Thousands of Italians Mark the End of Fascism by Expressing Solidarity with Iran's Green Movement

This is just the sort of thing Iran's Green Movement needed. Tens of thousands of Italians marked 25th April, the anniversary of the end of Mussolini by wearing Green T-Shirts with maps of Iran printed on them and expressed their solidarity with the people of Iran who seek freedom and justice against the tyranny of Ahmadinejad's messianic military junta. The T-shirts also had 'From Tehran to Turin' printed on them.

The people of Turin also cheered as Ey Iran, the banned national anthem blared out of the large speakers during the procession. Thank you to the people of Turin, together we will defeat Fascism in Iran. Thank you Italy.

Admission that the Regime Rapes in Prisons by the IRGC Commander

The footage below shows IRGC Commander, Saeed Ghassemi, speaking to a group of loyal Baseejis. It is a clear admission to rape in Islamic Republic prisons as well as an implicit threat that anyone who dares to challenge the regime in the streets can face all consequences including rape:

'..If they want to oppose the regime intellectually, there isn't a problem, we pray for them, but if they dare to come on the streets and challenge the establishment, be it if they are my own child or even if they are a martyr's son, the establishment is duty bound to deal with them, so be aware..and you lot [the audience] tell them not to be obstinate otherwise they will be taken to a place with sauna and jacuzzi [laughter by the audience] or those things that Karroubi has claimed [laughter again], which haven't happened of course, but you never know things can happen, of course one can't play with convictions, you see a lot of them are still putting up a resistance but those who have broken down have really broken down, so tell them they will be taken to those kind of places and then they will confess to everything in less than twenty days [laughter], and just like the Supreme Leader said you can criticise from the Almighty himself right to the prophet and be as secular as you want up to a point, you can see this freedom in bread queues and in taxis, people freely moan about everything, no one is bothering them, show me, show me somewhere in the world where a secular university lecturer can lecture on secularism and turn my religious son or a martyr's son or a martyr's wife and turn them against the Supreme Leader? where do you see such thing in the world? show me....[some poetry about martyrs]...so you can see the bottom colour is red like the blood of the martyrs, anyone who takes on the establishment after the revolution will receive his punishment here and now, nothing is happening in the other world, the other side has its own rules and regulations, here anyone who has any knowledge of history can see that whoever takes on the regime will fall, that's for certain, don't doubt that ...[more poetry]'

and here is a picture of the commander with Daniel Ortega

It is Still Possible Not to Surrender to this Nightmare

I hope Ebi sings this song in the Royal Albert Hall tonight:



Although the black clad are rounding up the shredded stars from the streets
Although the mourners are pulling out the doves from amidst the ruins

Although the stench of inquisition and blood is everywhere
It is still possible not to become a victim of this nightmare of terror
It is still possible not to surrender to the night and become a prisoner of this evil....

Cultural Revolution in the Kindergartens

When I left Iran after the 'Islamic Cultural Revolution', I thought it was all over. I thought by brainwashing and controlling the university students they will eventually control the whole society. How wrong I was! A valuable lesson I have learned in the last three decades has been whenever any state tries to force feed a population with an ideology, it will have the reverse desired effect for the state, people will only vomit the state ideology when they are forced fed with it.

I remember asking an Ethiopian friend of mine, who lived under the Marxist rule in Ethiopia, if they were ever taught all that Marxism-Leninism stuff in the schools? He shook his head as if I reminded him of a sore subject and told me, 'Every day we had to stay behind after lessons for these special ideological classes and pity that kid who asked a question which would prolong these torturous sessions, we would get hold of him after class and beat the crap out of him, for we wanted to go to the beach or to the cinema after school and the last thing we wanted to do was to listen to all that drivel a minute longer than we had to..'

On the other side of the coin, under the Shah, reading Marxist literature was banned, yet the Iranian youth would go out of their way to get hold of a copy of the Communist Manifesto. The illegality of it just made it more exciting and having read such literature was like wearing a badge of intellectual honour.

The Islamic Republic never learns however. In fact whenever there is a feeling of despair and despondency, one can always look forward to the regime shooting itself in the foot. Last week, the Minister of Social Welfare, Ahmadinejad's friend and crony and overnight multi millionaire, Sadegh Mahsouli, announced that only kindergartens that teach Islamic values as the main core of their curriculum will receive government loans and grants and kindergartens which ignore Islamic teachings will be severely dealt with! And what specific Islamic values are at the top of the priority list of the Multi-Millionaire Minister? Mr. Mahsouli wants kindergartens to teach the kids about martyrdom and bring them up as martyrdom seeking toddlers!

So after failure of 'cultural revolution' in universities and schools, guess what will happen at the kindergartens!

Iranian kids having to toil in brick factories while overnight millionaires like Social Welfare Minister Mahsouli rant on about what should be taught at kindergartens

Supreme Leader's New Fatwa on Late Payers of Utility Bills

During the 1979 revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini ordered the faithful not to pay their utility bills to the Shah's government. It was another clever move by the exiled cleric which pushed the Shah's administration further towards bankruptcy.

Three decades later, those who pioneered the revolution are themselves facing a revolution which uses some of the same methods used thirty years ago like chanting 'God is Great' from the roof tops. In response to the iron fist shown by the establishment against those who take part in street demonstrations, people are trying to resort to other civil disobedience protest methods which inflict damage on the regime but carry less danger for them. Not paying the utility bills can be one such method, of course there are also many who just can't make ends meet and pay the bills too, and so here is the Supreme Leader's latest Fatwa on those who are not paying their water bills:

'Refusing to pay the water bills is not allowed and those who perform their ablution with such water will therefore make their rituals void'

Four other high ranking clerics including Messbah Yazdi, Mohammad Yazdi, Nouri Hamedani and Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi who has a representative office in Harrow Road, London have also issued similar fatwas.

Here is the real irony however. Ayatollah Khomeini in his first speech after return form exile in the Behesht Zahra cemetery, promised 'We will make water, electricity, buses and so forth free of charge, we have so much income from the oil why should our people have to pay for these things?'

People's Response to Ahmadinejad in Oroumiyeh

Well we saw how Ahamdinejad's thugs attacked a small group of environmentalists in Oroumiyeh in the previous post. This is how the people of Oroumiyeh responded to Ahmadinejad when he went there yesterday on one of his provincial tours. See how few people turned up for his speech despite all the regime's efforts in rent a crowd methods:



Note that the billboards advertising him were also ripped. Pro-Ahmadinejad site, Raja News, did not publish any pictures but remarked on how the 'president' prayed for rain in the beginning if his speech and how miraculously by the end of his speech it had started to rain! Absolutely amazing!

Where Else Does the Police Throw Stones at Peaceful Protesters?

It is known as Sizdeh Bedar, thirteen days after the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, Iranians collectively go for a picnic to parks and into the nature to celebrate the ancient reverence our forefathers held for the environment and nature. It is a family picnic and everybody tries to enjoy the last day of the New Year holidays before they go back to schools and start work again.

The footage below shows Sizdeh Bedar - 02 April - in Oroumiyeh, North West Iran. This is not even a political anti-government demonstration, a few peaceful environmentalists are making an appropriate peaceful gathering to raise awareness about the dangers of Oroumiyeh Lake drying up on this traditional day for nature. The gathering hasn't even started yet but straight away the regime's forces armed with clubs and truncheons and protected! by shields and helmets start attacking the environmentalists and throw stones at them while families grab their children and run away to safety.

This is what a tyranny is all about. It does not matter what the gathering is about, a dictatorship fears any gathering of people. During the Gaza conflict, a few Iranian women known as Mothers for Peace came on the streets to support the Palestinians and they were beaten away by the regime's thugs. It does not even matter to a dictatorship what people in a gathering want, if it is not controlled and directed by the regime, it fears it and violence is the only reaction it knows.

The Green Maestro's Concert in Barbican, London

I have spent most of the Easter break battling with a stomach virus, which is why I couldn't make it to Shajarian's concert in the Barbican, London on Saturday. I am no expert with Persian classical music and I have a selective list of favourites in this category that I like to listen to. I respect Shajarian however more than just for his mastery of classical Persian music. Shajarian has stood by the people of Iran ever since the June protests last year. In protest to the brutal crackdown and state repression, Shajarian forbid the State TV to broadcast any of his music and almost immediately after the brutal repression began, produced another masterpiece track which scorns the tyrant rulers from inflicting so much pain and misery on the people.

I was glad to hear Shajarian's concert was yet another gathering of Iranians abroad and a manifestation of support for the Green Movement inside Iran. Here is a footage of the crowd singing the unofficial national anthem, Ey Iran, at the end of his concert in the Barbican Hall: