Iranian woman tells fiancé: Basij or me
Farnaz Fassihi of The Wall Street Journal has a fascinating profile of a rank-and-file member of the Iranian Basij, a true believer in the Islamic Revolution.
On the one hand, it appears the Basij’s willingness to exercise sheer brutal force against anti-regime protesters has probably done more than anything else to keep the current government in power– for now.
On the other hand, there’s this:
For Mr. Moradani, the biggest shock during the election turmoil came in his personal life. He had recently gotten engaged to a young woman from a devout, conservative family. A week into the protests, he says, his fiancée called him with an ultimatum. If he didn’t leave the Basij and stop supporting Mr. Ahmadinejad, he recalls her saying, she wouldn’t marry him.
He told her that was impossible. “I suffered a real emotional blow,” he says. “She said to me, ‘Go beat other people’s children then,’ and ‘I don’t want to have anything to do with you,’ and hung up on me.”
She returned the ring he gave her, and hasn’t returned his phone calls. “The opposition has even fooled my fiancée,” he says.
(Hat tip: The Stash)
Comments
| 12 July 2009, 8:47 pm |
Are these Basijis really volunteers or do they get paid ?
| 12 July 2009, 9:23 pm |
Are these Basijis really volunteers or do they get paid ?
Rank-and-file members don’t draw salaries, though there are perks to the job. They enjoy special consideration when competing for university admission or government jobs.
| 13 July 2009, 1:18 am |
Yes, but all this violence is really just a result of CIA funding anyway. We shouldn’t even be talking about the matter, because it is Iran’s business, and we shouldn’t be meddling. The vast majority of ordinary Iranians are totally happy with the government. This is just a small minority of spoilt brat city kids who are unhappy because they can’t wear jeans and go to Mac Donalds.
| 13 July 2009, 1:26 am |
And everyone knows that the US is really responsible for all the suffering in the world. Why can’t they get out of Iraq now. They’ve killed far more people than the Basiji could ever imagine killing. There can be no benefit at all from them staying there. They are all the most horrible creatures on the planet. All the problems in the world would be solved if we could just kill all the Americans. Death to America is right. Death to the UK and Europe too, we are all evil and all we want is to steal all the oil from the poor countries of the world.
| 13 July 2009, 4:53 am |
Lauren, Lauren, Lauren. What is your real name and where are you from? Just for starters, what oil have “we” stolen? Seems to me that we actually purchase the oil we get. The rest of your comments are so far out I can’t begin to address those!
| 13 July 2009, 8:02 am |
Try looking up the word satire in the dictionary, Jeno. Or clicking on Lauren’s user name
| 13 July 2009, 8:59 am |
I was frustrated and even somewhat hurt last night by the comments of somebody I was arguing with. I’m from the US living in the UK and dual national, and particularly after Obama was elected frustrated with the way US hatred has continued. I had just got an ear full of how horrible what the US did in Iraq was. He was angry because the US doesn’t leave Iraq now. I was trying to understand and asked what they are doing *now* to hurt things. I have no strong feelings about this, but don’t know why he has them. I’m open minded, because I don’t really know what the US is doing in Iraq. He won’t tell me what they are doing wrong, but keeps going on about how much damage they have done. To be honest, it kind of was starting to hurt. I’ve always laughed at patriotism, but I was starting to feel very American.
| 13 July 2009, 9:13 am |
Wow, even at Berkeley, the left wing capital of the US.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029066&id=1103583148
From the attitude of even the moderate left here, I would have thought Berkeley would be having pro-government demonstrations. What the **** is with the UK?
| 13 July 2009, 10:16 am |
Lauren I think most people got your parody. For the benefit of those without facebook log-ins what is happening at Berkeley?
| 13 July 2009, 10:45 am |
@amie,
Lauren’s facebook link is to a page of Cyrus Oomoonian’s (sp?) pictures of a solidarity with Iranian demonstrators and anti-regime demo at Berkeley
| 13 July 2009, 10:47 am |
Lbnaz, ta
| 13 July 2009, 11:14 am |
Quite a large demonstration in Berkeley. It looks like it put London to shame. And Berkeley is just a student town, and one that has traditionally been ultra-left. They shouted Viet Min during Viet Nam waving the North Viet Nam flag. When I was a student there, there was essentially no Republican Party, with local politics being fought out between the Democratic Party and Berkeley Citizens for Action. Rent control was the issue of the day, with rhetoric describing landlords as medieval lords.
| 13 July 2009, 12:58 pm |
Ah yes the old bombs or badonkadonk Keynesian equation.
| 13 July 2009, 1:31 pm |
Course, we know very littke about this woman. A Rafsanjani follower?
First bit of good news from Iran in a while.