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The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

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The School Newspaper of Harriton High School

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Unrest in Iran

Political unrest in Iran as Green Movement pushes change

Three days before Valentine’s day, a celebration of love, an Iranian national holiday presented itself with results in bitter contrast.  On February 11, 2010, Iran celebrated the 39th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which marked the collapse of the former Persian monarchy, and the rise of the modern-day, theocratic Iran.
In Tehran, the capital of Iran, hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Government rallied to celebrate and to hear President Ahmadinejad address the state of Iran.  A cleric who also spoke at the rally told the people of Iran that the show of people gathering there was a declaration of “power, insightfulness, and wisdom”.  The supporters were even offered food and drink at the end of the rally as a reward for attending.
However, the day was not so seemingly unified and peaceful.  Supporters of the Green Movement arrived in close proximity to the rally, but were beaten away by police.

The Green Movement, which would see Ahmadinejad out of office and would impose reforms on the governmental system, including the abolishment of special courts (such as the Special Court for the Clergy), the releasing of all political prisoners and the investigation of the torture and murder of protestors in open courts with a jury of the victims own choice, arose after the June elections when they claimed that Ahmadinejad had unfairly won the election.  After original demands to recount the ballots had not been met, the movement grew in both support and demands.  After multiple protests had been met with resistance from police, and militia groups, including tear gas bombings, beatings, even executions, and pictures and videos of the atrocities were posted on the Internet, the Iranian government banned sites like Youtube and Facebook. The Green Movement also calls for unrestricted access to the media, including Internet, voice (radio), and visage (television).

A woman, who kept her identity hidden for fear of being attacked, reported from Iran to CNN of harsh resistance being thrown at supporters of the Green Movement on the anniversary. She said that they had been ready for any consequence but there were simply too many riot police, ready to keep away any protesters. The protesters were largely disorganized and scattered when tear gas and pepper spray were thrown at them.
Such retaliation is not uncommon.  The Iranian government has claimed that any protests will be considered illegal activity.  Recently, protesters who are arrested face ever more dire consequences.  In late January two protesters, Arash Rahmanipour and Mohammed Reza Ali-Zamani, were arrested and declared Moharebs, or enemies of God.  In Muslim Shiite law the penalty for being Mohareb is death.  The two men were executed by hanging.  There has been speculation from many experts that such action is a result of political insecurity.
The ignoring of Iran’s people and the repression of the people by the police, have struck anger into the hearts of people far from home.  30 protestors outside of the Iranian embassy in Sweden have thrown ice, rocks, and snow at the embassy and the security of the building.  In the Persian district of L.A., protestors have shown their support for a movement many thousands of miles away.  Many Iranians living in L.A. are disappointed that there was not a more significant protest. It is understandable though, as recent threats to individual protestors from police have spread fear around the Green community.  Hormov Sheikh told reporters, “I don’t see this as a disappointment.  I think [the protests are] going to continue. This is a long, long fight […] This regime is done. They have to go.”
For many, this stubborn refusal to listen to the demands of the people and even to shut down communications between angry citizens marks a new stage, where any stated opposition to the government will be severely punished even with death.  The Iranian government has gone so far as to shut down all newspapers and magazines that are not government run.  It may even be considered a negation of what many of us now consider to be rights granted to us by our very birth.  Hillary Clinton, the current Secretary of State, told the press that Iran “is moving towards a military dictatorship.”
Gary Sick, former White House national security aide, recently stated that many of the people who were closest to Ayatollah Khomeini, the leader of the Islamic Revolution in 1978, are now moving towards the opposition, as they fear that the revolution has not finally delivered its promise to maintain Iranian and Islamic culture. He also stated that the short term successes in the form of repressions and crackdowns are likely to not benefit the long term goals of Iran, namely support by the people, and the more brutality and stubbornness they see from the regime, the more the people want to defy it.
Iran now lies in a precarious position. On one side, the Regime, trying to build its reputation as intolerant of dissent, and indomitable, with commonplace violence on largely peaceful protests, and the shutdown of free media, including person-to-person communication on sites like Facebook, and large government-independent journals. On the other side of the rope is the Green Movement, an opposition movement determined to remove President Ahmadinejad from power, and to rewrite the constitution as to include rights such as those of free press and speech.  As the Green Movement seems to be gaining more and more foreign support, it seems quite possible that the Iranian government will soon be changing its policies.

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