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

[Robert Naiman]

Yes, I didn't mean to fault you at all for passing on the information.
Indeed, some of the students contacted me for advice, which I gladly
gave; and if I were in C-U right now, I would gladly go to the
demonstration. As I said, I am against repression of the opposition by
the Iranian government. And in the Iranian context, what Iranians say
about their government is not my business. But in the U.S. context,
where whipping up a frenzy against the Iranian government could have
very harmful effects, I think it should be clear that the allegations
of election theft remain unproven.

Interestingly, the EU has accepted the election result, tho apparently
Germany is dissenting; the Obama Administration is being quite
cautious, neither accepting the result nor the claims of the
opposition, saying that it is still gathering facts; and as I noted in
my post, the NYT today was also cautious: the first paragraph of its
front-page story said that it was "impossible to know" if the election
result reflected the will of the majority.

It's being accepted as obvious fact by Obama supporters that are
usually criticizing Obama from the left that the election was stolen.
On this issue, the Administration - so far - is better than its
supporters.

On Sun, Jun 14, 2009 at 11:53 PM, John Fettig<john.fettig at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
>
>



-- 
Robert Naiman
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org