In Iran, One Woman's Death May Have Many Consequences

[NYC_SKP]

Source: Time Magazine

Sunday, Jun. 21, 2009
In Iran, One Woman's Death May Have Many Consequences
By Robin Wright

Iran's revolution has now run through a full cycle. A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman — laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth and then across her face — swept Twitter, Facebook and other websites this weekend. The woman rapidly became a symbol of Iran's escalating crisis, from a political confrontation to far more ominous physical clashes. Some sites refer to her as "Neda," Farsi for the voice or the call. Tributes that incorporate startlingly upclose footage of her dying have started to spring up on YouTube.

Although it is not yet clear who shot "Neda" (a soldier? pro-government militant? an accidental misfiring?), her death may have changed everything. For the cycles of mourning in Shiite Islam actually provide a schedule for political combat — a way to generate or revive momentum. Shiite Muslims mourn their dead on the third, seventh and 40th days after a death, and these commemorations are a pivotal part of Iran's rich history. During the revolution, the pattern of confrontations between the shah's security forces and the revolutionaries often played out in 40-day cycles. (See pictures of terror in the streets of Tehran.)

The first clashes in January 1978 produced two deaths that were then commemorated on the 40th day in mass gatherings, which in turn produced new confrontations with security forces — and new deaths. Those deaths then generated another 40-day period of mourning, new clashes, and further deaths. The cycle continued throughout most of the year until the shah's ouster in January 1979.

The same cycle has already become an undercurrent in Iran's current crisis. The largest demonstration, on Thursday of last week, was called by opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi to commemorate the deaths of protesters three days after they were killed.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1906049,00.html

---

I'm glad that Time is all over this. One of their photographers in Iran has gone missing.

Here is a picture of Neda before her murder.



Source: http://twitpic.com/817ft

Found from Twitter, of Course: http://twitter.com/#search?q=Neda%20OR%20%23Nedag

[BlooInBloo]

1. Tick tock, motherfuckers.

[aquart]

4. The gov't could simply refuse to kill anyone and not make martyrs.

But it never occurs to them.

Too late. They murder women, they have to go.

[BlooInBloo]

6. No, they can't, so teaches the scorpion.

[Canuckistanian]

15. The problem is the thugs that the gov't has unleahed

They've created a sort of paramilitary in the Basijs, a bunch of radical hardliners who believe they're guarding their country from bad influences.

The leadership doesn't particularly want anyone dead. But when you set a bunch of crazies loose, anything could happen.

[tblue37]

18. Am I the only one who is reminded of the way the hardhats were

unleashed on students protesting the Vietnam war? One analysis I read a couple of days ago said that the Basiji are mostly blue-collar workers, whereas the protesters, at least initially, were primarily middle-class or educated elites, so that there was also an element of class resentment involved.

During the antiwar protests here, the uber-"patriotic" bluecollar working men saw the college students who were protesting as spoiled members of a privileged class, and they were all too willing to wade into the protests and start busting heads. The thugs who ran our government were quite willing to unleash this sort of violence against the children of the middle class, just as in Iran today. BTW, the National Guardsmen who opened fire on the college students at Kent State were also from the working class.

[marasinghe]

21. no; you're not the only one realizing this. s.o.p. for fascists of every ilk.

happens in my country, sri lanka; and in myanmar; indonesia; china; russia; europe; the middle-east; africa; south america; and of course, right here in the u.s.a..

the inbuilt wolf-pack mentality of the so-called 'human' race - where fathers & mothers, brothers & sisters, children, neighbors & society, can go along with asshole scumbag leaders and destroy their own families & friends, in the name of the "nation", the country, the religion or the race.

free-thinkers, intellectuals and college kids are the first target. once they are eliminated, the beast looks for other flesh to feed on. it is too stupid to realize it is sowing the seeds of its own destruction - by destroying the most intelligent of their species - in order to preserve the status quo. as went the dinosaurs, so shall we. and the meek (meaning roaches & plants) shall inherit the earth.

as you mentioned - there is a large element of class resentment. that's why the red guard in china decimated the intellectuals, who were mostly decent, patriotic chinese - unlike the ruling elite, who grabbed their gold & high-tailed it for hong-kong & taiwan.

unfortunately, i don't think this will ever change. evolution means the short-term survival of the strongest (whether physically or mentally) and the most violent; not the spiritual or the civilized.

on the plus side though, roaches have outlasted so many of the bestial, savage species.

[Odin2005]

27. Good comparison!

[NYC_SKP]

7. Martyrdom is a historic theme. Tick tock, indeed!

:P

More from the same article:

"Neda" is already being hailed as a martyr, a second important concept in Shiism. With the reported deaths of 19 people Saturday, martyrdom also provides a potent force that could further deepen public anger at Iran's regime. (See the Top Ten Players in Iran's Power Struggle.)

The belief in martyrdom is central to modern politics as well as Shiite tradition dating back centuries in Iran. It too helped propel the 1979 revolution. It sustained Iran during the eight-year war with Iraq, when over 120,000 Iranians died in the bloodiest modern Middle East conflict. Most major Iranian cities have a Martyrs' Museum or a Martyrs' cemetery.

The first Shiite martyr was Hussein, the prophet Mohammed's grandson. He believed it was better to die fighting injustice than to live with injustice under what he believed was illegitimate rule.

metaphorical: :nuke:

[BlooInBloo]

9. And while I'm sure that, on an individual level, their sexism is world-class....

I would also imagine that the men just won't react at all well to the gub'ment beating and killing "their" women (because that's for the individual men to do /snark).

[NYC_SKP]

10. True that, but more among the minority old set than among the young, I'd imagine.

And it's a predominantly young populace.

Not that long ago women wouldn't have even been present, in public, in blue jeans, like Neda.

Fingers crossed, Bloo.

[Confusious]

13. Isn't that painting with a broad brush?

While I would say that pretty much every male in the taliban or the baij (moral police?) or the revolutionary guard would do that, I would think that a majority of regular males in Iran would have decency and wouldn't do that.

I just don't like accusing an entire group without proof. ( I've seen the proof with the taliban, baij and revolutionary guard.)

Oh, and Persian women are HOT!

[BlooInBloo]

14. Only in the sense that speaking of a "center of mass" is a "broad brush"...

The term "broad brush" isn't the insta-discussion-win button that DUers are convinced it is.

And yes, there are a lot of hotties over there.


EDIT: For those who don't know: a center of mass is an average. Centers of mass are abstract mathy things. There doesn't in fact have to be any real thing precisely at that center. The only requirement, loosely, is that the weight on one side of the center equal the weight on the other side. Picture a see-saw balanced, with 2 people different distances from the center.

[jefferson_dem]

12. Tick Tock, Motherfuckers!

Indeed.

[roguevalley]

16. I feel so for her family, for her dad. he was screaming. what a lovely

girl. May they fall in pieces, the m-f's.

[marasinghe]

23. Yeah; Tick tock, Motherfuckers.

R.i.p. Neda Agha-Soltan

"... born in 1982
(same year as my daughter).

She was shot by a Basiji riding by on a motorcycle.
(Died in her Father's arms.)

Buried on 21st June, 2009 in the south of Tehran.
The memorial service was canceled on orders from authorities ..."

"... Let the World Know ..."

http://breakfornews.com/KarekarAveShooting090620.htm

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. They did explain that well

thanks...

[NYC_SKP]

29. Yes, I thought so too. A history rooted in death and martyrdom. nt

[Drunken Irishman]

3. I just hope these protesters have it in them to continue the fight.

No matter how difficult it will get.

They can't give up.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

5. Yes, Tick Tock Motherfuckers

From The Daily Dish:

20 Jun 2009 03:40 pm

Tick Tock, Motherfuckers

"So here's what we have:

They're afraid of murdering too many protesters all at once. Eventually the protesters will come to understand how to work around this.

They can't open their telecomm pipes, because the minute they do 3 million people will know how and where to gather, and the world will get to see thousands of videos showing horrific instances of state violence against its subjects.

They have to open their telecomm pipes, because their economy cannot function without telecomm.

They can't repress too much, because the cleric support base will tip against them.

Rafsanjani is waiting to find out who'll keep his financial empire running. He's going to come to conclude the current leadership's promises cannot be trusted; the country is now being run by a Fascist Islamic Mafia.

So what do they do?
...more at the link

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/tick-tock-motherfuckers.html

[roguevalley]

17. rafsanjani's daughters got arrested today. I think he probably has

a bit more on his mind than money.

[hlthe2b]

8. Her beautiful face will, indeed haunt the hardliners in Iran...

They have created the most powerful of symbols--an engaging, innocent who was martyred by their repression.

[jefferson_dem]

11. Oh my...

I can't hold back the tears.

God Bless the Brave Iranians in the Streets, and Those Who Have Paid the Ultimate Price.

Their Courage and Sacrifice is Not In Vain.

And To Those Who Know of their Plight, and Stand With Them...Stand Strong...

Human Solidarity Has No Equal.

[ButterflyBlood]

19. She was a beautiful young woman

RIP. This is going to be very bad for Ahmadinejad and his fascist crew...

[MadMaddie]

20. Tick Tock Tick Tock

Can't turn the hands back on the clock....

The Iranian government made a castrophic error in unleashing their gangsters on the public.....they can't control them now.

Just as Andrew has noted for every death the cycle of mourning starts over again.

If the Iranian govt was going to quash this they would have had to do it a week ago, this movement now has a life on it's own.

The Iranian government is being beaten by technology, by youth and by their inability to accept that things have changed since 30 years ago. They got complacent and now they are screwn!!

[Rob Gregory Browne]

22. Reminds me of this:

[tblue37]

24. See my post #18 above. nt

[NYC_SKP]

25. Yep, n/t

[truthisfreedom]

26. She looks a bit like Princess Grace.

Very striking woman. Very beautiful.

[saigon68]

28. Its time for someone to end the Nut-Jobs atomic project

Imagine what they will do to Israel if they get the Bomb.

If they can slaughter their own people like dogs----

What will they do to the Jews???