The Islamic Revolution of and the Green Movement of Iran: A comparison
Back in 1979, in Iran, no one thought a revolution would ever happen again; everyone thought that it was a happy and successful ending to a long fight against dictatorship. No one thought, thirty years later, history would repeat and the regime they fought for would itself become a new dictatorship, but it happened. In June, 2009 the Green movement rose up against the corrupt election to fight against the new dictatorship that was forming in the very same regime they once fought for.
In the inauguration of Mahmud Ahmadinejad, whose presidency is questioned by Iranian protesters, Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader said that the green movement is a "Caricature of 1979 Islamic revolution". Not only is the green movement might not be as wide-spread as the one in 1979 yet, for it's very young, but certainly this young movement is not only a "Caricature" of the revolution of 1979, but it's modern and corrected version of it; people of Iran have learned their lesson in the last thirty years, and are not going to repeat the same mistakes that led the country to dictatorship of today.
Let's go back to 1979, when protests and mass demonstrations like today were very intense. A great number of people took part in demonstrations every time, some killed, some arrested; that unfortunately has not changed after thirty years, but the communications between the protesters certainly has. In 1979 they were facing a problem; they had to spread the news-bulletins that Khomeini published once in a while, and set the upcoming dates for demonstrations without being caught by governmental forces. Their only way of doing this was either by passing it person by person, or by throwing papers indicating time and date of the demonstration in their neighbors' houses. After all these plans and risks, there was only one thing to do, taking to the street. That was the only way to make their voices heard.
Now the new generation is creating new and even unique ways and techniques of protesting and spreading the news. Besides the widespread use of internet and social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, Iranians have created more ways to make their voices heard and show their unity; they set all their cell phones on the same ringtone -the national song of Iran, they send out green balloons to the sky on specific days, they write slogans on walls, and as their most widespread act they "money-write".
Writing slogans, such as "Down with the dictator" or just a simple "V" as the sign of victory, on the paper currencies, started a month after the election to show the significant number of the protesters to the government and also to be an assurance of unity to the protesters. The "money-writing", as protesters call it, became so widespread by December 2009, that the government forced the Central Bank of Iran to ask all shops and market places to not accept any written paper currency and gave people an ultimatum to bring in their "old" and "scratched" money to banks and exchange them for new ones. The plan failed as people refused to exchange their money and salespeople still accept the "money-written" bills. The "money-written" currency still goes around, and people continue to either write or print slogans on the bills.
Although the Green movement has many unique characteristics, and has changed people's life styles, the most interesting of all is it's leadership. The leader of Revolution of 1979 was Ayatollah Khomenei. He was a powerful leader, yet only a charismatic one. People who shouted his name in the streets and held his pictures above their heads barely knew who this man was, what his ideas were and what he was planning to do. People trusted Khamenei because he was a religious figure. They needed someone to stand up for them and they didn't care as he opposed Shah.
The Green movement has a great and powerful leader as well. One that has a strong body, a loud voice, many good ideas, and who although he occasionally does make mistakes but manages to correct it immediately. This leader isn't anyone but the people themselves.
Mir Hussein Mousavi, who is believed to be the real president by the protesters, is only a representative of the movement. He and Mehdi Karoubi -another candidate- have published bulletins, stating their support to the protestors and calling for action, but they are only following the steps people are taking, as Mir Hussain stated in his last bulletin: "The real leaders of this movement are people who take into the street while no-one called for them." However to this day neither Mousavi nor Karoubi has left the protesters alone, people have learned not to completely trust and believe in anyone but themselves -not as their fathers did back in 1979.
The Green movement is the evolved version of the Islamic revolution . Both people and political leaders have learned their lessons from the past, and if the Islamic Republic is to ever catch up with this movement, it should learn it's lessons from history as well - which it's most important one is to stop using force and violence, for the history has shown it will only draw their end closer .
Back in 1979, in Iran, no one thought a revolution would ever happen again; everyone thought that it was a happy and successful ending to a long fight against dictatorship. No one thought, thirty years later, history would repeat and the regime they fought for would itself become a new dictatorship, but it happened. In June, 2009 the Green movement rose up against the corrupt election to fight against the new dictatorship that was forming in the very same regime they once fought for.
In the inauguration of Mahmud Ahmadinejad, whose presidency is questioned by Iranian protesters, Ayatollah Khamenei, the supreme leader said that the green movement is a "Caricature of 1979 Islamic revolution". Not only is the green movement might not be as wide-spread as the one in 1979 yet, for it's very young, but certainly this young movement is not only a "Caricature" of the revolution of 1979, but it's modern and corrected version of it; people of Iran have learned their lesson in the last thirty years, and are not going to repeat the same mistakes that led the country to dictatorship of today.
Let's go back to 1979, when protests and mass demonstrations like today were very intense. A great number of people took part in demonstrations every time, some killed, some arrested; that unfortunately has not changed after thirty years, but the communications between the protesters certainly has. In 1979 they were facing a problem; they had to spread the news-bulletins that Khomeini published once in a while, and set the upcoming dates for demonstrations without being caught by governmental forces. Their only way of doing this was either by passing it person by person, or by throwing papers indicating time and date of the demonstration in their neighbors' houses. After all these plans and risks, there was only one thing to do, taking to the street. That was the only way to make their voices heard.
Now the new generation is creating new and even unique ways and techniques of protesting and spreading the news. Besides the widespread use of internet and social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, Iranians have created more ways to make their voices heard and show their unity; they set all their cell phones on the same ringtone -the national song of Iran, they send out green balloons to the sky on specific days, they write slogans on walls, and as their most widespread act they "money-write".
Writing slogans, such as "Down with the dictator" or just a simple "V" as the sign of victory, on the paper currencies, started a month after the election to show the significant number of the protesters to the government and also to be an assurance of unity to the protesters. The "money-writing", as protesters call it, became so widespread by December 2009, that the government forced the Central Bank of Iran to ask all shops and market places to not accept any written paper currency and gave people an ultimatum to bring in their "old" and "scratched" money to banks and exchange them for new ones. The plan failed as people refused to exchange their money and salespeople still accept the "money-written" bills. The "money-written" currency still goes around, and people continue to either write or print slogans on the bills.
Although the Green movement has many unique characteristics, and has changed people's life styles, the most interesting of all is it's leadership. The leader of Revolution of 1979 was Ayatollah Khomenei. He was a powerful leader, yet only a charismatic one. People who shouted his name in the streets and held his pictures above their heads barely knew who this man was, what his ideas were and what he was planning to do. People trusted Khamenei because he was a religious figure. They needed someone to stand up for them and they didn't care as he opposed Shah.
The Green movement has a great and powerful leader as well. One that has a strong body, a loud voice, many good ideas, and who although he occasionally does make mistakes but manages to correct it immediately. This leader isn't anyone but the people themselves.
Mir Hussein Mousavi, who is believed to be the real president by the protesters, is only a representative of the movement. He and Mehdi Karoubi -another candidate- have published bulletins, stating their support to the protestors and calling for action, but they are only following the steps people are taking, as Mir Hussain stated in his last bulletin: "The real leaders of this movement are people who take into the street while no-one called for them." However to this day neither Mousavi nor Karoubi has left the protesters alone, people have learned not to completely trust and believe in anyone but themselves -not as their fathers did back in 1979.
The Green movement is the evolved version of the Islamic revolution . Both people and political leaders have learned their lessons from the past, and if the Islamic Republic is to ever catch up with this movement, it should learn it's lessons from history as well - which it's most important one is to stop using force and violence, for the history has shown it will only draw their end closer .