Thursday, June 18, 2009

#IranElection


What a week...and it's only Wednesday! So I started summer session 2 weeks ago and each session is only 3 weeks long. BUT somebody at my school decided that the last week of 1st session and the first week of 2nd session should overlap. Yeah so i'm in class all day every day this week and it sucks. Not only is there class to attend but also readings and a final exam on Friday. Great.

ON TOP of school stuff the Iranian presidential election happened last Friday. And unless you've been living under a rock then you should know that the election was rigged and there have been mass protests in Iran and around the world this week. I went to two of them here in Paris already.

There's a reason I am so distracted mentally by what's happening right now in Iran. I'm 30 years old and 30 years ago in 1979 was the revolution in Iran. My parents left Iran before the revolution and moved to Canada where I was born and raised with my brother. Had my parents stayed in Iran I would have been born there and possibly grown up there. A vast majority of the protesters are students and people my age as an overwhelming percent of Iranians are under the age of 35. I am under the age of 35. I could be there right now. Who knows what your life would have been like if even one thing was different. There's no way to know if I would have been a protester but I think I would have. I've seen protests before but I have never felt this way about any of them until now. I suppose the thought that that could be me on the streets of Tehran is really stuck in my head and heart right now. I want to be there with them, protesting in the streets for freedom. Obviously I don't want to get shot at or anything like that but I think what they're doing is admirable. I feel a sense of connection to the citizens of Iran even though I wasn't born there and I've never been there. My parents are both from Iran, I am Persian and this is my fight too.

There's not much that I can do right now from my little studio apartment in Paris but to go to the protests that I can go to (they're usually during class so it's hard to get there in time). One thing that has emerged through all this is the use of websites like Twitter, YouTube, Twitpic, Facebook etc. These sites have been essential for the people in Iran to spread videos, news and pictures to the rest of the world. Since I don't have a TV I can't watch any news programs but what i've heard is in the first few days main stream media barely covered the story at all. My sense is now that they are covering it but no one can expect the MSM to show the kinds of footage and photos on TV that are truly at the heart of the protest. It's amazing to see on these sites the raw footage from the heart of the situation. To see students' dorms terrorized, see people injured and dead is unbelievable. I'm grateful that the Internet has allowed others to really see the people of Iran fight for freedom.

I feel a little like a kid caught in the middle, I'm both west and east. I'm Canadian and Persian, and I'm proud of it!

So anyways...this week has been really hard and it's only going to get harder. I think I am mentally breaking down a little. Last night I passed out in the middle of my bed/futon with all the lights still on, window wide open and computer on. I was that exhausted! I still am exhausted but I can't even imagine what it must feel like for the students in Iran right now. I hope that all Iranians stay safe but keep on keeping on!

Here's a link to a video i took of one of the protests in Paris. Already has 300+ views!


No comments: