Friday, September 3, 2010 is the last Friday of Ramadan, known as Quds Day in Iran. Watching the debate on Iranian blogs and websites, it’s hard to tell whether there will be a large turnout of the greens at this event. Certainly, the 2009 Quds Day saw one of the most amazing public protests in Iranian history, where new slogans emerged which defined the movement a lot better and more clearly than it had been even just a few days prior to Quds Day 2009. This was the day last year when some people chanted, “na Ghazzeh, na Lobnan, jaanam fadaay-e Iran.” If I’m not mistaken, this was also the day people defied the government slogan master’s slogans against the US, Israel, and UK, chanting “marg bar Russieh,” and “marg bar Chin” instead. Volumes can be written about all of these subjects and I’m sure they will be in due time.
With the increasing cost of public protests which have put thousands of people in jail, out of jobs, deprived of education, tortured, maimed, and even dead, I’m not foreseeing a huge opposition turnout on Quds Day. The movement has simply adopted different dimensions and different routes it is exploring right now. Just the same, there is news and observations which are showing up on the internet about Quds Day as I write this. I will put them all here for everyone to see. Please join us and post any news you find about Quds Day events, too. Remember, in the absence of clear and fair reporting out of Iran, we are the media.
