e-Claire

Update

Alireza's translation continues to give us insight into the (here's a phrase I haven't used in a while) student unrest in Iran yesterday. Our* ...uh "The" student, Mehdi, who is blogging from the dorms in Tehran University reports that the night of protests "went by ok." He then goes on for that bit of human-detail kind of reportage we used to be able to access only years later when diaries of participants in history were published - if at all. Around three hundred students, "who had mostly covered their faces," and the "police folks" gathered outside in front of the dorm's main gate. Small groups of students and police or special forces soldiers began discussing various topics ranging from how to get into the police academy to deeply volatile political issues. Discussing.

... anyway there was lots of dialogue (among civilizations that is!). And these same people were flinging stones at each other until five hours ago!

Sounds hopeful. Sounds like there is still the connection of, somehow, being in the same boat even though the tow groups have differing goals, different ideologies. Sounds like there is more sense of community than in, say, the 'student unrest' in Chicago or Berkeley. Cultural Artifact? Wasn't that an old bumper sticker? What if someone threw a riot and a discussion broke out? Thank you, Alireza, for a fascinating read. Stay tuned, folks, there will be more. * "Our" is the first word that came to me thereby reminding me - again - how much personal reporting brings distant events to a personal level.

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