The Political Fish

Two days ago, I published a heart-wrenching letter from an Iranian student as she prepared herself to march forward into a historic day in the life of her country. She mentioned her willingness to die for her cause, as well as clearly stating her fears in doing so. Yesterday, on the same blog, this letter was found. Many of you, if not all have seen the pictures of the girl known as Neda, who was brutally murdered by the Iranian Basij as she innocently observed the chaos in her city. Read this letter here.

Yesterday I wrote a note, with the subject line “tomorrow is a great day perhaps tomorrow I’ll be killed.” I’m here to let you know I’m alive but my sister was killed…I’m here to tell you my sister died while in her father’s hands
I’m here to tell you my sister had big dreams…
I’m here to tell you my sister who died was a decent person… and like me yearned for a day when her hair would be swept by the wind… and like me read “Forough” [Forough Farrokhzad]… and longed to live free and equal… and she longed to hold her head up and announce, “I’m Iranian”… and she longed to one day fall in love to a man with a shaggy hair… and she longed for a daughter to braid her hair and sing lullaby by her crib…

my sister died from not having life… my sister died as injustice has no end… my sister died since she loved life too much… and my sister died since she lovingly cared for people…

This young woman Neda could become the rally point around which the revolt in Iran is now centered. The video of her death, caught by a man who tried to help her is heart-wrenching to say the least, and very disturbing to see. Please be warned that the video you are about to watch is not pleasant. However, it shows the reality of what has now become life in Tehran.

Iran has descended into the hell we all hoped it would not.  In defiance of the warning issued yesterday by Ayatollah Khamenei, the Iranian people came out in force today to demonstrate in the streets. This has moved beyond complaints of the election, the people now seek freedom. They seek the end of an oppressive regime. The establishment will not accept, and will hold on to their power through brute force.

You can see a live stream of events happening in Tehran here.

Reports streaming in from twitter are reporting riots all across the country. Tabriz, Isfahan, Mashad, Ahwaz all have reports of rioting along with Tehran. Iranian government forces including IRG, the Basij and police forces are using brute force to attempt to crush the protests. The people are not rolling over.

It is early morning in Iran as I write this. The dawning of a new day. Could this also be the dawning of a new era led by the Iranian people, relentlessly seeking after the freedom they deserve? A young Iranian student wrote these words on his weblog today. The translation comes thanks to Google, who added the Farsi translation today in the GoogleTranslator program. Hat tip to Google.

Tomorrow is a great day, perhaps I’ll be killed tomorrow

I’ll be attending the rallies tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow’s march takes into violence. Perhaps I will be one of the people that is going to be killed. I am listening again to all that lovely music I have heard in my life. I even want to play some of those Los Angeles songs and dance. I always wanted to trim my eyebrows to the narrowest possible. Yes, tomorrow before I go, I will drop by the beauty salon too. There are some wonderful sequences in the Hamoun movie, I should watch them too. I should take a look at my library, poets of Forough and Shaamlou are worth reading another time. I also have to sit and see the family picture album from the beginning. Oh friends! I have to call them too and say goodbye. From this world I have only two libraries that I have given to my family and told them who to give them to. I have two more semesters to get my bachelors, but screw that. My mind is so busy now. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation to know that we were not under the impression of our sensations. To know that to improve their lives we did whatever we could. To know that although our ancestors surrendered in front of Arabs’ and Mongols’ invasions, they did not give up upon tyranny and exploitation. This writing is for the children of tomorrow…

This open letter to the Lebanese people was posted on  an Iranian blog.

Dear Lebanese friend

I am sure you have seen the awful images circulated on the news and internet, images captured by millions of Iranians and sent out to the world, so at least someone could hear their side of story as well. Images and video shots that are ignored by the government run TV!

I hope  you have seen the massive demonstrations in Tehran, people risking their life to come out and demand their constitution right. The right to a fair and free elections.

These people you see in the videos protesting are my borders and sisters, my family , my classmates, my childhood friends, they were born, raised and studied in Iran under the Islamic Republic. They are tired of  a government that is policing their thoughts and dictating an ideology. An ideology witch doesn’t even match Islam !

We have heard multiple reports from all over Iran indicating that some of the police force that are hitting and killing peaceful protectors and break peoples cars and personal properties speak arabic, and they don’t even know farsi!

Yesterday it was confirmed that Hezbolah has sent 5000 troops to help Ahmadi nejad take over power in Iran. This troops were sent before the results of election was out! It clearly shows that Hezbollah and Ahmadi Nejad planned to take over Iran with the back up of Khamanei!

My dear Lebanese friend , hitting and killing defenseless people is not humane and defiantly not Islamic.  When we heard your Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s congradulation statment to Ahmadinejad , it felt  like  being stabbed from the back!

Ahmadi nejad has sure tried to mislead a large group of people with his way of talking, and I admit he is good at this, but please open your eyes and your hearts see for yourself. this traitor is calling the protesters nothing but “dirt and dust” and opens fire in to peaceful protesters. His shameless police force even attached dorm rooms in every city killing defenseless students, and the burning the place down.

I am asking you to please send letters to your government and pressure them to condemn Ahmadinejad actions in Iran. Please write to Hezbolla’s members of parliaments in Lebanon and ask them to call back the 5000 troops. Ahmadi nejad is a criminal , don’t participate in his crimes.

Please help circulate this letter. This is a call for peace and a call for freedom

ARABIC Translation :

وأنا واثق من رأيتم النكراء على تعميم الصور والأخبار والإنترنت ، وصور التقطتها الملايين من الايرانيين وأرسلت إلى العالم ، وذلك على الأقل ما يمكن أن تستمع الى جانبهم من القصة أيضا. لقطات الفيديو والصور التي يتم تجاهلها من قبل الحكومة التلفزيون!

وآمل أن تكونوا قد شهدت تظاهرات حاشدة في طهران ، ويتعرض لحياة الناس للخروج على الدستور والطلب. الحق في محاكمة عادلة وحرة.

هؤلاء الناس تراها في الفيديو هي رسالتي احتجاج على الحدود والأخوات ، وعائلتي ، وزملائي ، وأصدقاء طفولتي ، ولدوا فيها ، والتي طرحت ودرست في إيران في ظل الجمهورية الاسلامية. انهم تعبوا من حكومة تكون الشرطة أفكارهم ويملي أيديولوجيا. أيديولوجيا لا بل ساحرة المباراة الإسلام!

لقد استمعنا إلى تقارير متعددة من جميع انحاء ايران مشيرا الى ان بعض قوات الشرطة التي ضرب وقتل السلمية حماة الشعوب وكسر السيارات والممتلكات الشخصية يتكلم العربية ، وأنهم لا يعرفون حتى الفارسية!

كان بالأمس أن Hezbolah ارسلت 5000 جندي للمساعدة على تولي احمدي نجاد السلطة في إيران. هذا وقد تم ارسال القوات قبل الاعلان عن نتائج الانتخابات! فإنه يبين بوضوح أن حزب الله وأحمدي نجاد يخطط للاستيلاء على ايران مع دعم من خامنئي!

يا صديق لبنان ، وضرب وقتل أناس لا إنسانية وبتحد غير الإسلامية. الخاص بك عندما سمعنا رئيس الوزراء فؤاد السنيورة في بيان congradulation لأحمدي نجاد ، فإنه يرى أن طعنها من الخلف!

أحمدي نجاد متأكد قد حاولوا تضليل مجموعة كبيرة من الناس في طريقه من الكلام ، وأعترف أنه في هذا جيد ، ولكن رجاء افتحوا أعينكم وقلوبكم لترى بنفسك. هذا الخائن تدعو المتظاهرين سوى “الاوساخ والغبار” ، ويفتح النار على المتظاهرين المسالمين. وقال إن قوات الشرطة وقح حتى تعلق بالمبنى المكون من غرف في كل مدينة مما اسفر عن مقتل الطلاب العزل ، وحرق المكان.

وإنني أطلب منكم الرجاء إرسال رسائل إلى حكومتكم والضغط عليهم لإدانة الأعمال أحمدي نجاد في ايران. يرجى الكتابة إلى Hezbolla أعضاء البرلمانات في لبنان ، ونطلب منهم ان الدعوة دعم 5000 جندي. أحمدي نجاد هو مجرم ، لا تشارك في جرائمه.

الرجاء المساعدة على تعميم هذه الرسالة. هذا هو دعوة للسلام ودعوة للحرية