The Tweet Heard Around The World #iranelection

This is what we want:#iranelection

Before June 13th, 2009 we viewed the world outside the west through a media window that we did not know was there. That window has now been broken forever. The protesters in Iran are fighting an under-reported attack on their constitution and human rights, and at the same time garnering international support while turning media on its head.  In the course of a weekend, their courage swept and inspired the internet. They also showed us how distant traditional western media has become to global experience.  We have new heroes.

The situation in Iran is now CRITICAL – the nation is heartbroken -suppression is iminent – #Iranelection

For those of us fortunate to have followed a Tehran protester on Twitter since the 14th, the story is truly their masterpiece of the human will to have the truth be known. They want their constitutional right to a truthful election. The brutality and censorship they face has not extinguished their hopes, it is what turned them to the internet on day one.  Despite their latest estimate of over 1,000 arrests, 28 deaths, and hospitals running out of blood, they are not going to stop standing up to the regime.

Much of what occured in the first 48 hours after the election results was missed by media outlets so this is to give it narritive. On Twitter we knew the gravity of each situation before it happened.  They debated with each other whether to go to the march with Mousavi when national television announced to the country that it will be met with gunfire. That did not stop over 10,000 Iranian protesters.

IRG threaten to open fire at people if they try to participate in Mousavi’s rally.  State TV right now: rally is illegal and Police will use iron fist against law breakers.

The throng at the rally in the picture above is telling.  Aside from risking gunfire, a different strategy was used to stop organised protests the night before. Mousavi’s core support are university students, so the Iranian government launched an attack and round of arrests in universities.  There, Twitter was also used as a SOS for injuries, reporting how others could avoid harm, and reporting who died.

We have now some students with urgent need of medical attention.  I’m calling out to all ppl who can come here don’t leave us.  All university’s own security and personell have been evacuated by the police.

The University raids were obvious messages of force. Their estimated aftermath is 100 arrests, 15 badly wounded, and 5 dead. When Basijand police lined the only entrance of one university with police vans, other students drove their cars in to block them. The Basijended ended this with smashed car windows, tear gas and any students that fought the raid were met with metal chains. The students were then imprisoned in the buildings overnight. Everything was destroyed. When one badly injured student was allowed to leave for the hospital, he was arrested from his hospital bed.

Tired & beaten. we couldn’t break through their wall, they were too many & we were no match for an entire army of special forces.

After the rally the students came back to another 2000 Basij at the university. On Twitter they could exchange names of those who died.

There is no need to hide their names anymore Mobina Ehtrami, Fateme Borati, Kasra Sharafi, Kambiz Shoaee & Mohsen Imani; all killed by ansar

During the 24 hours after the election results were announced and before the university arrests, there were two media realities. On social media, you had the heartbreaking flood of YouTube videos with police brutality and violent arrests that hit Twitter, along with stunning images of courage. If you went by television in the US, all you would know is that their were protests in Iran over an election. Time magizine online did cover it with an excellent article.

Police Brutality Clips from June 13th from YouTube:

This stunning photograph emerged of one Iranian woman showing the true courage of a people standing up for their rights. It was one of the most talked about items on FriendFeed.com on June 13th.  US television had yet to report on the crackdown in Iran.

Twitter users were volunteering their servers as proxy servers all around the world to keep Iranians online while their SMS, cellphone, landline and social media sites were blocked or cut.  We began saving every picture of arrests and downloading videos of brutality. We changed our cities to Tehran, added green icons and created a system that made censorship nearly impossible.  It did not go unnoticed, and someone was attacked in the US.

Government now attacking people who provided proxy for us, I don’t know exactly how, but it’s confirmed. To all friends who are providing proxy / tunnel / vpn!  Please be careful!  Do not provide them in public & to all who seems to be from Iran.

Despite being told that the Western world is evil for their whole lives, they reached out to us. Despite the fact that they could be arrested for being online, they documented each event and uploaded it to YouTube and Flickr like award winning reporters. Through the real-time and lightweight structure of Twitter the protesters could tell the truth loud and clear, and weave the videos and pictures in as they occured. They are doing this while running for their lives.

Thanks to someone (probably gov) we’re are now also spies of Israel and to be shot on sight

The estimates and stories spread from Iranian to Iranian word of mouth and on social media are what matter, as this is what they are living right now. As much as their national media wants to spew ridiculous propoganda, or our national media wants to create their own footage, it is the protesters stories and belief in freedom that is moving their country. It is what is moving us.

And we are comforting them:

It is a miracle to have 25,197 people around the world supporting us! Thank you all out there.

Please click on the Take Action Change.org widget below and sign the petition to tell Iran that we are watching them. Grab the code and add a widget to your blog or profile as well. On Twitter, change your profile picture to green to show support or change your city to Tehran to help hide Iran Tweeters. Do not link to or use the @username of a credible Iran Tweeter.

Note: This post was published before the harsher severity of the crackdown escalated. The Green Briefs were than organized and issued each day. Readers may begin here with Brief #1. These briefs are based on witnesses in Iran on Twitter. They report a much higher injury, death toll and number of arrests than Western media or Iran state media. This is crucial awareness.

or, Create a Petition

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Note: I stand by all written content in this blog. It comes from confirmed Iranian protester Twitter posts. The images of harmed university students in the their dorm rooms were more guesome and were blocked before I was able to archive them. The image of the harmed individual above emerged timed with the University raids, and is the only image on this blog I used a time frame to connect it with a confirmed violent event.