Neda Aghasoltan’s birthday was celebrated saturday in presence of hundred Iranians in Mel Letsman Sqr. This gathering was held in Toronto with presence of Neda’s fiancé, Caspian Makan and many social, political and Iranian celebrities. Neda’s commemoration began with music and poetry. In this ceremony many video clips was shown of Iranian uprising along with footage of Neda and her finance. Many messages were presented in this ceremony sent by well-known figures from all around world. In later part of the ceremony Paula B. Slater creator of Neda’s sculpture, sent her message in solidarity with the Iranian people and stated: I dedicate this sculpture as a symbol of freedom to Iranian people revolution and the family of Neda.
In his speech, Caspian Makan announced, the people of Iran in a revolutionary path towards a secular and free society have had many symbols; however, Neda is one of the well-know symbols. Throughout the ceremony people gathered around a tree planted for Neda and lit candles and showed their support with the family of Neda and the people of Iran by singing epic songs.
We are all Human and one people please help Haitian people by donating at http://yele.org/
Appeals for aid quickly flooded out to the international community on Tuesday after a major earthquake struck Haiti, the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation.
"I'm calling on all friends of Haiti and people who are listening to me to please come to our aid," said Raymond Joseph, Haiti's ambassador to the U.S. told CNN's Wolf Blitzer by telephone.
The magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck southern Haiti on Tuesday, knocking down buildings and inflicting a new catastrophe on the impoverished Caribbean nation, its ambassador to the United States said.
"Today as Haiti is going through the worst day in its history I am calling for all others who got help from us in the beginning to help in support," Joseph said. "The only thing I can do now is pray and hope for the best."
The quake struck about 15 km (10 miles) southwest of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince shortly before 5 p.m. Joseph said he had little information about the extent of damage from the quake, but one government official -- the only one he was able to reach -- told him houses had crumbled "on the right side of the street and the left side of the street."
E-mail was the sole means of communication for many.
"Port-au-Prince is devastated, lot of deaths. SOS. SOS...," wrote Dr. Louise Ivers from Port-au-Prince, in an e-mail to the group's offices in Boston, Massachusetts. The clinical director of Partners In Health, which operates nine hospitals and health centers for poor people in Haiti, added: "Temporary field hospital ... needs supplies, pain meds, bandages. Please help us."
Singer Wyclef Jean, nephew of ambassador Joseph, stressed the need for help for what is considered the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.
"We're going to need immediate aid," Jean told Blitzer on CNN. "We're going to need the United States and the international community to react immediately." He founded Yele Haiti, whose community service programs include food distribution and emergency relief.
In Washington U.S. President Barack Obama said the government would "stand ready to assist the people of Haiti."
At the Pentagon, the U.S. military said humanitarian aid was being prepared for shipping, but it was not yet clear where or how it would be sent. A U.S. aviation source said the control tower at the Port-au-Prince international airport collapsed, possibly hindering efforts to fly relief supplies into the country.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters that Washington is offering "our full assistance" to Haiti. "And our prayers are with the people who have suffered, their families and their loved ones," she said. The deputy chief of the U.S. mission in Haiti, David Lindwall, told Clinton that he saw "significant damage" from the quake and said U.S. officials there expect "serious loss of life," Crowley said.
And Clinton's husband, former U.S. President Bill Clinton -- now the U.N. special envoy for Haiti -- said the world body was "committed to do whatever we can to assist the people of Haiti in their relief, rebuilding and recovery efforts."
Haiti's government is backed by a U.N. peacekeeping mission established after the ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004.
The United States has been heavily involved in Haiti commercially, politically and militarily for most of the last century. U.S. intervention under Clinton restored Aristide to power in 1994 after a 1991 coup, and a U.S. jet hustled him out of the country again in 2004 following a rapidly spreading uprising against his government.
With people stripping the trees for fuel and to clear land for agriculture, the mountainous countryside has been heavily deforested. That has led to severe erosion and left Haitians vulnerable to massive landslides when heavy rains fall.
Roads in Haiti were unsafe to travel on because of a lack of lighting and because many buildings along transportation routes had collapsed or were not deemed safe, said Ian Rodgers of the relief organization Save the Children.
"What I can hear is very distressed people," Rogers said. "There is a lot of distress and wailing of people trying to find loved ones."
A representative for the aid group Catholic Relief Services in Haiti described the situation in the nation as "a total disaster," said Robyn Fieser, regional information officer for the group.
Haiti's dense population will increase the risk to its people, Jean said. The nation's need for aid will range from water and food to medical and building supplies.
"This is the worst devastation that we as Haitian people have faced," he said.
Hurricane Gordon killed more than 1,000 people in 1994, while Hurricane Georges killed more than 400 and destroyed the majority of the country's crops in 1998. And in 2004, Hurricane Jeanne killed more than 3,000 people even as it passed north of Haiti, with most of the deaths in the northwestern city of Gonaives.
Gonaives was hit heavily again in 2008 when four tropical systems passed through.
According to the U.N. Office for the Special Envoy for Haiti, unemployment reaches 70 percent nationally, and 78 percent of Haitians live on less than $2 a day.
Years ago, Khomeini said: “We wouldn’t have what we have today if it wasn’t for Moharram and Safar” (Islamic calendar months in which Mohammad the prophet died and other figures of the Shiite religion were killed). When he made this statement he did not think that 30 years later the fundamentals of the regime he built would be targeted by a new generation in the very same months of Moharram and Safar. The uprising and people protests in Moharram this year and especially on the day of Ashura which continued late into the night with clashes between the oppressor forces and protestors was quite different to the experience of 30 years ago. Thousands of people in Tehran and other cities gathered on the streets to unite against lies, injustice and repression. The result of their unity was another epic victory in ancient Iranian history in demanding their deserved rights.
This year’s Ashura was the scene of clashes between political Islam against the freedom seeking movement of the Iranian people. People marched to the streets in their masses so that from now on no grandfather would need to refer to decayed religious history to describe the battle between right and wrong. This year’s Ashura saw the end of the Ashura of Hossein and a beginning of the people’s Ashura. An Ashura formed to stand against religious regime, dictatorship, murder, lies, and injustice.
The People’s Ashura achieved a plot with the password “tearing up Khomeini’s picture” and was born with an unprecedented unity among people. Six months on it has become a nightmare, fighting the regime day and night. The People’s Ashura forced Khamenei and his supporters into enter a game of life and death, and surrender their understanding of “Moharram and Safar”. The Islamic Republic began to fight back with the full power of media, newspaper, school, factories and garrison; with the excuse of people’s disrespect towards Khomeini, Hossain and Ashura and asked people to come to the streets to support Islam.
The Islamic Regime issued free subway tickets, distributed juice and cake among people, rewards at offices, school and universities to bring big groups of people to the streets and in front of cameras., attaching pictures of Khatami, Moussavi and Karrubi to the American flag and chanting in hatred “death upon them”. This behavior of the Islamic regime is against Khomeini’s prime minster, former president and against the chairman of parliament and one of the closes clerics to Khomeini. The plain clothes forces that oppressed people with knives later chanted on the streets “Execute them”. Jannati announced that we should take the same route as we did in 1978 (referring to the massacre carried out after the 1978 revolution) and 36 members – “people’s representatives” – stated: “Don’t let the prisoners breathe more than 20 days, execute them today!” A competition is underway, “people’s representatives”, “God’s representatives” and the “Imam Zaman” are overtaking one another to walk over the dead bodies of people.
They want to execute the prisoners. These prisoners are the same people on the street today and tomorrow, those who survived the gunshots, bullets, batons or those whose blood didn’t shed on the streets or under the wheel of state cars. Now they are charged with Moharebeh (fight against God and state) to pay the price of fighting against a dictator. The Islamic regime wants to execute those who faced death to take over oppressor forces but let them go. They forgive them for Neda’s sake (referring to one of the videos in which people are shouting let the Basij go and don’t beat him, for Neda’s sake). It could be you or I or any of us living beyond the borders of limitation, outside or inside Iran. However, either they don’t know or don’t want to know that the roots of this movement is founded in humanity.
They want to execute those who are against torture and execution. The same people who set the gallows on fire in Sirjan and those who still carry the pain of losing Ehsan, Behnood and Delara. This is the naked battle scene of clashes between people and the dictator. But these tortures, execution and threats do not scare anyone. They put a veil on Majid’s head to put him down, but it produced many Majids across the world wearing veil, interrogated journalists and political figures to make them confess, but the entire nation united with them. And today, they call the pursuit of freedom and equality “Moharebeh” to threaten and scare millions of people and make them stay at home. Aside from 30 years of terror, execution and Moharebeh against people they’ve now start firing at people. They are killing our loved ones with bullets, rape, batons and deathly car wheels, but people remain standing in the battle field.
We must protest against these executions, accusations, pressures, threats and interrogations of detained activists who are in danger of being executed. We must use any available tool, from media to writing articles, from streets to factories and universities and protest against current situation. The answer to this situation is not in internet, letters or electronic petitions, but in strike, protests and solidarity in streets. We must take action with full knowledge, by organizing and uniting against these verdicts and call for people’s support. We should force this call upon political parties and organizations; because in this battle we all are Mohareb and executable.
In recent days many high profile individuals took positions towards Mir Hossein Mousavi’s recent statement and bombarded the web with their so called important words and images. We are not important people, but In the past six months have learned even those not so important people deserve to be heard. This is our main cleverness. Mousavi’s statement, not a strategy nor tactics
We also have read Mousavi’s seventeenth statement. We read it carefully. Just like the previous sixteen statements which were published before. In this statement like the previous sixteen some positive and negative aspects were seen. At times agreed with him in our hearts and at times frowned to express our regret. Main story lies here. This statement has no value beyond his previous sixteen statement. Mousavi’s statements might move important man, but do not shake any ground. Not like earthquake has come. Mir-Hossein Mousavi has issues anther statement as always.
Of course we could like other friends take out pen and papers and cameras and come into grips with words and sentences of this statement, but our experience in the past six months shows the futility of it. The movement has gone beyond these stages. The point that it’s duty can be cleared by en and paper or in however limited circles. No force can control this movement other than the movement. This can be understood from the writings of those who do not believe Mousavi’s statement proposed any compromising solution. In fact, even if he proposed a peaceful solution no one, not even his most firm believers saw it or even if they did, they decided to put this one aspect aside. The fight has not stopped. It can’t be stopped. Mousavis’ statement’s importance measures to be this much. The genie is out of the magic lamp, this genie in the people’s politic and can not be returned to the lamp.
We are not asking for anything, we’ll earn all we want
Mir-Hossein Mousavi in his seventeenth statement named five basics as the demands of the people. Almost immediately five “religious intellectuals” out of country issued statements and stated ten basics as the demands of the people’s movement. Maybe in the upcoming days other will suddenly remember the Iranian people’s demands and will be writing about them.
This movement started the coup with a very simple demand which the clearly stated the reason for which people had come to the streets for: “Where is my vote?”. Now after sox months no sign of those central slogan are seen. “Where is my vote?” has nothing to do with the people whom field the streets of tehran on Ashoora. Internal dynamics and diversity of this movement has caused all the plans and predetermined programs, all formulas violating integral role in liberating to go down the drain. Movement, is the creator and flourishing ego. Maybe it’s because people are involved in politics whose main porous is living freely.
Based on this all the demands that are listed or will be, regardless of their content have nothing to do with the struggle of the streets of Iran. At some stage they may speak out the demands of the people, but in all reality there is no guaranty on the stability of these claims. There isn’t even any guarantee that these claims speak out people’s todays demands. Demands of this struggle are determined by the forces that faces that have stood their grounds on the streets. A force that will not trust their demands with formulated basics. They can not be listed. A force that is supported by people’s politics.
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