[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Peaceful demonstration against electoral fraud in Iran

[John Fettig]

As far as I know, this demonstration is organized by Iranian
students.  While I agree that there should be caution with regards to
stoking anti-Iranian flames, I believe that trying to silence a
legitimate
(and evidently strong, regardless of the veracity of their election
claims) opposition is foolish to say the least.  I just thought that this
group might like to stand in solidarity with others who struggle for freedom
from oppression.
John

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 10:39 PM, Robert Naiman <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com>wrote:

> I'm all for people protesting government repression.
>
> But I'm not convinced that the opposition has made a strong case that
> the election was stolen; and therefore that the accusation of "coup"
> is justified. And I'm worried that the knee-jerk tendency in the U.S.
> to believe anything bad said about the Iranian government, regardless
> of evidence, is going to give impetus to those in the U.S. seeking
> confrontation with Iran. Cooler heads should prevail.
>
> I'm aware of one pre-election poll that followed standard Western
> polling practices. If you extrapolate from that poll, even allocating
> 60% of the undecided to the opposition, you would predict an absolute
> majority for Ahmadinejad in the first round.
>
> The numbers are here:
>
> Based on Terror Free Tomorrow Poll, Ahmadinejad Victory Was Expected
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/based-on-terror-free-tomo_b_215423.html
>
> On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 11:22 PM, John Fettig<john.fettig at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > Taken from the facebook:
> http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=97129086646
> >
> > Peaceful demonstration against electoral fraud in Iran
> >
> > Where is our vote? Where are their votes?
> > Host:
> > U of I supporters of free election
> > Type:
> > Causes - Protest
> > Network:
> > Global
> > Date:
> > Monday, June 15, 2009
> > Time:
> > 5:00pm - 8:00pm
> > Location:
> > Intersection of Main and Neil St.
> > City/Town:
> > Champaign, IL
> >
> > Description
> >
> > Our nation is facing another turning point in the history; after the huge
> > electoral fraud, Iran has passed the second day of the coup d'etat: cell
> > phone networks and Internet connection are limited, political activists,
> > journalists, and opposition leaders are being arrested, anti riot police
> and
> > militia suppressing the street protest.
> >
> > We would like to invite you to join our peaceful gathering in downtown
> > Champaign in which we will express our concern regarding the electoral
> fraud
> > and will demonstrate our sympathy and support of the right for free
> > election.
> >
> > This is our first step in spreading the word on all the injustice and
> fraud
> > that have occurred in Iran and inform the non-Iranian community on the
> > current status. The demonstration will be covered by media.
> >
> > Further information regarding the demonstration and our following events
> > will be posted to this Facebook group. Please join the group and kindly
> > spread the word to all who might be interested.
> > _______________________________________________
> > Peace mailing list
> > Peace at lists.chambana.net
> > http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Robert Naiman
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
>
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