Accounts of 22 Bahman from Tehran – Part 3

but I have chosen to be silent. I didn’t get those who saw 22 Bahman as the final day, nor did I get those who thought something magnificent is going to happen. And now…I don’t get all this hopelessness and depression. reforms is fuelled by hope, and it does not involve a move like a revolution. I know this well. It is important that all of us know that we are here to build a better future. Why do we think that to build such a thing we must conquer the streets?

A group that chooses Reform as its purpose must know that in every situation you will need a distinct set of actions. If on one day mass rallies on the streets is the solution, on another day this very solution may not yield good results. We are a nation that continue our excessive ups and downs so much that we burn out, and fall in need of a new source energy, and a new course of action.

I wish something would happen, so that I could write something, but alas, there are more reasons to stop writing, than there are to continue on. What I can write here though is that if an idea is rightful, and if an ideal is truthful, it can reveal itself eventually among people, and through time. We must be careful that our ideals will not turn to hollow and meaningless slogans.

Today, I [still] have great hope in the visionary awareness of our people. I still have hope in alert and watchful families around us. I believe finally the outcomes would be in our favor.

2. I just returned home, beaten up and unhappy. I was in ‘Arya Shahr St. Today was not our day. I wish I could just burst into tears from what has been going on these past months. Anti-riot forces had taken over everywhere. there was no friend, enemy or people, to them we were all enemy. Almost all the batons were electric. I had never beaten with an electric one before until today. I didn’t hear any gunshots fired, but saw multiple people bleeding from their heads, and thousands of eyes filled with tear.

3. I hope you are well[1]. Yesterday after walking for 4 hours I was too tired to write you anything. I can almost say I saw most of the events that took place except [in] the area where clashes took place. I walked from Satarkhan to Tohid Sq , from Tohid to Azadi , from Azadi to Ferdousi and  from Ferdousi to Valieasr. In  the long course [that I walked] I did not see any distinct action from the greens. I mean I did not see anyone carrying a green symbol or shouting slogans. Of course greens were there but they were spread among the pro-government crowd and therefore they were not visible. Only in Ariashahr where Karroubi came , the greens were visible and they were harshly repressed. Large number of policemen in various shapes and colors and forms had turned the rally into a war demonstration and created an unprecedented atmosphere of fear and intimidation. Tohid Sq was full of anti-riot vehicles and guards dressed in war uniforms. The crowed in pro-state rally was spread. But their planning was accurate, although the turnout was not anything astonishing but they managed to form a long rally from Imam Hossein to Azadi. Their plain-cloth officers were everywhere. They would approach whoever seemed suspicious, escort him/her out of the crowd and question him/her. Also anyone who was carrying a bag was stopped and searched.

I heard that they said “arrest anybody who speaks in opposition and leave them in our custody.” They used all the tricks to get people to come which, of course, is not something new: giving out free food, tea, fruit juices, pastries, toys, painting materials for children, sales, Quran fairs and competitions, etc. It’s worth mentioning that the free drinks and pastries attracted more people! The slogans weren’t provocative. Most of them were related to the unity under the leader’s command and were against the United States, its western allies, and Israel. As far as I could hear and see, a direct attack against the green movement was very minimal.

The lack of preparation by the Green Movement was unfortunate. The funny thing is that because they were told  not to look very different from other people, some of them went to extremes: they appeared with a keffiyeh and bread [just like basijis]! Therefore, they were easily counted among those who came for the state. Worst of all, when Mr. Karroubi announced that he was going to Aria Shahr Sq, those people who were carrying green symbols and could generate a demonstration in Azadi Sq, got involved in Aria Shahr and forgot about their main goal: being in Azadi . Of course, I don’t blame this failure on the greens being scared and intimidated. It’s very fortunate that so many of them participated in the demonstration and showed their true colors in Aria Shahr. The failure is due to the fact that in order to show their  non-violence,  failed to maintain their identity. They accepted not having any slogans of their own and looking like other people. I didn’t have any doubt that it would be a failure. The regime is very clever in organizing their forces; the greens, on the other hand, lack this expertise.  For some time it was obvious that they were going to capture Azadi very early in the morning and that they wouldn’t let any independent movement develop, but the green leaders decided, in a very stubborn way, that they wanted to be in the square too. I don’t want to be a pessimist, but isn’t it odd that we made the same mistake for the third time? The first time on Qods day, they had all their forces concentrated in the University [of Tehran] and didn’t let us come close to it; the second time on Aban 13^th, they captured the whole area around the [United States] embassy and again we couldn’t get close to it.

Anyway, we can learn a lot from yesterday’s events if we don’t become adventurous and disillusioned to think, like the opposition thought in the ‘60s, that we can overthrow the system in one day. It is not important at all that they gather people from different cities and give out free food and drink. It is not important that yesterday the police created a war zone. What is important, is that the authorities act subjectively: they consider each demonstration a war zone and they come there to win. The Green Movement, on the other hand, considers itself the winner by default – and this is where we fail. The real challenge with it is the fact that its head is becoming bigger every day while its body is becoming smaller. It shows itself when we least expect it, like what happened yesterday.

[1] This is the translation of an email sent to Agora group by an individual inside Iran