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Martyrdom and mourning
by Philip Grant01-Jul-2009
On Saturday 27th June, a group of concerned Iranian social activists and students held mourning ceremonies at UC Los Angeles in memory of their compatriots martyred in recent days during peaceful protests against fraudulent elections in Iran. Following their successful organization of two large demonstrations on the preceding two weekends, the activists of this group decided to focus their attention on commemorating the casualties of recent days, in order to display their solidarity with their compatriots and friends in Iran and to stir up both Iranians living in southern California and non-Iranian friends to greater efforts in support of the green protest movement inside Iran.
As twilight fell, those present were invited to light candles and draw near to the stage set up for the purpose. The evening began with poems appropriate to martyrdom and mourning read in Persian by prominent local poet and women's activist Partow Nouri Ala. There was then a musical performance by singer Mamak Khadem, accompanied by various friends, Iranian and non-Iranian, on different instruments including the santour and the oud. This section concluded with a passionate singing of the revolutionary-era anthem "Yar-e Dabestani", led by Ms. Khadem and moving some in the audience to tears. There then followed another poetry reading by a second prominent local poet, Majid Naficy, who read a number of greatly moving poems in both Persian and English. The present writer then read one poem in English, before audience members were invited to reflect on the meaning of the sacrifices made in Iran while music and poetry were played softly in the background. Finally organizers declared a two minute silence in memory and honor of the martyrs. The program concluded with Ms. Khadem once again leading us all in "Yar-e Dabestani".
All those present paid warm tribute to the organizers, for the tasteful and appropriate poetry and music, for the beautifully decorated stage fronted by photographs of the martyrs surrounded by flowers, and for the thought and attention they had devoted to evoking the memory of those who had rendered up their lives for the freedom and right to chose their own president. The organizers were insistent that the message of the martyrs should be transmitted by all those present far and wide, so that no-one in the world should doubt the value and significance of their sacrifice. The audience left sad and heavy of heart, yet determined to redouble their efforts to support the green movement in Iran, and cautiously but firmly optimistic of the eventual triumph of justice and right.
As twilight fell, those present were invited to light candles and draw near to the stage set up for the purpose. The evening began with poems appropriate to martyrdom and mourning read in Persian by prominent local poet and women's activist Partow Nouri Ala. There was then a musical performance by singer Mamak Khadem, accompanied by various friends, Iranian and non-Iranian, on different instruments including the santour and the oud. This section concluded with a passionate singing of the revolutionary-era anthem "Yar-e Dabestani", led by Ms. Khadem and moving some in the audience to tears. There then followed another poetry reading by a second prominent local poet, Majid Naficy, who read a number of greatly moving poems in both Persian and English. The present writer then read one poem in English, before audience members were invited to reflect on the meaning of the sacrifices made in Iran while music and poetry were played softly in the background. Finally organizers declared a two minute silence in memory and honor of the martyrs. The program concluded with Ms. Khadem once again leading us all in "Yar-e Dabestani".
All those present paid warm tribute to the organizers, for the tasteful and appropriate poetry and music, for the beautifully decorated stage fronted by photographs of the martyrs surrounded by flowers, and for the thought and attention they had devoted to evoking the memory of those who had rendered up their lives for the freedom and right to chose their own president. The organizers were insistent that the message of the martyrs should be transmitted by all those present far and wide, so that no-one in the world should doubt the value and significance of their sacrifice. The audience left sad and heavy of heart, yet determined to redouble their efforts to support the green movement in Iran, and cautiously but firmly optimistic of the eventual triumph of justice and right.
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(No subject)
by Ano231 (not verified) on Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:58 PM PDTYoutube videos of the
by An ony mouse (not verified) on Fri Jul 03, 2009 11:56 PM PDTYoutube videos of the event,
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=X45EPQJZjbQ
and
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjIT9AM8D8M
Neda
by SarahM (not verified) on Thu Jul 02, 2009 01:07 PM PDTI was a fifteen year old kid or even younger when I got imprisoned by Jomhoori Islami
My story is same as everyone …being blindfolded, contempt, mentaly and emotionaly tortured
And I grew with fear all these years
‘till the moment Neda’s eyes met my eyes
At first I didn’t realize it was her moment of death
I never thought I was with her at her last moments
May be Neda was the girl and boy who got executed by shooting at nights when I was in prison
Or may be Neda was the kid who got tortured next to me
And I could have been Neda if I wasn’t alone
Now I want to be Neda
And I can be Neda
now that I’ve grown in pain, I can be her.
Neda's Killer; Witness Interview
by Maya Parsi on Thu Jul 02, 2009 07:33 AM PDT★●▬▬▬▬▬▬☆Θ∞♥∞Θ☆▬▬▬▬▬▬●★
★●▬▬▬▬▬▬☆Θ∞♥∞Θ☆▬▬▬▬▬▬●★
Amazing!
by Anonymous1 (not verified) on Wed Jul 01, 2009 05:41 PM PDTThanks for the pictures. I was out of town and didn't make it there.
Based on the pictures, it appears that the crowd there was much less than what I saw the prior week at the intersection of Wilshire and Veteran (only a few blocks away from the UCLA campus). After seeing what was written on some of those signs in your picture ("No to coup de ta", etc), I realized why not as many showed up to the UCLA vigil - most Iranians in Los Angeles really don't care about Iran, they care about how they look to others. They care more about their israel. They care more about those political groups with which they affiliate themselves only a couple of times a decade, and those political groups themselves bark maybe once in a while.
I remember hearing "marg bar hezbollah" and seeing many pure anti-muslim signs at the Wilshire/Veteran rally. I thought to myself - 1) what da hell does hezbollah have to do with the elections? and 2) what about the fact that still 75% of all Iranians ARE muslim? In fact isn't that what a democracy, which everyone is supposedly demanding, all about - the majority rules.
Anyways, the rallies in Los Angeles, that shlomo loving Pahlavi's phony cries, and Obama-shlobama's denouncement of the Iran's govt certainly did nothing but basically destroy any peaceful opportunities that we may have had for reform and change in Iran. Now Obama is on the font page in Iran. he is the main topic discussed and the govt will take advantage of this, hoping in a way to tell our Iranians that the US and the UK are at it again (which who knows, they actually may be).
With no success in making any changes peacefully, you can expect those shlomos pressuring the US to approve an israeli attack the next 6 months. Little so they know that if they do, it will unit Iran more than anything else. but they don't care, as long as they hit their targets. No one is more special than those shysters. No land has more history than supposedly their land. they won't care about destroying Iran. Those shyster AIPACs already turned obama into a shlobama. Unfortunately, the worse is yet to come.