Poem for the Rooftops of Iran - June 19th, 2009
By scarce Saturday Jun 20, 2009 4:30amSubtitled version of "INJA KOJAST INJA IRAN AST SARZAMINE MANO TO" (link below) - a woman speaking about the state of her country while filming the rooftop shouting of "Allah-o Akbar" in Iran on Friday June 19th.Iran, the whole world is watching.
original link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oM6l9PO6Yo
The subtitles in the video above are a little different, and in my opinion, a little better than those below, which I copied from NIACblog. Both are enormously moving. Tomorrow is indeed a day of destiny.
Today Friday 18 June 1388 [2009]
Tomorrow Saturday is very important; Day of destiny.
Tonight the screams of “God is great” [Allah-o Akbar]
is louder than on any other night.Where is this place?
Where is this place that all paths are closed? All doors are shut?
Where is this place that no one helps us?Where is this place that we shout out our words with only silence?
Where is this place?
Where is this place that its people’s only call is to God?
Where is this place that its cry of Allah-o Akbar ["God is Great"]
Grows louder and louder every minute?Every day I wait to see if at night
The cries of “God is Great” grows louder or not.
I tremble as I hear them getting louder and louder.
I do not know if God trembles too or not.Where is this place that we the innocents are stuck in [imprisoned]?
Where is this place that no one can help us?
where is this place that we are only shouting out our words with silence?
Where is this place that the youth are killed and people stand in the street and pray?
They stand in the blood and pray.
Where is this place that people are called [vagrants] trouble makers?Where is this place?
Do you want me to tell you?
It is Iran.
It is my home land and your home land.
It is Iran.
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I went to the refrigerator to get some baloney for a sandwich
Thee wasn't any so I went to the store
That place you get stuff, Cheetos and the like
But there was no baloney, what is this place?
So I left that place dejected and depressed
White bread, Dijon, Goldens, mayo...I had it all except baloney
Where am I, I wondered
Then I saw this place. The red wig, the white make up, the happy face
All very familiar
I steered my metal box next to a square hole in the side of a wall
Where I yelled "Super Size me!"
As I wait, I listen to a man speaking loudly on my AM radio dail
I do not know him but he is wise
Someone passes me a paper box through the hole
What is this place?
I did not care because I was at last fulfilled
And my long and difficult struggle was over
Funny nor appropriate.Go play somewhere else.
What is funny is how clueless you are about how appropriate this is. Go back to watching your Saturday morning cartoons, something that isn't too far over your head.
Careful what you wish for... or who you wish to save you, eh?
many were hoping for Ahmadinejad to lose. He didn't. Is his win questionable? Sure. So was George Bush's. Should we do something about it? Intervene in some way? No. The Right would just LOVE to pick a fight with Iraq's neighbor (and when they come back into power they will). But we need to stay focused on OUR problems and not get drawn off on a tangent by politicians - left and right - and a Media that need a "big show" to make what they do seem interesting and "important" and "serious". The Iranian people have to effect their own change (and power to them!), just as we do.
Government steals an election and nothing should be done about it? are you serious?
This was something that made me weep was when I realized that over 80% of my country couldn't care less that the election was stolen...twice!!!
Yes the people need to do something, should America get evolved, well, probably not. But I only say that because we did nothing when this was done to us, most people just quietly accepted that Bushco was our president. And from our silence look what horrors were wrought on the world, we are all responsible for that, we are all responsible that we allowed these criminals to torture people, we are all responsible for the illegal wars launched in our name. We are responsible for a massive loss of life in the world, due to our inaction over a stolen election.
How can you be serious that nothing sould be done?
Every new outlet told us that Bush won. Blame the media. If we don't have the information, how are we able protest?
I did not vote for Bush. I am not responsible for what he did. I blame Gore more for not continuing to fight (like Franken has).
......it's not our problem. Obama is playing this perfectly. Stay on the sidelines; no need to inject us into the fray.
As I watch reports of this situation, I can't help but think that the CIA, Israel, and our MSM are behind the protests. People need to stop and think 'what if the there was no election fraud?'. What if Ahmadinejad actually did win? We would then be supporting a minority in their effort to overthrow a democratically elected government?
I have seen absolutely no evidence that the election was stolen. It's time for the Iranians to accept the result and move on.
I have no idea if the election was stolen or not. I have no doubt, however, that our government has ongoing covert operations in Iran and many other "hostile" countries.
we have covert operations in every country in the world, whether hostile or friendly. I'm willing to say Iran does, too.
State intelligence organizations aren't restricted to superpowers. In fact, many nations forego massive military spending because they simply can't afford the weapons systems. Covert operations are much cheaper, and efficient covert ops are, well, cheaper yet. I'll offer you, as an example, Poland between the World Wars: They had horse-mounted cavalry operating against tanks, but they stole the Enigma machine from the Germans in 1933 (they passed three of their their doubles of Enigma on to the French in 1939, one in July, after it was apparent that war was imminent, and two more after the invasion in September).
I regard foreigners as equal in value and human rights to Americans, imperialist scum disgust me. I wish the protesters safety until this crisis is over.
YOU haven't seen any evidence? You're not there, and I really doubt that you've been paying much attention to what's been going on in Iran. It also shows what you don't know about the politics of the region if you think the CIA would actually PUSH for a democratic regime in Iran.
.......and that's the point. All these people that are upset about the election are simply reacting to the fact that Ahmadinejad won. They can't believe it, and therefore the election MUST HAVE BEEN RIGGED!
You should have learned by now not to believe everything you read and hear.
I'm also not foolish to shoot off my mouth without knowing the history of a region.
I'll bet you real money this is NOT about whether or not Ahmadinejad won.
Khameini and Ahmedinejad would love nothing better than for us to get involved directly.
Why are you parroting Khameini's nonsense? This uprising is a 100% Iranian affair. Why don't you try reading what the people of Iran are saying and seeing what they are doing instead of being an unpaid PR agent for a thug.
Absolutely!
Words seem true, when they come from the heart
Don't matter how near or miles apart
When one feels the same, as another one does
It sparks an equal emotion, with its resounding buzz
Be it a metered euphoria or crying shame
Were all just players, in this real world game
The game of life, full of hope and desire
Full of Tragedy and triumphs, for woman and sire
The questions will be answered, all in due time
Whether explained with a picture or metering rhyme....
Today_2009_TC
Amended
That was lovely.
What is happening in Iran is definitely something to watch, whether it is organic or is staged by the CIA as some have suggested.
I would think that the size of the thing would mean that it is organic on some level. Whether or not there are people who are in the inner circle who are CIA friendly is the thing that is open to debate. The CIA didn't organize over a million people to walk throught the streets of Iran, or to shout the Muslim Prayers from their rooftops.
Back to the George Bush thing. Media is global now. Influence is global. Who's to say that AIPAC or even Saudis didn't have a hand in George's ill gotten election. But the facts as we know them are that it was Americans who did most of the leg work because it is what THEY wanted.
Al Gore should have fought harder, this is true. John Kerry should have fought harder. It was not time. People were not as interested as a whole. You or I may have been, but we were a minority.
Most compacent Americans thought that everything was just fine, and the government wouldn't lie to us, because they were assured that we were loonies and hated the government. We were lumped with the "Loonie Tin Foil Hat Crowd" that thought that the Kennedy Assasination was carried out by Bush family members and that 9/11 was an inside job.
Both of these things are possible in a world where there are evil men who want power. But in America, saying them aloud, makes you crazy, and not aware that men are capable of doing a lot of bad things in the name of persute of power.
Whatever happens today in Iran, I hope the people's cries are answered and that they don't suffer too much. But the fact that they are willing to suffer and to go against their government(god) makes them better than most Americans from square one.
Salaam Alekem, Iran.
Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know is on.
I'm listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" now.
♥ - Likewise
....especially from those apparently non-empathetic or even interested.
1. The NIAC is funded by the NED (national endowment for democracy). The NED is one of those shadowy things.
2. The American people forget our involvement in Iranian politics, and how we are responsible for the Shah, et. al. Our sole interest is NOT because the Iranians suddenly took over the American embassy in Tehran. Thus, Obama's reticence (with which I agree).
To put this bluntly, the Iranians are doing what WE should've done in 2000. however we are too complacent because we are too 'fat & comfortable.' We don't "see" beyond our own lives, and so we don't see that's what really important is (was) becoming less tangible.
The U.S. would stop meddling in foreign politics. WE, as a nation, have a lot to do to clean up our own. I don't think that there is much debate on those issues. At least not here.
Not all Americans are 'fat and comfortable', not even those that COULD be if they wanted to. There are a lot of people out here trying to try to make things better in whatever way they can.
I don't know if you know this, but a lot of us have families that we have to support.It's not a matter of 'fat and comfortable' as much as it is 'tired and overwhelmed'. Staying informed is not as easy for a lot of people as one would think. Some people don't care because it doesn't "affect" them, but then, they are living their life hand to mouth to begin with, so how does this affect them?
The world is complicated and messy. Tarring everyone with the same brush is not helpful. The situation in Iran is complicated and messy, and we may have some involvment in it.(probably do).For someone who has a couple of kids to raise, and is being crunched at work, (if they still have a job) and crunched at home by the economy, How do you expect them to care about what's going on in Iran and why should they?
WE, as a country, meddle in a lot of things we shouldn't. But,we, as a people, do have to live day to day and take care of family and friends. We, as individuals, have to do the best we can, in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, and make the decisions that are important to what we hold most dear. This does not make us non-empathetic or uninterested, necessarily. If there is something that We, as individuals, can do, other than talk about it, and try to educate people in our lives about it, please share.
I know what's going on. I'm experiencing it just like everyone else. Without going into particulars - we as a company (hospital) are taking a wage reduction.
When things were happening in 2000 & 2004 - "things" were different.
'Fat & comfortable' wasn't to being taken literally. It's about having comforts. When you're comfortable it's hard getting up & out. You need an impetus.
Purportedly. Trying to find a (non Google-Beta) translator. Arabic translators I can find, Farsi none on short notice.
Link
Copy of the text (in Farsi) saved to my throw-away blog from a .ir redirected url from twitter feeds.
I have a good friend who speaks Farsi. He is from Iran and has plans to return in about a month. I will ask him to translate anything you wish. I can speak to him tomorrow if you like. If you still need it or anything else translated from Farsi just let me know...
Peace.
Their election was between a giant douche and a turd sandwich. Just like ours.
I sure hope that when protests take place in the U.S. that they describe the protesters as "Reformers" and not "Terrorists" or "Malcontents" like they have done so many times in the past. In the U.S. there have been over 15,000 arrests for resistance to war since 2002. There were several arrests made in the U.S. simply for wearing a T-Shirt with an anti-Bush message.
It's okay for the Capitalists to teargas and pepper spray protesters in Seattle during WTO and in Europe.
In the future, anti-globalization forces and anti-capitalists should change their name to "Reformers" in order to gain the identical U.S. media support as what is given to those protesters (Reformers) in Iran.
And, every Palestinian is now a "Reformer".
Calm
Pentagon Rebrands Protest as "Low-Level Terrorism"
By Tom Burghardt
June 18, 2009
http://antifascist-calling.blogspot.com/2009/...
Stunning poem...
All human beings, whatever their cultural or historical background, suffer when they are killed, intimidated, imprisoned or tortured..
The very best of you can be felt in that poem. I could almost feel your heart breaking.
You are inspiring.
*Humbled
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