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Toronto Was No Tehran – A report on the G-20 protests

Posted by Zand-Bon on Jul 1st, 2010 and filed under News, PLANET IRAN NEWS FOCUS, Photos, Video, video gallery. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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June 29, 2010

Kamangir Blog - There are several similarities and differences between the recent G20 events in Toronto and the post-election events in Iran. It is imperative to heed such parallels and to call up the distinctions as the media under the repressive Iranian regime will try to portray these separate issues as identical and assume that the post-election brutality is a natural phenomena and that “it’s the same all over the world.”

The Toronto riots became prominent on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. A dear friend and I marched along with the protesters for about an hour and a half on Friday and captured some photos. On Saturday, we followed the news via the Canadian media sources. And on Sunday, we checked out some of the few zones of dissent. I am writing this note on Sunday afternoon and I am following the news on Twitter and weblogs (You can see a summary of noteworthy events ). The video below reveals a sound and brief rundown of the events that unfolded:

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In Toronto, an opposition group marched the streets protesting the current infrastructures and it turned into riots. Consequently, this small group had the opportunity to employ human symbols, national symbols, and theatrical performances.

To explore an example, lets take a closer look at the events: As reported in some documentations and photos, on varying occasions, a couple would embrace and kiss while the riot police in view got ready to assault the protesters. As well, this opposition group, at least in one location, began chanting the Canadian National Anthem during a clash with the police, trying to expose the police as an undemocratic institution. We witnessed that during theatrical performances people were sitting right next to the police line up and the police officers were forced to stand still and ignore the onslaught of photographers. It’s also important to note that according to eyewitnesses, the riots were the work of an opposition group that peg themselves as the ‘Black Bloc’ anarchists. To find out the public opinion regarding this group, we would have to follow Black Bloc anarchists in the coming days.

However, there are considerable differences between the Toronto of these days and the Tehran of the last year. In Toronto, the BBC reporter was on the front line and his camera was scanning the behaviours of the police. In Toronto, when Peter Mansbridge, the reputable CBC broadcaster and news anchor, heard that the mayor used the word “thugs” to refer to rioters, he asked many questions to find out if he really meant the word or not. This compelled the mayor to explain his choice of words.

The chief point to consider is that neither Tehran is purely anti-democratic nor is Toronto purely and completely democratic. The claim is that the Toronto version of democracy ties the hands of the police and the Tehran version of democracy bears more water than bread. This implies that Toronto’s police response was rendered as police violence in the past few days. It’s crucial to note that even if all accusations against Toronto police are accurate, no one has yet been shot and even the word ‘tear gas’ was an inappropriate word to use. When the police was acting aggressively toward the demonstrators, it becomes a great source of concern for the media.

Moreover, Tehran protesters and their Toronto counterparts are not exactly comparable. Toronto protesters were demanding a stop to seal hunting and to do away with capitalism and free use of marijuana and the right for women to show their breasts in public. Of course these are all legitimate demands, but comparing them to angry residents of Tehran demanding freedom of the press and free elections cannot be too accurate.

VIDEO: Protesters at the G-20 summit demand human rights and democracy for Iran

It’s important to follow up the after shocks of the hellish weekend in Toronto. Even more important is that we should not allow the clear differences between Toronto and Tehran be evaded for the sake of illustrating their similarities.

AND THIS IS TEHRAN:

Regime forces run over protesters with their vehicles.

Regime forces attack peaceful protesters

Translation: Tour Irani |

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