the corrupt sharia loving Iranian regime. Why?

Because Obama supports the Iranian regime. Why?

Because Obama wants to change America to the same type of regime. Eventually he will treat the Tea Party protesters the same way Iran treats their protesters.

coach sneaker| 12.28.09 @ 4:03AM

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cadric| 12.28.09 @ 4:40AM

I think the Persians are beautiful people. Too bad they have to hold on so tightly to a medieval philosphy that their government and religion must spring from the same source.
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