Iranian youth in the Green Movement

Category: International

We knew it would turn ugly, but on the other hand, we couldn’t not go. Someone has got to go and if it isn’t us, then who is it?

It was December 2009, and Negar had gone to Iran with her parents to visit friends and extended family.  Negar (who, for security reasons, will be referred to by first name only) attends The University of Texas at Austin, and hadn’t been in Iran since before the hotly contested presidential election last June.  At that time, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared victory with 62.6 percent of the vote, prompting challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi and his supporters to take to the streets in protest.

The world watched for the next week as riot police and the Basij, a paramilitary group, used batons and tear gas against the demonstrators, many of whom were under the age of 30. These protests launched the Green Movement, which began as a symbol of Mousavi’s campaign, but soon became a national symbol of unity and hope for those crying out for annulment of what they still regard as a fraudulent election.

“The ‘election’ of Ahmadinejad was disillusioning to say the least,” Negar explained. “It was the end of an era but also the beginning of a new one. For many this is the beginning of a long path of resistance, but also for many, Iran is no longer a place to think about their future.”

Roughly 60 percent of the Iranian population is Generation Y, making it one of the youngest nations in the world. Despite their demographical dominance, however, young adults have struggled to maintain stable lives even before the recent protests began.

“The Iranian youth are desperate. Their social freedoms are very limited. The unemployment rate is skyrocketing, and their university diplomas seem useless in the great ‘brain drain,’” she said. “Their sense of insecurity and uncertainty defines the lives of the younger Iranian generation.”

But she emphasizes that harsh times are not enough to temper a livid and destitute youth. If anything, these setbacks are their driving force—not including what Negar believes to be an inherent will to fight and survive.

“The Iranians born in the 1980s and 70s are the Children of War. Living through the Iran-Iraq war, their childhood memories are tainted with Iraqi missiles hitting their cities, sirens and martyrdom. The trauma of war has prepared them for this.”

And the Iranian youth are holding up to their legacy, showing no signs of political reprieve—chanting, “We are the Children of War. Fight and we’ll fight back.”  They seem to carry the weight of Iran on their shoulders.

Before the presidential election, Iranian Gen Yers, like most 20-somethings everywhere, understood the usefulness of social media to reach out across communities and connect with others. But since the protests started, their use of social media has taken on a deeper significance. With the new technology, the younger generation has taken over the reins for reporters, becoming citizen journalists at a time when Iranian authorities have placed severe restrictions on the presence of foreign independent media.

“To a large extent,” Negar said, “the movement’s organization is delegated to the young people, who use text messages, social networking, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, and other web technologies to show the demonstrations and the injustices.

“This is what makes this movement so unique,” she continued. “Even though Mousavi and [Mehdi] Karoubi  [the most liberal of Ahmadinejad’s opponents in the presidential election] are the faces of the Green leadership, the movement isn’t centered around them at all. Were they to surrender, the movement would still go on.”

And on it goes. Today, opponents to Iran’s current regime continue to gather, speak out, and protest, despite the risks of imprisonment, injury, or death. Just five months ago, thousands of Iranians attended the funeral for Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, 87, who was one of the leaders of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Skirmishes broke out among the attendees and police. Six days later, on the Muslim holy day of Ashoura, protesters and riot police clashed in multiple locations in Tehran, leaving many injured and between 8 and 37 protesters killed, including the nephew of opposition leader Mousavi.

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Tags: featured, International, Iran, Social Media