Text of my speech at SF City Hall today

Below is the final text of the speech I ended up giving at City Hall
this afternoon, drawing from some of the pieces many of you have
already read. Here is a link to the outcome:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=42240&tsp=1

"Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution -- authored by
Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose father is Persian -- supporting the
people in Iran who are fighting for their democratic rights and calling
on the government create "an accountable election process." In a rare
show of unity, the entire 11-member body co-sponsored the measure
(which even included a swipe at domestic leaders, with one portion
reading, "Even the best democracies have their worst moments, as
evidenced by the electoral ascendancy of George W. Bush in 2000")."

Reese Erlich, just returning from covering the elections in Iran,
raised an important point. He said that (I am paraphrasing) it is
dangerous to focus too much on the role Twitter is playing in Iran as
it makes it seem like only a certain portion of Iranian society
-upper/middle class, educated, city dwellers- who use it are
participating and that is not the case at all. The movement is much
broader than that, he said. In terms of technology, more important than
Twitter have been cell phones and text-messaging.

The text of the speech follows; you can also find it here: http://womensmediacenter.com/ex/062609.html

*********************************************************

This past week we have seen a mass movement in Iran remarkable in its
attempt to protest peacefully against election results they believe may
be fraudulent. It is yet to be determined for certain whether or not
the vote was rigged but what is clear is that the Iranian people by and
large do not trust the election results and are demanding justice.
This, I think, is reasonable and something we should support regardless
of our political persuasions and beliefs.

However, this is no longer a simple matter of a disputed election, what
we have been witnessing are human rights violations that cannot be
tolerated. We cannot tolerate such gross acts of violence.

I appreciate and respect President Obama's gesture of non-intervention;
it is not only an indication of his reluctance to repeat a violent
history of U.S. involvement in Iranian affairs, it is also a bold move
in support of the Iranian people and a statement of confidence in the
movement and the ability of the Islamic Republic to respond
responsibly. I applaud his even stronger condemnation this morning… but
I am saddened by those politicians who choose to take advantage of
these sensitive circumstances to further political agendas that serve
to do nothing but further muddy the waters. Such disgusting acts of
opportunism make me afraid to ask my own government for their
assistance.

So today, I do not wish to appeal to our governments; today I wish to
appeal to the people in our governments, the Ross Mir Karimi’s who are
willing to take a stand against violence without strings attached. I
wish to appeal to the artists, writers, musicians, students, teachers,
mothers, fathers and everyone in between.

To you, I say: I have read and seen that pictures of Prime Minister
Mossadegh have been emerging among protestors. The democratically
elected Mossadegh, who was deposed in 1953 by a U.S. and British coup,
coined “Operation Ajax” by the CIA, represents a message loud and clear
from the Iranian people: Democracy, yes. Intervention, no.

Interventions into Iranian domestic affairs over the last few decades
have come in the form of ongoing sanctions that have devastated the
very people we are publicly supporting today. Continued interventions
in the form of covert operations are what led to the mass social unrest
and dissatisfaction that brought the Islamic Republic to power in the
first place. This is the seed of Iranian distrust for such foreign
governments.

And yet despite all of this, the people of Iran do not forget what the
United States has stood for, for better or for worse and despite its
actions to the contrary. They remind us of what it means to clutch with
your life that thing called freedom.

I am trembling because I can picture the faces of mothers and fathers
kissing their sons and daughters as they walk out the door… maybe for
the last time. I have seen a woman and her father shot down in broad
daylight. I have seen old women and young boys on the sidelines beaten
with the sticks of spineless men. I have heard the whisper of an old
woman who reports the number of young men and women she has seen
dragged into a mosque; they go in, she says softly, but no one comes
out. I cannot drown out the screams that I hear emerging from those
walls.

This violent response to a peaceful movement that simply asks for the
right to voice dissent, organize, and demand justice. This violent
response to a movement that has asked only for reform and not
overthrow. This violent response to a movement that has embraced the
very police and military sent to hunt them down.

And yet, there is SO MUCH to be hopeful for. I am heartened by the
spontaneous solidarities that have emerged over the last week by the
generous, skilled and committed friends who have lent their time and
energy to ensuring that Iranian voices can be heard all over the world.
I have seen posts on Facebook offering signal scrambling directions to
protestors attempting to escape the grip of their attackers. I have
seen a mass movement from below of fellow Americans demanding that
corporate media covers this story responsibly. I have witnessed the
creative genius of a generation, here and there, fighting back with the
technologies we have developed to get the message right when corporate
media fails. I have seen a world rising to the occasion and this brings
hope to a trembling heart.

I read a yesterday that the Basiji are becoming more timid in their
actions. They know the world is watching and their violence
increasingly delegitimizes them. So we must continue to do what we have
been doing and demand that all nations, international organizations and
people vehemently denounce these human rights violations and demand
that those imprisoned for protesting be freed. We should demand that
media continues to report on this story so that those people working at
newspapers, news stations and magazine who want to cover this story,
CAN cover this story. Speak to your Iranian friends to learn about
what’s going on, join your local organizations mobilizing around this
issue and ask how you can help.

What we have seen this past week is what a powerful role the media
plays. So powerful that governments try to control and shut it down. So
powerful that the people push back and make it their own in the most
creative ways. While it is not everything, it is a VERY important
component of social change.

The world is watching Iran, yes. But we the people are also watching
our elected leaders. We expect our leaders to be accountable to the
Iranian people, the sovereignty of the nation, and its territorial
integrity. We demand that our leaders react responsibly, with honor,
and without further harming the Iranian people. Not today and not
tomorrow.