Anonymouse

As if by magic something

As if by magic something rather strange happened just now. A little earlier in the thread, someone had mentioned something about the comment I had made about Avesta and Rig Veda. I left it unanswered.Life is strange, and spiritualists like me find coincidence always interferes and helps me along. Well it just so happened that I came across this video:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ptaDb1j4Dg&fulldescription=1&client=mv-google&gl=GB&hl=en-GB 

Enjoy.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

I am afraid that am I

I am afraid that am I neither pro or anti-Islamic. I do have a higher moral order in mind. We cannot have the system that is dictating Iranians to be slaves. I will not fight them with guns but with higher principles based on peace. These people are not in charge of Iranians. They just have guns. They might as well be aliens.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

Dear Mr Mostofi

khaneh az pay bast viran ast... you're worried about capital punishment?

There are countries in the west with years of functioning democracy that are still debating the capital punishment issue. 

Maybe this is why your 30 years of writings have not gotten anyone anywhere. Please focus on the task at hand before branching out into the legal changes you want to see including capital punishment. As much as I am against capital punishment myself, I don't think now it's the right time to change focus.

People in Iran are trying to take it one step at a time, fighting with the same language and same tactics that  are familiar to the other group, making sure that they are not being labeled anti-islam or mortad or kafar, not giving them any excuses.

They don't need some out of touch Iranians throw in their anti-islamic slogans and risk this people's lives more than they are now.

IRANdokht

They all accept the IR as

They all accept the IR as legit for Iran.  We Iranians cannot have capital punishment for any reason; be that reason religious or otherwise. 

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

Mr. Mostofi how do

Mr. Mostofi how do you know "they" put Islam before Iran?  There was no violence in Iran pre-Islam? If so why the need for non-"violence"? And don't tell me it was in response to Islam. Besides why be stingy and ask "them" for IDs?  

By the way, you did not say what your avatar say? 

Everything is sacred.

They all put Islam above

They all put Islam above Iran.  Islam condones capital punishment, and non-violence does not.  Moreover non-violence links to pre-Islamic Iranian philosophies, and is deeply buried in our culture.  Simple.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

The current

The current leadership of this green movement are namely Mousavi, Khatami and Karoubi.  You can add to them people like Shirin Ebadi and other student and women movements leader who are not as much recognizable.  I think recently the late Beheshti's son has joined the frey too.

The strategy of all of the above has always been to demand rule of law and equal protection under the law.  This is not new and I am not making it up.  It has been like this from the beginning of the revolution.  Now this demand is gaining momentum and in the forefront more than ever.  What else do think they are saying or asking for? 

Everything is sacred.

It is wrong to leave our

It is wrong to leave our destiny in the hands of others. When we show our peaceful unity by acting in union then we have confirmation that we are together. This is why I insist on next Wednesday. We have to show the world that we can stay at home in the name of peace and non-violence. That will get the attention of all who want to bring violence on true Iranians that put Iran above everything.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

You are not serious?!

If we don't like the fact that the leadership has no strategy,  it does not mean that we should redefine terms such as strategy and goal and cast them as the same.  Enough said on my part.

Goal and strategy are

Goal and strategy are the same :-) You use various tactics to get there. We're not going to see rule of law and equal protection any time soon but imagine when that happens.  It is ultimately achieveable and I believe that is what they are fighting for.

Everything is sacred.

Anonymouse

Rule of law is a goal.  Theoretically, you need a strategy to get there.  Thanks for your prompt responses.

Mehraban after the

Mehraban after the election day Khatami and Mousavi didn't "ask" people to come to the steets.  People came to the streets impromptu and they supported them and said they have the right to be there.  They especially didn't ask people to come to streets after things got more violent.

People come to streets by their own consent.  There is no plan.  News to gather somewhere travels mouth to mouth.  Some burned motorcycles and buses and many didn't approve.

The strategy is implementing the rule of law and equal protection under the law.  

Everything is sacred.

Yes, Khatami, Sazegara, I am not sure if directly but Mousavi.

Without a strategy they still call people to the streets.  What is their strategy? 

Mehraban who is

Mehraban who is asking people to come to the streets?  Have you heard anyone by name make any announcement?   

Everything is sacred.

May I?

I think, If I may (while being with the program) that asking people to come to the street while the Basigi's have orders of shoot to kill is at best irresponsible.  Forgive me for stretching this further than it may (?) need to go.  

If anyone has an idea, regardless of inside or outside of Iran they should speak up. 

afarin!

"now they're trying their approach.
So let's get with the program. Their program. They don't need to listen to our solutions. We need to listen to their's ;-) "

very well said!!!

IRANdokht

Ey baba

Mr. Mostofi I swear to god (that neither of us believe in) and on my grandparents' grave (that I believe in) that bringing "down" this regime is not "easy".

I think you may have had one too many drinks tonight.  What time is it in UK? I'll mention general strike tomorrow in my final blog and we can take it there if you like.  Nothing will happen on July 22nd, nothing of value, this line and this pointer ;-)

I will try to make it easy for you, as a friend. Take all that you've written in the past 30 years and flush it down the toilet.  They once said American economy is so and so and then they flushed it down the toilet.  Now your solutions can't be any better than American economy, can it? So nothing personal.

As I said in my Hola Amigos blog, this is their time and their movement.  They've listened to everything you and I and others had to say and flushed it down the toilet and now they're trying their approach.

So let's get with the program.  Their program. They don't need to listen to our solutions.  We need to listen to their's ;-)

Everything is sacred

What the people of Iran

What the people of Iran should do is this.  I am not the ruler of Iran, but I can say that there are no Astrologers in or out of Iran, that I know of who would disagree with what I am about to say.  We all agree that this is the best strategy.

If you are a leader of Iran, and you can trust in Astrology, then you will feel a shiver up your spine when I tell you that next Wednesday the 22nd of July is a very important Eclipse, that will be a perfect setting for a major new action.

What I want the people of Iran do to, is to talk as much as they can about the 22nd and get the regime to think about what it can do if no one went to work.

Oh I know it easy for me to say this.  I am a taghooti in UK and not suffering.  Oh I know that people's livelyhood depends on whether they get sacked for not going to work.  Well that boss of yours should shut up shop.  If he does not, then he is with the mullahs.  The people should not shop either.  The whole country should stay at home.  That way the silence in the streets will shatter the mullahs belief that people listen to them.

People do not listen to you mullah.  22nd of July will the darkest, the most silent Wednesday ever in the history of Iran.

Shut down everything in the name of Peace.  Once we can do this, then do it every Wednesday, and watch it gather support.  This is the first step.

If I see with my eyes that the people of Iran are listening to me, and the mullahs representatives come here and debate, then I will destroy each one of them in a decent civilized discussion.  Our power against their bullets and clubs is absention.  They cannot drag us out to make bread or supply electricity or oil to them.  They are finished.

We Iranians rule Iran, not the mullah.  We put Iran first above everything else. 

As Mansour would say Jashne Setareh has started.  We will get rid of these monsters with joy and laughter.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

I have written at great

I have written at great lengths for the past thirty years, what the strategy should be. In those days we did not have the internet, and when forums started we had ones that crashed all the time. Iranian.com did not exist.

We have come a long way to get around the likes of BBC and the like who control the world media. To me that is where the most important component of awareness lies. If the media decided right now to raise the Iranian awareness they can do it in a week or less, and get rid of the regime in Iran.

The Seyyed/Theocratic regime in Iran has no public support. It may run and protect the machinery of state it has effectively hijacked from the people of Iran, but it is isolated in what it wants to do. The people of Iran who put Iranian culture of Nowruz first and foremost, have effectively ignored them.

The regime in Iran can be toppled if the right questions are asked. The questions to ask the regime are simple. "What would you do in the face of a peaceful non-violent general strike by the people of Iran?". Such a question would bring some reality to the violence beget violence mindset currently prevailing in the world media.

Think of the possible answers the Seyyed/Theocrats can give. You will realise that any answer would make them look weak. So there is a way to show their weakness. The media could easily lead a campaign to show the weakness that the regime has against a non-violent national strike.

Now we ask ourselves, why are we where we are? The answer to that question is simple. The US needs to have an enemy in the area in the wake of collapse of the USSR. No one in the world right now has the agenda of the Seyyed/Theocrats and their dogma. It has been around for 1400 years and they are just warming up. They make the perfect enemy.

The other reason for having these people in Iran, is that Iran can be an economic giant with its vast human and natural resources. The Shahanshah was encouraged to purchase far too much military equipment as a proxy for US defense then, and when he refused to engage Saddam and buy more arms, Khomeini was brought in and he accomplished just what the US wanted and we are where we are now.

If Iran, and the whole of Western Asia was allowed to grow without too much going into useless capital intensive projects like nuclear equipment, then Iran's goods and services would be far too much competition for the existing industries around the world. This area of the world is well known for being the cradle of civilization and its ancient history and glory will reaasert far too much pride for the existing situation.

It is then best to keep the people of Iran well and truly under a dire warmongering regime that stifles any growth in any area outside the military industries and so keep Iran at bay. The last thing they want is another Japan or Korea in West Asia.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

Strategy

It is awe inspiring and we're all more or less speechless.  The strategy is to have rule of law, plain and simple.  I believe this has been the dream of Iranian people after the revolution.  They are tired of ruthless vigilantes.

It is like in US when some would lynch or otherwise kill blacks and get away with it.  MLK and the civil rights movement fought for equal protection of law. 

Everything is sacred.

On this topic I am so hesitant to have an opinion

What the people in Iran have done is so awe inspiring that I am too humbled to express an opinion freely as I usually can.  You have used the word that whirls in my mind as well "Tactic" .   I can see the Tactics but not the strategy, there, I have said it.   I already feel guilty! 

For whatever its worth, of course the people of Iran have my support in whatever they choose to do to make their situation better. 

Other means of non-violence

Mehraban I really understand the worry that we all have for those protesting.  When we call home on phone what is it that we all say?  "Be careful".  Mind you we say this to our old parents who in return tell us they don't have the leg to go out much less protest :-)

Imagine the worry of those who are there or have children in their 20s or 30s.  That worry is another subject for another blog all by itself.  Many forbid their kids to even go out and play much less participate in street protests.

Now we are not giving any particular advice or encourage them to protest more or in any specific way.  We are just supporting them.  Whatever tactic they choose has our support, for the most part.  I can tell you they want a non-violent movement to air their concerns.  They know other methods will only lead to more bloodshed and no one will even know about their concerns.

There are not that many kinds of non-violence movements.  The word is clear enough.  Astrology or meditating or yoga while non-violent, don't do much in terms of moving a peace movement.  They are good for relaxing but not for political purposes.

Many of the things we hear such as setting up a defense fund, making a list of those who are arrested, resisting the attempt to hide this under the rug, etc. are all tactics that are effective and keeps the regime in check.  Trying to set up legal street rallies or setting up more political parties or newspapers are all non-violent tactics.

It really takes some courage to go and confront the riot police and basijis in full gear.  Not everyone can do it but many watch from aside and unfortunately as we've seen that is dangerous too but so is living under a dictatorship.  You never know when your number is up.

Everything is sacred.

Dear Anonymouse

Thanks for your response.  I am for the most part on board with what you say. But I am thinking that this non violent approach is new for us Iranians and if someone comes along and says he/she may have a different non violent way I would like to listen.  I was hopeing that Mr. Mostofi would come back and describe how his approach would be applicable to the present situation in Iran.  

I am concerned about the safety of the demonstrators (among many other things) in the present situation, as I am sure we all are.   

Mehraban we have not

Mehraban we have not totally figured this out yet.  These protests are sporadic but they are wide spread and all have the same common value and unity in protesting the injustice.  It is a first since 1979.  It is like chickens coming home to roost.  The so called Islamic generation that this regime wanted people in those days to procreate as much as possible are now coming of age and want their rights.  Khalkhali is dead and can no longer execute people en masse.

Of course there is something bizzare about Govt using brutal and deadly force against people who come to the streets to protest peacefully. In fact some of the signs protesters are handling talk about freedom of assembly in the constitution which regime does not care to implement.

Regime wants nothing more than to face armed militia so they can start a killing spree.  Did you hear about some in Pasdaran saying they're ready to die to crush this uprising?  In this very movement they're using these fires and burnings as destruction of property by hooligans and so forth.  In one occasion I referred to the early burnings as "riots" and my family jumped at me like crazy.  I soon apologized and said I meant just the burnings and not the protests.

Mousavi and his supporters want to be able to assemble like prior to election. They want a true accounting.  They want to know who is killing people and why and bring them to justice.  These are their non-violent requests and the majority are protesting without burning anything.  They just defy Govt's orders to stop their legal and justified demands.

The link that Mr. Mostofi provided all talk about non-violent means in response to violence which is real like our Iran today. 

Now I don't know which other non-violent means Mr. Mostofi is specifically refering to.  I say let's use them all.  My criticism of Mr. Mostofi is his allergy to Seyeds!  This is nothing personal but it is like my uncle's "allergy" to eating eggplants.  As kids everytime we had eggplant stew we'd mention it to our uncle and laughed it up when he cringed.  As mature men we still do it and he still plays along ;-) 

Everything is sacred.

Let's think about this......

I am in solidarity with the Iranian people in their green choice but when you think about it there is something bizzare about asking people to repeatedly come out unarmed to the streets when the Basigis are ready to gun them down.  I think Mr. Mostofi is not totally wrong.  I would like to know more about other non violent means, maybe they will be more effective. 

It is not like we have figured this out yet, at least not to my knowledge. 

Thanks for the link

Mr. Mostofi thanks for the link, they are interesting quotes.  They more or less acknowledge the violence of their regimes and choose the non-violent path as their method.

Although not exactly a regime I like this one from Mohandas (like Mousavi :-) Gandi

I first learned the concepts of non-violence in my marriage.

LOL!

Everything is sacred.

And finally please click on

And finally please click on this link and learn what you can:

//www.wisdomquotes.com/cat_nonviolence.html

With respect to you all. Peace.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

I really do not want to

I really do not want to repeat myself like you all have. My position is clear, and you do not have to agree to it. You have free will. Live and Let Live.

Ali Mostofi

//www.alimostofi.com

THANQ

Well said Q

Mostofi, here's some hard truth someone needs to tell you

Even in a utopian perfect democracy, any Iranian who espouses your views couldn't get elected dog catcher of Ghazvin.

Those Iranians who believe in Islam would not appreciate your insulting slanders. At the same time secular and modern Iranians would not appreciate your politically incorrect stereotyping and divisive description of Iran's religious citizens.

So, that's why your views are best suited for small minorities who will never get anywhere in Iranian politics.