The founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini, designated the last Friday of Ramadan as a day for Iranians
and Muslims to demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinian people and their
cause. But this year, Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) could instead reexpose the
fissures that exist as a result of Iran's severe political crisis.
Supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Musavi have vowed
to take to the streets to protest
Mir Hossein Mousavi
had a short trip to the holy city of Qom yesterday. He met with
the members of Researchers and Teachers Assembly of Qom Seminary.
During this visit he also met with Grand Ayatollah Mousavi-Ardebili
in private. He then visited Grand Ayatollah ...Saanei in his home
where he also met with Grand Ayatollah Bayat, Ayatollah
Mousavi-Tabrizi as well as Grand Ayatollah Sistani's representative
in Iran and Grand Ayatollah Montazeri's brother.
Amid official warnings not to turn Quds Day into a protest against President
Mahmud Ahmadinejad, whose reelection led to massive street protests that were
met with a violent crackdown, three leading opposition figures say they will
join the pro-Palestinian mass rally on September 18.
The leaders of the opposition movement, former presidential candidates Mir
Hossein Musavi and Mehdi Karrubi, and former President Mohammad Khatami -- who
have said Ahmadinejad's reelection was the result of massive fraud -- have
announced that they will take part in the demonstrations in Tehran.
The announcements have encouraged the members of
the opposition Green movement while adding to the concern of the authorities.
The opening of universities next week could potentially lead to more protests by
the Green movement, and Tehran is also anticipating a strong protest against
Ahmadinejad when he travels to New York next week to attend the general debate
of the 64th session of the UN General Assembly.
Friday Prayers
But for now the focus is on Quds Day, for which the authorities have already
taken measures to avoid renewed protests by Musavi's and Karrubi's supporters.
Former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has reportedly been banned by the
authorities from leading the Friday Prayers during Quds Day. Rafsanjani, who has
expressed support for the opposition movement, is a traditional speaker on Quds
Day. He's been replaced by a hard-line cleric, Ahmad Khatami, and Ahmadinejad,
who will be the key speaker before the prayers.
A statement posted on the website of the opposition "Mowjcamp" has described
Ahmadinejad's speech as "a gift to the Greens." The statement suggests that
members of the opposition can use the speech to chant "Allah Akbar" and "death
to the dictator" and demonstrate that they didn't vote for Ahmadinejad.
Authorities, including Iran's police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam, have warned
to the opposition against "derailing" Quds Day.
On September 11, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, warned against
creating divisions on Quds Day.
Khamenei said that Quds Day is a symbol of the Iranian nation's unity. "Be
careful [to make sure] that some will not use the Quds Day celebration to create
discord," he added.
Nevertheless, members of the opposition have vowed to turn Quds Day "Green," the
color which has come to represent all those opposing the Iranian president. A
slogan of one poster seen on the streets ahead of the event says: "No to Gaza,
No to Lebanon. May my life be sacrificed for Iran."
Poster Campaign
Mohammad in Tehran, a supporter of Musavi's "Green path of hope," tells RFE/RL
he plans to join the Friday demonstration not to support the Palestinians but to
call for freedom. "We want to tell Khamenei and other leaders that we're not
supporting them, so don't show off to the world," he said.
Reformist journalist Mohammad Sadegh Javadi Hesar tells Radio Farda that the
opposition can use Quds Day to demonstrate its readiness to resist state
pressure.
"If people come to the scene on this day with intelligence and united, they can
once more demonstrate the potential that we saw in Tehran, and in other cities
too," he said in a telephone interview from Mashad.
A poster from an opposition Internet campaign:
"Neither Gaza, Nor Lebanon -- My Life Is Devoted to Iran"
In recent days, leaflets have been distributed in
several cities, posters have been plastered on walls, and there's been an online
campaign to call on Iranians to take to the streets in protest.
A
video making the rounds shows a young woman in a bus reading from
an opposition Quds Day flyer: "I call on all fathers, mothers, and whoever feels
responsible [to protest] on Friday, September 18. I hope to see all of you on
Friday," she says.
An mass opposition turnout would raise the risk
of clashes with pro-government forces. There are already concerns that the
government could use its plainclothes security agents to break up protests by
the opposition.
The last time the opposition came out en masse was on July 17, when Rafsanjani
led the Friday Prayers. Tens of thousands of citizens took to the streets in the
capital and chanted slogans against Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei.
Observers believe a large anti-Ahmadinejad protest on Quds Day would be another
embarrassment for the hard-line faction of the Iranian establishment, which has
tried to legitimize the president by putting reformists and intellectuals on
trial for their alleged roles in the postelection unrest, accusing them of
fomenting a "velvet coup."
A protest by the members of the Green movement would also publicly demonstrate
the growing rift between the Iranian establishment and a large segment of the
population. Ahmadinejad has said his government is Iran's most legitimate
government in the past two decades.
That message will be hard to sell to many Iranians and rights activists who are
planning to stage protests against the Iranian president on September 23 and 24
during his visit to New York.
Copyright (c) 2009 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
