Iran: Not Forgetting 22 Khordaad "The Day We Chose to Live" (Pedestrian)

I have read a lot of superficial analyses this morning about the state of Iran's political conflict One Year On. In my opinion, this short piece by Pedestrian powerfully cuts through all of them:

Tomorrow, the streets of Tehran will be eerily quiet. There will be traffic, there will be noise, there will be pollution and people shouting swear words out of frustration just like any other day. But for many of us, time will stop and the world will go dark. Memories will take us away, one by one.

And the world might look down and declare: “look, it’s only been a year, and already they’ve forgotten.”

But we haven’t forgotten and never will. You might not see it, but who are you to judge?

Tomorrow the streets of Tehran might look like they do any other day. But if you look closely, if somehow you could force that black, archaic veil off that city for just a moment, you’d see a very different sight indeed. You’d see millions of people whose hearts are beating like mad, whose sweaty palms almost gives them away. You’d see people in mourning and celebration, because June 12th is all of those things.

June 12th isn’t just the day we died, but the day we chose to live.


For my generation, from now ’till forever, the world will be divided into two chunks: before and after 22 khordaad 88 (June 12th, 2009).

Something happened that day, and we might spend the rest of our lives trying to figure out what it was exactly. But even if that’s what it takes.…so be it.

Gaza Flotilla Video: One Hour of Raw Footage from Mavi Marmara (Lee)

Filmmaker Iara Lee of Cultures of Resistance was a passenger on the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of the Gaza Flotilla that was attacked by Israeli forces 12 days ago. Her cameras were confiscated by the commandos; however, she was able to hide an hour of raw footage:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwsMJmvS0AY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Gaza Aftermath: Israel and the “We Con the World” Video (Why I’m Not Laughing)
Gaza Latest: What Will Be Done About the Blockade? (Not Much. Care for an Israeli Snack Food?)

Iran: Daily Life in Tehran, One Year On (Der Spiegel)

Der Spiegel reports on the lives of five Iranians during a week in May:

Mohzen Sahabifar, the shopkeeper: Our Friday is not a day of rest for me. In fact, it isn't any better than all the other days. There is smog over Tehran again, and the people, as is so often the case, are in a bad mood. On the way to my shop, all it takes is one word and everyone starts to complain: about rising prices, mismanagement and the politicians' lies.

When I push up the grate in front of my shop, I see half-empty shelves. I don't have enough money to adequately invest in merchandise. Besides, very high inflation is driving wholesale prices to unaffordable levels. The price of one household cleaner rose by 16 percent just in the time between two orders.

Nowadays, I see almost more beggars than customers in my shop. They tell me how badly off they are. Then I point to my cash register, which hardly has any money in it, and I say that one day I just might join them, if our economy continues to go downhill.

The rent for my shop, which is little more than one room, is the equivalent of $250 (€208). I have no heat in the winter and no air-conditioning in the summer. But I have rats in front of the door and I have to take the subway to find a public toilet. And this in a country where there are people who become billionaires overnight. People stand in long lines in the supermarket across the street. They practically fight over the milk which on sale there. How are we supposed to survive now that the government is drastically cutting subsidies?

Nasrin Sotoudeh, the human-rights activist: Finally, a Friday when I don't have to go to the office. Such holidays have become rare since the protests against the election last year. But I also can't get certain images out of my head when I'm at home. I constantly see Bahare Hedayat and Milad Assadi in front of me. Two days ago, the two students greeted me cheerfully when we ran into each other at the revolutionary court. I had to pick something up, and the two were on the way to their trial. They were sentenced a short time later. Bahare got nine-and-a-half years and her fellow protestor Milad got seven.

My husband watches the children in the evening, and I go to a concert with a friend who has been living in the United States for many years. The singer performs modern songs about freedom and democracy. And about the price you pay for it. My friend is surprised that this sort of thing is permitted here. I talk enthusiastically about our freedom of speech. But, as I explain to her, the sad thing is that often there's no freedom after the speech.

Manijeh Hekmat, the film director: This Friday is my third day without being constantly tortured by my thoughts. I get up and look at the blue sky from my apartment on the eighth floor. I can smell the sea. I breathe in the fresh air. I'm in Cannes, at the film festival, and I'm looking forward to reconnecting with friends and colleagues from around the world. Cannes is the opposite of Tehran: calm, friendly, easygoing, colorful, cosmopolitan. But this year I can't even get away from my native Iran here. No matter where I go, people ask me about my colleague, the director Jafar Panahi. He was arrested about three months ago, yet another example to intimidate people. Panahi was supposed to be part of the jury here in Cannes. The other members of the jury demonstratively leave his chair empty.

My country is divided, and I even notice it here. Iranian film is represented at two different stands. We independent filmmakers stand at one of them, and our counterparts from the government-run institutions at the other. I also approach them, and we have a conversation. Everyone feels sympathy for Panahi. The actress Juliette Binoche cries. I fight to hold back my tears. But none of the Iranians dares to be part of the solidarity conferences. We don't want to give the government a reason to act against us.
We are so concerned that we are even afraid to openly greet colleagues like Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Bahman Ghobadi, two filmmakers who now live in exile. We worked with them for decades in Tehran. Both are associated with the Green Movement around Hossein Mousavi.

I yearn for artistic freedom, for the freedom of Cannes. The French are showing films here that deal with the colonial past in Algeria. We in Tehran are far away from such self-criticism. In our country, the government's film commissioner stands there and says that my film "Women's Prison," filmed during the time of President Mohammad Khatami, paints things in a negative light. For people like that, the tiniest bit of criticism is rebellion. My last production, a comedy, was censored 40 times.

Read rest of article....

World Cup Fever: When the US Beat England (Haddigan)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYFl6oOad3E [/youtube]

As perhaps more than a few of you may have noted, the World Cup ("soccer" if you're in the US; "football" if you're in the rest of the world) opened yesterday in South Africa with a 1-1 draw between the hosts and Mexico.

Here in Britain --- or in the "England" part of Britain --- even the excitement of the first World Cup in Africa is secondary to the near-novelty of an English match with their former colony, the United States. Thoughts of a special relationship have gone out the window, and --- on a personal note --- there's been 15 seconds of media infamy. Local broadcasters and press have been at EA's door because of an American who supports England and his two half-English, half-American children who back the US.

It's a near-novelty because the two countries have met before in a World Cup match. Lee Haddigan takes us back to 1950:

Sixty years ago the England football team wore blue shirts for the first and only time.



They were participating in their first World Cup. The English had declined to enter the first three tournaments, from 1930 to 1938, as England didn’t need a competition to consider themselves World Champions. It was England’s game and their gift to the world; the World Cup was little more than a means of finding out who was the second-best team in the world.

England was only persuaded to enter the 1950 World Cup in Brazil as a sign of international cooperation in the new Cold War era. And, after a 2-0 victory against Chile in their first game, England approached their next match full of their usual self-assurance. The manager rested Stanley Matthews, a figure comparable to America's Babe Ruth in English sports folklore, but otherwise fielded a star-studded team. Billy Wright, Tom Finney, Stan Mortensen played that day, all legends of the English game, and all in those blue shirts.

England ran out onto to the pitch at Belo Horizonte to face a team of American part-timers --- no-hopers --- who had lost a warm up game 9-0 to Italy. Ninety minutes they trudged off, defeated by "the shot heard around the world" as the USA team were carried off by 20000 cheering Brazilians.

In the world of sporting shocks, nothing comes bigger than the USA 1-0 victory over England in the 1950 World Cup.

Before the game the bookies were offering the odds of 500-1 for a USA win: bet $1 and you would have won $500. It was such an unlikely outcome not even the wildest gambler, armed with inside information and a crystal ball, would have made it. But it happened, thanks to a pass after 37 minutes from a student accountant, Walter Bahr, headed into the net by Joe Gaetjens, a part-time dishwasher and meatpacker from Haiti and to the goalkeeping of Frank Borghi, a funeral director and D-Day veteran, who saved shot after shot in the second half as England piled on pressure.

The result was met with disbelief and disgust from Newcastle to London. Some papers ran the story with a black border round the page, a layout usually only employed with the death of a member of the Royal Family. Even the staid Times of London reported the result as a "sensation’.

By contrast, the result excited little interest in the US. The team returned to no fanfare or acclaim, never to play together again, their result unacknowledged until the 1994 World Cup in America.

By that time it was too late for Joe Gaetjens to receive the recognition he deserved for "the shot heard around the world". He did not play for America after that World Cup, and went back to Haiti to run his own business. In 1964, he disappeared, never to be heard of again, an apparently innocent victim of Haitian leader Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier’s secret police.

The bookies are not offering 500-1 against the US this Saturday. They rate the US as a 13-2 shot ($1 wins $6.50), with 11-1 to repeat a 1-0 victory.

After the supposed certainty of 1950, only two things are certain in 2010. First, England fans are not as confident this time about an easy England win.

But more importantly, and you could get a million against one from a bookie on this, England will not be playing in blue shirts.

Iran: EA's Coverage of 22 Khordaad/12 June Election Anniversary

We'll be live from 0600 GMT (9:30 a.m. in Tehran) with latest news and analysis of all the political developments on the streets and behind the scenes. Scott Lucas will anchor coverage, with correspondents contributing from positions in Europe, the US, and Iran.