Khiaban No. 86: Women's March for Liberation

Translation of lead article of latest Khiaban, #86 (Sunday, March 6, 2011). Khiaban's online archive is available (in Persian) here.

March 8: Women's Great March for Liberation
Khiaban, #86 / Sunday, March 6, 2011

1. A majority of Iranian women and girls in private gatherings, in casual settings, and in any space that is bereft of state power -- with its police and the morality patrols and the detentions -- take off their hejab [Islamic cover]. In private parties, in their profile pictures on Facebook, out in the nature in mountains, etc., few girls or women would be seen wearing hejab voluntarily. For Iranian girls and women, to be free is predominantly equated with not having to wear hejab. Hejab is something that is forced, an unpleasant necessity. In those spaces where the state has power and presence, hejab is obeyed; however, in any space that is not thick with state presence or empty of it completely, women let their jehab slip or throw it off entirely.

It is only the rule of the Islamic Republic that is forcing and obligating women to keep their cover over their heads. However, wherever girls and women are free and can choose their own clothing, they take the cover off their heads. In the depths of the society, fundamental events have taken place. Girls and women do not want the hejab; hejab for them is a prison, from which they must free themselves. This prison however has ferociously murderous wardens, called the Islamic Republic. The ruling state power is the first and most immediate form of violence that is forced on women on a daily basis. Each day, before leaving the house they must check their hejab before going to school, university, place of work, to buy groceries or go shopping, [visit a sick family member] or to do anything else. Any unintended fault or shortcoming can expose them to verbal, actual or legal violence, directed at them by morality police agents, school principals, police officers, ethics patrols, Basiji's and on and on. Women don't want the hejab, but the system imposes it forcefully and violently.

2. Unwanted pregnancies, whether among couples not married officially or those officially married, are known to occur often. In many cases, for a variety of reasons, women may decide not to carry the pregnancy all the way to birth. Among girls who are not officially married, it is usually because of the social, legal and psychological hell they would face that they choose abortion; while at the same time, some of them would opt to keep their babies if the society provided a supportive attitude that guaranteed the mother and the child physical and psychological security [and peace of mind]. As well, among officially married couples, there are various causes, such as economic or personal reasons, that would push people to such a decision. However, in a society that has made abortion illegal, such a decision would put women and girls through horrendous experiences: unhygienic environments, unsanitary conditions, exorbitant costs, inhumane behavior and actions of some of the profiteers and on and on, have all struck and been experienced by numerous women in Iran. The story of this dark aspect of the feminine experience in Iran has not yet been written. But, its wounds are there for all. A Woman has no right of choice regarding her own body and has no support system [in that struggle]. The Islamic regime has already made all the decisions for her. Therefore, if a woman does not obey, which she usually does not, she'd have to be wandering the banned back alleys. Iranian women do not want such wanderings. They want to end this pain they are suffering. In order to have an abortion, they need medical health facilities that are free, have some standards and are protected. The ruling regime, however, has banned all those things.

3. Women constitute a substantial part of the unemployed. They have the proper education and they want to participate in the building of their society in whatever fields their university disciplines have trained them for, and want to gain their independence. However, clerical/secretarial office work and working as sales clerks [as well as teaching] are the only large labor markets for them. In their [mostly] temporary places of employment, they daily face sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and they make the lowest wages. They are employed in the least stable jobs, have the least rights, and work the most temporary jobs in the labor market. They are exploited much more generously than men are, and they do not have any [legal] means of pursuing their rights and demands. Women want and demand a fundamental change of the [social] relations of the workplace, but the state is the armed protector of the current situation.
...
This list could continue for a long time, and is very long; it will need the voices of all Iranian women for it to be written down.

Women in Streets
It is therefore not without reason that in these two years women have been standing at the forefront of the fight against the regime in the streets. No matter who may retreat, women will not. Collectively, and without exchanging thoughts and ideas in a big conference or gathering, women have realized the importance of defeating this regime. Decades of struggling over their most basic rights have raised Iranian women into unbeatable warriors.

International Women's Day and the Struggle in Streets
International Women's Day, March 8, is [at least] as old as the history of women's fight for achieving freedom and equality. It is a day to organize the struggle; so that through the joining up and connecting of disparate places through time, women can organize the struggle for their liberation. This day has also shaped a particular history of battles and struggles in Iran. March 8 is an innovation in the direction of going beyond women's spontaneous and daily resistances and struggles against oppression, and to elevating them to an organized and equipped level so that this movement can change the society. At different important junctures of history, whether in Iran or elsewhere in the world, it has been in the streets where women's voices of protest have been heard.

The first March 8 after the 1979 revolution, with the announcement of the slogan, "We didn't revolt to go back in history!" turned into a confrontation and a battle between women, people fighting for freedom and communists on one side, and on the other side the reactionary Khomeini's and other religionists' forces who were issuing fatwas against women. This year, too, March 8 is going to re-engage that historical battle in the streets, and attempt to bring an end to this misogynistic system.

Women's Issues Are Political Issues
In order for women to grow, they must break up the current [political] superstructures. That which is official, legal and legitimate, is in complete conflict with the growing vitality of girls and women in Iran. Those spaces that are unofficial, concealed, secret, illegal, black and invisible must become visible, uncovered and official. A fundamental transformation, a complete overhaul, a revolution: that is what girls and women take to the streets for.

The Green Party and Women
We know that the Green Party has also issued a statement for March 8 this year; this and that political figure, this party and such organization [have all done so]. Many are preparing and organizing for women's protests, and trying to connect them up with the general nationwide protests. However, March 8 and women's issues have exposed the true nature of many of the reformists, especially the Green Party. One of the most important criteria for judging any political formation created after the birth of the Islamic Republic is the status of women in such organizations.

By looking at the kind of future promised to women [in their platform/charter/etc.], we can better understand the more general plans of any party or organization. Which one of women's demands and social needs does the Green Party recognize and would fight for? How about, for the elimination of hejab and the freedom of choice for clothing? For the legalization of abortion? For the freedom of choice of who to pick as a spouse? For the unconditional freedom of speech for women? For the freedom of organization among women?

It is enough to take a look at their published statements. Nothing! On March 8, they [reformists] just want women to take to the streets for the freedom of Green leaders. And not even the freedom of all political prisoners, a lot of whom are women. They do not point to any issue of any particular interest to women. They do not paint a picture of future with any particular hopes for women. They only need women's forces to repair their hardly-holding structure. They escape from engaging with any of women's issues since they know that women's problems will not be solved by merely changing a few faces [in the government]. To really solve women's problems in Iran would require a vast and deep-rooted transformation, and the Green Party is against any such thing.

However, the women who will come to the streets will do so armed with stones and a voice. Stones to break the ruling system, and the voice to shape the society into something, the dreams of which they have been nurturing for years in secret. A free and equal society. Freed from organized religion and tyranny, and equal in ownership over social wealth.

Current Necessities of the Movement

Still demanding the same!

This is a part-translation of a longer piece in Persian by Mina Khanlarzadeh. Many thanks to the writer, who keeps a blog at Revolutionary Fesenjan.

Some Current Necessities of the Movement
by: Mina Khanlarzadeh

[...]
The first and most basic deficiency of the movement is the lack of a decision making council that at a minimum consists of activists working for women's rights, unions and workers' rights, students' rights coming from different political trends, rights of national minorities, university professors [etc.] and political activists from different viewpoints. Such a body must be created immediately.

After the February 14 protests, a Coordinating Council of the Green Path of Hope was formed, which we do not know who its members are, and also we do not know how pluralistic it actually is. Let's not forget that pluralism of voices is a favorite slogan of the reformists, which of course they only use when they are addressing the fundamentalists [in the regime] and asking them to let them [the reformists] to play too. Other than that, some of the reformists even stay away from the religious-nationalists. Any coordinating committee or council to be formed for the movement must at a minimum include several people from among activists in the women's movement, unionists and workers movement, student activists, national minority activists, university professors active in the movement, and political activists from different groupings. Otherwise, such a coordinating council/committee would not have a correct understanding of the society [and its demands], and would only pay attention to groups from its own ranks and will remain [willfully] ignorant of others.

For example, if the Coordinating Council had within it some women's rights activists, it would not cancel the March 8th protests; although it did reinstitute it after widespread criticisms. If the Coordinating Council were in contact with workers' rights activists, it would be aware of all the protests and strikes by workers around the country, and could issue statements in their support, thereby creating the conditions for the people to join the workers in their struggle. However, the Council is perhaps completely uninformed about such workers' actions since the word 'workers' reminds it of 'socialism' [...].

Whenever [ordinary] citizens -- those not considered to be regime's base and those who actually constitute the majority -- reach some political-social awareness [that's in opposition to the regime], the regime would call them 'seditious' gigolos who are disrespecting the blood of martyrs [of the 1979 revolution], American or Zionist agents, microbes, [history's] tumbleweeds, CIA spies, etc., or ignore them or with the use of overt violence of its security forces would attempt to disappear them. The reformists [must not use the same methods]. [...]

General Strike
Many are waiting for the workers to go on [a general] strike, and then ask: Why aren't the workers going on [a general] strike]? A general strike is not possible right now for many reasons. First, all forms of independent workers' organizations have been destroyed for [more than] thirty years, and the supporters of such organizations are in prisons, or been fired, or are perishing while chained to some [prison] hospital beds, just like Hashem Khastar, Mahmoud Salehi, or Mansour Osanloo. In order to organize a general strike you need workers' [independent] organizations, which don't exist. Second, many large factories and productive companies were security-privatized [meaning, bought by the Revolutionary Guards], which means that strikes in such militarized plants would have severe consequences for the workers. Third, the [historical] record of the reformists is as problematic as those of the fundamentalists in the eyes of the workers. Even though the workers' conditions are the worst they have been since the revolution, we must not forget that the neo-liberal and anti-independent-union policies have been the overall policy of the entire regime, and are not particular to the current government. On the other hand, the reformists consider the Green Movement as a reform movement, and this too could have led to doubts and suspicions among the workers as a class.

So, now that a general strike does not seem likely, what other means are available [for workers' participation to increase]?

__ One of the most basic necessities is for the participation of unionists and workers' rights activists in the decision-making council of the Green movement [or similar councils formed independent of the reformists but with nationwide structures]; this can strengthen the connections between the workers and the different parts of the movement, and can spread the news about workers' issues, actions and their demands. Indeed, there is a big absence of workers' rights activists to be issuing statements and bringing the workers' discourse into the movement.

__ Another [thing that can be done] is the boycott of imported goods by all who consider themselves as part of the movement. Cheap imported goods [mostly from China] have broken the backs of small producers inside the country, and have caused mass unemployment among the workers [...]

__ One of the bigger weaknesses of the movement is a lack of adequate response to the 'rationalization' of [or, removal of price] subsidies on basic goods. In fact, the elimination of subsidies was the most important events of the past year, and is currently among the biggest [political] weaknesses of the government, but the movement's media lost its chance to use the opportunity to express the protest of the movement [against the subsidy eliminations], exactly because this media is in the hands a particular layer of the reformists with neo-liberal economic tendencies. However, it is not too late. [...] It is here that the reformists must realize that pluralism is a necessity of the movement, and they must find the merits of having a multiplicity of social layers in the movement. By raising the demands of the workers, workers' rights activists and leftist social layers, inside and outside Iran, can combine their protests with demands against the subsidies' eliminations on one of the Protest Tuesdays; which will lead to the growth of the movement [...].

__ Every week, we read some piece of news about hundreds of workers getting fired, or else about protesting or striking workers who have not received pay for several months, sometimes up to a year. In such protests, workers are alone but there is a potential/possibility for the student activists and women activists to join them, and to combine democratic demands and demands for the restoration of human dignity with the workers' demands, since restoring human dignity and achieving democracy are not possible without restoring the workers' rights, and restoring workers' rights is not possible without having real democracy and without respect for human dignity. Workers and the toiling classes know this, and as a result they participate in the protests, even if only as individuals not a social class or layer, and many of them have been killed or are in prisons [...] Workers are present in the movement; it is the movement that must connect with and reflect their demands. [This] of course depends on whether workers rights activists and leftist political activists are present in the coordinating council or the Green media, to issue their statements.

__ Some of the Protest Tuesdays must be used to protest against the conditions of workers in prison, conditions of temporary workers, those who have been laid off and those whose wages have not been paid. Such workers presently participate in the movement, albeit in a voiceless manner, and how painful that some even deny their presence [in the movement]. By protesting against the working/living conditions of the workers [and by raising their demands], first, we destroy the delusional claims by the regime about its popularity among the working classes; second, [we follow the principle that] democracy and justice are not possible without fighting for economic and political justice for the working classes; and third, by bringing into the struggle the workers' [demands and] discourse we create the conditions for the movement to grow and spread. Otherwise, the workers themselves will participate in the movement [as individuals], but their agenda and demands will be absent from the movement.

What about the Kurds?
Some among the Kurds are rightly suspicious of the reformist tendency, and may ask, "Why should we fight in this movement, so that tomorrow when the reformists come [back] to power, we will be their first target?" [trans. note: paraphrased] [...]

[It must reminded that] people who take to the streets in Shiraz, Isfahan, Tehran, Eslaam-shahr, Rasht, Tabriz and ... and who shout out their slogans, have never [thought or] said that they are facing bullets in the streets so that the reformists would come to power. They are shouting out, "Death to Dictator!", "Not eastern, not western; Iranian Republic!", "Mubarak, Ben-Ali; Next is Seyed Ali!" and more. They shout slogans in defense of Mousavi and Karroubi because these two figures have stood with the people and have moved forward with the people; however, very few [if any] slogans are ever heard in defense of Khatami, the flag-bearer of reformists. Therefore, reducing the Green Movement to a struggle for bringing to power the supporters of ayatollah Rafsanjani and Khatami is short-sighted, although the danger of such a reduction does threaten the movement, and can become a deeper problem if non-reformist groups [...] start leaving the movement. The danger is not the coming to power of the reformists; the danger is rather that such an interpretation can lead to the defeat of the movement. [...] The reformists [...] have no choice but to move forward with the people since they have been completely ousted from power, and the regime could not let them back into power even if it wanted to, since that would signify a retreat and would lead to its downfall. Therefore, the most effective solution is to minimize the schism between the ranks of the forces of the people in the streets who want the end of dictatorship and the ranks of reformists. [...]

[The same logic applies to the Kurdish question]. In this view [that sees only a scenario of reformists coming back to power and nothing else changing] Kurds do not believe in themselves as a social force and don't believe that with their participation in the Green Movement they can change the balance of powers in their favor. Green Movement is nothing but the struggle of courageous people who stand in front of bullets and are unafraid of death, torture, and truncheons; and not even prison can silence them, and would write letters from prison and would still continue the fight [...] The importance of the relation/connection between the Kurdish people and these people in the streets should not be underestimated, for such would be a historical mistake [...] It should be needless to say that the Kurds are present in the movement anyway, and have been killed in this movement, but as a unique social force, their demands and discourse is not present in the movement. [...]

First, presence of the Kurds as a social force in the Green Movement can lead to the spreading of information [and awareness] about Kurdish people's numerous problems. Kurdish people's predicaments have not yet been raised as they should have, and the Iranian regime has been able to de-legitimize their struggle by portraying the Kurdish rights activists as violent separatists. [...] The presence of the Kurds in the movement can help eradicate stereotypes created by the regime, and the demands of the Kurds can be raised in a language that is bereft of [negative] nationalism and a view that set Kurds and non-Kurds against each other. Let us not forget that the immense and widespread protests, by many different political forces, following the execution of four Kurdish activists (Farzad Kamangar, Shirin Alam-houli, Ali Heydarian, and Farhad Vakili) were among the achievements of the Green Movement. Many a times before the onset of the Green Movement, may a Farzad Kamangar's would be executed, but no Mousavi's or Zahra Rahnavard's would issue statements questioning such executions, but the Green Movement made it possible that Kurds and non-Kurds from different political tendencies showed their disapproval to these individuals' executions. This is not an insignificant achievement; though obviously it is not enough.

Whether or not the Kurds enter the movement as a social force, there are many Kurds waiting to be executed, and many more other Kurds are daily suffering poverty, unemployment and lack of safety, as well as systematic violence. Regardless of the absence of Kurds from the movement, will there be an inevitable justice and freedom for the Kurdish prisoners? The answer is negative. Any oppression must first be defined and named, and then must be recognized as an oppression by the people as a result of great effort among the people of different layers, and in this process a [concrete] struggle shapes up for the eradication of that oppression. Presence of Kurds as a social force in the Green Movement can define the oppression against Kurds, and so the groups within the movement can come to understand the problems faced by Kurds as violence against Kurdish people. [...]
[...]

International Relations
Green Movement can move [much] more strongly in relation to international events and struggles. Statements issued by university students in solidarity with the student demonstrations in England, women in solidarity with Tunisia and Egypt, and Mousavi's statement in support of Tunisian and Egyptian movements were among the high points of the movement building relations with international events, but of course the number of such statements in the past two years have been very limited. A part of the coordinating council [or various councils] of the movement -- which is supposed to include women's, workers', students' movements as well as political activists of different tendencies -- must be dedicated issuing/publishing statements and building solidarity between the Green Movement and regional and supra-regional movements. [...] The Green Movement must issue real substantive, not clichéd, statements [regarding the current events in the region]. We do need to find legitimacy in the region and the world; that is a reality. For example, we must issue statements in support of Palestinian women and workers, so that the peoples of the region know that the Iranian regime's support of the Palestinians is a pretence, and that the people of Iran are subjected to oppression [like the Palestinians]. For example, [we must issue statements] in support of Libyan people, or the protesting teachers in Madison, Wisconsin, or the Afghans who have demonstrated in support of the Green Movement [...] Every time such a statement [of support is issued and] gets reflected in the international media, it becomes a more difficult job for regime's liars to claim that the movement [against them] does not exist or does not have legitimacy.

Invisible Presence in the Movement
As long as we [...] do not say that we are in the movement, the media can doubt or shed doubt on our existence, and claim that the movement is just a bunch of 'middle class' people from uptown; which god knows what it means! The best way of fighting against this doubt and suspicion mongering is to write various statements coming from various social groups, no matter how small, comprising of workers, university students, women, the unemployed, teachers, mourning mothers [who have lost their kids to the political prisons, or disappeared], and the rest; statements that present to the movement their demands and social needs. It is possible that some will ignore some of our demands and portray them as unimportant, due to the "crime" of being too radical or "against the system' [wishing to overthrow the system]; however, we must insist on our demands and our presence to such a degree that those with more political power and media capabilities would have to take us and our demands into account. It is in such a process, that such groups can be forced into moving forward with the people, or to put it another way, that would lead to more radicalization.

The Women's Movement
On International Women's Day [Tuesday March 8th], it is the best opportunity to combine and connect, by aid of a careful selection of slogans and posters/placards, the different predicaments of working women (whether as home makers or working for wages) with those of mourning mothers, with that of mothers of political prisoners, as well as the predicaments of women prisoners. It is the best opportunity for re-reading, re-remembering and re-asserting women's demands. It is the best opportunity for the women's movement to issue statements and assert their struggle and demands within the Green Movement, and to announce their solidarity with the struggles of women across northern Africa, the Middle East and the rest of the world. Let us not forget that one of the first victories of the women's movement is the creation of a coordinating council in the Green Movement, in which women's rights activists play an active in all its decisions. Success in having a clear and strong voice and entry into decision-making processes must be started from today. Why delay this to the next day?

Video clip (in Persian) of Mourning Mothers of Laleh Park; title of video clip: We Are Standing!

Khiaban No. 85: To Protest Or Not?

Translation of lead article from Khiaban's latest issue (# 85).

Today, March 1: To protest or not?
Khiaban # 85 / Tuesday, March 1, 2011

March 1 protests. Should we go to them or not? It is doubtful that this question has much currency among that segment of the youth and the people who, in a long march lasting two years of struggle, have been fighting one of the most ruthless regimes on earth. What will happen, of course, depends on the possibilities and the collective capabilities.

However, isn't it the case that the call to action has been issued by a council that calls itself the Coordinating Council of the movement, has offices, definitions and particular goals? A council that, just like that of Khomeini's Revolution Council, is suspect [and secretive] and the youth, women, workers and the poor of the society have no place or representatives in it. Hasn't this council put forth such idiotic slogans as, "Oh Mehdi, Sheikh Mehdi [Karroubi]" for people to shout? Isn't their Charter the same [current] constitution, for the abolition of which people in February 14 protests shouted so loudly? So, how can we go to such protests? Why do people go? Is everybody still living with the illusion that this system is capable of being reformed?

Two Views Regarding the People
Are people, as social human beings, akin to docile puppets, whose movements and behaviors are determined by puppet-masters who control everything, by manipulating connected strings, through, say, their websites or satellite television channels or radio programs or newspapers?

Or, is it the case that people are not puppets? That they are human beings, and they work on and engage with the currents and the signals that reach them, and through re-thinking, re-imagining, re-interpreting, re-evaluating and even rebelling against those [received notions], proceed to act proactively?
[...]

A. The Islamic Republic
The Islamic Republic undoubtedly assumes people to be a bunch of puppets, whose heads can be filled with anything you wish. And in order to render our generation into docile Muslim people who believe in their superstitions and not question their rule, they spent stupendous amounts of the oil money, and from the profits of their exploitation of workers, on their Islamist propaganda; and for [thirty-two] consistent years tried to control all schools, factories, all television networks, magazines and newspapers and ... All that, in order to control the puppets in this geographical location called Iran. The result, of course, was a gigantic defeat. Yes, we all read all those books on religion and on morality and Islamic Revolution and on and on. But, we also read thousands of other things too, and also saw and looked at the life around us, and see also what is being done to our society. So now, while they are supposed to be docile puppets kissing Supreme Leader's feet, people are instead shouting in one voice their demand for the overthrow of the system.

B. The Green Party
Previously, we would refer to the 'Green Industry', to distinguish between the people's movement in the streets and the groupings that, with the aid of websites and periodicals and other material capabilities, were producing a particular product that was not the same as the movement of people on the streets. Now, however, those groupings have auspiciously been transformed into a political party. They have published their own charter (Green Charter) and it has formed its own organizational leadership (Coordinating Council [of Green Path of Hope]). This political party has announced its goals as: a return to the [current] constitution; a merciful and lenient reading of Islam; to have a share of state power in order to facilitate implementation of suspended parts of the constitution; preventing the formation of more radical political parties and organizations within the movement; etc., and using non-violent means it wants to talk the government into changing its mind and wising up.

The Green Party too regards people as puppets. They think it is enough to hold the control of the puppet strings in their own hands. As a result, they have started up at least a hundred and some websites and periodicals, and in all of them they provide very similar content. In their view, it is necessary that there be no competing strings. If all the media space is controlled by the reformists, then people will of necessity be controlled by their fingertips. In their view, people do not have the power of thinking, making decisions and acting on their own accord. If at times people do not shout, "Oh Hossein, Mir Hossein", and instead shout, "We are women and men of war, so fight, and we'll fight on!" then this must be because some agent-saboteur must have snatched the control of the strings. The Green Party sees no reason for seeking to find out what people are really demanding, where do the roots of their problems lie, and what they want. The Green Party just keeps repeating its own line: "Bring a candle and a Koran; stay silent and murmur our name!"

C. The Abdicators
There also exist a large group of political forces, in whose view people are puppets in the hands of powerful actors, and not proactive human beings. "Don't go! Don't you see who has issued the call? How come they didn't call for any action when [the regime] was executing Farzad Kamangar, or even during these past few months of executions? How come there exist all these political prisoners, from Mansoor Osanloo to Behrooz Javid-Tehrani to ... (and unfortunately, the list of he political prisoners is so long that it wouldn't fit into any periodical, and requires its own special book), but only Mousavi and Karroubi's detention is worthy of a call to action? And, who said that this particular group is the leader of the movement? Who elected them? Is all of the movement supposed to be covered under their robe? And what about others who are not in the same party but who are in the movement, and have given blood and limb for this movement and have paid some price, what about them?"

Some of these thoughts and utterances are completely right, to the point and must definitely be expressed. However, their conclusion is strange. They say, 'Don't go to these protests if you disagree with this leadership'. And then, they call anybody who goes to the protests, 'members of the green party'. And previously, they would say, "Don' go to the 13 Aban protests." "Friday prayers? Who, with a brain, would go to Friday prayers to demonstrate against the regime?" "Ashura? Isn't it the case that Islam itself brought us to this wretchedness?"

This view too, though it brings up some arguments worth considering, has a major flaw, which is how it views the people. This view too regards people as a bunch of puppets, and not proactive actors who at each [historical] moment is in the process of evaluating, judging, analyzing and making [social] decisions. The abdicators want to disconnect the puppet strings, and the strings controlled by the reformists.

People Participate in Ways They Consider Feasible
Such views, however, are empty of substance and invalid. People are not puppets to be remote-controlled from afar. Before acting, people constantly go through a process of evaluating and making decisions. They wisely take advantage of whatever opportunities arise to open up their own path. Just as no amount of religious books could render people into slaves of Islam, no amount of slogans of, 'Allaho Akbar' [God is Great] by Green Party members can render people into slaves of secret/underground councils.

People evaluate their own resources, see and analyze the opportunities, and they organize their own political actions against the regime and in order to achieve a free and egalitarian society. The degree of their success depends on their resources and their capabilities. The more equipped they are, the more powerful they are, the more organized they are, the more room for maneuver they will have. Obviously, if the peole had their own powerful organizations, powerful unions or political parties, they would not need to wait for such opportunities to express their demands and needs. In such a disproportionately unbalanced war, in which people are heroically standing up, we must try our best to strengthen the movement, to equip it, to distribute and disseminate political, social and class awareness, and use any means necessary to widen the space and domain of collective maneuvering.

The dissident people and the youth in Iran are engaged in a great war in the streets. They know this, and they have not taken to the arena to lose, either. In order to achieve victory against the Islamic Republic, we must help people become more powerful, more organized, more aware and more on the offensive. No puppets make a revolution. However, people are in the process of a revolution throughout the Middle East and in Iran as well.

Tehran:


Shiraz:

Protest Tuesdays in Iran

Now ... What to do about those motorcycle gangs?

Translation of a statement by Raah-e Kaargar.

In solidarity with the people of Iran!

Long Live Freedom and Justice!

Long Live the People's Liberation Movement of the Greater Middle East & North Africa!

On the Occasion of the upcoming Protest Tuesdays:
Iranian people's will is to overthrow the system, and they don't need guardians!

After the grand oppositional protests by the people on February 14 and 20, with open slogans against the dictatorship, the continuation of protests, the spreading of the anti-dictatorial movement's domain [of influence], and the ever expanding of the movement has turned into the immediate demand of freedom-seeking people and the youth. In response to this demand, and based on advice of like-minded people, there came the call for Tuesday protests has been suggested by some youth social networks. Based on these calls to action, the plan is for the people to take to the streets in protest [on successive Tuesdays], for the release of all political prisoners as well to protest against Mousavi and Karroubi's detention on Tuesday, March 1; in support of women's movement on International Women's Day on March 8; and using the presence of the masses of people out on Chaar-shanbeh Suri [Tuesday eve celebrations before the last Wednesday of the year, Iranian calendar] to transform it into a day of mass protests against the dictatorship on March 15. These calls have so far been welcomed warmly by a wide spectrum of political forces, people and organizations, including ours, who resolutely support the protest movement against the current murderous and criminal [ruling] system. We believe that in the present conditions, low cost moves [in terms of possible loss of human lives] that widen the participation of the people in the protests and demonstrations against the ruling system; that provide a larger arena for the flourishing of creativity of the people in the methods of their protests; and solidify the solidarity of different social groups and layers opposing the dictatorship, without jeopardizing the independence of action of each and without concealing the reality of the multiplicity of demands and needs present in the movement -- all actions with such characteristics will be to the benefit of the spreading of the anti-dictatorial movement. Based on all this, we support the call for Protest Tuesdays.

It is within this context that we consider the fourth statement issued by the "Coordinating Council of the Green Path's Hope" as a step backward, a reactionary effort to impose a dangerous schism in the anti-dictatorial movement, an instrumentalist approach seeking monopoly [of leadership] over the people's grievances in order to benefit a particular group, and an unwise action that will lead to the weakening of the solidarity in the anti-dictatorial movement and an effort in keeping the system of the velayate faqih [guardianship of the religious jurists], and a move to prevent the growth and spread of the anti-dictatorial movement of the people, and we oppose it resolutely.

At the same time that social networks, as a result of a process of sharing ideas, have come up with the idea of Protest Tuesdays, this Council, which after the announcement of the planned actions has joined them, completely unilaterally has cancelled the March 8 (International Women's Day) actions. Such an action is an insult to the glorious struggles and fights by our country's women, and is an emphasis on the continuation of the thirty-two year old violent and misogynist ruling system. Isn't all the merciless crackdown on women under the Islamic rule enough? [...]

This same Council, in its third statement, issued before the speech by the intelligence minister, had [previously] raised the demand for the release of the political prisoners as a central demand, as well as to protest the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi. However, after the intelligence minister made his speech -- in which he made threats based on his assertion that the Green Movement had become an anti-revolutionary front -- this same Council, in a rushed, defensive and reactionary effort, and apparently in order to distinguish itself from "anti-revolutionary" elements, in its fourth statement has completely eliminated its demand for the release of political prisoners. And some reformists have stepped even further beyond that, and are asking that the demonstrations on that day be turned into birthday celebrations for Mir Hossein Mousavi. Such efforts not only encourage the spread of a cult of personality mentality but also are ruthless insults to the dignity of hundreds and thousands of political prisoners who have given to the movement with their lives and limb, and have sacrificed everything for the freedom of the people of this country.

While people, on February 14 and 20 [2011] shouted out aplenty slogans such as, "Death to the Dictator", and "Mobarak, Ben-Ali, next is Seyed Ali [Khamenei]", in its fourth statement this Council has decided the slogans for the people, and has asked that only these slogans be used: "Oh Hossein, Mir Hossein [Mousavi]" and "Oh Mehdi, Sheikh Mehdi [Karroubi]". [...] The Iranian people, both in the 2009 protests/demonstrations and in this year again on February 14 and 20, have shouted out the demand for the overthrow of the system the loudest they could have. However, now at a time when the riotous masses who've had enough are shouting the slogan, "Al-sha'b al-yerid esqhaat al-nezaam" (People want the overthrow of the system), all the way from the shores of Tunis to the coasts of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, the regime's reformists are asking the people to put aside the slogan of "Down with the Dictator" and the demand for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic, and instead shout, "Yaa Hossein, Mir Hossein," or "Yaa Mehdi, Sheikh Mehdi!" Such futile efforts to erect obstacles in the way of the raging floods of the people's protests shall be crushed.

[...]

We declare: Denying the rights of women in Iran not only impedes the spread of the anti-dictatorial movement and its growth but is also an insult to the sacrifices and the faultless struggles of the heroic women of our country. It is obvious that the anti-dictatorial movement of the Iranian people is against the house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi and protests those house arrests; however, in a country where thousands of freedom-seeking youths and political and social activists are in chains in dungeons, and where groups after groups of innocent people are hanged for the crime of wanting freedom, nobody has the right to put terms and conditions on political freedoms, or to replace the political freedom of all political prisoners with the freedom of only Mousavi and Karroubi. These two men are not bigger than the people of Iran and their freedom is not the same as the freedom of the people; while people's freedom can guarantee their freedom too. To reverse this equation is to take utilitarian advantage of the explosive potential of people's grievances.

We declare: The era for individuals and tendencies to use monopolistic methods to impose governments, political systems and policies has passed, as has the era for riding the waves made of our youth's blood. People of Iran will get rid of such methods and means along with the ruling dictatorship. In a society, in which oppression and injustice is everywhere, any protest against a particular form of oppression that remains particular and specific, and does not get elevated to the point of overthrowing all oppression, will undoubtedly lead to the oppression to be reproduced in another form.

We support the March 1 move as the first of the Protest Tuesdays, and within the context of the call made by the social networks [of the Iranian youth] for the Tuesdays, March 1, 8 and 15, and we are sure that the brave people and the brave youth of the country will push forth with their common current slogans, meaning, "Death to the dictator", and will crush the futile efforts to subdue this movement that is seeking the overthrow of the system. For us, the protests against Mousavi and Karroubi's house arrests have meaning only within the context of protesting against anybody's rights being taken away from them, regardless of their ideas, ilk or creed; as a result, we persistently insist on the slogan, "Free Political Prisoners!" as a non-sectarian slogan that goes beyond particular groups, and guarantees the strengthening of solidarity within the anti-dictatorial movement of the Iranian people.

Down with the Islamic Republic regime!
Long live Freedom; Long live socialism!

Executive Committee of Revolutionary Workers' Organization of Iran (Raah Kaargar/ Worker's Path) / 26 February 2011

[Original source, in Persian: here]

Birds of a Feather

Khamenei and His Craziness, in their younger days: Ahhhh, ain't they sweet looking?

Ahmadinejad can hardly contain himself at the sight of that ugly face!

Iran: Refinery Workers on Strike

First spotted on Uruknet, from Freedom Messenger.

Iranian Refinery Workers on Strike
TEHRAN, IRAN—The workers at one Iran’s largest refineries have been on strike since last Monday when the opposition movement called for a nationwide day of protest to show solidarity with people in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Abadan’s oil refinery is the largest refinery in Iran. The striking workers announced they have not been paid by the contractor engaged to by the government to complete the expansion of the refinery’s capacity to produce gasoline for domestic consumption.

For the last six months, the wages owned to the refinery workers have not been paid by the government’s contractor. The efforts to expand Abadan’s oil refinery were initiated by the Iranian government amid stringent UN sanctions that prevented Iran from importing gasoline for domestic consumption.

Iran is the world’s fourth largest oil producer but it lacks the refinery capacity to produce gasoline for domestic consumption.

The expansion of Abadan facility was initiated in three phases. The first two phases of the project have been completed. However, the third phase has run into considerable difficulty and is not yet completed.

During a mass prayer gathering on February 4, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini announced “based on reports that I have received, the country will be completely self-sufficient in the production of gasoline by February 11.”

The last phase of expansion for the Abadan facility is stalled despite government assurances that it will be completed by the end of February, 2011.

Meanwhile, the striking workers have no recourse to recover their unpaid wages. The Iranian government has announced that the payment of workers’ wages was the responsibility of the contractor.

See complete report here ...

Iranian Police Using Tear Gas or Poison Gas?

More disturbing news, from International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, about police tactics; in particular, use of some sort of 'tear gas' that seems to be a lot more harmful than normal tear gas.

Tear Gas Used On 14 February Causes Severe Symptoms Among Protesters
February 20, 2011

Shadi Sadr, an Iranian human rights lawyer, told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that at least three people who participated in the 14 February protests have expressed that the tear gas used against the protesters was different from that used previously. According to the three individuals, when they returned home after exposure to the tear gas, they suffered symptoms such as severe nausea, vomiting blood, and loss of voice and their symptoms have not yet subsided.
[...]
“I know of three people who are suffering from pains which were unprecedented as compared to the previous occasions. One of them had severe nausea and vomited blood, to the point where he was seen by a doctor and has had to take tests. One of them continues to have no voice through today and cannot be heard even 10 centimeters away. All three are suffering from severe muscular pains and cramps,” Shadi Sadr told the Campaign. The distinguished Iranian lawyer also said that other people who attended the 14 February gatherings have confirmed the symptoms of this tear gas through her Google Reader. A source reliable to Ms. Sadr told her, “My friend told me today that she and at least three other people are suffering from body aches, sore throat, and severe cold-like symptoms.” They also reported that they were previously exposed to tear gas, but they had never experienced such symptoms before.

Read the complete report here ...

Iron wall around Mousavi's house

Of the signs of desperation we see coming from the Iranian regime, some are more absurd than others. Their latest record-setting performance in the category of absurdly vicious: stealing the body of a martyr, Saane' Zhaaleh, whom the regime's goons had shot dead, by the security forces and then claiming that the man they had killed was a Basij member killed by protesters (even though he was Kurdish and a Sunni, a student of theater literature at Art College, and an opponent of the government); then, not allowing his friends, family and classmates to participate in his funeral; then, when his brother reveals the truth, arresting the brother; then putting pressure on the whole family to go along with the whole absurd insult.

We are now getting news of some record setting in the category of absurdly futile: erecting an iron wall around Mousavi's house!

This is very instructive. Here is the mild mannered, hardly-ever speaking or saying much, impotent misleader or at best reluctant leader leading to nowhere, Mousavi, a political figure who is a former prime minister of this very system [during a very violent early period of the formation of this regime, during which literally thousands of political prisoners were summarily slaughtered in prisons], a very loyal son to the regime, and a person who, even after the government goons have killed, arrested, tortured and raped dissidents who actually support him, Mousavi, is still set on KEEPING the system and its constitution, "Not a word more, not one less!" And this is the treatment he gets!

Now, can you imagine what the system does to anybody who thinks in paradigms entirely removed from an absolutist theocracy?

The system ASSUMES everybody to be a slave to the state.

BUT ... That is exactly what the PEOPLE in Iran have realized, for some (very long) time now. And that is exactly why a great many of the slogans being shouted these days demand the destruction of the system, and nothing less!

Which is exactly why, in turn, there have been thousands of arrests nationwide since February 14 protests, as well as during the weeks leading to it; arrests and detentions and disappearances which continue apace to this day.

Nevertheless, the people's resistance too continues, and there are fresh demonstrations called for, to be held on February 20th. Student organizations are particularly active organizing for the coming protests.

In this context, it is indeed absurdly futile that the regime is spending so much effort isolating Mousavi and Karroubi, as if they are causing the movement, and as if the real causes are not the social misery daily reproduced by the system itself. Regime's leaders are sticking fingers in holes in the dam, while giant cracks are visibly fracturing the larger structure. A good part of the people's movement has moved well beyond reformists Mousavi and Karroubi, and is already planning for conditions in which everybody is really equal before the law, when people's rights are not rented to them based on how loyal they are to the state or based on how much they believe (or pretend to believe) in some particular obscurantist reading of a particular branch of Islam.

Regime's entire house of cards is falling apart, and they are erecting iron walls!

Long Live People's Movement for Social Justice and Freedom!

Building an Iron Wall around Mousavi's house
Kaleme / Saturday, February 19, 2011

Kaleme [a publication very close to Mousavi]: "They [security forces] are turning Mousavi and Rahnavard's house into a prison with very tall, iron walls." These are the observations of some staff members of the office of presidency, physicians and clients at the Matyr Shoorideh Hospital, which is located near Akhtar Alley, in which Mousavi's house is located.

Some of the upright staff working in the office of presidency, in a telephone contact with Kaleme, have informed us that at this moment [security] officials are working very rapidly in order to build a giant iron wall in front of Mousavi's house.

Apparently what's going on around Mousavi's house is what Ahmad Jannati [a reactionary cleric] said at the Friday prayers recently in Tehran, according to which, we must turn the houses of, as he called them, 'leaders of sedition' into prisons for them.

As Kaleme reports, in recent months, numerous limitations were created for the communications between Mousavi and [his wife] Rahnavard with the society, limitations that were intensified step by step. The circle of security restrictions around Mousavi began tightening from around the end of summer, and simultaneous with the attacks on Karroubi's house as well as on some of the maraaje' [Shiite sources of emulation]. These confrontations coincided at one point with a day when journalists were visiting Mousavi, and since has been applied to people from all layers and personalities attempting to visit him.

Six months ago, we entered a new phase of intensification of limitations against Mousavi and his wife, when a van was stationed in front of Mousavi's office [...]. This van was filled with security personnel who would prevent people and personalities from meeting and visiting Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard. At times, some of the visitors would even be detained temporarily, and after some hours of street interrogation, would be freed; others would be taken to detention centers, and only after signing written affidavits guaranteeing not to return [to Mousavi's office], would be freed.

Mousavi and Rahnavard's house arrest began officially after the February 14 protests started, and starting on February 16, all communications with the house have been cut off, and since then we have no news of their situation or of their health. Currently, Mousavi's guards have been relieved of their duties and security forces have taken their place.

Mousavi and Rahnavard's relatives have not been able to get any news regarding their situation, and the security personnel stationed around their house do not allow anybody to get near their place of residence.

After cutting off all communications means with Mousavi and Rahnavard, including telephone lines and the Internet, now with the building of an iron wall around Mousavi's house, their house arrest has entered a new phase, and it is not clear what other plans are being concocted for Mousavi and [Rhanavard] by judiciary and security/intelligence authorities.

[Original, in Persian: http://www.kaleme.com/1389/11/30/klm-48128/]

RELATED: See also this piece on Mir Hossein Mousavi's prime ministership period, during which a most horrendous mass killing of thousands of political prisoners took place:

http://www.iranian.com/main/blog/observing-iran/mir-hossein-mousavi-and-1988-massacre-political-prisoners

Khiaban No. 84: Current Necessities of the Movement

Translation of a lead article from the latest Khiaban newspaper (#84).

Necessities
February 17, 2011

The new oppositional wave turned things upside down across Tehran [on February 14, 2011]. Even the fiercely predatory guards of the dictatorship could not stop people's will from taking to the public arena. Bringing down the dictatorship and starting the foundations of freedom has turned into the collective goal of the youth and the people who have had enough.

The February 14 protests, which occurred across a wide area of Tehran and in pockets, showed new capabilities and at the same time brought out certain necessities of the struggle. Of these important necessities, which have now clearly revealed themselves and seek a solution, are political organization and the tactical organization of the struggle against the ruling dictatorship.

Political Organization of the Movement
The movement in its current conditions is suffering severely from a lack of political organization. Although large numbers of people take to the streets, and by sacrificing in the utmost refuse to surrender the society to the rulers, the movement is still greatly without organization and without a political fabric [to give it coherence and strength]. What does 'political organization' mean? Let us clarify the discussion by use of some examples.

In Egypt, and in the main demonstrations in Tahrir Square, we were not merely witnessing a gathering of the masses of the people. On the contrary, when we were observing the masses of people gathering, we were seeing the [result of the prior] organization of the demonstrations by the youth. There were signs and placards there to declare people's demands and positions. This task of preparing signs and placards requires some level of political organization, in which a number of individuals plan to get such things together, decide on the slogans and demands, and then prepare the signs and the placards and bring them onto the street.

We also observed that loud speakers had been prepared [in Tahrir Sq.] and as organized and managed by the people there, certain individuals made speeches and retold people's grievances. Reading out statements, messages of solidarity, and issuing declarations are among other activities that require the political organization of the youth. Different groups participating in the protests must organize themselves in numerous small cells for exactly such moments [of opportunity to take to the streets], so as to be able to act effectively. All participating forces in the movement must have the right to organize themselves to participate and to speak up in organized fashion about their goals, demands and views.

Perhaps it is not possible to reach a high level of organization over night or over a short period of time, but we should be taking steps in that direction. Any group or even small number of people, and whoever is engaged in this struggle for liberation, must begin to organize themselves politically. This work can begin in any space. In a college or university, those youth wishing to change the status quo can form such cells. Consequently, in some sit-in by the students over the release of their imprisoned fellow students or any other matter, their particular demands could be expressed, resolutions reached collectively could be read out loud, etc.

If such organizational forms take shape, then we can move towards more collective and more connected and all-encompassing moves. For example, from the cooperation of such groups, we can get to coordinated efforts such as the 25 January revolutionary youth of Egypt, to express the demands and expectations of the youth and fight over those demands. The same idea can be adopted by the active groups who work in defense of women's rights, workers and ... In the absence of such political organizational forms, however, the struggle carried out by the people and the youth will continue, but their demands and goals will remain vague and unclear.

For example, we can, these very crucial days, organize ourselves in various spaces, around the following demands:

• Immediate release of the 1,500 detainees of the Feb. 14 protests, without any conditions, without any bail demands, and without any confiscation of any documents.
• Freedom for all political prisoners
• Immediate and urgent stopping of all violence against dissident citizens, whether in the form of torture, executions of political prisoners, or in the form of suppressing public gatherings of the people by the [Revolutionary] Guards [and Basij, etc.]

Tactical Organization in the Streets
Urban street struggle requires organizational effort. Without organized cells, the work of confronting the Gurads is extremely thorny. Several obstacles could be observed in [February 14] protests. First, if everybody goes to Enghelaab Square at a particular time one by one, pretending that they're just passersby on some business there or nearby, the possibilities for forming a rally are lowered. Why? Because the large masses of the Guards are standing there and you cannot stop [individually]. They tell you, "Move on!" and since everybody's pretending to be passersby, they move on, without the crowd being able to reach such numbers as to be able to shout some slogans and to start a demonstration. It is perhaps better to form smaller-numbered demonstrations in the side-streets, and then approach the main [gathering] spaces in organized masses. The simultaneous approach of many small demonstrations toward a common center, arriving at a designated place at the same time is far harder to control.

Or, another matter is confronting the motorcycle units [of the security forces]. Motorized units play an important role in attacking the people. In order to confront and de-mobilize them, some ways and means must be sought, and to an extent certain tools and material resources are needed.

In both these matters of importance, there is a need for self-organized coordinating cells. Even ten groups of five or six people organized in different cells provide an opportunity to organize, support and protect hundreds and even thousands, who would otherwise participate in the protests in individual capacity only and in an unorganized fashion.

Organizing is the most important weapon that enables ordinary people to overcome their enemies and adversaries. Organization must, however, always be accompanied with spreading of awareness. We must always be asking: Why are we struggling? What are we fighting for? What are those things we don't want, and those we do want? Up to this point, one thing is agreed by all: the foundations of the current situation are problematic. The dictatorship must be destroyed from its top [to the bottom].

Confront the Islamic Republic's Dementia

Statement of Executive Committee of Revolutionary Workers' Organization of Iran (Workers' Path / Raah Kaargar)

Confront the Ruling Islamic Republic's Demented Policies of Revenge

The dizzying punch of the million-strong presence of the people on February 14, 2011, has driven the rulers insane. Extortionist members of the parliament, after seeing people's power on the Day of Rage, left their seats to shout slogans, 'Death to Mousavi & Karroubi' in the parliament! Paid clerics conducted a sit-in at Tehran's Arg Square. [After stealing the body of a martyr they themselves had killed] The Basijis and Revolutionary Guards organized a Shiite ceremony, in which they carried the body of martyr Saane' Zhaaleh, a member of the Pen Association of Kurdistan, and by doing so they completed their crimes, and they cracked down on the protests by the students of the Art College [where Saane' Zhaaleh was a theater student]. Those who killed Saane' Zhaaleh and Mohamad Mokhtaari with bullets, were now posing as those burying Saane', and thus threw fresh salt into the deep wounds of his martyrdom. Snatching people's martyrs, shouting 'Death to Mousavi, Karroubi & Khatami' in parliament, conducting vast waves of arrests and organizing utterly and shameless campaigns of lies on the state TV -- all these testify to the fact that the people's move on February 14, 2011, had such an effective impact on the body of the Islamic regime that it has come down with a case of dementia.

The Islamic Republic, which claimed support for the movements of the Tunisian and Egyptian peoples, is faced with widespread infamy, and like a wounded snake is lashing out and seeking revenge. Threats of the nation's attorney general regarding the prosecution of the organizers of the movement, operationalizing other Kahrizak-like [secret torture camps and] detention centers, such as the one in Mesgar-Abaad [on the outskirts of Tehran], attacking the students of Art College, these are all examples of Islamic Republic's revenge-seeking policies. A regime that is in complete international isolation, and in order to break the people's resistance will not refrain from committing any crimes whatsoever.

At the same time that our organization condemns Islamic Republic's revenge-seeking policies and actions, we must raise alarms regarding the criminal moves of the regime against those detained on February 14 [1,500 according to official figures, likely a lot more], against political prisoners and against the reformist leaders, and we call on everybody to use whatever means available to expose these brutal policies. By exposing and shaming to the utmost the Islamic rulers [of Iran], we shall not allow them to place the blade of revenge against the throats of the people who have had enough. It is up to the activists and organizers of the mass movements of the people inside Iran to spread their fight and struggle among the workers and the poor and the dominated classes, and to mobilize ever greater number of people, and to create ever-stronger barricades against the onslaught of the rulers.

Our organization calls on all political activists and democratic organizations to show widespread reaction to these demented policies and campaigns, and by organizing various public actions to spread international awareness regarding Islamic Republic's crimes in Iran. We must not allow the criminal Islamic Republic regime to bludgeon to death our people's anti-dictatorial movement.

Down with Islamic Republic!

Long Live Freedom, Long Live Socialism!

Executive Committee of Revolutionary Workers' Organization of Iran

16 February 2011 / 27 Bahman, 1389

[Original, in Persian: can be read here.]

RELATED: See Fesenjoon for more on related.

Can Molotov cocktails remedy our people's pains?

Translation of article from Gozareshgaran.

Can Molotov cocktails remedy our people's pains?
By: Behrooz Sooren / Feb. 16. 2011

Discourse regarding self-defense on the part of the people -- who daily come under the assault of the security forces of the Islamic Republic in the streets for various reasons -- is one of the subjects of discussion and commentary among the political organized forces and individuals inside and outside Iran. The points of divergence among these forces are reflections of their views on the leadership and the future of the movement, and the fate of the protests and demonstrations, which have accompanied the entirety of the Islamic Republic's three inauspicious decades of occupation of the state power and running of country. In a violent system that the Islamic Republic has imposed on our people, and which has stripped the people of all personal and social rights, there remains no other choice other than self-defense against the violence that this regime has perpetrated against women, the youth, the students, workers and ...

We remember that a year and a half ago, when the vast street presence of the people was the subject of headlines around Iran and the world, many people still spoke of civic/non-violent struggle, and would advertise non-violent methods of fighting against knife-wielding murderers of the Basij and the Sepaah [Revolutionary Guards]. The slogans such as, 'Death to dictator and dictatorship!' were interpreted as misplaced.

Political perceptions and experience of many in the organized forces as well as individuals confronted these conformists and compromisers, and today we witness that the chief slogan of the people on the streets is, 'Death to Dictators', and 'Down with Islamic Republic'. [The slogan of] separation of religion and state is raised, as opposed to the reactionary slogan [proposed by reformists, Mousavi and Karroubi], "The [Islamic Republic's] Constitution, not a word more nor one less!" and the views of the hangman, Khomeini, the darling of the [reformists]. Mousavi and Karroubi have expressed their dreams and ideals in a recent statement: keeping the existing system and returning it to the golden era of their hangman imam [Khomeini].

These dreams are, however, very far from the level of growth of awareness and experience of the people, who in the streets have repeatedly experienced the bloody face of the Islamic Republic. The idea of self-defense, and preparation for confronting the violent forces protecting the regime, is strengthened daily. It is obvious that if there existed the alternative of removing the regime without shedding blood, and with reference to a free vote of the people, not a single person would opt for a violent overthrow.

It is an elementary fact that people do not want wars, and think of peace, freedom and equality. It is also elementary that any revolution necessitates the burden of some costs, including human lives as well as economic costs. However, the truth is that tyranny never leaves the political scene due merely to some wise advice or diplomatic prodding.

The truth is that a system like the Islamic Republic has been busy for thirty-two years deceiving, oppressing, and looting the people of Iran, and it is the truth that hoarding money and wealth is the one thing that gives the system, from its top to the bottom, its stability and motivation. This utopia -- that at some point, the rulers will give up their tyranny and brutality and ask for forgiveness -- can only be propagated by people who find their interests in keeping this system and its constitution.

Molotov cocktail, throughout its history, has been portrayed not as an instrument of violence, but a symbol of resistance of unarmed people in their own defense. A defense against armed forces, who give themselves the right to attack defenseless people when they demand their rights, which are in conflict with the interests of the rulers; armed forces whose only reason for existence is to keep the existing system; who have bases and garrisons, hot and cold weapons, prisons, rooms and instruments for torture; who expropriate large portions of the national budget so as to line up against the hungry masses, to defend the wealthy, and to stop any change to the status quo.

Their forces, however, will sooner or later confront the will of the people, who are countless, who have ingenuity, and who are not ignorant of other nations' experiences, nor those of their own. Many of those experiences have been put into use in recent years, and have been shared on the cyber space as well. These lessons are now available in many forms. Including, how to put together Molotov cocktails for self-defense.

Most certainly, the executions and the street slaughters by the Islamic Republic will be confronted admirably by dissidents in the streets.

DISCLAIMER: Legality: As incendiary devices, Molotov cocktails are illegal to manufacture or possess in many regions. In the United States, Molotov cocktails are considered "destructive devices" under the National Firearms Act and regulated by the ATF.