Despite Warning, Thousands Rally in Iran

Friday 18 September 2009

by: Robert F. Worth  |  The New York Times

Despite Warning, Thousands Rally in Iran
Tehran sees new protests of tens of thousands. (Photo faramarz / flickr)

    Beirut, Lebanon — Tens of thousands of protesters chanted and carried banners through the heart of Tehran and other Iranian cities on Friday, hijacking a government-organized anti-Israel march and injecting new life into the country’s opposition movement.

    The protests, held in defiance of warnings from the clerical and military elite, served as a public embarrassment to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had hoped to showcase national unity just two weeks before he is set to meet Western leaders for talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

    He used the annual rally for Jerusalem Day, also known as Quds Day, to deliver a fiery anti-Israeli speech in which he called the Holocaust "a lie" and impugned the West again for its criticisms of Iran’s disputed June 12 presidential election.

    Click here for more on protests in Iran.

All republished content that appears on Truthout has been obtained by permission or license.





     

»



Comments

This forum is moderated by software. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your comments to go live and avoid posting the same comment multiple times.



How sad. The protesters are

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 12:54 — Anonymous (not verified)
How sad. The protesters are being used to unravel Iran from the inside while America (Israel), Russia is planning to take them apart from the outside. How terribly sad.


Let's see... the liberals

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 13:06 — Anonymous (not verified)
Let's see... the liberals support the Iranians who object to their government, but lambaste those in the US for doing the same. Yep, another liberal double standard - no one can protest except them.


The protesters, if they were

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 14:31 — Aaron Aarons (not verified)
The protesters, if they were really against oppression, might have chanted something like, "Free Palestine, Free Iran!" or "Down with Israel, Down with the Mullahs". Instead, they tried to undermine the pro-Palestinian thrust of the official demonstration, rather than go beyond it. I don't see how anti-imperialists can support this Iranian opposition, no matter how much we oppose the Iranian theocracy.


Why do you reprint yet

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 14:50 — Anonymous (not verified)
Why do you reprint yet another Iran is bad hate article, witnessed by a guy in Lebanon? In most of the Middle East allied with USA, protests are not allowed, much less elections. They don't even have riot police since people are arrested if they speak openly or gather at all.


Reporting from Beirut? I can

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 18:42 — Anonymous (not verified)
Reporting from Beirut? I can do that from Kansas.


Amazing, I would have

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 19:40 — Anonymous (not verified)
Amazing, I would have assumed all intelligent people no matter their party, would be in support of free thinking Iranians. Free thinking is a phrase that should be adopted by the 'right'. The follow the leader standard, even when it is as ignorant as Rush, Beck, etc. can not help America.


Let's see... the

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 20:29 — Saint Charlie (not verified)
Let's see... the conservatives do nothing while a madman burns the country down and accuse anyone criticizing Bush an "Un-American." Another bout of conservative hypocrisy.


It is good to see that

 Sat, 09/19/2009 - 20:45 — Saint Charlie (not verified)
It is good to see that humanity cannot be beaten down and forced, no matter what stands in its way. To the gentlemen above me, may I state that the conservatives did nothing when Bush burned the country down but now go crazy because Obama is trying to fix what he can, but they're mad because...what was that? It uses money?


18:06, Not to quibble over

 Sun, 09/20/2009 - 02:06 — Anonymous (not verified)
18:06, Not to quibble over finer points, but I'm a liberal, and I support the Iranians who object to their government. May they indeed unravel Iran from the inside. Achieve progress in civil rights, women's rights, rights for LGBT persons, free speech rights, the separation of "church" and "state". But if that makes me a conservative, so be it!


I find the protesters very

 Sun, 09/20/2009 - 02:16 — Anonymous (not verified)
I find the protesters very impressive in their rapid, intelligent and strategic unification in action. They are saying "No" to Ahmadinajad's fascist demogoguery and call to hatred, ignorance and bigotry. They will win.


Please leave the Iranians

 Sun, 09/20/2009 - 08:18 — Anonymous (not verified)
Please leave the Iranians alone. They do not need our support. Every time we stand in their support we give the regime the reason for hitting back. Let them take care of their business. They brought the Shah, with all his might, down. These pions have little chance of survival before the uprising. Long live the Revolution.


Do you mean that liberals

 Sun, 09/20/2009 - 09:44 — Anonymous
Do you mean that liberals lambaste those in the U.S. that object to the U.S. government or the Iranian government? I assume you mean the latter and I'm responding to that. Iranian citizens objecting to their own government and American citizens and organizations objecting to the Iranian government are not the same thing. Iranian objection takes the form of protest; American "objection" would likely take the form of bombs. Folks in the U.S. that support Iranian protesters would prefer not to see those protesters' country and families devastated by war. There is no double standard.