- 2 October 2009
- 3 Comments
- Events in Iran, Human Rights in Iran, Iran Election 2009
“Ahmadi, Israel, Congratulations on your Marriage!”
2 October 2009 Posted By Michelle Moghtader
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYhaBBzT6pY]
While metro trains in the US are normally filled with the sound of music leaking from iPods, Iran’s are filled with political chants. Seen here in Tehran’s metro system, (yes, they have a metro system, a very advanced one I might add) are people chanting, “Ahmadi, Israel, congratulations on your marriage!” Followed by, “Basjis, Israel, congratulations on your marriage!” During the protests following the election, Basijis were called “Israelis” by other Iranians, because they responded to small attacks, people throwing rocks, with a disproportionate amount of force and guns.
There are a few lone voices chanting, “Death to Israel,” but those don’t seem to take hold. They are probably from Ahmadinejad supporters unhappy with the predominant chant. At the end, the tried and true “Death to Dictator” is chanted. Despite Ahmadinejad’s strong words against the state of Israel, many Iranians seem to see them as one and the same.
3 Responses to ““Ahmadi, Israel, Congratulations on your Marriage!””
Hah. Great stuff! Claims to be from Sept 18th, Quds Day.
Btw, they finally end not with “Marg bar Diktator” = “Down with the dictator” but rather “Marg bar jire-khor” = “Down with the the receiver of payoffs”*.
* Maybe someone can offer a better translation of “jire-khor” I was only going based on Google’s translation of “jire” as “noun 1. allotment 2. livery 3. ration”
The significance of this video is not that there are marg bar dictador chants being staged inside a metro car with a phone video camera. This is obviously staged. The real significance is that ordinary people in the car, from out of the blue, actually offer up pro-Ahmadinejad chants.
Iran is politically divided, especially in Tehran. But the World Public Opinion poll results show that this division is heavily tilted toward the pro-government faction.
This may be a sort of “silent majority”, the kind of which Nixon referred to here in America, during a time of massive demonstrations and street violence during the ’60s and early ’70s.
NIAC should really be taking that into consideration.
Hmmm… Maybe this can explain the Israeli thing:
Ahmedi is a Jew.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/6256173/Mahmoud-Ahmadinejad-revealed-to-have-Jewish-past.html
.