"Please Pray For Us"

from Andrew Sullivan's "Daily Dish"

Live-Blogging Day 8

11.27 am. Shiraz erupting?

REPORT FROM SHIRAZ: Intense conflict in Alam Square.

Report from source: Mohammad Ghouchani, the editor-in-chief of National Trust newspaper, has been arrested.

5:30 In Khosh Street police is attacking people with batons and pepper spray trying to disperse ppl, shots heard

5:20 A lot of conflict happenning at Kosh St. now 5:26 shooting in Azadi ave. near Gharib!

11.24 am. Chemical warfare? It is not boiling water but something else:

Helicopters spraying water with agent in it onto crowds. Skin irritant, will make it feel as though water is scalding.

11.17 am. I have to say I found the boiling water from helicopters hard to believe. And yet more tweets repeat it:

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Two reports coming from Tehran about helicopters pouring boiling water on protesters.

reports of some Iranians protesting with Qurans in their hand.

even at metro station at azadi ppl r beaten up!!!

I should reiterate that all tweets need to be taken provisionally. They are raw, unconfirmed mini-telegrams from the streets of Iran and elsewhere. But the use of the Koran in resisting oppression of this kind, now ocnfirmed all over the place, strikes me as a vital gesture. It puts the lie to the idea that Islam is not, at its core, a religion of peace, however hijacked by the fundamentalists and fascists. It is of a part with the color green and the cries into the night of Allah O Akbar. In this pitched battle, there is also a struggle for the soul of Islam. It is so so heartening to see decent people fighting back to reclaim their faith. Without these Muslims, the world will know no peace.

11.13 am. ppl r not allowed to look out the window if they do their windows r broken

11.11 am From Robert Mackie:

From Shiraz, My mom said the protesters were just walking in silence from Daneshjoo Square to Eram Square then the plain clothes men on motorcylces started going in the crowd and in the side walks and told the crowd to disperse.

When the people didn’t disperse they started shooting in the air. My mom said that then people dispersed and she doesn’t know if anyone was hit or not.

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11.02 am. The Guardian:

An eyewitness in Enghelab square reports around 20,000 riot police, made up of Basiji militiamen and soldiers, and armed with rifles, tear gas and water cannons. The eyewitness saw dozens of people beaten by riot police in an attempt to frighten them into evacuating the square, with one young man being beaten to the ground by four policemen. The protesters were not wearing the green insignia that signifies support for Mousavi, and were not making victory signs or chanting.The eyewitness reports riot police attacking people on passing motorbikes and, on occasion, innocent passersby who have no way of escaping the heavy police presence. Nonetheless, there are thousands of Mousavi supporters, marching peacefully near the square, where rthey have been subjected to these brutal reprisals from the police. Across Tehran, there is widespread fear and panic, with many desperate to know what is going on in Enghelab square, but unable to find out due to reporting restrictions. Now the question seems to be: what will Mousavi do next?

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10.53 am. Al Giordano:

What seems to be the government strategy is to have set a wide perimeter of various blocks in each direction around Enghalab Square where demonstrators were to begin their march to Freedom Square. There are also multiple Twitter reports of university students being intercepted and beaten if they leave the campus toward the demonstration route.

If this is what is happening, it is intended to prevent a critical mass of demonstrators from forming all in one place. Together with the house arrest of reporters and ban on images, the police strategy is a media strategy: to avoid the photograph or video that shows the magnitude of the protest: footage of scattershot crowds trying to get through - or running from the shots of - the police blockades simply do not have the emotional weight of images of a unified march.

10.50 am. things are horrible, please pray for us

my young sister has taken to the streets as well she hasn't returned

another friend's arm has broken

one of my friends got smacked so hard she has lost hearing in one ear

basij is even attacking young girls and women

trucks blasting water at the people

some forces are refusing to attack the people, but basij and special forces are attacking people

Permalink

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from 3 Quarks Daily:

The bird may die
Forough Farokhzad

I feel sad,

I feel blue.

I go outside and rub my fingers

on the sleek shell of the night.

“I see that lights of contact are blocked,

All lights of contact are blocked.”

“Nobody will introduce me to the sun,

Nobody will take me to the gathering of doves.”

Keep the flight in mind,

The bird may die.

Translation: Maryam Dilmaghani

Posted by Jim Culleny | Permalink

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Ya Hussain! Iran stands on the brink of a bloodbath