18 June 10pm Tehran time: Yesterday, another massive, peaceful demonstration made its way through central Tehran towards Tehran University.
At least a million people, I would say, dressed mostly in black to mourn the deaths of the past days, and showing signs of green protest, hoping that this election will at least be annulled. But as we walked through the streets, I wondered how things will form over the next few weeks, and what will come out of all this in terms of a real opposition and change. For now, people are holding photos of Moussavi, since he should be their president, but neither Moussavi nor any of the other reformists would become real opposition leaders at this time, as this would signify a move towards another revolution or at least a major systemic shift, and I don't believe that any of these people want this anyway.
It is hard to know exactly what is happening in the top ranks, and what political phase the country is moving into. It is a time to be thinking, interacting, and planning. There is no real strategy nor an idea of what shape this action should take. It is refreshing to be constructing a movement with people and working towards something collectively without leaders around or political parties, but at the same time, there is no hope of having enough force to confront the regime without some structural help or some internal battles being fought at the top levels - that is unless we want this to become a bloody battle once again. But with the thousands killed during the revolution and the purges that took place afterwards on everyone's minds, this is not what people want to move towards. Not now at least.
The resilience and the determination to change things peacefully is remarkable for me. It has made me think about a lot, and to watch how people work together to maintain silence during the demonstrations is beautiful. At yesterday's quiet march, people held signs with sentences, slogans, photographs of the violence of the past days, and the names of those who have been killed. There was a feeling of mourning in the air, but also of tension. We all know that things are serious, and our great numbers in the streets are our only protection. This will continue until we achieve the minor request of announcement of election fraud, or until people tire and move towards other methods. There is the possibility that those imprisoned remain there, that Moussavi is done away with by some means (exile, house arrest, etc), and that Ahmadinejad remains the illegitimate president of an unlawful dictatorship. If this happens, the next four years would mean major organising in the underground and a new stage in Iranian political activism. One thing is sure: people are no longer going to accept the self-censorship or fear that has been imposed upon them. It is already easier to speak to people on the street and in shops without wondering if they work for the secret service, or if they will tell the police. Our collective trauma from SAVAK times, and mainly from the Islamic form of ideology and socio-political cleansing that has taken place for the last 30 years, persists today. Yesterday was a reminder of that.
In addition to this psychological war that the regime wages upon us by cutting our connection to the outside world, and to each other, there are a number of ways that we are threatened. I cannot go into detail now, but starting yesterday morning, our house received phone calls every 15 minutes from an unknown number. The caller ID showed a number with many zeros at the end, which from our experience means that the secret service or police are trying to get in touch. We did not answer, and luckily I had taken all my videotapes and other things to another house, but there is a still a feeling of insecurity. Like many others in the city, our house had become a sort of unofficial "newsroom" with people coming in and out, working, making phone calls, emailing, and sleeping in different spots around the house. We decided to calm things, now that Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and blogging have made it possible to announce our resistance to the world. But this is precisely what we are worried about, that the psychological games of the regime and the disappearances and arrests will begin again, at an even harsher intensity.
Last night Bassijis were roaming the neighborhood, going into some homes to gather satellite dishes. We got rid of a lot of things, hiding others. This is what will begin happening; and paranoia will set in again. We can already feel it. Now we have word that some of the reformists and other political figures are saying that they should put an end to the direct opposition to the Supreme Leader. This is disheartening for us. Right now, there is definitely a threat to the tight grip that Khamenei maintains over the people, and within the hierarchical structure of the Republic; a threat as well to the pillars of the 1979 revolution. As of today, we have reports of 500 people arrested: political leaders, students, activists, journalists, and others who have been suspected of dissent. The latest news is that the French Embassy in Tehran has been attacked. Fifteen members of our Documentary Filmmakers Association have been arrested in the streets since Saturday, despite having official permits to film in the streets. Many of them were beaten by plainclothes police or Bassijis, and their homes have been raided. There is a harsh crackdown. I am debating on leaving soon, before it becomes impossible to do so. We are strategizing, trying to be pragmatic, and intelligent. It is a hard situation to judge.
Two gatherings are planned for today: a mourning ceremony/gathering in the South of the City in Imam Khomeini Square and a candlelight vigil in the North of the city tonight. There are no reports so far of violence or killings in Tehran from last night (although maybe news has not reached us yet), but in the provinces there are reports of clashes.
We don't know what will happen next.
June 17, 02h00: Today (Tuesday 16) brought thousands to the streets again, although protesters changed the initial location of the protest because Ahmadinejad supporters were supposed to gather at the same site. Official state television was calling all peoples of all opinions to gather there, which in Islamic Republic code means: go and fight it out; we will provide the armed militias, and you will provide the targets.
So the peaceful crowd changed their location, making their way from Vanak Square towards Tajrish, in the north of Tehran. Like each day, the protests are illegal, and people afraid of repercussions, but this has not kept them indoors.
The government has announced that it will re-count votes, although what has happened to the votes is a mystery. Many have resigned from the Ministry of Interior and most likely the paper ballots we all hand-wrote have either been trashed or tampered with. In any case, it matters little. This is not about the elections, but about a people being mocked and disgraced over and over again by a fascist regime--YES...FASCIST... (with big capital letters, for all those who think otherwise!).
I took the day off from the rally to rest...and to move across the city to hide my video tapes, get internet access at a friend's house, and to converse and exchange ideas about what has happened and what will happen in the next days, weeks, months, and maybe years. We all think that this is a beginning of the formation of a movement towards major systemic change.
The last decade, starting with the student movement of 1999, brought about a demand for a REFERENDUM. Yes or No to Velayat-e-Faqih, supreme and divine law as administered by the chosen Ayatollah. This will come with due time - people want a peaceful, yet determined transition, one that will mean change brought about through a long-term people's struggle. Our only hope is that this movement is not stolen or undermined as the 1906 Constitutional Revolution was, as the coup d'etat in 1953 brought an end to Mossadegh's fight, and as the 1979 Revolution turned from a people's (mainly leftist) revolution to an Islamic one.
We are hopeful; people know what they want and are no longer afraid of each other. They have proven that the regime has ultimately failed at crushing our deep-set solidarity. But there is work to be done; there are many cleavages and gaps (both economic and cultural) in Iranian society, and too much trauma to just step nonchalantly towards something new. There are echoes of the past at every corner, and the strength of this time, I believe, is that we all have some memory, a collective memory, of what Iranians have been through together. Even those university students that I met last week, so adamantly calling for equality between men and women, carry some imprint of the aftermath of the revolution or the Iran-Iraq war, even if they were not yet born. People are learning their own history and making use of it.
But there is a lot of work to do. Right now we continue to stay in the streets, in defiance, in opposition, in solidarity, and to show who has power. The immediate demands may be for a cancellation of this election and a revote, but what has surfaced starting during the election campaign is a need for major change, or outright revolt. What people want is not Moussavi, Karroubi, or whoever else. What people want is freedom of expression and speech; freedom to gather; an end to censorship of press, art, film, theatre, and basically everything else you can name; and the right to choose how to live in private and in public, together.
Despite yesterday's killings, and violence in other parts of the country today (and most definitely cases in Tehran that we have not yet heard of), I feel very optimistic and energised today. Even the Bassijis had to stand silently on the sidewalks, having shocked the world with their brutal killings on Monday.
That said the list of repressive actions and events continue. University students are still under attack: two students were thrown off the roof of a building today at Tehran University; the director of Shiraz University resigned; at least 50 reformist leaders have been arrested; police still have an order to kill; SMS messaging, and also cell phone communications are shut down; internet is sporadically closed or slowed with parasites; the spokesperson of the Ministry of the Interior was arrested, most likely because he would have let out some unpleasant information.
These events will accumulate, the country, as we know it, is falling apart, and things are happening.
Two bits of information, one funny and one with exciting prospects:
1) State television continued to publish its phone number at the bottom of the screen, and read SMS messages that they apparently received today; although ALL SMS has been shut down since Saturday!! An oversight or just plain stupidity. Doesn't matter, we had a laugh. This gives you a sense of how the country is run with lies.
2) Sixteen members of the Revolutionary Guard were arrested today for trying to give arms to people within the opposition. Three of these men were veterans of the Iran-Iraq war.
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15 June: Today, at least 1 million people gathered for a 'silent' march from Revolution Square to Freedom Square. The crowd, which filled the wide avenue, extended further, and at one point it became impossible to move forward. There are no official figures (and those would of course be disputable), but I have never seen a demonstration like this in my life, anywhere!
People walked silently, hands raised. We had been warned to stay indoors, as the police have orders to fire live bullets, and this being Iran, we take that for exactly what it means, but people did not listen.
As night fell, and the crowd dispersed, Bassiji militiamen opened fire on the crowd, killing one (his photo is circulating) and many were injured. The city took flames again, but by this point I had come home. In our neighborhood, there were Bassijis stationed with police at the major square north of the house, pushing people and hitting cars with batons, telling people to go home. Again at 9:30 pm, people made their way to the rooftops to cry out, "Allah Akbar" and "Death to Dictatorship". We heard shots that sounded like tear gas pellets (although they are using some strange nerve gas or other chemical agent, not tear gas) but also live fire.
Today, students at Tehran University were in mourning. Many of their peers were arrested last night, and one student was shot dead, when Bassijis raided their dorms and beat them. Today, as the demonstration passed by the University, we saw students protesting from inside and speaking to people through the metal bars. They were locked in.
I won't get into the decisions and talks taking place in the high ranks of the regime, and amongst reformist groups. These people, no matter how much they represent 'change', are problematic political leaders with shady pasts.
Tonight we are only thinking of the dead, from the past and today, and preparing ourselves for more. Something is taking form, and it is only a matter of time before there is a bigger backlash than what we have seen.
The five people killed yesterday were buried in Behesht Zahra cemetery without their families being notified.
