stand up against war and oppression

disturbing news coming from Iran is that some of the people detained in the aftermath of the election are sentenced to death penalty. I don’t know the details of the case… well, there is no independent way to learn more (another problem!)... but there are certain things that bug me: (1) the nature of charges, association with a monarchist terrorist group. Well, since when are we convicting people not for what they have done, but for what they might be associated with? (Oh, right, I guess I forgot that possible association with a terrorist group strips people of all their right… reminds you of something?) (2) no access to a decent representation (from what I’ve heard, they were assigned to defense attorneys, and even then, had a limited time to get help from those attorneys). I might be biased, but this whole thing seems to be a fear-inducing act. It’s almost laughable, “monarchist” and “terrorist”, those are “bad” things, right? Who wants to maybe get associated with such groups by asking for a fair trial? The majority that’s struggling for peaceful democracy shouldn’t say anything against unfair persecution of monarchist terrorists (assuming that’s really the case), I suppose!

Oh, and the ATL seminar talks are finally uploaded here under the video tab. In hindsight, the tones are a bit more… umm… angry than what I personally had expected! _{Oh, please don’t donate! All the expenses are already covered! I am still in awe of the people involved who put the whole thing together only by independent fundraising.}

passes by, and makes one think whether somebody else’s suffering makes your skin thicker… more senseless arrests, more threats, more shut down newspapers. The idea that preventive “punishment” of potential opposition solves all problems seems utterly flawed (ooh, preemptive attack, that word seems unpleasantly familiar). But the ones that have clung to the traditional symbols of power (money, guns, and unfortunately, a judge’s robe) refuse to look two steps ahead. What should I do? What should we do? If they’re choosing to walk toward their own destruction and are taking everything down with them (“If not mine, nobody’s!” so very profound reasoning, I suppose!).

A friend says we ought to be happy there is no quick change… “people have more time to learn this way,” he says, “time for a nation to build the culture of knowing what it wants.” _{It sure is a pain to endure, anyway.}

Iran, there is something on every single day of the calendar, and any reason, any reason at all, is enough for a protest! And there are other creative ways of civil disobedience, and everything has to be tried, it seems. The political landscape, at the same time, is getting more and more polarized. There is still beatings, but not as much killing… a step forward, I suppose. The main concern right now is the situation of those arrested and detained on no charge, and the fear them being subjected to pressure, ill-treatment, and torture (for “confessions”).

We have been meeting people from all walks of life (including quite a number of local activists) these days. Our approach has been to focus on unlawful acts of government and human rights abuses (even within the Iranian constitution). One strange thing is that in what we have done in an effort to raise awareness about what’s going on in Iran, we have faced resistance from two unexpected groups: Iranian opposition groups in exile and some of the American progressive leftists! For two completely different reasons, of course.

Iranian opposition groups for the most part don’t like our stance that leaves the leadership to the people inside Iran and limits our activities to spreading information and condemning human and civil rights violations. I think they see our approach to be impeding the “revolution,” and that would be bad, because they expect something if a regime change happens. The radical constituents of them call us, quite clearly, “agents of the Islamic republic.” Some people are good at labeling, I suppose.

And then there is the other group. The group that is not happy with the US foreign policy, and thinks that all this fuss is a show run by CIA or something to challenge the challenger of US foreign policy! But, well, sometimes the antagonists of the “villains” (if that’s how they feel) are not heroes! Oh, and there is another group that sees all this merely as a clash of classes (middle-class against a rising lower class). We are setting up sessions to talk with them about the many confirmed violations of human rights by the Iranian government (it won’t be fair to discard them to follow one’s geopolitical or philosophical view, is it?). Frankly, I expected more support from these groups (especially, since they are the most outspoken ones against economical sanctions any military actions). If discussion is all they need, well, we’ll meet and talk about it.

There have been progress, of course. Many of the “older generation” opposition groups are changing their position and focusing on human rights (some of them are people who cursed us when we were voting, and cursed us when we said exactly the same thing a few weeks ago). We are also learning more about what to do, what not to do, how to be more organized, how to avoid confrontation, etc… great learning experience, I tell ya!

Another weird part about all this is that in the wake of the surfaced Iranian nationalism here in US, maybe for the first time, I feel the Iranian-American community is being recognized as an integral part of the American community. The Iranians who, for the most part, preferred to stay below the radar are now wearing flags and shouting their Iranian nationality… and all of this is welcomed. Something I’m not sure I can fully comprehend.

be mostly ranting… skip if it’s too much.

Nothing good from my country. More pressure on the people. More violence. Feeling helpless when violence, greed, tyranny, and ignorance show their ugly faces.

I guess most of you have already heard about the young girl, Neda, shot on the street… too awful to even repeat the story.

A friend (he graduated from here and went back last year to teach at school) sent a heartfelt message about people being arrested and pressured for “confessions.” He is one who I trust and respect, and not one to make a fuss… his friend and his friend’s wife were arrested on Wednesday (the wife was released after a day, but strongly “advised” not to say a word), no sign of the guy and his whereabouts yet. My friend’s words: “I don’t mean to make you worried, I’m saying these because I feel sick… talking so that I might feel a bit better… if you’re outside Iran, don’t be shocked of anything you hear.”

In another sad news, a young man who’s friends with a bunch of people I know here got shot in front of his house… he is in ICU and will survive, but his mother got killed defending him. It’s heart-wrenching just to see his friends shaken here, I can’t even imagine how it is like for his family.

Talked to my family today… dad jokes that “we are brave, but only within the confines of our house,” referring to chanting “down with dictator” from the rooftop at nights. Mom asks if I’m worried, and I don’t know what to say… “Don’t be,” she says, “I’ll make sure they don’t do anything dangerous.” And she continues to say how cute and bright my cousin’s daughter is, and I wonder about the safety of the other 70 millions of them.

A very logical friend says this is the path to freedom, there is a price to pay, but it’s a step forward. “They’ll have to think twice before doing something like this next time.” True, I guess.

Yesterday the nice people in Amnesty helped us have a rally to condemn the violence… must keep busy, even if it’s of no use more than personal satisfaction… have to gather all the strength to stay positive.

The peaceful demonstration on Monday was more civil than I could ever imagine… depending on the sources, 150,000 to 1,000,000 people walked the streets of Tehran with no disturbance. But then a local militia station was attacked, and someone with a gun from the station (without being in immediate danger) opened fire directly at people. 8 people reported dead… first such casualties at street demonstrations in a long long time. Brutal attacks on university students have continued, resulting in mass resignation of university professors in protest. More activists have been arrested, and all independent sources of news are either shut down or under extreme pressure. The demonstration on Tuesday has been called off to avoid more casualties, but there was a large crown in front of the main building of the state-run media (ironically with very limited coverage).

As for the authorities, the guardian council has started a probe to recount a small sample of the votes, but they will announce their verdict in 7-10 days… in the meantime, the interior ministry refuses to release the details of the vote counts, which leads to nothing but escalating the crisis.

The technicalities of the voting process doesn’t matter anymore… I am angry at how the government has handled the situation; beating and killing people in response to their protest… depriving them of more rights, when they are demanding their basic rights.

We had a small rally here on Sunday, and are working on another one tomorrow to condemn the violence and support the people struggling there. It’s not much, of course (a bunch of engineering student won’t become activists overnight, but we’ll learn little by little). We gathered and discussed everything for hours to find a common ground on what our message should be… lots of emotions in the group, and I find myself in the awkward position of being the restraining force.

start a whole new goal for the events in the Iranian presidential election, but I guess it fits here just fine… Suspicious election results, that’s the nicest way to say it. See this one for a quick recap of why it all sounds fishy… add to it disconnecting communication links to the outside world, closing newspapers and filtering websites, and arresting political and social activists all in a two-day period, and you get a better picture of why many refuse to accept the announced results. It has been called a coup by many (I have resisted the term, but it seems to be fitting!). There are protests inside the country to make the government stop the craziness and give the people a fair election, but it’s a power struggle, and I doubt if they just want to hear “please” to grant it.

I wasn’t sure if bringing this to 43T is a good idea… but to be precise, this is what I want to do… and this is what a “life list” is about, right?

I’m too tired to write more right now, but I’ll come back to organize what are the things I have to do to reach this goal (in a small scale for a specific goal, that is).

violence is raging again in middle-east, and I’m confused by the causes and rationales supporting it… again. I’d rather tune off, block it all out, review the paper sitting on my desk, and then maybe watch episodes of stand-up comedy. But somehow it keeps coming back… the old question that why the failed violent policy is given another chance by both sides.

Anyways, here is a related link (among many out there that you can choose, depending on your taste)... and I’m just saddened to see it’s spreading hatred and violence all over the world (see this for example).

some people scare me! Frankly, I’d like to see those in charge of launching nuclear missiles hesitate a little. I’m not ready yet to accept nuking civilians as “morally justified.”

Well, mister! Suppose, hypothetically, that there is somebody out there with any conflict with you. Tell me what you expect them to do after hearing that you take no hesitation in zapping them, if you feel it’s in your nation’s interest.

rationalize war to stop oppression, some rationalize oppression to avoid war. I wish I could fanatically believe in both of them being wrong.

I admit it. I don’t have a plan on how to do it. Right now, my attempt is limited to ridiculing the idea that starting a pointless war or oppressing the opposition can make a better world.