As protests grow in Iran against the June 12 presidential election results that declare Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner, some Islamist bloggers explain why they believe Ahmadinejad won, and the opposition leader, Mir Hussein Mousavi lost.
While international media is awash with news about how Mousavi supporters are using the internet to make their views known, several bloggers are using the same tools to make a case against the opposition candidate.
Before the election, more than 100 bloggers publicly declared their support for Ahmedinejad on a campaign website created by his followers that made use of both YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter.
Hamed Talebi, writes [fa] that we should consider several issues about the current situation such as:
اقلیتی وقیح می خواهند تصمیم خود را بر اکثریت تحمیل کنند و در این مسیر از ساده دلی مردمی که به میرحسین موسوی رای داده اند سوء استفاده می کنند.
He adds:
جنگ، جنگ احمدی نژاد و میرحسین نیست. و نباید گذاشت به جنگ رای دهندگان به این دو منتهی شود. این، جنگ بین اکثریت مردم بی زبان و بی رسانه است با جریان تندرویی که پیش تر هم در حرکت هایی همچون تحصن نمایندگان مجلس ششم و غائله 18 تیر نشان داد ابایی از به آتش کشیدن مملکت و قربانی کردن مردم و منافع عمومی ندارد. میرحسین نیز در خوشبینانه ترین حالت، قربانی این جریان فریبکار است.
The blogger questions how can we bring people's confidence back.
Ahestan says [fa] Mousavi tries to blame Ahmadinejad's supporters for burning public bulidings? Based on what evidence does he make such claims? It is just like his claim about his victory in the presidential election?
The blogger wonders if Mousavi claims all his supporters protest peacefully, why some of them tried to storm a Basij [para military] base.
Khakrism writes [fa] that several Hezbollah and Basij members were murdered during this crisis time, and that American and British media manipulated Mousavi's supporters to believe that the [Ahmadinejad] government is a liar.
Nasleh Khomeyni says [fa] that Mousavi's western style campaign made him lose credibility among voters and that the demonstrations after the election show his supporters are coming from one class of society, and that he does not have majority support.
16 comments
Your post seems to be one-sided. I am sure there are some pro-Mousavi blog posts on the net. You should have included them in your article. Does this imply that anti-Ahmadinejad bloggers have been silenced up to an extent that you cannot find their articles on the Internet? Both opinions, pro-Mousavi and pro-Ahmadinejad, should have been included in this post. Seriously speaking, as it is, it is not reflecting the objectives of Global Voices.
I am not pro-Mousavi. All I want is fair coverage.
Dear Clement,
This is one of the many posts we have published on Global Voices about the Iranian election and aftermath. This one shows a side, we haven’t heard much about lately. There are other posts, that include words, photos, videos, etc of Mousavi supporters. You can see the collection here:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/specialcoverage/iranian-election-2009/
I see. But in light of what is going on, I think it would have been better if you had included the views of pro-Mousavi bloggers because for some readers this might be the only GV post on Iran elections that they will read.
I see your point. Given how much news there has been worldwide about these protests, I don’t think we’re on too risky ground (see Hamid’s second paragraph).
Ethan Zuckerman just wrote a post that mentions this one:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/06/17/iran-islamist-bloggers-react-to-protest-movement/
I don’t think it speaks to your comment that the post itself should be balanced, but it may help you see the rationale of how it fits into a broader coverage.