Mass mobilization on Quds Day

September 18, 2009 – Once again the determination of Iranian people to shape their history was in display when hundreds of thousand took over the streets throughout Iran thereby transforming the officially sanctioned ‘Quds’ (Palestine) day into a day of protest against the enemy at home.

In addition to the chants of “down with the dictator,” the most popular slogan was “dictator, dictator, this is our last message: the green nation of Iran is ready for uprising.” Thus challenging the government that unless it resigns, their patience will soon come to end.


Contrast this self-confidence with the complete insecurity of the state in its inability to crush the opposition with all means in its arsenal – political, ideological and military. Perhaps one would then be able to appreciate that Iran today is the scene of two contending powers: a thoroughly de-legitimized state, and the power of masses in motion that has created a whole new reality.

Let’s be clear: for months now the existing political regime has tried everything to prevent the re-emergence of the masses on the streets. Mass arrests and frame up trials, shutting down of all remaining opposition web sites and print media, even cancelling all heretofore sanctioned events on the calendar, combined with total militarization of society, the haunting down of people chanting on the roof tops, and constant barrage of threats – nothing, absolutely nothing has succeeded in breaking the spirit of the people.

Quite the contrary; the brief ‘interlude’ in outright manifestation of street protests was rife with movement: from the ongoing weekly protests of ‘Mothers of the Disappeared’ to sporadic outbreaks of demonstrations in the streets and the Metro stations to activism of a different kind—mass political dialogue on the side walks, in taxi cabs, at home, and at the work place. One reporter whose name is withheld wrote from Iran that (http://globalpost.com/print/3636975) the workplace is where “everybody does nothing except find ways to get around blocked web sites and read the day’s news.” Moreover, calls for a political mass general strike is gaining momentum.

Would this signal the beginning of the end of the Islamic regime? More importantly, will this movement for freedom be able usher in a new society based on new humanist relationships the day after the overthrow of the existing state? Will the insatiable desire of Iranian masses for outright freedom find expression in a philosophy of liberation that assures its continuous self-development?
Raha