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View events for the week of 6/19/2009

Central Valley Government & Elections

Respect The Iranian Elections -- Hands Off Iran Event

Import event into your personal calendar

Date:

Friday, June 19, 2009

Time:

5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

Event Type:

Protest

Organizer/Author:

a Coalition of anti-Zionists in Sacramento

Location Details:

West side of State Capitol on the sidewalk

Please come to show that you reject the mainstream media's reports that are aimed at demonizing Ahmadinejad for his criticism of Israel and US support of Israel.

Bring signs telling Israel and the US to keep their hands off Iran!

Come also to show that you support the outcome and are fed up with the US propaganda war that's really aimed at destabilizing Iran.

The Zionist forces are desperately at work trying to create an excuse to take military action against Iran. Please come out to tell people you do not to buy into these false reports of election stealing.

Israel is a terrorist state!

Added to the calendar on Fri, Jun 19, 2009 10:13AM

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Comments (Hide Comments)

§Great Event!

by Anti-Imperialist

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 11:39AM

I'm glad somebody's standing up to the U.S. and Israel for pushing for "regime change" in Iraq. I can bet you that the same fake "pro-democracy" demonstrators allied with the CIA who are supporting the opposition candidate at the demonstration in Sacramento today didn't say a word when the U.S. people endured eight years of a non-elected president seizing power through election fraud in 2000 and 2004. Where was the outrage when two elections in a row were stolen from the American people?

I have real problems with the mullahs and the current government in Iran, but nothing compares to the evil of U.S. imperialism, responsible for the killing of millions of innocent people throughout the world and overthrowing over 50 democratically elected governments throughout the world, including the 1953 coup in Iran. Obama, a stooge of the New World Order, is continuing the same pro-war policy as Bush and Cheney. The only difference is that he represents U.S. imperialism in a more polished, sophisticated way.

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§Formula for Success

by Frisk

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 12:28PM

RCP talking point, RCP talking point, RCP talking point. Copy, paste copiously, done!

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§Sounds like a winner

by free Palestine

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 1:01PM

This is an important time for peace loving people in the US to be supportive rather than critical of Iran. Politically savvy activists all realize that the US and Israeli medias are working frantically to get people to buy into the notion that Iran is an evil empire. They hope to stir up sentiments to justify their ultimate goal of using military force against Iran. Hyping up the election rhetoric is just another way to do that.

Some people on the left are unsuspectingly helping the Zionists and buying into the propaganda. On the other hand, there are also Zionists on the left who would like the US to attack Iran. They're now organizing demos to complain about the "unfairness" of the elections.

Please don't believe the crap! This is a time to support the Hands Off Iran perspective. My signs will be critical of the corporate media's failure to recognize Ahmadinejad's very strong popularity in Iran. I hope to see others. Thanks.

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§Complicating the Iran Election Story

by US activist

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 2:39PM

Not quite buying either simplistic narrative about the Iran election I began researching and here's what I found:

It seems the Iranian election may be more complex than simply
1) a bad authoritarian (incumbent Ahmadinejad) stealing the election from a good pro-democracy reformer (Moussavi) supported by a popular movement
OR
2) authoritarian left anti-US Imperialist perspective of good Ahmadinejad is standing up to US imperialism (and Western mainstream media's reports that are aimed at demonizing Ahmadinejad for his criticism of Israel and US support of Israel)
and bad Moussavi and the tens of thousands of Ianian folks in the streets cause they don't like the system are simply US/Western puppets.

It appears that Iran's people and their genuine hopes and desires are being manipulated by in a power struggle between the dominant elite faction in Iran and a minority elite faction with US support, that has tapped into some of the publics desires for change.

Iranian author Azar Nafisi, best known as the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, said:
"In order to win Mousavi had taken up the progressive slogans, which he had previously fought against. I was there at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution when he was the Prime Minister, and implemented many of the repressive measures which he now denounces. I (like many others) was thrown out of the university that Mousavi helped to shut down as part of the Cultural Revolution. The fact that Mr. Mousavi or Karoobi choose to talk of freedom and human rights show the degree to which the divisions within the regime are affected by the resistance of the Iranian people. I think these are the important points about the elections and not only who won or who lost."

Moussaviis not exactly a pro-democracy reformer historically.

Hard-line cleric Askar Oladi made the point explicitly. “All four major candidates are in line with the system,” he told an election rally last month. “So we do not feel concerned about who will be our next president. We should make sure we can maximize the turnout because that high turnout can ensure and secure the future of our system.”

Both sides declared victory before polls closed and results could be counted and both sides prepared for political struggle in the streets, in public and international opinion. It seems both that Ahmadinejad has majority electoral support AND that election fraud is possible (Juan Cole thinks it smells funny http://www.juancole.com/2009/06/stealing-iranian-election.html and his is a well-educated guess, but he accepts its no more than that.). They may have used fraud to both guarantee their victory and to avoid a likely runoff in the four way race.

Dissident Iranian website Foundation for Democracy in Iran Iran.org wrote:
An Ahmadinejad victory would lead to riots in the streets by Mousavi supporters, while an outright Mousavi victory would lead to riots by the IRGC faction that supports Ahmadinejad, our sources in Tehran say.

Newsmax.com reported:
Reza Saraj, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, warned ominously on Monday that the Guards would intervene forcefully if they see the situation get out of hand. “In all those countries where they have had ‘color’ revolutions, they didn’t have a Revolutionary Guards Corps,” he told the Fars News Agency. “We do.” If Mousavi is declared the winner in the election, the Guards will “storm Parliament and occupy it,” he said.
http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/Iran_election_Reformists/2009/06/11/224025.html

1) CORPORATE MEDIA FILTER:
Western corporate media have told the familiar narrative, above. Opinion polls by Iranian media and even one sponsored by a pro-US think/policy tanks say that, "In a new public opinion poll across Iran before the critical upcoming June 12, 2009 Presidential elections, a plurality of Iranians said they would vote for incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad."
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/iran110609.html

Abbas Barzegar writes in the UK Gaurdian:
Since the revolution, academics and pundits have predicted the collapse of the Iranian regime. This week, they did no better.
I have been in Iran for exactly one week covering the 2009 Iranian election carnival. Since I arrived, few here doubted that the incumbent firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad would win. My airport cab driver reminded me that the president had visited every province twice in the last four years – "Iran isn't Tehran," he said. Even when I asked Mousavi supporters if their man could really carry more than capital, their responses were filled with an Obamasque provisional optimism – "Yes we can", "I hope so", "If you vote." So the question occupying the international media, "How did Mousavi lose?" seems to be less a problem of the Iranian election commission and more a matter of bad perception rooted in the stubborn refusal to understand the role of religion in Iran.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/13/iranian-election

2) US MEDDLING
* Seymor Hersh wrote in the New Yorker in August 2008:
Late last year, Congress agreed to a request from President Bush to fund a major escalation of covert operations against Iran, according to current and former military, intelligence, and congressional sources. These operations, for which the President sought up to four hundred million dollars, were described in a Presidential Finding signed by Bush, and are designed to destabilize the country’s religious leadership
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa_fact_hersh

* Newsmax.com reported:
And then, there’s the talk of a “green revolution” in Tehran, named for the omnipresent green scarves and banners that fill the air at Mousavi campaign events. The National Endowment for Democracy has spent millions of dollars during the past decade promoting “color” revolutions in places such as Ukraine and Serbia, training political workers in modern communications and organizational techniques. Some of that money appears to have made it into the hands of pro-Mousavi groups, who have ties to non-governmental organizations outside Iran that the National Endowment for Democracy funds. Reza Saraj, a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards, warned ominously on Monday that the Guards would intervene forcefully if they see the situation get out of hand. “In all those countries where they have had ‘color’ revolutions, they didn’t have a Revolutionary Guards Corps,” he told the Fars News Agency. “We do.” If Mousavi is declared the winner in the election, the Guards will “storm Parliament and occupy it,” he said.
http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/Iran_election_Reformists/2009/06/11/224025.html

The best commentary I've seen on the meaning of the Iran elections by Iranian writer Azar Nafisi, best known as the author of Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/2009613181040285185.html

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§At the end of the day...

by concluder

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 4:29PM

At the end of the day, any direct action concerning the election in Iran will either encourage US meddling or discourage it. The goal of this event is to discourage it. The the other event will only encourage it.

USA: Hands off Iran!

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§Respect Iranian people

by eroni

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 5:41PM

These are reminiscent of comments coming out of Islamic Republic of Iran’s TV. Well I have news for you. Your days are numbered.
This is not a Palestinian and Israeli issue. Stop stirring emotions and stop seeking enemies in hopes of legitimizing your cruel government. Whether state of Israel is terrorist government or not has nothing to do with student movements in Iran. Why is it so hard to comprehend that Iranian people fed up with Islamic Republic of Iran and their totalitarian government?
Iranians fed up with restriction, and a government who has denied them basic human rights.
Stop stealing Iranian student momentum. Shame on you, and shame on your replies and shame on thinking that Islamic Republic of Iran speaks for Iranians.
Ps.
You aint no che guevara. Since when lobbyist are revolutionaries.

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§Sauce for the geese?

by Dan Elliott

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 6:31PM

Thanks to "US Activist" for thoughtful comments and links. I've been trying to read up on this situation this week, and have realized how little I know about Iran despite having been focussed on Middle East politics for several years. But I'm catching up fast, thanks to sources like CounterPunch, Dissident Voice.org, and Global Research, plus a few others. I've been esp. impressed by one Rezai Fiyouzat's writings in DV, also by Jas Petras and S Lendman at GR, and by Paul Craig Roberts (not my favourite writer on other topics) at Counterpunch.

I see on this page something not included in the announcement itself, ""a Coalition of anti-Zionists in Sacramento". This interests me, since I think I may still have something of a reputation here in Sacto as an "over-the-top, ultra-rabid anti-Zionist crackpot". I think I know most of the overtly anti-Israel/anti-ZPC minded activists in town but nobody told me this was being planned until a San Francisco anti-ZPC friend fwdd this to me. So I'm curious to know who or what orgs put this together.

I should say I'm no fan of theocracy whether Islamic, Mosaic, or Christinane; neither do I buy into justifications of Tien An Men. But the more I read and watch about this, the less sympathy I have for these "green revolution" protesters. No doubt many are sincere idealists; no doubt the regime they protest against is no exemplar of respect for human rights. However at a time like this, when Iran is squarely in the US/Israeli "War On Terror" crosshairs, looks to me like the Iranians need Unity first of all, and second, Stability. It's clearer and clearer that the protest movement has come under the hegemony of the peddlers of "color revolutions". Well, actually the whole premise of the protest movement has been "if we can't win at the polls within the system, we'll go outside the system, provoke as much disruption & violence as possible, and hope people blame it on the other side".
The Mousavi people could have demanded a recount, a review of the election by a group of Islamic or other acceptable states, or presented hard evidence of the wrongdoing they claim occurred. More I think about it, the less I like these "greens". (sic).

Having been clubbed by the SF Tac Squad a cpl times it's hard for me to find sympathy for cops clubbing demonstrators. But people, no matter how "sincere" who buy into the US/Zionist "color revolution" koolaid aren't going to get any support from me. I hate to see anybody suffer but in this case I think they're bringing it on themselves.
However if I was the Head Ayatollah, instead of sending in the Holy Tac Squad, I'd consider just turning loose the main body of grassroots Ahmedinejad supporters, who I understand have been holding anti-Mousavi demos that dwarf these "green" events.
So says The Fearless Spectator:)

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§heloooo usa only permits protests in A CAGE

by Dick Diebold

Sun, Jun 21, 2009 11:58AM