Iran: Footage, the Slogans, and Hizbullah???

1. Tuesday’s Protest Footage: Here is some amazing footage from Tuesday’s march down Vali Asr St. The quality isn’t very good but the footage is incredible, especially with the silence. The marchers seem very disciplined. See the footage here.

2. Funny Slogan: Here’s a video of some anti-Ahmadinejad chants. I’m not going to lie, the slogan is a bit childish but I’m posting it anyway because I got a good laugh from it. See the video here.

3. Football? So a couple days ago Ahmadinejad brushed off the protests calling them passions similar to fans disgruntled after their favorite football team loses.  The consequent anti-Ahmadinejad chant is worth noting here: “ahmadiye gusale – bazam begu futbale” (“Ahmadi[nejad] you son of a cow, keep saying it’s football”).  This is significant because like many slogans, it is essentially recycled from the Islamic Revolution 30 years ago. When the military government then tried to suppress the demonstrations, protesters went to their rooftops at night and chanted “Allahu akbar” much like their doing at night now. Then, the military government headed by Azhari shrugged of the nightime chants as organized by a handful of people who recorded them and then just broadcasted them around the capital city through portable stereos to give off the allusion of popular support.  The next day, the protestors chanted, “Azhariye gusale bazam migi navare, navare ke paa nadare!” (“Azhari you son of a cow, you keep saying it’s a cassette, a cassette doesn’t have legs!”)
4. Iran vs South Korea: Speaking of football, Iran plays S. Korea in 3 hours. Stay tuned for anti-regime agitation to unfold there as well.

5.  Revolution, Then and Now: I was speaking to a friend who recently arrived to the US from Iran and she made a very very good point. She said that although many are heralding these events as the first stages of a new revolution, she thinks that the conditions are very dissimilar to 1979 and those differences may very well prevent such a revolution. She argued that in 1979, the entire country was more or less against the Shah and supportive of the revolution where Iran today is split into two groups, those with Ahmadinejad, Khamenei, and the system as a whole, and those with Mousavi and the idea of change.  This is an important difference that should be noted by those who are rushing to call this a revolution.

6. Hizbullah: So anti-Arab propagandists and those hostile to Iran’s foreign policy objectives are spreading rumors that Iran is importing Hizbullah fighters to kill Iranian protesters. This is just silly mainly because there is no shortage of fanatical Iranians who are ready and willing to mow down fellow countrymen.

7. Wednesday Protests: It’s 1:10 am right now in southern California but it is 12:40 in the afternoon in Tehran and reports are coming out of another day of protests. See you in the morning.