This article was originally published in the Martha's Vineyard Gazette.
From the cradle of civilization a voice flies into the abyss - "someone dies for freedom tonight." All of us who live in buildings of small apartments; all of us who have gone to our roofs to escape claustrophobia, heat, misery, watch as others escape to their roofs to yell out their desires their love of freedom - "God is great!" they scream. They are heard throughout the globe. They are heard by the militias who come running to their buildings to put out the inferno of light that threatens the darkness. They are heard by those who would kill them, maim them, destroy their temples in body and soul.
Yes, we are witnessing in this time of suffering and contraction the greatest proof of humanity. The proof of those who wish for one simple, profound state of Being - freedom. It is true that multi-layered events are difficult to understand. I do not pretend to know all of the levels of motivation regarding this incredible outburst of Human yearning we are witnessing throughout Iran. But it is not difficult to recognize when people sprint to the summit of their homes to scream at the top of their lungs - "God is great!" - how that feels in the core of our existence.
Earlier thousands came into the streets knowing that this day may extract their last breaths on this planet. They had been warned by the greatest authority in their world. The ultimate Authority. They are pouring forth from the beginning of civilization in the most appropriate place of all. A cornucopia of spirit rushing from the first horn to be heard in our hearts. That sound first reverberated in that place now called Iran.
There are those who would say that you cannot reduce complex political events to a deed of spirit. I believe that we feel profoundly this momentous courage because we all bathe in the nectar of Human spirit. It is an existence that cannot be tethered no matter how much some have tried. We have ample proof of this fact throughout the millennia. You need not go any deeper than your own heart, for no matter who you are, you cannot ignore the music coming from Tehran in this solstice season.
Though it matters greatly on some level the result of such courageous acts, on another level the immediate result does not matter. Because sooner or later a river of freedom will cleanse the torrents of blood which flow through the streets of Tehran tonight. It is inevitable and that is what all authorities know in their concrete hearts; solidified muscles that resist the vitality of life, which materializes before their very eyes. Blood erupts resulting from panic roiling inside ideologues who can no more taste the truth than they can see their own love. Freedom is truth. Truth is love. If you believe for one solitary moment that this is a simplistic point of view, try to live that way.
Next time we go to our roof to escape the heat, to escape the misery of life; next time we hear the song "Up on the Roof," let us remember the night in Tehran when our neighbors flew to the top of their lives; scaled the heights of their buildings and shouted into the dark, fiery air, "God is great!"
Fascists? You're the one defending IRI, which while not quite fascist (yet) it's getting uncomfortably close.
I don't 'support' IRI or even defend it. But like the animals in Animal Farm, your 'revolution' will lead to another set of masters, and probably, not even nicer.
Tehran bureau / MUHAMMAD SAHIMI
MUST READ FOR All Iran Experts and Pundits:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/01/turning-point.html
Time/Robin Wright
Faced with escalating turmoil, Iran's newly militarized regime now appears to be turning to the Tiananmen model to ensure its survival. The theocracy has signaled over the past week that it will exercise extraordinary military and judicial powers against opposition leaders, dissidents, street protesters and even sympathizers to end the growing turmoil. The regime's most urgent goal is to prevent opposition activists from turning next mont
Read more:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1951381,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0bgG8LZTx
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1951381,00.html?xid=rss-topstories#ixzz0bgDLejTx
The education system and the propaganda of the managed press and the corporate TV.has assured that while Americans are free in body to a large extant, their minds in general have been captured long ago and controlled by the ruling Oligarchy.
The citizens of France or Britain would have taken to the streets long ago if they had been pillaged by the corporate / government Oligarchy as the American public.
A turkey in a large pasture believes he is free until Thanksgiving !
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. . . . corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed."
-- U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
(letter to Col. William F. Elkins)
Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)
Give it a rest. I invite you to move to Iran...
I heard an Iranian who just weeks ago immigrated to the UK telling his friend (still in Iran) on the phone, "I can go out with my wife to the store. She buys chicken and I can buy a bottle of whiskey. We go out any time we like and no one comments on our clothing, hair, or sniffs our breath for alcohol. We go to clubs and dance together and wear whatever we want."
Small freedoms mean a lot to people with so few of them.
Ahmadinejad and Kahemeini being dim-witted wasn’t enough, they have called Iranian people disagreeing with them as “nothing but dust and twigs” and only few days ago the big shot speaker for the bussed-in pro-IRR rally called Iranians opposing the Absolute Guardianship “goats and calves”.
These guys are setting up to do some major, major culling of the Iranian “goats and calves” herd. Listen to them, they are saying it out loud, they are gearing up, remember how Rwanda got started. They are characterizing the protesters/detainees as "infidels" and "enemies of God" a al mass executions of 1988-987.
The judiciary is passing a legislation to shorten the waiting period for an "infidel" or "mohareb in Persian" to be shortend by 15 days. They want the protesters to be executed within 5 days instead of the 20 days period under the current laws
ی دولت با ارائه طرح دوفوریتی، خواستار تقلیل زمان اجرای حکم محارب از بیست روز به پنج روز شدند.
http://www.hammihannews.com/news/8314
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/08/the-bloody-red-summer-of-1988.html
http://www.irna.ir/View/FullStory/?NewsId=875801
Execurtion of Political prisoners in1988:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2009/08/the-bloody-red-summer-of-1988.html
The Palestinians in their struggle for freedom?
Or is it only the small group of extremists in Iran, the ones who ferverently believe the election was stolen (even the majority of Mousavi supporters think Ahmadinejad won a fair election http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brmiddleeastnafricara/651.php?lb=brme&pnt=651&nid=&id= ), and who are running riot in the streets (looting banks, trashing businesses, burning cars, attacking unarmed police officers) while hiding amongst people just trying to mark a historic event as usual?
If Hezbollah were to take to the streets of Lebanon, demanding that a fair election be held, would you call them ;heroes?
(Oh, if you're not aware, in the Lebanese election, Hezbollah and its coalition partners not only took the majority of the Lebanese vote, they took the majority of the Lebanese Christian vote, and yet ended up winning the minority of the seats)
And someone else lies for reaction this morning.