Iranians' ambivalence about Mousavi's leadership has also been reflected on their Facebook pages. The personal sites that bore the green logo "What Happened to My Vote?" began to change tone in early July. Many posted a picture of Mohammed Mossadegh, the democratically elected prime minister and national hero who was ousted in a CIA-backed coup in 1953. Under the photograph, his famous statement of anxiety about Islamist politics is quoted in bold: "I hope that Shiite leaders don't have any serious intention of entering the political arena. If this were to happen, Iran will be at the brink of catastrophe."
Mossadegh was a secular nationalist who was fiercely protective of Iran's sovereignty. Invoking him as a symbol of the leader Iranians aspire to have reminds me of the 1997-2005 era of the reformist president Mohammad Khatami. I lived in Iran during a long stretch of that time and find the wistful references to Mossadegh eerily familiar. He reappears cyclically, at moments when Iranians despair of the leaders available to them, and of any chance to shed the Islamic theocracy that many consider corrupt and unaccountable
>>>Person | About | Day |
---|---|---|
نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
Judging the Iranian people's attitudes toward...
by Ostaad on Sun Jul 26, 2009 11:59 AM PDTtheir political leaders based on their "Facebook" pages is like judging the American people's political views based on conversations among some members of some country clubs! Not everyone does Facebook, Ms. Moaveni. I'm sure yaknowwhatImtalin'bout.
Thad said, I am all in favor of the people's uprising to be run at the grass-root level without a prominent leader who would suck the oxygen by focusing attention on him/herself.
This is a golden opportunity for the Iranian people to learn and execute an effective political movement to rid Iran of the current usurper regime.
More power to the people.