"Green Cyber Demonstration": World Solidarity with the Iranian Protestors

INTERNATIONAL CYBER-DEMONSTRATION IN SUPPORT OF THE IRANIAN PRO-DEMOCRACY MOVEMENT



One aim: unite the world’s citizens of all origins, nationalities and horizons who believe in democracy and Human Rights, and who wish to express their support for the pro-democracy movement in Iran.



This initiative is completely independent, non-political and non-religious.



How to participate

- Join our group on facebook, flickr, add us on twitter & myspace

- make our logo your profile image on these social websites

- write a message of support as your headline & on our page(s)

- inform & send links to your friends & contacts

- write about this event in your blogs & websites, feature our image & add a link to us

- contribute to our webpage with comments, slogans, photos/videos/songs etc.


Facebook group: WWIran Facebook group
On twitter: WWIran Twitter
Myspace page: WWIran Myspace
Downloadable images on flickr: WWIran Flickr profile
Flickr group: WWIran Flickr group
YouTube Channel: WWIran YouTube

How you can make a difference

The pro-democracy protestors in Iran are isolated and vulnerable. A strong turn-out here is a means for us to support them in their battle & remind governments & official international bodies around the world to act in the best interest of these freedom-fighters.Iran has ratified both the Declaration of Human Rights (signed 1948) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (signed 1968). Let us show the world that human dignity and Human Rights are values that transcend frontiers, and that our leaders should use as much energy in defending Human Rights as they do the nuclear issue.



“A dictatorship is more dangerous than a nuclear weapon.”



Context

As a result of the fraudulent Iranian presidential elections of the 12th of June 2009, millions of people took to the streets of Iran to protest against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; demanding a new and democratic election. These brave protestors, comprising all generations, demonstrated pacifically but faced harsh repression from government forces resulting in beatings, deaths, arrests, torture, forced confessions and mock show-trials. Despite this repression, the protest movement has continued to grow and is known as the ‘Green Movement’ (read below: ‘Why Green?’). In spite of this repression, the pro-democracy protestors in Iran have continued their mobilisation; taking to the streets, infiltrating official marches and finding new means to express themselves such as via the internet - despite the huge risks, including for their lives (two young men arrested before the elections, Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, were executed on the 28th January 2010, with more feared).



Why Green?

Green is the symbolic colour under which the pro-democracy protestors march in Iran - it is traditionally the colour of hope. Although the colour of the presidential candidate Mussavi in June’s fraudulent elections, the protestors have since made this colour their own and are commonly called the ‘Green Movement’, which has grown to become a spontaneous independent citizen’s movement demanding democracy for Iran. Green is now the colour of all those who march for democracy in Iran.

Thursday 11 February 2010

Oxfordgirl vs Ahmadinejad: the Twitter user taking on the Iranian regime

A woman tweeting from an English village is helping to moblise opposition protests across Iran
Matthew weaver guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 10 February 2010



Iran Twitter protesters
Twitter updates have become an alternative to the Iranian government's official version of events during the unrest. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
As the resident of a quiet village in Oxfordshire with a plummy accent to match, she makes an unlikely revolutionary. But she has become a key player in the unrest that is shaking Iran and is such an irritant to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that she has been subjected to a propaganda campaign by the regime's henchmen.
Known only by her Twitter name, Oxfordgirl has emerged as a crucial link between the protesters and the outside world. "Before they started blocking mobile phones I was almost co-ordinating people's individual movements – 'Go to such and such street,' or 'Don't go there, the Basij [militia] are waiting,' " she said. "It was very strange to be sitting in Oxford and co-ordinating things like that."
Tomorrow the opposition is planning another demonstration under the cloak of an official rally to mark the 31st anniversary of the revolution. Oxfordgirl, who guards her identity for fear of reprisals against her family in Iran, said: "It's going to be a big day for the Persian psyche. It won't topple the regime but it's part of the process of showing the resistance won't go away.
"It's significant because of the symbolism of the revolution. A lot of people will attend the official rally and see lots of protesters coming out against the regime."
Over the last seven months Oxfordgirl has built a reputation as one of the most reliable sources of information on the turmoil. Since the disputed election last June she has posted more than 12,000 updates on Twitter, and has become convinced that the social networking site is helping to bring down the regime. 
"People who haven't been involved in Iran don't understand how Twitter can work – they think it's about chatting about pop stars. But if it hadn't been for Twitter a lot of people wouldn't have got involved [in the unrest] and they wouldn't know what's going on.
"On a practical level it has saved lots of lives by warning people not to go down certain roads."
A former journalist in Tehran, she has used her contacts to spread word of the unrest. With heavy restrictions on foreign media, Twitter updates from Oxfordgirl and a handful of others counter-balance the official version of events.
"In the early days I was posting news of riots in other cities, at a time when the international media was saying it was only in Tehran," she said. "Several days later the BBC confirmed there had been riots elsewhere. This made what I was tweeting more trustworthy."
In the run-up to tomorrow's protest she has been using her 10,000 Twitter followers to disseminate ways of avoiding the anticipated crackdown. "The regime is getting better at shutting down the internet and my contacts are nervous about what might happen," she said. "But Iranians are clever at getting around things."
Oxfordgirl's effectiveness appears to have rattled the regime. She is convinced that the Iranian government has tried to use Twitter itself to undermine her.
"One day a whole load of new people arrived on Twitter. It was quite clear that some ministry got them to join at the same time and follow each other. They started putting out rumours about me. When Persiankiwi [another prominent Twitter user] went silent, they said it was me who had turned him in. Then they started saying I was Maryam Rajavi [an exiled opposition leader regarded as a terrorist in Iran]."
She is acutely aware of the dangers of being discovered. "I live in a small village so anyone who is out of place stands out immediately. There have been a couple of moments when I've seen people outside, and my heart started going faster. Your imagination runs wild. I don't want my cousins disappeared in the middle of the night."
Despite the risks she is determined to carry on. "I'm doing this because I love Iran and I want to it to be free," she said. "I don't want people to be frightened of what they say."

Credits: The Guardian: Oxfordgirl vs Ahmadinejad: the Twitter user taking on the Iranian regime


Also, watch this interview with Mehdi Saharkhiz an exiled Iranian blogger:



Mehdi Saharkhiz Interviewed by Ivan Watson of CNN: Exiled Iranian spreads word

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