Iran Election Stories From Friends and Family

From Iran today:

March 15, 2010 Warnings against celebrating the fire festivities

My son reported that at school a 25 year-old Basiji came and spoke with the kids about the dangers of celebrating Chaharshanbeh Soori – the fires and fireworks. He said the guy made the kids feel bad about celebrating. Another kid I spoke with said the same happened in his school. However, it seems many people are not paying attention to the warnings. We invited a school mate over the same day the kids had their talk and the school mate said he couldn’t come over because his school service (cab) driver was taking all the boys out to but fireworks! So much for towing the party line! Unless they figure out quickly how to get the cooperation of everyone, this gum’t has lost the war.

My sig other was at the store down the street when an old man told him that this gum’t had really messed this celebration up. He said that in the past Chaharshanbeh Soori was a fun but quiet celebration where people would get together and build bonfires in their neighborhoods, jump a bit and it was over. But NO the mullahs had to go and build a fireworks factory in Iran and ban bonfires! He blamed these guys for bringing all the fireworks and dangers upon themselves.

From Iran today:

March 14, 2010 Let me Explain

Chahar Shanbeh Soori takes place the Wednesday eve before the Iranian new year, or No Ruz. I don’t know how Zoroastrians celebrate it, but the rest of us Iranians usually get together with friends, party, light off firecrackers and light up numerous bonfires that we then proceed to jump over. When we jump over the fires we say, “Zardieh man az toh, sorkhieh toh az man.” (which means something like – all my yellowness (impurities) to you, and all your redness (clean, freshness) to me). It is symbolic of purifying oneself of the junk of the old year and entering the new year clean and pure.

In the past few years this particular celebration has gotten out of hand. The firecrackers are literally deafening. People get limbs burned and blown off. Houses catch fire (the usual where firecrackers are used). The atmosphere has also in the recent few years reflected the dissatisfaction and protests of the youth. About five years ago Chamran Blvd looked like a war zone. A police car was set on fire there and it was out of control. The very next year the authorities clamped down and made this ceremony illegal on main thoroughfares. We have had three years of tough laws and LOTS of security personnel out on the streets the days leading up to the ceremony.

This year is even tougher. I read on one website that a government official explained that their goal was to eliminate this ceremony from the Iranian scene within the next two years. See, it’s talk like that that gets them into trouble. This ceremony is a very old, cultural ceremony. When I was a kid we used to get together in our neighborhoods and jump over fires. It was fun – but not a big deal. We’d hear firecrackers. We had a great time. A few years ago they made it illegal to light fires on the asphalt – an attempt to eliminate the ceremony by making it impossible for people to light fires in their neighborhoods and do their thing. So, people moved out of the neighborhood and lit many more (and louder) firecrackers, because they weren’t allowed to light fires anymore. It is really twisted now frankly.

But the fact that government officials talk about the total elimination of this ceremony gets people all riled up. They see it not as a safety issue, but as yet another assault on their cultural heritage by this totalitarian pseudo-Islamic regime! Many people say, “We have one night of shadi (festivity) and this government wants to take it away from us.” I certainly understand the safety issues. I lived in the US when they went through a similar analysis and made free wheeling fireworks illegal – now one has to get a permit. But I think they did it in a much more reasonable manner. The government officials said they that while they did not want to eliminate the New Years tradition, they did want to make it safer. And so you have to get a permit to light certain types of fireworks there. Here, in Iran, on the other hand, they have stated that they want to eliminate the tradition completely as it isn’t Islamic.  Ayatollah Khamenei even went so far as to declare it Haraam (religiously unclean) this year. Well, frankly, that makes people resist.  Although Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi turned around and declared that it was religiously ok for people to celebrate.

I have heard firecrackers go off every day and night now for the past week and a half. It is music to my ears.  Everyone I know plans on jumping over bonfires on Tuesday night. But the government is flexing it muscles. Just yesterday I was out with a friend at Afifabad (the “IN” place for young people to hang out these days.) There was a heavy police presence as usual. But somehow it felt different to me. I felt tension in the air. Then I heard sirens and saw two cop cars drive quickly down the street – one filled with young men and the other with women. They were telling people to get out of the way. A cabbie I spoke with later said that he had observed similar incidents lately. He said the government was picking up the youth and keeping them in prison until after Chaharshanbeh Soori to prevent them from celebrating. A short time later that night I saw Sepah officers and eventually military clothed personnel on the street. So I guess it wasn’t my imagination. It is tense this year – particularly after the summer of discontent we have had here! Nothing is calm. Nothing is normal. Tension fills the air.

From Iran today:

March 11, 2010 What do we do with all the graffiti?

Cities around Iran try to do a bit of spring cleaning and get their cities beautified in preparation for all the No Ruz travelers this time of year. Our cities really do put on a fresh face. It’s great. However, this year we have the problem of political graffiti. What to do about that? I’ve seen where they have attempted to remove it and have given up. Only the strong stone walls seem to be able to withstand the pressure hoses. Painting over them does not eliminate them. So, many attempts have been abandoned. Recently they have tried covering up the graffiti with murals. But you can’t do that with every wall – especially private walls. And then they only get the graffiti they can see from the cars. When I went for a walk the other day I saw lots of fresh graffiti – all at angles the cops can’t see when they are on the prowl. But it is fresh and it is there and the PEOPLE are NOT erasing them!

My sig other saw graffiti on a university bathroom stall. One said nasty things about AN’s mother and the other said, “Marg bar mah ke goftim marg bar shah!” (Death to us who said death to the shah).

From Iran today:

March 8, 2010 Chahar Shanbeh Soori is Getting Close – Let’s stamp it out!

I drove my parents to the airport today. They will be in the U.S. for over a month. Lucky them! They get to breathe freely for awhile!

On our way to the airport we drove along the Dry Riverbed Highway. Street cleaners were busy gathering broken branches, boxes and anything flammable and burning them along the river. My mom commented (something to the effect), “So, they are doing their darnedest to make sure no one burns bonfires this year!”

As I was waiting for my parents to take off I had the chance to talk with someone who lives in the Shaheh Cheragh (mosque) area. He said the other day the neighborhood Basijis came to his door with a calendar and flowers and something else as a friendly (PR) gesture from the local Basijis. Sheesh! As if ANYONE will EVER forget what they are REALLY all about. I asked this person if he would ever forget what had happened to the people at the hands of the Basijis this summer and he said, “No.”

They haven’t come around to the homes in my area – but then again I heard that our neighborhood was one of the only ones in Shiraz shouting Allah-u-Akbar on February 11! (22 of Bahman). I guess we are a lost cause.