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Sunday, December 08, 2002 |
. . . News from Iran . . .
Iran Student Movement Finds New Vitality,
by Nazila Fathi (NYT) gives a very good overview of the situation, occasioned by the most recent student demonstrations.
The student-led protests have been the broadest pro-reform demonstrations in three years. The students are motivated by the popularity of Mr. Aghajari, but many of them say their demands are not limited to his case.
Students would not burst into such protests if they had basic freedoms such as wearing what they wish, listening to music or if men and women could freely mingle, and have normal lives, said one student, Sajad Ghorghi, 22. But because there are bans on such simple freedoms, he said, the students have to express their demands in political terms.
Reza Delbari, 24, said he would graduate this year, but even if he was lucky enough to find a job, he would earn only $150 a month, not enough to even rent a room.
Then I have to be intimidated and humiliated every day by people who want to say what is religiously right, he said. We cannot even decide for our own future.
The students represent many among Iran's overwhelmingly young population — 70 percent of the 65 million Iranians are younger than 30.
This is a force that the government counted on for support, but now the establishment is faced with its high expectations and demands, said Qassem Sholeh-Saadi, a professor of law and political science at Tehran University.
Many students are well read and familiar with Western democracy. They are taught by professors who studied in Europe and the United States. The Internet and satellite television have put them in touch with the outside world.
The only independent associations allowed to function at universities are Islamic Associations, which predate the 1979 revolution. For a time, members hewed to radical Islamic ideology, but by the mid-1990's, pro-democracy students largely replaced them, and alternative groups formed with the hard- liners.
Islamic Associations around the country coordinate their policies through a central office. Students choose members of the office in free elections, and the body decides general policies.
. . .
We will confine our activities to university campuses, said Mr. Farrokhi, noting that they are a preserve where the security forces are not allowed. But we will not withdraw from out strategic demands: referendum is one of those, and we are willing to pay the price for it.
Thousands Protest for Reform in Iran, 60 Arrested (Reuters -- with additional reporting by Parinoosh Arami and Parisa Hafezi)
[T]he street demonstration, unlike a rally held by students within the university campus, had not been authorized and was therefore illegal [according to what the general director of security and political affairs at the governor's office in Tehran told the students' news agency, ISNA].
. . .
The mixed gathering of young and old, men and women -- many of whom wore the traditional black head-to-toe garment known as the chador -- occasionally chanted slogans such as Political prisoners must be freed!
Baton-wielding police made several charges, forcing people to dart into side streets and seek shelter in nearby buildings.
Late on Saturday evening a crowd of about 500 relatives and friends of those arrested gathered outside a central Tehran police station, clamoring for their release, another witness told Reuters.
Inside the university during the afternoon about 3,000 students chanted Death to the Taliban in Kabul and Tehran and called for a referendum on Iran's political future.
The rally was marked by sporadic violence as students and hardline Islamic militia hurled stones at one another over the high university fence. Police placed a cordon of buses around the campus to hamper the stone throwers and block the students from view.
Students Want Referendum on Iran Future, by Ali Akbar Dareini (AP).
Chanting death to dictatorship, the Tehran University students called for a national referendum on Iran's political future. This is the demand of the Iranian nation today: referendum, the students shouted from inside campus.
We are calling on you to respect the people's choice and allow voted reforms, said student leader Mohammad Ajdadi. We are the last generation to speak to you through dialogue. The younger generation is already preparing its fists.
. . .
Saeed Babaei, another student leader, called for the release of political prisoners, including the professor.
The verdict against Aghajari is a verdict against freedom of speech. Why are our prisons full of respected scholars, intellectuals, writers and students? he asked.
. . .
Khatami in September presented two bills to parliament that would enable him to stop constitutional violations by his hard-line opponents and bar the hard-line Guardian Council from disqualifying candidates in general elections without strong evidence.
The bills are under consideration in parliament, which is widely expected to pass them. But the Guardian Council, a unelected oversight body, must endorse any legislation parliament passes for it to become law.
8:23:35 AM 
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Nice Matt Richtel piece in the Times today:
[D]etractors of the [Hollings] bill, like Edward W. Felten, an associate professor of computer science at Princeton, assert that the language is so broad as to cover dozens of products that use digital processors to record, process and play content. Those may include hearing aids, audio key chains and even Billy Bass the Singing Fish. Then there is the Barbie Travel Train, which can record a few seconds of audio, like "all aboard" or "next stop New York."
. . .
James McMillian, a Toys "R" Us employee who was stocking toys, at first seemed speechless when asked whether the store was selling the likes of crowbars to second-story men.
This? he asked as he picked up the Barbie Travel Train box. A moment later, he regained his composure and made a ludicrous suggestion: Why not just buy a regular recorder?
The beauty of the Barbie Travel Train was then explained to him: it could be easily smuggled into a rock concert under a pile of several blankets or a large tent. Then the train could be used to record several seconds of a bootlegged song.
I guess people wouldn't expect you to use this, Mr. McMillian acknowledged.
A few aisles down, a Toys "R" Us saleswoman stood beside one of the more obvious piracy tools — a product known on the street as the "baby monitor." It allows parents to monitor their infants by broadcasting the baby's voice. But it could also pick up and transmit the sound of the television in the background. The saleswoman was asked: Isn't this a veritable piracy starter kit for infants?
. . .
Andy Davis, a spokesman for the senator, said he didn't think that the Barbie Travel Train or the Singing Fish was what his boss intended to regulate . . . .
Big Brother, Take My Little Sister!, New York Times.
8:05:56 AM
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