This is probably a temporary fit of pique rather than a paradigm shift, but for the moment at least people aren't buying into the standard rhetorical maneuvers intended to thwart change. In today's protests in Tehran, no matter how many times the leaders shouted "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel," the crowds responded with "Death to Russia!" The chant was apparently a reference to the speedy congratulations Russia’s government offered to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad soon after the official election results were announced. The moment was also interesting in light of Michel Foucault's reports of anti-Semiticism and xenophobia in the 1978 street protests that led up to the 1979 revolution.
YouTube link (and translation) thanks to Tehran Bureau.
Updates from Tehran Bureau's Twitter feed at 1:10 PM CST: tonight's Allahu-Akbar shouts are louder than ever, and they include "Death to Khamenei!" (unprecedented in its specificity) and "Death to USSR!" (oh well, the message is clear enough).
Death to Russia, Death to Russia, Death to Russia, Death to Russia
Posted by: iran | July 18, 2009 at 01:32 AM