remember the green

in july, i had already known about the twitter website. it was a site where you could post what you were up to for all the world to see in little blurbs of 140 characters or less. along with chatting with friends, you could post links to youtube clips, other twitter pages, and to various news articles from around the world. i did not use twitter really. i had an account, but it did not grasp my attention at the time since i was using facebook and felt that i could do all i could do on twitter there plus so much more.

i was wrong.

during the run up to the iranian elections in may, a movement was taking place. you've most likely heard about grassroots efforts here in america during the health care reform debates and tea party demonstrations. most of these "movements" have had the backing from large corporations and political parties trying to push agendas. in iran, we witnessed a true step toward revolution.

iran holds it's elections in june. i'm sure you remember it. in the weeks leading up to the election a sense of change seemed to be in the air. former prime minister of iran mir-hossain mousavi was, along with others, challenging the incumbent president mahmoud ahmadinejad on a more liberal platform. the set of values that mousavi brought to the table was one that would bring more liberties to women and the public in general. to be honest, the country wasn't about to be turned into las vegas, but a shakeup in everyday life restrictions was being tested. the status quo was being questioned, and the youth, the women in particular, began to take notice at the possibilities.

a lot of iran had become fed up with the oppressiveness. being told what to wear, what to read, what to say, and where you could be at a certain time. they lived in a country with high inflation, 12 percent inflation rates, and 1 in 5 iranians lived below the poverty line. they were also tired of knowing the fact that if they were to speak out about the conditions and blame it on the government they could be jailed for crimes against god. you see, iran is an islamic country. the leader, even above the president, is a man whose title is the supreme leader. the supreme leader is said to have the final word because his word is the word of god. you don't want to speak out against the word of god, do you?

mousavi was seen as a man that could bring about change. any change would be significant as a means toward a better way of living. not as much fear. the ability for all to vote freely in fair elections and lifting a ban on only government run television and media. the public started to see a light. they waited for the day to vote.

needless to say, we know what happened. the iranian media declared that ahmadinejad the winner by a larger than life margin. the ruling was questioned by many foreign governments and transparency was demanded to be made. it was not. the supreme leader commended the democratic system while the people of iran exploded into the streets in a show of protest not seen since their revolution in 1979. men and women took the street wearing the colors of the mousavi campaign of bright green as they raised their hands in the victory sign. in america, we now recognize it as the peace sign. the citizens of iran got anything but that.

the basij, the governments militia that patrols the streets in search of those that speak out against the country, took action on the protesters. they rode on motorcycles with bats and beat men and women into bloody pulps to make examples on what could happen to you if you were to speak out. other basij members shot in cold blood those that tested the government. the foreign media was deported from the country to handle the problems in-house with no one to witness.

one woman, Neda, became a face for the movement as she was shot in a crowd of protesters and her death was caught on cell phone and posted on youtube for the world to see. this is when i was brought to the attention of the power of a people united in a goal and the power of certain technological advances like twitter and youtube. i read that many protesters were using twitter to get out the stories of the day. the fallen, the violent reactions to their peaceful demonstrations and the sights and sounds that could be heard on the streets were all being posted on twitter. i became intrigued and began to follow some iranians. here are some of what a few of them had to say. all of these posted have been confirmed from inside iran.


from persiankiwi

they pull away the dead into trucks - like factory - no human can do this - we beg Allah for save us - #Iranelection 10:23 AM Jun 24th from web

phone line was cut and we lost internet - #Iranelection - getting more difficult to log into net - #Iranelection 10:05 AM Jun 24th from web

saw 7/8 militia beating one woman with baton on ground - she had no defense nothing - #Iranelection sure that she is dead 8:55 AM Jun 24th from web

from iranianstudent

I'm only posting this to say I'm still alive & not in Tehran, I had a bad incident with Basij and couldn't use computer 4:42 AM Jun 25th from web


both of these bloggers went inactive on the site shortly after this and are either presumed dead or in prison for acting out against the government. many attempts have been made to find out from the iranian government, to no avail.

one of the final tweets that iranianstudent left was this: why BBC & CNN reporting things like it's all over now? how can it be over after what gov done to us? 6:24 PM Jun 28th. and i couldn't agree more. you may have thought that the crisis has been over. that the country has subsided back into it's old ways. the farthest thing from that has happened. the country is still in chaos. protests have begun to break out again with demonstrators chanting, "death to the dictator!" in the streets. they are still fighting with the basij and people are still being arrested, beaten, and killed, and the foreign media has gone mostly silent.

a few hours ago, it was reported that mousavi may be arrested by the basij for crimes against the government and was almost arrested going to his office, but managed not to be. the media and the citizens outside iran must not let this story rest. the people of iran need us to pressure the government of iran to let the true outcome of the election be known. you can do so, just by being cognizant of the actions of the people. not all the people of the middle east want to destroy america. many want the freedoms we enjoy and are struggling to have them.

i am tired of the media in this country and it's 24 hours news cycle. when people are dying should we really give a shit about tiger woods? this is a country that we are at ends with and we have abandoned the people that are trying to possibly change how those relationships are. the media must stick with stories until they are complete. not doing so will just glorify the effort and deny the tragedy of the fallen who are asking for help.

the people of iran just want the story to remain a focus. i pray for them and i won't forget their struggle. we are a very lucky people to see such bravery.