Despite Warning, Thousands Rally in Iran [Images included]

[©GnrPersia]

Despite Warning, Thousands Rally in Iran


Mohammad Khatami, center, a former Iranian president, is attacked as he attends a Quds Day rally


Opposition leaders Mir-Hussein Moussavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Muhammad Khatami joined the crowds, drawing appreciative cheers and chants from supporters. Here, a government supporter tries to accost Mr. Moussavi, who has a gray beard and glasses.

Tens of thousands of protesters chanted and carried banners through the heart of Tehran and other Iranian cities on Friday, hijacking a government-organized anti-Israel march and injecting new life into the country's opposition movement.

The protests, held in defiance of warnings from the clerical and military elite, served as a public embarrassment to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had hoped to showcase national unity just two weeks before he is set to meet Western leaders for talks on Iran's nuclear program.

He used the annual rally for Jerusalem Day, also known as Quds Day, to deliver a fiery anti-Israeli speech in which he called the Holocaust "a lie" and impugned the West again for its criticisms of Iran's disputed June 12 presidential election.

But his efforts to recapture the stage were largely drowned out by a tumultuous day of street rallies, in which the three main opposition leaders marched with their followers for the first time in months. Flouting the official government message of support for Palestinian militants, they chanted, "No to Gaza and Lebanon, I will give my life for Iran."

Coming a day after President Obama announced a revised missile defense system that aims to check Iran's military ambitions, the rallies underscored the continuing vitality of the domestic opposition movement, which has rejected the election as fraudulent and fiercely criticized the violence that followed it.

In a striking contrast with earlier rallies, the police often stood on the sidelines as protesters faced off against huge crowds of government supporters — many of them bused in from outside the cities — and chain-wielding Basij militia members. There were reports of arrests in Tehran and the southern city of Shiraz, but no shootings or deaths, with the police apparently showing greater restraint than during earlier protests.

The protesters, ignoring stern official warnings not to use the annual pro-Palestinian rally as a pretext for demonstrations, showed up in large numbers wearing the trademark bright green color of the opposition.

When government men shouted "Death to Israel" through loudspeakers, protesters derisively chanted "Death to Russia" in response. Many opposition supporters are angry about Russia's quick acceptance of Mr. Ahmadinejad's electoral victory.

The three opposition leaders, Mir Hussein Moussavi, Mehdi Karroubi and Mohammad Khatami, joined the crowds in Tehran for the first time in months, drawing cheers.

Later, Basij militia members tried to attack Mr. Khatami and Mr. Karroubi, but defenders pushed them back, opposition Web sites reported.

The government had largely halted street protests in July, with a harsh government crackdown that left dozens of marchers dead and thousands in jail. But the authorities have been unable to silence the opposition's leaders, who have kept up their criticism of the election and the government's violent response.

The opposition leaders raised tensions when they leveled accusations that some protesters were tortured and raped in prison. The rape accusations have been especially embarrassing for the government, which has denied them while acknowledging that some prisoners were tortured.

There were reports of similar demonstrations and clashes in other cities Friday, including Isfahan, Tabriz, Yazd and Shiraz, where protesters skirmished with Basij militiamen, and freed a group of fellow protesters who were being arrested, opposition Web sites reported.

In the capital, the police and huge crowds of government supporters blocked most protesters from approaching Mr. Ahmadinejad as he arrived in a bulletproof car at Tehran University to deliver a speech before the formal Friday Prayer sermon. But as he began his remarks, chants of "Resign! Resign!" could be heard, according to witnesses cited on opposition Web sites.

Mr. Ahmadinejad said that confrontation with Israel was a "national and religious duty" and that the Holocaust was "a lie" that was used as a pretext for the country's creation in 1948. Although he has called the Holocaust a "myth" in the past, provoking angry reactions in the West, he has rarely if ever used the word "lie" in public speeches.

The White House responded sharply to the remarks about the Holocaust. "We've heard that type of rhetoric before," the president's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, told reporters. "Obviously, we condemn what he said."

The United States ambassador to the United Nations, Susan E. Rice, said Friday that Mr. Obama would not meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad next week when world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly meeting.

Mr. Obama, in a major national security reversal, scuttled his predecessor's missile-shield plan to focus instead on protecting Israel and Europe against short- and medium-range Iranian missiles. Mr. Ahmadinejad made no mention of that in his speech, nor has his government responded.

Both the revised missile plan and Mr. Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel rhetoric are likely to elevate the tensions surrounding his visit to the United Nations.

As Jerusalem Day approached, a number of conservative figures, including Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, warned that the day should not become an occasion for domestic discontent. On Thursday, the Revolutionary Guards issued an especially fierce statement, declaring that all protesters would be treated as Israeli spies.

But the government appears to have treated Friday's protests with relative leniency. Although tear gas was fired at some crowds in central Tehran — it was not clear by whom — there was no renewal of the fierce crackdown that took place in June and July.

Although the marchers celebrating Jerusalem Day generally outnumbered the protesters, there were parts of the city where the opposite was true. Often, the protesters slyly distorted the traditional rallying cries of the pro-government crowds. When the marchers chanted, "The blood in our veins is a gift to our leader," protesters countered with, "The blood in our veins is a gift to our nation."

At one point thousands of protesters chanting "death to the dictator" as they walked down Valiasr Street, the broad avenue that runs across much of Tehran, collided with an equally large crowd of pro-government marchers chanting slogans against Israel, the United States and Britain.

A standoff ensued. Police officers standing nearby refused to take sides, and in some cases even stepped in to break up fights. Finally, several trucks full of government supporters arrived, and the protesters began withdrawing.

Iranian state television ignored the protests, showing thousands of marchers clad in checked Palestinian-style scarves, carrying posters of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Jerusalem Day, held on the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan, is an important occasion for the government, which uses its support for Palestinian militants and the Lebanese Hezbollah to burnish its street support in an Arab world that is largely hostile to Iran.

Nazila Fathi contributed reporting from Toronto, and Jeff Zeleny from Washington.

Source: NY Times

[©GnrPersia]

and this is the fuckhead dictator who calls himself president. in this picture he's repeating his stupid speeches about Israel.

[I ARE ESS]

persia, cool it, i dont wanna see u on one of those amnesty international execution videos

man the guy is a dick, and i'm sorry buit if he wants to join thw world stae he needs to see the holocaust did happen and he cant just go hating on people because they have a different religion to him(i know theres a little more to it and he's priobably supporting palestine)

[CalumFarq]

Those people deserve medals for standing up to a government like that!

[Iconic Shawn]

They deserve their freedom.. IF, they're in it till they have it.

Keep it up Persia. As long as theirs noise, somewhere, theres action.

Let freedom prevail!
~S~

[Sean]

yea i rally that!

[Rocket Queen]

Although it's good a lot are protesting against the government..  What's with the violent chants?! Death, blood and murder.. I'd like to see more of a Gandhi approach to freedom. You are no better than them if you use the same violent measures to get what you want. Let's not do the whole French revolution thing again, chopping peoples heads of is kind of old/barbaric am I right?

"An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind.."

[©GnrPersia]

Although it's good a lot are protesting against the government..  What's with the violent chants?! Death, blood and murder.. I'd like to see more of a Gandhi approach to freedom. You are no better than them if you use the same violent measures to get what you want. Let's not do the whole French revolution thing again, chopping peoples heads of is kind of old/barbaric am I right?

"An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind.."

I know what you mean rocketqueen. but sadly protesting in a Gandhi way and style doesn't work for a fascist regime of The Islamic Republic. so maybe "An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind but makes it a peaceful place to live the rest of our lives!"

[Rocket Queen]

I understand what you're saying, yet I don't think violence will work either. I don't see how violence breeds peace. Please, explain.

[©GnrPersia]

in this video people are fighting with the "Basij" Forces and they can even Burn their motorcycles!!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb7ztHcOZH8&feature[/youtube]

[©GnrPersia]

the videos are from the 18 september:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gD1NHSXvV4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcRMNPw0oBk[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdYgrP0n4I8[/youtube]

[©GnrPersia]

I understand what you're saying, yet I don't think violence will work either. I don't see how violence breeds peace. Please, explain.

you can't fight with a wild and hungry Tiger using the figures of Buddha. I hope you get my point.

[©GnrPersia]

Mousavi's 11th Statement: The Green Path of Hope



In the Name of God (not the allah of this regime), the Compassionate, the Merciful

The honorable, free-spirited and vigilant people of Iran,

Nearly three months ago, when you participated in the tenth presidential election, you went to the polls with the belief that your votes would be protected against the power-hungry goals of a minority group. You had been promised this with the constant reassurance of officials and the hard work of civil institutions. But the systematic violations, fraud and the bitter events that ensued, created a great disappointment out of what should have been a triumph for our nation. With the mismanagement of the responsible officials, with the wave of propaganda propelled by state owned media, and with the attacks carried out by official and unofficial security forces on peaceful demonstrations, a problem that could have been resolved in a fair and impartial process, created ever greater fissures, uncertainty and deep, broad social divisions. The direct result of these events is nothing but a widening rift between the people and the ruling establishment.

A great number of social, political and cultural activists, the grand ayatollahs [marja] and the vigilant members of the [Qom] seminary reacted against the fabricated stories created by state media and also asked that such matters be investigated: the show trials which lack the least bit of religious or legal legitimacy, the long list of the victims, the inhumane treatment of the prisoners and the illegal detention centers. Anyone concerned for the Islamic Republic, the result of our people's century-long struggle, and the manifestation of their efforts to achieve freedom, independence, justice and progress in the shadow of piety, is now worried.

What makes our efforts to find a solution out of this current quandary all the more necessary is the need to provide our territorial integrity, to guard our country against the voracious greed of foreign adversaries, and the need to defend the essence of the Islamic Republic. [We must commit to this] despite being fully aware that in the midst of our own state and quasi-state forces, there are individuals who know that the only way they can remain in power is by creating crises and catastrophes and keeping away from any attempt to solve the problems and quandaries in society - problems that they themselves have created. These individuals are still trying to hide and cover current crises with larger crises, and to take the level of their unwise actions to dangerous heights. To a point where after creating such levels of complexity in the affairs of the country, and without paying heed to the consequence of their actions, they are murmuring dangerous words and excuses, among them the murmurs about the great purge on free-spirited and devoted academicians.

Thus, it has become a crucial necessity to take a social approach (instead of only a political approach) to solving the current conflict. And this requires us to utilize the social capacities of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

A different approach such as this one is a belief in the plurality and diversity of beliefs existent in the great, ancient and pious family which is Iran. This is the path of the divine prophets and their predecessors, and is reminiscent of divine tradition and [in such a tradition] guidance only means showing the path and the responsibility of those who claim to be religious is to create an atmosphere appropriate for growth and blossoming of humanity towards higher aims and progress. History has shown that whenever governments have aimed to abolish or dim the plurality and diversity that exists in society, they've had no choice but to resort to tyranny - tyranny which exists in all guises, but in essence is the same everywhere. Such solutions do not result in a homogeneous society, but rather only create hypocrisy and dichotomy in the lives of people. To carry on such acts forever is both impossible and inappropriate, according to the teachings of the Koran.

After the events which occurred in our country in such a short time, who can deny that the condition which exists in our society today is the result of the hegemony of such wrong mentality in the macro decision making process  in our country? Actualizing such a public conscience is a great achievement, and sometimes centuries in the lives of civilizations and nations must pass before they achieve it, and pay a great price to do so. However, our people were able to achieve this great deed in little time, and with [relatively] little price. Our people have now realized, with every inch of their being, that the only way for the peaceful coexistence of tastes and attitudes, social layers, tribes, religions and beliefs that live in this great land, is to acknowledge this vast diversity in lifestyles and to gather around an ancient identity which links all of us. Although those who have weak or backward interpretations of religion do not understand that this statement does not mean that Islam is not the righteous religion, or the last religion or one that paves the way to the right path...

read the rest of the statement here

[Sean]

I know what you mean rocketqueen. but sadly protesting in a Gandhi way and style doesn't work for a fascist regime of The Islamic Republic. so maybe "An eye for an eye would leave the whole world blind but makes it a peaceful place to live the rest of our lives!"

you can't fight with a wild and hungry Tiger using the figures of Buddha. I hope you get my point.

It would have been more funny for me if you said 'figurines'.

anyway they have murdered people when people were at peace, so I can understand the fear and anger.