Iran: Workers defy ban to celebrate May Day; 10 arrested

[RSS News]

Iran: workers defy ban to celebrate May Day; 10 arrested

Workers in a number of cities in Iran held, or attempted to hold, May Day rallies despite a heavy clampdown by the government. Rallies were held in the western cities of Sanandaj, Kermanshah and Saqez. However, the planned rally in the industrial zone of Asalooye was broken up when the security forces moved in to arrest the organisers and remove placards. Those arrested include Javanmir Moradi and Taha Azadi, from the leadership of the newly formed Free Union of Iranian Workers.

Ahead of May Day, the authorities turned down numerous applications for permits to hold rallies, and on 23 April arrested Sheis Amani, the head of the National Union of Dismissed and Unemployed Workers. Amani is still in detention.

Over 100 workers attended a rally in Sanandaj called by the Free Union of Iranian Workers. The event had to be held in the outskirts of the city as the authorities had refused to grant permits for rallies in downtown Sanandaj. A resolution, outlining workers’ major demands, including release of jailed workers, was passed amid continuous claps by the crowd. However, after the ceremony, the security forces arrested seven workers, who have been named as:


Salah Zamani
Shiva Kheir Abadi
Abdollah Najjar
Ghaaleb Hosseini
Ali Hosseini
Bahaoddin Sadooghi
Susan Raazani

Link (http://www.kargaran.org/international%20labor%20solidarity/may-08-8arrest.htm)

[Led Zeppelin]

But how could this be? Ahmadinejad is so popular! This must have been made up by some ultra-leftist website or something! :rolleyes:

Moved to Workers Actions by the way.

[Dimentio]

But how could this be? Ahmadinejad is so popular! This must have been made up by some ultra-leftist website or something! :rolleyes:

Moved to Workers Actions by the way.

I do not think fellow travellers to the fascist government of Iran are really well-liked here at all.

[hekmatista]

http://www.kargaran.org/international%20labor%20solidarity/Wi/Workers%20in%20Iran%20May%20Day%202008%20-%20Final.pdf

This year’s international workers’ day
is arriving at a time when there are
signs of a global financial and economic
crisis. The World Bank warns
governments about the threat of food
riots. And the prospect of crisis and
catastrophe makes a bleak world - already
reeling from the shock of the
New World Order and the global war
o f terrorists - even bleaker.
The hope of changing these conditions
lies in the struggle of a class that makes
up the majority of the world’s population.
This inverted world has been
founded upon the wage slavery of this
class, and for the preservation of this
slavery. May Day, the day of international
solidarity and struggle of the
working class, is at the same time the
day of unity of repressed humanity to
change this inverted world. We call on
the people of the world to stand up on
May Day to capitalism and the catastrophes
it causes, to starvation and war,
terrorism, ignorance and domination of
religion, to deprivation and inequality
and in support of freedom, equality and
h uman identity.
In Iran the working class faces the
same conditions as May Day approaches.
The difference is that in Iran
the Islamic regime of the bourgeoisie is
facing a deep economic, political and
cultural crisis and there is an ongoing
powerful anti-regime and revolutionary
movement. The slogans “We Don’t
Want Islamic Regime” and “You’ve
Been Wasting our Time since 1979”
which the youths in Tehran chanted
recently, clearly depict the essence of
the political situation in Iran. The
working class is the backbone of this
revolutionary movement. This is not
only because of the numerous strikes
and protests by workers, which are getting
even more radical each day, as in
the case of Kian Tyre workers, which
ended up in barricades and direct
clashes with the security forces, but
also because the slogans and demands
of the working class such as “Freedom,
Equality, Human Identity,” “Socialism
or Barbarism,” “End Sexual Apart-

heid,” “Abolish the Death Penalty,”
“Woman’s Liberation is Society’s Liberation,”
and “Human Life is Our Certain
Right”, are echoed in mass demonstrations
of teachers, women and
youths on different occasions. Public
executions, the attacks on millions of
women for not observing Islamic veiling,
punishing gays by throwing them
down from heights, stoning to death,
amputating hands and feet as a form of
punishment, brutal attacks on leftist
student activists, jailing workers’,
teachers’ and women’s rights activists,
flogging worker leaders for

celebrating May Day - these are all a
reflection of the Islamic Republic’s
efforts to stop this unstoppable movement.
May Day in Iran is in the frontline
of this massive social confrontation,
and it terrifies the Islamic regime
more than anything else. The government’s
“Workers’ House” has not even
dared to organise the state-sponsored
rally for this May Day in Tehran because
in the past years they lost control
of these masquerades, and the puppetry
turned into workers’ march chanting
s ocialist slogans.
This year’s May Day should be celebrated
stronger and in greater numbers
than ever before. Great masses
workers and all those yearning for freedom
should be mobilised for May Day.
In recent years, the workers’ movement
in Iran has been supported internationally
more then ever before, acknowledged
as a political force that can
change society. These are strong foundations
upon which to build a powerful
May Day. This May Day in Iran should
attract massive sections with the call
for “Freedom, Equality, Human Identity”
and should be made the hope
the working people of the world.
WPI calls upon all workers, students,
women and youths to mobilise for
magnificent and powerful May Day.

Long Live May Day!
L ong Live Socialism!
Worker-communist Party of

Iran (WPI)

April 17, 2008

[RaiseYourVoice]

I dont want to defend iran or anything... but 10 arrested? I dont want to count the totall numbers but in germany HUNDRETS were arrested. That was legal demonstrations, i dont even want to talk about many people get arrested at illegal ones... (like the one against the NATO security conference 2001)

I have to say i dont know what they will be charged with, and what the consequences for them are, but posting news about 10 people being arrested.... i could spam the whole forum with news like that. Hardly a reason to call a government fascist...

[hekmatista]

"I have to say i dont know what they will be charged with, and what the consequences for them are, but posting news about 10 people being arrested.... i could spam the whole forum with news like that. Hardly a reason to call a government fascist..."[/quote]
The Islamic Republic was established over the bodies of thousands of the workers who really overthrew the Shah (Khomeini was flown in from Paris to head off a real revolution). Since then, hundreds have faced firing squads and worse. But perhaps this also occurs in Germany?

[Led Zeppelin]

I dont want to defend iran or anything... but 10 arrested? I dont want to count the totall numbers but in germany HUNDRETS were arrested. That was legal demonstrations, i dont even want to talk about many people get arrested at illegal ones... (like the one against the NATO security conference 2001)

I'm not sure if you missed this, but it is illegal to celebrate May Day there, which is probably why only a small number of people showed up for it and why the event had to be held "in the outskirts of the city as the authorities had refused to grant permits for rallies in downtown Sanandaj", and why the leaders of it were arrested after the celebration was over.


I have to say i dont know what they will be charged with, and what the consequences for them are, but posting news about 10 people being arrested

They've probably already been tortured to confess to something, which is regular practice there.

Does that also happen in Germany?


Hardly a reason to call a government fascist...

This is true, obviously Iran is not fascist.

It's a despotic police-state, i.e., a naked bourgeois dictatorship without the veil of "formal bourgeois democracy" to cover it up.


The Islamic Republic was established over the bodies of thousands of the workers who really overthrew the Shah (Khomeini was flown in from Paris to head off a real revolution). Since then, hundreds have faced firing squads and worse. But perhaps this also occurs in Germany?

I agree with your post comrade, but it was actually tens of thousands who faced firing squads, if they survived the gruesome torture of course.

[hekmatista]

I do not think fellow travellers to the fascist government of Iran are really well-liked here at all.
As I've noted before, there seems to be little appreciation of irony here. To avoid misunderstanding, perhaps Led Zep should avoid it (hell, even I got it, and I'm not too bright!)
;)

[Luís Henrique]

I hope at least we can agree that the President of a government that bans May Day cannot possibly be an anti-capitalist, never mind what kind of rhetoric he uses...

Luís Henrique

[Entrails Konfetti]

Your WPI head in Germany is named "Nazi Brumand"?

I'm confused...

[hekmatista]

Your WPI head in Germany is named "Nazi Brumand"?

I'm confused...
It is not an uncommon name, as in the song:

Originally Posted by Vanda http://www.allthelyrics.com:8080/forum/applied/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/lyrics-translation/20190-farsi-translation-post269745.html#post269745)
nazi joon, nazi --- nazi dear, nazi
nazi joon del mibari --- nazi dear, you capture(take) all the hearts
nazi joon, nazi --- nazi dear, nazi
nazi joon, male mani --- nazi dear, you are mine
"Nazi" here is a proper name, short for "Nazanin" as with Comrade Brumand. I was wrong; not only is there no appreciation of irony here, but ethnocentric juvenile jokes seem to be the norm.

[Led Zeppelin]

It is not an uncommon name, as in the song:

Originally Posted by Vanda http://www.allthelyrics.com:8080/forum/applied/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.allthelyrics.com/forum/lyrics-translation/20190-farsi-translation-post269745.html#post269745)
nazi joon, nazi --- nazi dear, nazi
nazi joon del mibari --- nazi dear, you capture(take) all the hearts
nazi joon, nazi --- nazi dear, nazi
nazi joon, male mani --- nazi dear, you are mine
"Nazi" here is a proper name, short for "Nazanin" as with Comrade Brumand. I was wrong; not only is there no appreciation of irony here, but ethnocentric juvenile jokes seem to be the norm.

To be fair though he doesn't know Farsi, so I don't think he intentionally meant to make fun of that.

But yeah, Nazanin is a name, it's also the title of a good song by Dariush.

[KC]

I hope at least we can agree that the President of a government that bans May Day cannot possibly be an anti-capitalist, never mind what kind of rhetoric he uses...

Well, he could just be anti-capitalist from a conservative standpoint.

[hekmatista]

To be fair though he doesn't know Farsi, so I don't think he intentionally meant to make fun of that.

But yeah, Nazanin is a name, it's also the title of a good song by Dariush.

I realize also now that Serpent failed to get the irony of your post earlier because his native tongue is Dutch (I think) not English.

[hekmatista]

Well, he could just be anti-capitalist from a conservative standpoint.

Hardly. He is the inheritor of the successful bourgeois counterrevolution of 6/20/81.

First Published: in Persian by Radio “International” in June 2000.
Radio International: The common perception is that the Islamic Republic is a result of the 1979 revolution. You have stated, however, that like most revolutions, the 1979 Iranian revolution was ultimately defeated by brutal suppression. Explain this.
Mansoor Hekmat: Any independent observer who examines that history will see that the people rose against a dictatorial Monarchy and its secret police, prisons and torture. (Those who have not experienced that period first hand should seriously review that history.) In that society, there was no freedom of expression, press and organisation. Trade union and Socialist activities were non-existent. There was no freedom of political activity. It was a despotic one-man rule, reliant on the police, army and intelligence service. There was staggering economic inequality, with widespread poverty alongside enormous wealth. People rose against these and for equality and freedom from political suppression and economic exploitation. This is known as the 1979 (1357) revolution.
When it became evident that the Shah’s regime was incapable of suppressing this revolutionary movement, the Islamic movement begins to rear its head. This reactionary movement, which belonged to the past and existed in a corner of Iranian society, was against civilisation, social modernisation, women’s right and development. One of this movement’s personalities, Khomeini, who was in exile in Iraq, was taken to Paris and placed under the spotlight. From then on, Western governments and media widely promoted this Islamic movement as the alternative that could and should replace the Shah’s government. Finally, General Robert Huyser, the United States government’s Special Envoy went to Iran, spoke with the army and secured their allegiance to Khomeini. A large segment of the traditional and national opposition of the time, such as the National Front, the Tudeh Party, etc. declared their allegiance to the Islamic movement. As a result, the Islamic current was pushed to the forefront of the anti-Monarchy movement. Contrary to the wishes of the Islamic current, the people rose up (known as the uprising of 22 Bahman, 11 February 1979) and eventually defeat the Shah’s army in a military confrontation. This process resulted in the formation of a government under the leadership and control of the Islamic current.
The two and a half years during 11 February 1979 (22 Bahman 1357) and 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad 1360) was still not strictly speaking, however, an Islamic rule. It was a period of relative open political activity, which the state was incapable of suppressing on a widespread scale, despite the existence of thugs and Islamicism. At that time, Khalkhali [infamous as the hanging judge] was the regime’s executioner but even so, the regime did not have the power to completely suppress and neutralise the increasing people’s movement. Political parties were flourishing; books of Marx and Lenin were sold everywhere; Communist organisations published papers; labour councils were established; various women’s organisations were formed and the wave of protests continued to escalate, until an Islamic, counter-revolutionary coup d’état took place on 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad 1360). They attacked and executed 300 to 500 people a day in Evin prison and all over the country; they closed down newspapers and crushed the opposition. This was what enabled the Islamic Republic to exist today. The point of the Islamic Republic’s establishment was 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad), not 11 February 1979 (22 Bahman). 11 February (22 Bahman) was the people’s revolution. During 8 September 1978 (17 Shahrivar 1357, the day that the Shah’s army massacred demonstrators at Jaleh Square in Tehran) until 20 June 1981, Right wing forces and governments attempted to obstruct the people’s revolution. 20 June 1981 is the eventual juncture that the suppression took place.
The Islamic government’s execution list was basically taken from the list of those who had been imprisoned during the Monarchy. A person who had been sentenced to two-month’s imprisonment by the Shah’s government was executed by the Islamic regime. They attacked and killed the very same people the Shah’s regime wanted to but couldn’t.

[Dimentio]

I realize also now that Serpent failed to get the irony of your post earlier because his native tongue is Dutch (I think) not English.

My tongue is Swedish.

[KC]

Hardly. He is the inheritor of the successful bourgeois counterrevolution of 6/20/81.

I know that, but I was commenting on the generalization that a president that bans May Day couldn't be anti-capitalist, not just Ahmedinejad specifically. I guess I was just splitting hairs but whatever.

[Led Zeppelin]

Hardly. He is the inheritor of the successful bourgeois counterrevolution of 6/20/81.

[...]

The two and a half years during 11 February 1979 (22 Bahman 1357) and 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad 1360) was still not strictly speaking, however, an Islamic rule. It was a period of relative open political activity, which the state was incapable of suppressing on a widespread scale, despite the existence of thugs and Islamicism. At that time, Khalkhali [infamous as the hanging judge] was the regime’s executioner but even so, the regime did not have the power to completely suppress and neutralise the increasing people’s movement.

Political parties were flourishing; books of Marx and Lenin were sold everywhere; Communist organisations published papers; labour councils were established; various women’s organisations were formed and the wave of protests continued to escalate, until an Islamic, counter-revolutionary coup d’état took place on 20 June 1981 (30 Khordad 1360). They attacked and executed 300 to 500 people a day in Evin prison and all over the country; they closed down newspapers and crushed the opposition. This was what enabled the Islamic Republic to exist today.

Sorry but that is a gross misrepresentation of what really happened.

Any political organization which actually opposed the Islamic Republic from the start, that is, from 1979 on, was brutally suppressed and wiped out. The minority of the Fedaian which decided to oppose the Islamic Republic and support the continuation of the revolution to a socialist one (as opposed to the Menshevik/Stalinist two-stageists in the main "Communist" organizations) was deceived and betrayed by the majority of the Fedaian, which gave member-names, addresses and other information to the government authorities, who in turn arrested and executed them en masse.

So right after the 1979 the actual revolutionary elements were wiped out, it was only in 1981 that the rest was wiped out, after they had all given up their weapons and member-lists to the government, of course.

I find the parallels with other revolutions interesting. After a revolution the section which is most revolutionary and progressive is wiped out (if it does not gain majority support, as it did in Russia 1917) while the rest stands in awe of the new government (however reactionary and vile it may be in content), then a foreign invasion increases tensions and gives the new government the excuse (not that it needs one) to wipe out all opposition in the name of "National Defense".

It's sad how many "revolutionaries" voted "Yes" when asked in the referendum: "Islamic Republic, Yes or No?"

My mom was one of them, and she was later arrested in the 1981 crackdown. :(

[hekmatista]

My tongue is Swedish.
Only speak English and French, some German, too dumb to distinguish Swedish from other non-German Germanic type languages. Should have Googled your quote.:blushing:

To Led Zeppelin:
I don't think we are actually disagreeing here. In the interview I quoted, Mansoor is not saying that the immediate period after 1979 was without severe repression by the Islamist bourgeoisie. He is saying that, like the Kerensky interim, working class forces still had some openings for self-organization (though obviously never reaching the mature stage of dual power). That this opportunity was squandered, the counterrevolution was consolidated, and the confused and unprepared Left was crushed in 1981 undoubtedly followed from the failure of most of the Left to follow the correct insights of the minority Fedaii, as you have said.

[Led Zeppelin]

To Led Zeppelin:
I don't think we are actually disagreeing here. In the interview I quoted, Mansoor is not saying that the immediate period after 1979 was without severe repression by the Islamist bourgeoisie. He is saying that, like the Kerensky interim, working class forces still had some openings for self-organization (though obviously never reaching the mature stage of dual power). That this opportunity was squandered, the counterrevolution was consolidated, and the confused and unprepared Left was crushed in 1981 undoubtedly followed from the failure of most of the Left to follow the correct insights of the minority Fedaii, as you have said.

Ah ok, sorry for the confusion. :)

[StalinLeninMao]

Greetings

The Islamic Government in Iran SUCKS!!!!! Theocracy's all SUCK!!!! The two good things about IR Iran is that they defy the US, and help fight Israel. THAT IS IT!!!

[Voice_of_Reason]

The basic principal Sounds a little like the Amritsar Massacre

[DancingLarry]

Thanks to Hekmatista and Led Zep for the education on the course of the Iranian revoluton and reaction. From my outsider's perspective, it looks like it rewrites almost word for word The XVIII Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, France from 1848-1851.

[hekmatista]

Almost thirty years later, after the slaughter of a generation in the Iran-Iraq War, the "tease" of more "liberal" Islamists coming and going, and the regimentation of Iranian labor into a semi-fascist "Labor Front" with a muslim twist, there remains a revolutionary workers' movement in opposition to all of the above. It is not for an outsider like myself to say who is the leading force withion the conscious elements, but the Worker Communist Party of Iran will certainly play a significant role. For us outside of Iran, the most significant thing we can be doing to advance their struggle is unconditional opposition to both the coming USA invasion AND to reactionary Islamism.

[hekmatista]

Thanks to Hekmatista and Led Zep for the education on the course of the Iranian revoluton and reaction. From my outsider's perspective, it looks like it rewrites almost word for word The XVIII Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, France from 1848-1851.
If the second time is farce, what are the third, fourth, fifth, etc.?