Source: and
February 13, 2010

Ali Shakoori-Raad is a well known figure within Iran’s reform movement. He is a member of the central committee of the reformist party Islamic Iran Participation Front and a former MP.

In its political trial of strength with government supporters during the annual 22^nd Bahman parade [commemorating the victory of the Islamic Revolution on 11^th February 1979], the Green movement proved unable to prevail. The Greens had announced beforehand that they would participate in the parade while displaying green symbols, but despite being present in large numbers they were unable to display green in public. This meant that government supporters were able to turn their numbers to their own advantage and portray them in official propaganda as approving of the current state of affairs. This was not a trial of strength under equal conditions and its results do not lend themselves to an evaluation of the true state of society. What was achieved by the supporters of present conditions was simply a propaganda victory, and not the expulsion of the Green Movement from the arena.

While government supporters have the luxury of access to a great many tools and opportunities and security with which to plan and organize, opposition supporters are deprived of all such opportunities and do not enjoy the security even to make a telephone call. Such conditions notwithstanding, the people’s protest movement has been alive for eight months now and despite all the pressures upon it continues to wax strong, itself hardly a small victory. For government supporters a real victory would be the silencing of popular protests, while for the protest movement victory is endurance and growth. Government supporters are not victorious because they have been unable to silence the Green Movement, and they were forced to employ all their capabilities in order to prevent it showing its strength on 22^nd Bahman. What is more, just as they were unsuccessful in their attempt to hijack the votes of an alleged forty million voters during the elections, so too were they unable to enlist in their ranks the great mass of participants in the 22^nd Bahman parade. The presence of members of the Green Movement in the 22^nd Bahman parade was no more a mistake than participating in the elections, and if there are those who did not take part in the parade, they are at fault in the same way as those who did not take part in the elections but who subsequently announced themselves to be part of the Green Movement. That is to say the same people who are most vocal in announcing their disillusionment and who thereby, whether intentionally or not, provide grist to the official propaganda mill.

Mousavi gave no statement to the effect that the people should participate in the parade bearing green symbols and chanting slogans distinct from the official ones. His call was for maintaining the movement’s identity, for peaceful behavior, and refraining from extremist slogans. The remainder of the leaders and parties supporting the Green Movement announced similar requests. No-one printed or distributed posters bearing slogans or pictures of Green Movement leaders. No-one handed out green fabric to people. No Green Movement member had a loudspeaker at her disposal. No organization was involved in planning and directing the Greens’ presence or in providing means of transport for them. Yet despite all this government forces were terrified. Night-time arrests continued until the night before the parade. Websites were filtered and the media restricted. Many influential individuals were under arrest and all means of communication were tightly controlled. Members of groups and organizations who had done no more than publish statements on filtered websites were threatened or received summons. Yet once again the presence of Greens provoked fear and panic. Tehran had never seen security forces gathered in such numbers. They did whatever was in their power to ensure that not a squeak be heard. Lest any other voice be raised, they placed a loudspeaker every fifty paces from which slogans and official songs were constantly relayed, and plain-clothes forces marched step-in-step by the side of the parade, walkie-talkies in hand. There were so many placards, posters and banners that even had someone displayed a green symbol no-one could have seen it. The number of propaganda materials was more than one per head of government supporter. Thus if anyone should claim that there was no-one from that side who was not holding an official propaganda item, they would not be talking nonsense; and likewise if anyone were to claim that that anyone who was not holding such an item was necessarily a Green, once again they would not be talking nonsense.

The greens attended the parade but did not expose their identities. Because for some of them 22^nd of Bahman is a day for unity not for expressing disputes. Others [concealed their identities] to prevent violence exercised by security forces and police that could harm families and some others due to fear of arrests. Not of these [reasons] deserve criticism. Everyone should try to reduce the cost of protesting and struggle to achieve [justified] rights to minimum. Higher costs will marginalize some people and this is what the opposite side wants. In contrary to the impatience, intolerance and intellectual-like whimpering present in pieces published on websites, while what took place on 22^nd of Bahman  was considered as a victory for the opposite side it was not a defeat for the green movement.  It was maturation [of the green movement].  They had prepared for confrontation and we recognized this fittingly  and did not engage with them. Clashing [with the opposite site] would not have born any fruit for the green movement or sympathetic forces in the opposite side. Only those will benefit who publish magazines like Hemmat to show that they care for nothing less than the disintegration of [this] country. When I was returning home from the rally, I walk passed a row of anti-riot guards who were carrying batons. They seemed to be standing in that position for hours. Someone who seemed to be one of the greens asked one of them. Would you hit people? . He replied with a grief: “I swear we don’t want to”.  Then something caught my attention. The air was clean but some of them were wearing white masks. Was it because of fear or shame , I did not know.