Love Has Returned to the City: Iranian Heart Swells Before Friday Election

Enjoying the blessing of living close to a public garden and highway in Tehran where the young generation intentionally produces traffic to react to the enforced religious ideology. The sound of clamor heard from that direction is indeed hope-inspiring. It is as though everybody is awakening from a long slumber, even if only for these remaining nights before the election.

Two weeks of free demonstrations with no violence as such is unprecedented in this so-called “post-revolutionary” era of our county. Depending on age, it reminds of Khatami’s first presidential campaign (1997), the revolution (1978), Khordad 15, 1963, Mosadeq’s movement (1953) … all the way back to the constitutional movement (1905-1911).

The constant sound of car-horns (in familiar rhythms played when brides and bridegrooms are escorted to their new home) interrupted every now and then by collective human voices makes it as though there is a national wedding ceremony. May it be the long awaiting wedding of Ms. Freedom and Mr. Democracy! (Photo credit, above, ISNA photo of political rally, by Mona Hoobkhfekr

No matter what would happen which hopefully would not be a re-re-return of oppression, suppression and censorship, these days should be cherished as days of hope, optimism and joy, disappearing more or less totally in an ever increasing number of the inhabitants of this ancient land in the past thirty years. It can help us to restore some energy even if only to continue our seemingly passive surrender until the next occasion to re-re-re express openly our wish for liberation from tyranny and dictatorship.

As more or less everyone is saying: What is going on is a great practice in democracy, in tolerating opposite point of views without jumping to kick-box, strangle and drag violently the critics into those horrifying cars and minibuses decorating the city in an ever increasing number in the past four years.

Again, as more or less everybody is saying, we are dumbfounded these days: How can he (i.e. the present president) lie so incredibly shamelessly? He can very well be the incarnation of Joseph Goebbeles, the Nazi propaganda minister who is said to have perfected the “Big Lie” technique of propaganda. The technique is based on the principle that a lie, if audacious enough and repeated enough times, will be believed by the masses. The other characteristic he shares with Goebbeles is anti-Semitism…

  It is such an awkward feeling when one looks back and wonders about one’s participation or non-participation in any social events, from revolutions to voting days. Didn’t they manage to cheat so much, four years ago because they knew that a significant number of eligible people will not vote?

As an apolitical individual I wasn’t very much surprised when I did not even know who Dr. Ahmadinezhad was, winning in the first stage of the previous presidency election. The real shock and remorse came when after starting to inquire from whomever coming my way, I realized how pervasive our political indifference and passivity had become.

…Oh, no. For the first time in the past week there is also the sound of police-cars! Does it mean the beginning of violence? Have they forcefully torn the chain of hands from the north to the south of city through that beautiful street with its tall old plane trees on both sides covered with crows living in their skyscrapers over them? More sirens …. Oh no, PLEASE…

A sigh of relief … How nice! Here comes again the same familiar sound of car-horns heard before only on the occasions of ordinary weddings. And, how nice! No more sound of sirens…. May this be it the true matrimony of real genuine Ms. Freedom with righteous conscientious Mr. Democracy on this ancient land of our beautiful blue loving planet Earth!
(June 7, 2009)

Love has returned to the city is from a poem by Siavosh Kasraee composed during the days of revolution.