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From Stephen Elliott
This summer, I found myself in Iran in the midst of an escalating international conflict, admittedly not the most pragmatic of decisions. After a four-hour drive from the Imam Khomeini airport in Tehran, I arrive at my grandmother’s house on the Caspian Sea.
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Somewhere in an anonymous functionary’s desk drawer or a filing cabinet in a fluorescent-lit office or a cardboard box in a dusty basement sits the Persian-language manuscript of Mahmoud Dowlatabadi’s The Colonel. Whatever the Iranian government does with books that challenge the official history, that so incisively delineate the many facets of Iranian politics and culture and so tragically describe the many places where those divergent forces meet and attempt to destroy each other, whatever the government does with those sorts of books does not include allowing their publication in Iran.
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In 1982, my parents packed a suitcase and paid a smuggler to help them escape from Tehran, Iran. The reason? Me.
Or maybe the Gulf? Either way, Iran before the Chadoor:
...moreAlexandra Sandels reports that security is tight in Tehran.
Eskander Sedaghi discusses where the Green Revolution has to go next.
Greg Scoblete asks how much would be different had the Green Revolution succeeded.
James Miller argues that the Green Revolution is ongoing, and important.
...more“After I recanted my false confession, my main interrogator essentially told me he knew I was not a spy. My captors may have wanted to use my false confession to intimidate Iranians advocating better relations with the West. They may have also wanted my false confession to reinforce their claim that America had planted spies throughout Iran.”
The Millions talks with Roxana Saberi, author of Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran, about her time in Evin prison, the Green Movement, and her transformation into a spokeswoman for human rights.
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In a series of violent encounters, Peter Nathaniel Malae’s debut novel asks, What are we to do with men?
I’ve just got this hunch that things might be ok.
Hey, so, what happened to that tsunami?
Related: The Chilean earthquake did however probably (possibly?) make the day shorter.
Why the internet will never catch on.
...moreA new documentary paints Italy as “a democracy of boobs (in all senses).”
How does one “explain the gay” in terms of evolution? (via The Daily Dish)
“That’s not what countries think of when they go to war.” Why no one ever cleans up the environmental mess they make after sending their citizens off to kill each other.
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Laleh Khadivi’s novel traces the history of Iran through the brutal journey of a young KurdGreetings! Your humble guest-editor Michael is back in the saddle for another round of negotiating the highly-addictive world of the book blogs. I had an interesting week, where I had time to contemplate my imminent move to Bernal Heights and whether I should apply to those blasted MFA’s again and what it means that I can’t seem to stop watching post-apocalyptic movies and reading depressingly dystopian fiction.
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The sun blazes in a clear blue sky and is visible well until 9 o’clock at night. It’s Gay Pride weekend in San Francisco, the streets bejewelled with parades, both joyous and bittersweet. The coffee shop is full of people playing board games while the taquerias overflow with confused French tourists.
...moreEntire staff of Iranian newspaper arrested.
An Iranian student returns to Iran.
Jailed reformists tortured to confess to foreign plot.
Iran’s new revolutionaries.
e-source: “Tehran is very very quiet. There’s anger & passion, but going out to show it doesn’t seem very productive and is very dangerous” … Confirmed firsthand account of another “Allahu Akbar” protester killed on the rootfop, this one in Tehran.
...moreProtesters and police clash in front of the Iranian Parliament at Baharestan Square (pictures).
“They started beating everyone [...] and throwing them off the bridge [...] they beat a woman so savagely that she was drenched in blood…” an eyewitness account of today’s brutal violence.
...more“With the Marchers: A resident reports from the streets and the rooftops.”
The BBC interviews Caspian Makan, the fiance of Neda Agha-Soltan whose murder at the hands of the Basij was witnessed by the world on YouTube (warning: this video is very graphic).
...moreStarting off, I want to thank Jeremy Hatch or subbing in for me last week, both on this column and as Saturday Editor. Great job, dude.
Seth Abramson writes a lot about MFA programs and, by extension, the PhD in Creative Writing.
...moreNow Google translates Persian.
Andrew Sullivan, retweeting the revolution, day 7.
There Will Be Blood: An interview with a journalist in Tehran.
Video of the Basij shooting into a crowd, causing at least one protester to go down.
...moreIn the current political crisis in Iran, the boldest tool, turns out to be civic technology. Iran has gone out of its way to block the BBC, Yahoo, mobile phone networks, foreign journalists, Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites during the election. What this has revealed is that the Iranian government is very sophisticated in blocking access to technology.
...moreThe Iranian government has made its first move toward some form of dialogue to “defuse the outrage.”
Hundreds of thousands rally in Tehran to mourn dead, defying Iran’s supreme leader.
Mousavi’s external spokesman, Mohsen Makhmalbaf states, “Ahmadinejad is the Bush of Iran.
...more“Iranian twitter activity similar to what we did last year when Republicans were shut down in the House.” Why Republicans shouldn’t tweet.
In Iran, fewer journalists each day.
North Korea says reporters confessed to crimes.
Liberal blogger ambushes Fox News‘ Griff Jenkins.
...more32 reported dead.
New protest builds as Iranian government expands crackdown.
“The photos coming out of Tehran demonstrate, movingly and beautifully, that women are on the front lines of the protests taking place there, veils and all.”
More pictures of civil unrest from TPM.
...moreIt’s been amazing to watch it spread.
“As the embattled government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to be trying to limit Internet access and communications in Iran, new kinds of social media are challenging those traditional levers of state media control and allowing Iranians to find novel ways around the restrictions,” reports the New York Times.
...moreIran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calls for an election inquiry.
A “how to” guide to tracking Iran protests with Twitter and social media.
@PersianKiwi may be the world’s most important journalist right now.
Gunfire from pro-government militia kills one at Tehran reform rally.
...moreThe Iranian government arrests over 100 opposition leaders. It looks like this might get really, really violent.
Talking Points Memo has a photo gallery of what’s happening.
After all other forms of communication are cut, there are reports of Twitter-organized rooftop chants from opposition supporters.
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Saïd Sayrafiezadeh’s new memoir about life in the Socialist Workers Party shows the effects of political idealism on a child’s upbringing