On a cold February morning, primary-age schoolchildren are lined up for a ceremony in which they will shout "Death to America" and hurl old shoes at effigies of Uncle Sam, the Great Satan.
The event, part of annual celebrations of the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, is the work of the Student Basij, a subdivision of Iran's powerful paramilitary movement which is seen as a bulwark of the regime.
The Basij force made its name in the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, as an army of fearless volunteers who acted as auxiliaries to the regular troops, marching across minefields and through concerted Iraqi fire to clear a way through.
The movement fielded at least 550,000 under-18s in the course of the eight-year war. Thirty-six thousand were killed or were reported missing in action.
More recently, the Basij has acquired a reputation as a domestic security force loyal to the Iranian regime, and was deployed on the streets of Tehran to counter the widespread protests that followed last year's disputed presidential election.
The Basij is the largest organisation in Iran and has a presence in schools, universities, factories, government offices and the private sector. Structurally, it sits under the powerful Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and its leader is appointed directly by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
>>>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 |
Islamic Cultural policies
by Abarmard on Fri Jul 09, 2010 03:35 PM PDTThey lack innovative ways to get people in their mind set and it's understandable. They want to have forces that instead of being "gherti", be "shahidi"! It won't work and it's horrible way to try to form a lively society.
There are not many options open for the hardliners as what to do next. They are after women with their clothing, young boys and their haircuts, and kids to re-educate them into early 20th century Sunni-Islamic militant forces.
You can't turn the clock backwards, hint to M. Khatami and Jannati group.You are now obsolete and so are your style and rules. Question is, is this the way it's going to be? Either way the answer will be "no"!
This was previously
by Sargord Pirouz on Fri Jul 09, 2010 03:09 PM PDTThis was previously published somewhere else.
The pre-teen Basiji movement has had false starts in the past. We'll see how it plays out this time around.
DK
by Fatollah on Fri Jul 09, 2010 03:04 PM PDTI think, he's having his beauty sleep ...
IRI's Hitler Youth ? SPink They Need Your Training Skills ...
by Darius Kadivar on Fri Jul 09, 2010 05:32 AM PDTSPink Kojayee ? ... They Need Your Training Skills ...
//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQmyDK0vxb4&feature=fvsr