What I Have Witnessed

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/16/09 at 11:09pm

Posted on HuffingtonPost.

===

"What I have witnessed." A powerful note from a female medical student in Iran, translated from Farsi by a trusty reader.

Hello,


It's painful to watch what's happening.

I don't want anything to do with what has been said this far, as I neither have the strength nor the resilience to face all these unfathomable events.

I only want to speak about what I have witnessed. I am a medical student. There was chaos last night at the trauma section in one of our main hospitals. Although by decree, all riot-related injuries were supposed to be sent to military hospitals, all other hospitals were filled to the rim. Last night, nine people died at our hospital and another 28 had gunshot wounds. All hospital employees were crying till dawn. They (government) removed the dead bodies on back of trucks, before we were even able to get their names or other information. What can you even say to the people who don't even respect the dead. No one was allowed to speak to the wounded or get any information from them. This morning the faculty and the students protested by gathering at the lobby of the hospital where they were confronted by plain cloths anti-riot militia, who in turn closed off the hospital and imprisoned the staff. The extent of injuries are so grave, that despite being one of the most staffed emergency rooms, they've asked everyone to stay and help--I'm sure it will even be worst tonight.

What can anyone say in face of all these atrocities? What can you say to the family of the 13 year old boy who died from gunshots and whose dead body then disappeared?

This issue is not about cheating(election) anymore. This is not about stealing votes anymore. The issue is about a vast injustice inflected on the people. They've put a baton in the hand of every 13-14 year old to smash the faces of "the bunches who are less than dirt" (government is calling the people who are uprising dried-up torn and weeds) .

This is what sickens me from dealing with these issues. And from those who shut their eyes and close their ears and claim the riots are in opposition of the government and presidency!! No! The people's complaint is against the egregious injustices committed against the people.


Iran Updates (VIDEO): Live-Blogging The Uprising

Updated On: 6/24/09 at 11:09 PM

[xoangel2789xo]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 2:13pm

Frightening, I can't imagine what they're going through right now, even with their detailed updates. I think this is the only instant where I've found twitter useful.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 4:58pm

"Even if a million of us die, we will not back down."

Brave and beautiful. This is the stuff of legend.

Updated On: 6/17/09 at 04:58 PM

[xoangel2789xo]

Posted: 6/17/09 at 8:45pm

Indeed.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 3:19am

Sadly, not unless the army decides to switch sides. Remember Tianamen Sq? Dicatorship is dictatorship whether in so cld Democratic elected goverments ( whos poll were rigged) or Communist tribunals. As long as they have the fighting manpower to back up their orders.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 7:52am

Reza Aslan on Rachel Maddow about how this revolution will happen like the one against the shah:

===

What's really fascinating about what's happening right now in 2009 is that it looks a lot like what was happening in 1979. And there's a very simple reason for that. The same people are in charge -- I mean, Mousavi, Rafsanjani, Khatami, Medhi Karroubi, the other reformist candidate -- these were all the original revolutionaries who brought down the Shah to begin with, so they know how to do this right.


And so what you're going to see tomorrow is something that was pulled exactly out of the playbook of 1979, which is that you have these massive mourning rallies, where you mourn the deaths of those who were martyred in the cause of freedom. And these things tend to get a little bit out of control, they often result in even more violence by the security forces and even more deaths, which then requires another mourning rally which is even larger, which then requires more violence from the government, and this just becomes an ongoing snowball that can't be stopped.

That's how the Shah was removed from power, was these mourning ceremonies. And so Mousavi very smartly calling for an official -- not a rally -- but an official day of mourning tomorrow. I think we're going to see crowds that we haven't even begun to see yet, and then follow that, on Friday, which is sort of the Muslim sabbath, the day of prayer, which is a traditionally a day of gathering anyway. This is just beginning, Rachel, this is just the beginning.

[tazber]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 7:59am

What I don't understand is if Mousavi is one of the main people who brought the Shah down, isn't he cut from the same cloth that Ahmadinijad is?

Just how much of a "reformer" is he?

He'd ultimately be just as much a puppet of the mullahs and the Khomeni as Ahmadinijad.

So, are the people revolting for Mousavi, or are they indicating that they want an end to theocracy in general?

[madbrian]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 8:10am

Below is a link to the segment from Rachel Maddow's program. Be warned that it's a lengthy clip, over 12 minutes, and Aslan doesn't appear until later in the clip.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#31416478

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 10:28am

Mousavi is just as determined as Ahmadinejad? to develop nuclear power, but he does not speak in Mahmoud's drama-queen eliminationist rhetoric.

The real revolution is what's happening in the streets. 70% of the Iranian people are under the age of 30. These people have already won, no matter how many of them are killed or beaten, no matter who is in charge, because they have shut down the country and exposed the government as barbarians who fix elections. Ten years from now, these students will be running the country.

If Mousavi does somehow emerge as the president, things will be different. If Mahmoud remains in charge, there will be ongoing revolt that will have to be continually repressed.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 4:37pm

What is happening there defies any assumptions. The ground changes every 6 hours. This was sent to Nico Pitney on HuffPost and translated from the Farsi.

===


Yesterday a couple of the members of the Iranian parliament started asking question regarding the plainclothes security forces who have been beating the protesters in Iran.

Apparently, Abutorabi (Parliament secretary) questioned the connections of the plainclothes security forces who had earlier storm Tehran University's dorms and killed and injured students. Abutorabi claims that those individuals have been identified and says: "Why do plainclothes individuals without permission from the government get to storm the dorms?"

Then Ansari, a member of the parliament took the floor and talked about the "fact finding" committee and the fact that everyone in that comity is an Ahmadinejad supporter and therefore questioned the legitimacy of the committee.

After Ansari, Abutorabi took the floor again and continued questioning the plainclothes security forces once again. At this point Hosseinian, Koochakzadeh, and Resaee, the three biggest supporters of Ahmadinejad in the parliament, started a verbal argument which ended with a number of physical fights. As a result a number of pro and anti Ahmadinejad members of the parliament join the fight and start slapping and pushing each other.

In the end, the anti Ahmadinejad block claims that they will expose the identities of those behind the plainclothes security forces.

Keep in mind that the pro and anti Ahmadinejad blocks belong to the same political party! I think the government is starting to crack up from the inside.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/18/09 at 4:45pm

Taz, I think Colbert summed it up perfectly when he said that Mousavi is such a reformer he chants "Lingering Fatal Illness to America."

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 12:17am

People who understand how the ayatollahs run Iran don't expect Mousavi to end the nuclear program or be suddenly friendly to the United States, but unlike Ahmadinejad, but he won't go on calling for an Israeli holocaust or denying the German one.

[sabrelady]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 2:05pm

Kinda tears it all
Ayatollah commands...

[Q]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 3:22pm

"In Washington, the House of Representatives voted 405-1 for a statement supporting democratic and fair elections"

Wonder who the one was . . .

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 3:34pm

Ron Paul.

[Q]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 3:37pm

No surprise there.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 5:10pm

Tomorrow will be a pivotal day.

?I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed. I?m listening to all my favorite music. I even want to dance to a few songs. I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows. Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see. I should drop by the library, too. It?s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again. All family pictures have to be reviewed, too. I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye. All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them. I?m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that. My mind is very chaotic. I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure. So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them. So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism. This note is dedicated to tomorrow?s children??
Live Blogging Iran

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 5:21pm

Mousavi supporters were out on the streets 'Basiji hunting.' Their resolve is no less than these thugs -- theyre after hunting them down. They use their phones, their childhood friends, their intimate knowledge of their districts and neighbours to plan their attacks -- they're organised and they're supported by their community so they have little fear. They create the havoc they're after, ambush the thugs, use their Cocktail Molotovs, disperse and re-assemble elsewhere and then start again - and the door of every house is open to them as safe harbour -- they're community-connected.

The Basiji's are not. These are not the students in the dorms, they're the street young -- they know the ways better than most thugs - and these young, a surprising number of them girls, are becoming more agile in their ways as each night passes on.

Updated On: 6/19/09 at 05:21 PM

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 5:25pm

PJ, we posted the exact same thing! The live blogging has been fascinating. A revolution powered by Twitter.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 5:37pm

I just changed mine. It's not just the immediacy of the blog posts and Tweets. It's also the dept of what they're able to say under such frightening circumstances.

The brevity of the Tweets and blog entries make them like poetry.

Updated On: 6/19/09 at 05:37 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/19/09 at 10:26pm

This video is hearbreaking.
Friday Night In Iran

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 9:16am

The Day of Destiny is happening now.

9.22 am gas brought tears went. I went to the Laleh Park

Group of people in the group are moving towards the Azadi Square

9.18 am CNN: Thousands of people attempting to enter Tehran protest site have been blocked by heavily armed police, eyewitness says.

9.16 am. Reuters: Protesters have been dispersed with teargas ... smoke was rising over Enghelab (Revolution) Square, a witness said.

9.14 am AP: Witnesses: police using tear gas, water cannons to disperse thousands of protesters in Tehran.

9.12 am via Nico.

-- "HARD conflict between the people and the Special Guard. people: down with khamenee"

-- "Heavy clashes on azadi street, chants of death to khameni! The street is full of rocks and fire."

-- "Voice of shooting in Azadi street in Tehran"

9.08 am. Confirmed: People are walking from Keshavarz and Fatemi toward Enghelab Sq.

Unconfirmed: Mousavi and couple of others are driving (walking not sure) toward Enghelab Sq from Jomhouri intersection

People of the world - Today Saturday 20 June 2009 - Iran will again make HISTORY - #Iranelection RT RT RT RT RT RT RT

Hossein Obama - The world is watching

Never seen my ppl like this before, so united, so strong, so wise. Stay together. Verde que te quiero verde - Lorca

I can confirm Basij is on full alert & armed, but no visible IRGC activity reported from across the city yetAyatollah-grin

"You may write me down in history--With your bitter twisted lies--You may trod me in the very dirt--But still like dust I'll rise." M.A.

confirmed - Mousavi - SATURDAY is a big day for fighting fascism

Only 10 hours left until the Iranian people finally disobey their dictator. History is watching. Let's make it proud.

Now, all my life hurts [Google translation]

Reformist and activist bloggers arrested / they are my friends I am worrying for them very much

and also that the reformist leaders in jail are being pressured to give false confessions.

Martyr Karoubi - As a former political prisoner who was tortured I know that insulting a nation will turn them into a raging fire

We hear in the [Iranian blogosphere] that the Supreme Leader has told Mousavi to keep quiet or he will be exiled,

Advice - remove sim and use mobile to film ANY violence or attak against Sea of Green

Advice - your location can be identified from mobile signal - + delete all sms after sending in case u are arrested

confirmed - sms text messaging is working again in Iran after 1 week of disconnecsion

Updated On: 6/20/09 at 09:16 AM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 11:31am

"URGENT: based on the news received, Mir Hossein Mousavi is among people and giving a speech in Jeyhoun street."

[PalJoey]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 11:37am

The regime is using chemical warfare on the people of Teheran.:

==

Helicopters spraying water with agent in it onto crowds. Skin irritant, will make it feel as though water is scalding.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 6/20/09 at 11:53am

i read somewhere that khamenei had given moussavi an ultimatum: stop or the slaughter - and make no mistake about it, there will be a slaughter unlike any you have seen - that follows is on you hands.

is moussavi willing to lead them to that slaughter?

in the islamic revolution, khomeini was and the shah was reticent to unleash the kind of mass killings necessary to put down such an uprising. to stop this - at least in the short term - you have to be willing to kill hundreds, if not thousands of people. a good example was the way saddam put down the shiites after gulf war 1. unlike in 1979, time the zealots are in power and have no qualms about doing so.

if moussavi backs down or compromises, it will break this thing right where it stands.