I called Jaleh and asked her if she was going to attend today's rally... In a sarcastic remark she said... 'Write your will, 3:30pm in front of Tehran University, let's step into the path of no return, no turning back, no turning back.'...
A short figured girl who was walking next to me reached in her purse, took out a green wristband and then raised her hands up in the air with a Victory sign. We all followed and the crowd automatically became a quiet and defiant freedom seeker band; 'be tarafe azadi' (towards Freedom) Hooman said aloud in a muffled bass voice. Azadi means freedom in Persian so towards Azadi can mean either going towards Azadi square or going towards freedom...
Screams and yells were everywhere and we were at first very scared but it seems that the fear disappears after the first hit [from the security forces]. People started chanting 'Natarsim, natarsim, maa hame ba ham hastim' (we are not afraid cause we are united).
Roger Cohen: I also know that Iran's women stand in the vanguard. For days now, I've seen them urging less courageous men on. I've seen them get beaten and return to the fray. 'Why are you sitting there?' one shouted at a couple of men perched on a sidewalk on Saturday. 'Get up! Get up!'
Another green-eyed women, Mahin, aged 52, staggered into an alley clutching her face and in tears. Then, against the urging of those around her, she limped back into the crowd moving west toward Freedom Square...
There were people of all ages. I saw an old man on crutches, middle-aged office workers and bands of teenagers. Unlike the student revolts of 2003 and 1999, this movement is broad.
And I've seen a lot. Just watch this pitched battle in the streets between a crowd and the riot police (via BBC Farsi). And watch it to the very end, as the police suddenly turn tail and run. Yes, you can hear the shouts 'Hurrah!' and I confess I found myself yelling it at my lap-top as well. Let us hope this is a microcosm of the whole thing. Faced with so many with such determination, the will of the regime will crumble.
There were lots of female protesters -- I saw a guard attack one woman and then she went back up to him and grabbed him by the collar and said 'why are you doing this? Are you not an Iranian? -- he was totally disarmed and didn't know what to do but her actions stopped him. There were no ambulances around -- people were helping each other -- helping the wounded -- taking them away to safety from further attacks.
A 19-year-old woman who was wounded by Iranian paramilitary forces with clubs escaped with her camera and shared her photos with CNN -- after tricking a paramilitary soldier into thinking she had given him the images on a disk... "The streets were full of guards and policemen. They were hitting everyone, and everywhere was fire because of the tear gas they throw at us."...
The group fought back by throwing stones at the soldiers... "We had nothing to defend ourselves. Just the smallest stones we throw at them." There were many women among the crowd of demonstrators trying to get to Freedom Square... "We gave the boys the stones because we can't throw them so far. We gave them the stones, and we said the slogans."...
"We don't care who is the president now... When our leader says it was fair and we know that it's not, I think that it's about our country. We want the truth."
We will continue to protest and we have several reasons to do so. First because we demand our rights. Second because we are not afraid. Third -- we will not be fooled. And fourth -- in this way, the true face of this regime will be revealed to the whole world.
