Wednesday
Feb242010
Latest Iran Video: Rafsanjani's Daughter is Confronted
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 at 13:56
Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani and a prominent women's rights activists, was leaving after a talk at a university when she was surrounded by a group of men. Pedestrian, who calls the group "Basij", has provided a translation and explanation of the conversation:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9GP7iShZ48[/youtube]
A group of men, are forcing asking her to come out of the car, the one in front throws out her belongings, they say: “why were you here giving a talk? what were you saying?”
She responds: “Because I wanted to.”
Basij: “so we want you to talk to us too.”
All the time the men are also arguing amongst themselves which is the most interesting part of the conversation. Their use of the words “debate”, “discussion”, “dialog”, “conversation"....these are all words they’ve openly taken from the reform movement.
Basij: “weren’t you the one who was just making the speech? About the student movement having demands? Walk outside your car, and let’s have a conversation. We’re students too, we want to talk. Be certain, we don’t want to be rude, we just want to talk. Only talk. ”
Faezeh: “you can talk anywhere you want. Go and talk.”
Basij: “no, we want you to repeat some of the things you said.”
Faezeh: “what did I say? Tell me what I said.”
Basij: “you don’t know what you said?”
Faezeh: “I said what I said. If you have any comments about what I said, well, you can state them now.”
A number of the men start shouting together: “when are you going to end this? How long is this going to continue?”
Another man: “how long are you going to continue this?”
Faezeh: “continue what?”
The men respond together, each stating one of the words: “this”, “this green …” “Omavi movement” “American movement” [The Bani Umayyah, Omavi, had been enemies of the Bani Hashim, the prophet's family. So they are indicating that the movement is against the prophet and Shi'a Islam.]
Basij: “are you against this movement or for it?”
Faezeh: “that’s my own business.”
Basij: “you claim that you came here to study today, but the doors were closed so you went amongst the students to give a speech?”
Faezeh: “Go inside and ask anyone you want what I was doing here.”
Basij: “who do we ask?”
Faezeh: “anyone, administration, professors, etc”
Basij: “we want to ask you. You’re standing here, we can ask you. We want to have a debate”
Faezeh: “I’m not going to answer you. I don’t want to answer you. A debate has to be two-sided. I have a right not to have a discussion, not to have a debate.”
They keep pressing her to have a “debate”. “Why did you come here today? To incite the students?”
Faezeh: “I had a class today.”
Basij: “show me the print of the class” [note sure what he means by "print"]
Faezeh: “if you have a class, you keep the print? Nobody keeps it.”
Basij: “do you have the documents with you? Do you have a student ID?”
Someone from the back shouts: “do you have the ownership documents of this building with you?” [hitting at Rafsanjani's rumored fortune] “this is her father’s land after all, this is all her inheritance.”
Another basiji says: “no, don’t smear. don’t be rude. Put her things back in the car.”
She says: “you can’t use force, you can’t …”
A basiji says: “thank God, she has started talking, everybody praise Allah!”
As she starts driving they shout: “pour some water behind her” [pouring a glass of water behind a traveler is a custom in Iran, symbolizing a safe journey and a safe return. They are saying it to mock her.]
As she drives away she says: “be certain, you will not reach your aims using these methods.”
And they all shout together: “and you will?!”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9GP7iShZ48[/youtube]
A group of men, are forcing asking her to come out of the car, the one in front throws out her belongings, they say: “why were you here giving a talk? what were you saying?”
She responds: “Because I wanted to.”
Basij: “so we want you to talk to us too.”
All the time the men are also arguing amongst themselves which is the most interesting part of the conversation. Their use of the words “debate”, “discussion”, “dialog”, “conversation"....these are all words they’ve openly taken from the reform movement.
Basij: “weren’t you the one who was just making the speech? About the student movement having demands? Walk outside your car, and let’s have a conversation. We’re students too, we want to talk. Be certain, we don’t want to be rude, we just want to talk. Only talk. ”
Faezeh: “you can talk anywhere you want. Go and talk.”
Basij: “no, we want you to repeat some of the things you said.”
Faezeh: “what did I say? Tell me what I said.”
Basij: “you don’t know what you said?”
Faezeh: “I said what I said. If you have any comments about what I said, well, you can state them now.”
A number of the men start shouting together: “when are you going to end this? How long is this going to continue?”
Another man: “how long are you going to continue this?”
Faezeh: “continue what?”
The men respond together, each stating one of the words: “this”, “this green …” “Omavi movement” “American movement” [The Bani Umayyah, Omavi, had been enemies of the Bani Hashim, the prophet's family. So they are indicating that the movement is against the prophet and Shi'a Islam.]
Basij: “are you against this movement or for it?”
Faezeh: “that’s my own business.”
Basij: “you claim that you came here to study today, but the doors were closed so you went amongst the students to give a speech?”
Faezeh: “Go inside and ask anyone you want what I was doing here.”
Basij: “who do we ask?”
Faezeh: “anyone, administration, professors, etc”
Basij: “we want to ask you. You’re standing here, we can ask you. We want to have a debate”
Faezeh: “I’m not going to answer you. I don’t want to answer you. A debate has to be two-sided. I have a right not to have a discussion, not to have a debate.”
They keep pressing her to have a “debate”. “Why did you come here today? To incite the students?”
Faezeh: “I had a class today.”
Basij: “show me the print of the class” [note sure what he means by "print"]
Faezeh: “if you have a class, you keep the print? Nobody keeps it.”
Basij: “do you have the documents with you? Do you have a student ID?”
Someone from the back shouts: “do you have the ownership documents of this building with you?” [hitting at Rafsanjani's rumored fortune] “this is her father’s land after all, this is all her inheritance.”
Another basiji says: “no, don’t smear. don’t be rude. Put her things back in the car.”
She says: “you can’t use force, you can’t …”
A basiji says: “thank God, she has started talking, everybody praise Allah!”
As she starts driving they shout: “pour some water behind her” [pouring a glass of water behind a traveler is a custom in Iran, symbolizing a safe journey and a safe return. They are saying it to mock her.]
As she drives away she says: “be certain, you will not reach your aims using these methods.”
And they all shout together: “and you will?!”
