Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Iran, A World Watching

In what is the largest protest by Iranians since the 1979 revolution, mobs of nonviolent protesters have saturated our tv's and tweetdecks. Nonviolent protests met with violent Iranian authorities or militias. It is both inspiring, and terrifying, to those of us who can, so easily, take for granted our life in the US. Although we are no strangers to stolen elections (see 2000, Bush v Gore), in the United States a stolen election is the outlier, not the norm. Most importantly, these events make one appreciate freedom of speech.

At this moment, what Iranian civilians are saying is putting them in harms way. Authorities are monitoring twitter (one of the only means of communicating outside the country) searching for dissenters. Just to get a message outside of the country requires more internet savvy than I can comprehend. Imagine for a minute, armed men kicking your door down and arresting you because of something you said on twitter.

The movement for change in Iran needs our support more than ever.

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