Fighting Pictures

What grabs me about this photograph – aside from the green ribbon, the reprinted photograph of the casualty I caught on twitter pics, and the clever staging – is how marvelously “like us” this young man looks. Contrary to how any number of our elite punditry would have us believe, he appears “western.” The trendy shades, T-shirt, jeans (?), and Coach Athletic Tape (or a kind you can rip with your hands found in any local grocery store in the States). This kid could be sitting in any college classroom anywhere in the US. If nothing else, some of these images coming out of Iran ought to tell us these are human beings. It’s put to shame those who want to tell me how “other” Iranians are… it puts to shame any effort to dehumanize them for the sake of our own imperial designs. As best I can tell, the biggest difference between this Iranian and myself, is where he may have clerical overlords who would constrain his voting choice, mine are corporate in origin.

from juan cole who quoted someone who had participated in that day’s events:
People carried placards which read: Silence.
i think i heard a pundit explain the taped mouths were meant to symbolized the deaths of the protesters whose voices were silenced.
i was struck by the whimsy of the green ribbon unexpectedly worn on the finger, like a promise ring.