Silent Protests Wage On, Police Hand in Hand with Protestors
Tensions continue to rise in Iran, five days after the contested election between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Mir Hossein Mousavi. Earlier today, Iranian protesters staged a massive silent demonstration demanding an entirely new election, not just a recount as Ahmadinejad has offered. We've seen footage coming into YouTube today from these silent protests. This clip illustrates just how many Iranians - young and old - are joining together to fight what they believe to be election fraud and government corruption.
Mousavi himself called another large-scale protest for tomorrow - despite fears that the Iranian voluntary militia, the Basij*, might crack down even more harshly than they have to date if the demonstrations continue. Eight protestors have already been killed. But there are reports that factions are growing within the country's leadership and the Guard itself, so it's yet unclear whether the government will respond to the demonstrations with a more aggressive approach.
This is a surprising video, which may possibly speak to the rumors that there's not a unified police force against the protestors. The video is especially interesting because it was posted by user Mousavi1388, who has been uploading some of the most valuable raw video footage of the violent protests since the unrest began last Saturday. He has captured Iranian police and protestors standing side by side in a video he titled: "Police and Crowd Iran Hand in Hand - A CRUCIAL MOMENT". Take a look.
* Note: corrected from earlier post.
2 comments:
The Republican guard has NOT attacked the protesters, as far as I know. The groups attacking are citizen militias called Baseeji, or something like that. Please keep it straight. There is a big difference between citizen militia thugs and a disciplined wing of the military attacking the citizenry. There were some reports I read on Twitter, yesterday, of the military and the police PROTECTING the protestors from these militia guys.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Basij Militia are just disbanded outright, or take the blame for things. I've seen at least one pretty brutal video involving their Taliban-like ways. I don't know if they are on a list of terrorist groups somewhere.
I'm glad that the protests have been, by and large, peaceful. I hope they remain that way, and that no one else gets hurt or killed. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
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