Civil Disobedience: Tehran in 2009

1. Civil Disobedience: Tehran in 2009 By: Malik Burton 2nd period, A

2. Timeline • June12,2009 -Presidential elections are held following a campaign of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and main opposition leader Mir HosseinMoussavi. • June13,2009 -Moussavicalls for vote counting to stop, saying there are "blatant violations.“ The government says Ahmadinejad won the ballot with 62.63 percent of the vote, while Moussavi received 33.75 percent of the vote. Following the announcement, angry crowds in Iran's capital break into shops, tear down signs and start fires as they protest the re-election of Ahmadinejad.

3. Timeline • June13,2009- February 14,2011-In what had become the worst civil unrest in Iran in over a decade, clashes broke out between police and groups protesting the election results from the presidential campaign in 2009. Protests were initially mostly peaceful but became increasingly violent as the government responded with arrests, violence, and censorship of the media and the internet.

4. Perceived injustice • The people of Tehran protested against the disputed victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who had won nearly 60 percent despite several reported irregularities. • All three opposition candidates claimed that the votes were manipulated and the election was rigged.

5. Actions taken • The people of Tehran protested; some of them peaceful and others violent. • The protests created The Iranian Green Movement. • The Iranian Green Movement refers to a political movement in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office.

6. Success or failure • The protests of the Tehran presidential election was a failure in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is still in office.

7. Connection between Thoreau and Tehran in 2009 • Besides from the fact that the protests were not always nonviolent, there are still connections between Thoreau’s ideas for civil disobedience and the protest in Tehran 2009. • One of Thoreau’s points was that most men serve the state mechanically and do not freely exercise moral judgment about their service. The protests expressed this by that the military fought the protests with batons, gas, and firearms, and also arrested many protesters and tortured them in jail. • Another of Thoreau’s points is that One honest man can change the state by standing up to it. The protests expressed this by standing up to the government’s wrongdoings.

8. Is this an example of civil disobedience? • Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. • Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. • In the protests in Tehran 2009, the people were against the governments decision for the rigged presidential election. • So, I think that the protests in Tehran 2009 is an example of civil disobedience.

9. Work cited • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009%E2%80%9310_Iranian_election_protests • http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jun/13/iran-mahmoud-ahmadinejad-riots-tehran-election • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2009_Iranian_election_protests • http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/06/irans_disputed_election.html • http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/5540211/Iran-protest-cancelled-as-leaked-election-results-show-Mahmoud-Amadinejad-came-third.html • http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/16/iran.elections.timeline/ • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_Green_Movement