An important letter sent by Reporters Without Borders: The Hon Kevin Michael Rudd Prime Minister Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600 Australia Paris, 18 December 2009 Dear Prime Minister, Reporters Without Borders, an organisation that defends free expression worldwide, would like to share with you its concern about your government’s plan to introduce a mandatory Internet…
Showing all posts tagged Iran
The emergence of sex as a bullet of change in Iran
Understanding Iran’s so-called Green Revolution is largely ignored in the West. It’s often framed as Islamic dictatorship versus rampaging democrats. The picture is far more complex. Middle East Report has published a fascinating study about this: The hardliners in the Islamic Republic of Iran thought they had hit upon the perfect way to ruin Majid…
From the crazy file: Beijing has to stop Israel bombing Iran?
If true (and it’s impossible to know with anonymously-sourced stories), Israel is like a wild child that nobody can seemingly control (despite the fact that Washington pays to keep the lights on): U.S. President Barack Obama has warned his Chinese counterpart that the United States would not be able to keep Israel from attacking Iranian…
Cracks in the Islamic Republic’s armour
A wonderful sentiment and photo from Nasrin Alavi about the growing rifts in Iran: I want to share with you a photo of a member of the Iranian anti-riot police surreptitiously showing his solidarity with the protestors by showing the V sign for victory that has become a symbol of the green movement:
How men can dress up as women in Iran and show solidarity
Resistance in Iran continues to take many forms. Global Voices shows us one way: Hundreds of Iranian men have dressed as women in Hijab to support Majid Tavakoli, a student activist who was arrested on December 7. Iranian authorities claim Mr. Tavakoli was dressed as a woman to escape after delivering a speech in Tehran…
Washington’s Big Brother is watching us
Talking about internet censorship in a nation like Iran is necessary and chilling. But, correctly writes the New York Times in an editorial today, how much do we know about the American government’s meddling in the online world? The government is increasingly monitoring Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites for tax delinquents, copyright infringers…
The threat of Gmail for Islamic leaders
The state of human rights in Iran in 2009 has been grim and worsening. Reporters Without Borders highlights the web apartheid (possibly backed by Western multinationals): The authorities have also targeted the Internet in an attempt to extend their control to the new media. News websites that were likely to criticise Ahmadinejad’s victory, including around…
Materialism is alive and well in Iran
Iranian blogger Kamangir, currently living in Canada, tells us about a particular sub-set in the Islamic Republic: My friend is fascinated by a community of bloggers she tends to call the “Shooshoo Joon”s. The name can be translated to “My Beloved Husband” but I assure you that the Persian expression she uses is more than…
The shame of those running Iran in 2009
The Islamic Republic lashes out at its own citizens and creates more revolutionaries: Human rights abuses in Iran are now as bad as at any time in the past 20 years, Amnesty International reports tomorrow in a survey marking six months since June’s disputed presidential election. Amnesty documents “patterns of abuse” by the Basij militia…
The role of a client state is to behave badly
Noam Chomsky speaks to PressTV: Israel is essentially a US military base.