Purple People Vote

There is no doubt the opposition in Iran faces an uphill struggle. They have since day one. They are armed with some communication tools, while the government wields guns, tear gas, and nightsticks. This is a struggle for truth as well as a struggle for freedom. While there is some debate in the States about what our government should say and how they should say it, what most everyone agrees on regardless of political philosophy is that we fully support the opposition. While evidence of cheating in the election is plentiful, it is the way that the Iranian government brutally violated the basic human rights of its own citizens that has horrified the world.

Every time we see the government beat an unarmed protester or commit a murder, like that of Neda the young Iranian woman whose tragic death was caught on tape, the world sees what brutal totalitarianism looks like. The opposition is literally out-gunned, but what they have on their side has brought down governments in the past, and that is truth. These brave protesters through technology and the internet have already proven to the world what their government is, the challenge now for them to show that to more of their own countrymen, and to keep for everyone to keep the light shined on their cause and their stories.

From Iran in the last week and a half…
In an early show of force students were beaten in their dorm rooms, and their rooms were trashed, computers and the like destroyed. Angered by the brutal beat downs, many professors at Tehran University protested by resigning. Hospital workers who treated the students, also disgusted by the government’s brutality, went on strike the following day to protest the students’ treatment.

Foreign media was banned, journalists have been jailed.  Due to the crackdown, citizen journalism virtually the only way the story is getting to the rest of the world.

Iranian government claims that death of Neda was staged by the opposition. They prevent any form of public mourning for both Neda and the many others killed in the protests.

Soccer Team Members who wore green armbands during a game are permanently banned from the sport.

British representatives expelled from the country.

Special courts established for trying arrested protesters.

Mass show of force and violent suppression of peaceful protests continue.

A post on the Facebook account of Mousavi urges people to go to the bazaars and bring everyone they can; wear no green, show no signs of protest, but peacefully and quietly halt commerce by flooding the bazaars with people.

Shots on the streets of Tehran…