Are the Protests in Iran Getting Hijacked?

By Jasmin Ramsey, PULSE. Posted June 18, 2009.

As images of the streets of Tehran flooded with Iranian protesters (many of them depicting defiant, injured youth) continue to be broadcast  on news channels, social networking sites and blogs operated from within and outside of the country, debates relating to the contested election results are also becoming increasingly heated and confused in nature. If one dares to go beyond (though not necessarily against) expressing support for the protesters in favor of taking a more analytical approach to this extremely complex situation, they are almost immediately defamed or written off as someone who supports Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ”the bad,” as Robert Fisk of The Independent has recently referred to him. Then there are those who are vehemently against statements made in support of Mir-Houssein Mousavi because they oppose to the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) as a whole. This group, comprised of an otherwise unlikely combination of Iranian and non-Iranian Communists, Socialists, Western Liberals, Feminists, Royalists and various other opposing as well as intersecting ideologies, only support the protesters to the extent that their resistance can help in advancing their own beliefs about how Iran should be governed and what role it should play within the region and on the international stage.  

Writes one Canadian-Iranian communist:

“[The] Iranian revolution has begun and it will go all the way to smash the whole Islamic regime and all its factions!”

So called Islamic Reformist (considered by many Muslims as a self-promoting opportunist) Irshad Manji also recently tweeted that she had received a note from a “well-connected” Iranian friend suggesting that the opposition’s demonstrations, widely reported as being held in support of Mousavi (who was very close to Ayatollah Khomeini), should be interpreted as an indication of the decreasing influence of religious leaders upon Iranian youth:

Heard from connected friend in #Tehran that many say this is beginning of end for clerics -- new generation now awake. Tipping point to come.

On June 13th I sat in disbelief as a speaker on an Iranian radio show (broadcasting from outside of Iran) urged youthful protesters inside the country to meet in a specific location, at a specific time, with their weapons. I couldn’t help but wonder if he would encourage his own children to the same.  Web activists are also inciting those with technical skills to hack IRI operated websites. Their digital protest is joined by satire and parody that is appearing everywhere, mostly to mock Ahmadinejad, who has only aggravated the situation further by downplaying the fervor of the protesters. Fisk does a good job of describing one such episode of this in his article entitled “Ahmadinejad whips crowd to frenzy as opposition muzzled.”

Although it has been reported that Iranian leader Ali Khamenei has agreed to further investigate the fraudulent vote claims, Ahmadinejad’s response continues to be regarded as patronizing belittlement by protesters and reports seem to suggest that they are becoming increasingly infuriated as they continue to light fires in the street, attack police men and destroy property. It shouldn’t be surprising that the forces enlisted to control the protesters are responding with matching (though still relatively restrained) amounts of violence. Reports allege that at least 7 people have been killed (by the Basij and/or riot polices) and many more have been imprisoned.

See more stories tagged with: iran, youtube, twitter, glenn greenwald, mahmoud ahmadinejad, iran election, mir-houssein mousavi, irshad manji, justin raimondo, abbas barzegar, joshua kucera

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