Letter From Tehran

clipped from www.salon.com Matters soon escalated. A hapless "basiji" [volunteer paramilitary] was fingered by the crowd and began to receive a brutal punishment, being kicked, shoved, punched by what seemed like a thousand hands. Only the arrival of a phalanx of special riot police on motorcycles, batons swinging and decked out in what the New York Times referred to as black Robo-Cop gear, saved this man's life. By nightfall the situation had become worse. Iranians had become the very Palestinians their government has for so long supported. Rocks were prepared to throw at the police, storefront windows were shattered, stores were set on fire. The 22 of Khordad, June 12, will be an important date in Iran, particularly because, as I've noted, this vote wasn't just college students causing a ruckus. Grandmothers, fathers, daughters, and moms all showed up to stand for hours on end. They will not be just passive observers of what the "kids" are doing.