[Peace] Candlelight vigil TODAY: Thursday (July 9th), 8:30pm, Alma Mater

[Morton K. Brussel]

I believe that this vigil is ill conceived. Here is what I wrote for  
the UFPJ list serve:

It is clear that many are willing on this list and elsewhere to lend  
support to demonstrations against the Iranian regime without knowing  
just what the demonstrators were originally demonstrating for, without  
really knowing what has occurred in the election or on the streets and  
what policies are represented by what factions. There is much self  
righteous ranting, with many specious assertions, but little hard  
evidence one way or the other. And that is why expressing "solidarity"  
with the protestors at this point seems more than imprudent; it plays  
into the hands of our government's wishes and actions against Iran.  
Phil Wilayto has it right. Pugliese, Elbaum and others, perhaps  
blinded by their distaste for the theocracy of the Iranian regime and  
Ahmadinejad, are steering in a direction which will simply further  
damage the anti-war movement.

--mkb

And here is what another, Keven Zeese,  has noted on that listserve:

We have all seen how infiltrators in U.S. demonstrations can escalate  
beyond a peaceful demonstration and give the police an opportunity to  
make arrests.  What if the U.S. and its allies inside and outside of  
Iran have paid infiltrators who escalate the "reform" demonstrations  
to violence (some of the violence by "reform" demonstrators was  
described in Phil's article -- I urge people to read it as it is a  
very thorough and convincing analysis,http://votersforpeace.us/press/index.php?itemid=2131) 
  in order to push the government to react?  Then, our support of the  
demonstrators is actually supporting efforts by outsiders, i.e. the  
U.S. and others (primarily Israel and Saudi Arabia), to undermine the  
Iranian government and set the stage for a military attack on that  
country.  That all seems very plausible to me, knowing how the U.S.  
and its allies act. And, knowing how long regime change has been U.S.  
policy including paying terrorists to act inside Iran.  If the U.S.  
government is supporting the "reform" demonstrators doesn't that give  
peace activists pause?  How often do we find ourselves agreeing with  
the U.S. government's foreign policy, especially in Iran?

Phil Wilato's analysis is worth reading.

--mkb

On Jul 9, 2009, at 7:28 AM, Randall Cotton wrote:

> : ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> : From: UIUC-Iran Candlelight Vigil <uiuc.iranfreeelection at gmail.com>
> : Date: Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 8:29 PM
> : Subject: Candlelight vigil: Thursday (July 9th), 8:30pm, Alma Mater
> : To: UIUC-Iran Candlelight Vigil <uiuc.iranfreeelection at gmail.com>
> :
> :
> : Dear friends,
> :
> : Iran is observing days of mourning in memorial of the martyrs of  
> recent
> : crisis, Neda and our other brothers and sisters. Also, many of the
> students,
> : journalists, reformists, and protesters have been detained with  
> their
> : whereabouts mostly unknown, and their families are experiencing very
> hard
> : times. We would like to invite you to join us for the candlelight  
> vigil
> to
> : remember and honor those killed and detained during peaceful  
> activities
> for
> : democracy and freedom in Iran.
> :
> : You are most welcome to invite your non-Iranian friends. For more
> : information, please visit  "UIUC candlelight vigil" event at  
> facebook.
> : *Details:
> : *Location: *Alma Mater (Corner of Green and Wright, Urbana, IL)
> : *Date:*Thursday, July 9th
> : *
> : Time: *8:30-9:30 pm*
> :
> : There are only a limited number of candles available, so we  
> appreciate
> : greatly if you bring your own candles. Also, for those of you who  
> missed
> the
> : opportunity to sign the Green Scroll, it will be there to be signed.
> :
> : Thanks,
> : -organizers
> :
>
> _______________________________________________
> Peace mailing list
> Peace at lists.chambana.net
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace

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