Hi, all, it’s been a while since I said anything outside the regular updates. It’s been a little hectic lately, but otherwise I’m fine. Today I had the chance to attend a protest at the Federal Building in LA. I got there very early; there were only three other people. It felt a little awkward at first, and I wondered if I was even in the right place. Not knowing what else to do, I just stood with the small group, and regretted not getting the chance to make a sign. One of the people that showed up a while later handed me a sign with pictures of the Shah, and I was given a flag to hold.
As time passed, I waved the flag, paced back and forth for a bit. A truck arrived and the group behind me began to set up. Slowly, more people arrived, and I began to feel a little bit awkward being the only non-Iranian; but people seemed to appreciate my support. We had a couple of guys pass by, just being complete jerks, which was not surprising we would get at least one or two people behaving so immaturely.
We had this one little old man who stepped right out of the bus, had no idea what was going on and he went around asking questions. Everyone around was nice enough to inform him of the situation. He grabbed a sign and protested with us for a while, before going on his way.
More and more people showed up. The few people that were there turned to I’m guessing one to two hundred people. There was one strange moment where one man began to shout anti-Mousavi slogans, and it turned into a heated argument. I only watched from the sidelines, and all other eyes were on him as well. Thankfully it didn’t last very long, and nothing serious happened, everyone was peaceful despite the man’s disliking of Mousavi. Although I don’t think he was for the regime either, holding a picture of the Shah.
After that, the protest went very well, and I couldn’t stay through the whole event, I had to leave early. I returned the flag and sign before taking some last-minute video and pictures. I was careful in making sure I didn’t get anyone’s face, at least not too clearly, which explains a lot of the pictures from July 25. I wish I could have stayed longer, and it felt like quite the honor to stand with them. Everyone was very friendly, and there was such a strong sense of community. I was happy to be there with them, and can’t wait for the next chance I get. I’ll upload the pictures and video as soon as I can.
Well, on to today’s news update!
Newslinks
Iran frees two Karoubi allies on bail: media
Abtahi's case sent to the revolutionary court (Farsi) |
پرونده محمدعلی ابطحی به دادگاه انقلاب منتقل شد
Iran to appoint clerics in all schools: report
Selected headlines from the Tehran Bureau
Many women's rights activists in Iran summoned to court over the past several days (Farsi) | احضار گسترده فعالان کمپین یک میلیون امضا به دادگاه
Former hostage marks 30th anniversary of Iran embassy takeover
Regime fears patriotism: Cyrus tomb blocked as hundreds try to celebrate 'father of human rights'
Tehran set to lose status as Iran capital
Iran warns of crackdown on any opposition protest
Jelveh Javaheri & Kaveh Mozafari of the 1milion signatures campaign summoned to court (Farsi) | جلوه جواهري و كاوه مظفري، از فعالان كمپين يك ميليون امضاء، به دادگاه انقلاب احضار شدند
Fariba Pajouh's father: My daughter cries from the treatment by prison guards (Farsi) | دخترم از برخورد زندانبانان فریاد می زد
Ahmadinejad Gets Cold Reception in Mashhad
Videos
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