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The regime’s Quds Day rallies are smaller and tightly secured this year, indicating lack of support and concern about the growing opposition movement.

By Josh Shahryar, www.PajamasMedia.com

Iran managed to hold its annual anti-Israel Quds Day rallies this year [on Friday, September 3] in relative peace, as the opposition stayed away from the streets. Thousands of hard-line supporters of the Iranian government flocked to the streets of the capital Tehran and elsewhere in the country to denounce Israel, and to demand that Jews leave the Middle East. The numbers were a far cry from the rallies in past years that attracted millions, a good indicator of the government’s waning popularity.

Even though opposition activists had quietly indicated that they would hold rallies against the government, no one showed up after the government filled the streets with thousands of security forces. Their decision to not show up was also affected by the government’s brazen attacks on the house of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi for the past two days.

The main government rallies in Tehran were marked by supporters marching through the streets in different parts of the city, carrying anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian placards and chanting anti-Israel slogans. By far the largest crowd gathered in Tehran University, which was under tight security, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gave another of his anti-Israel speeches. This time, he managed both to denounce Israel and to call the current round of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians in Washington “a failure from the start.” He also accused the West of blatant pro-Zionist policies.

Quds Day is held on the last Friday of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Iran. Initiated by Iran’s revolutionary leader Imam Khomeini, the protest was meant to show solidarity with Palestinians. It has now largely turned into a platform for Iran’s theofascist regime to promote its own version of anti-Semitism, anti-Americanism, and anti-everything the mullahs in power seek to denounce — including their domestic opposition.

The opposition spent the day tending to the attack on their leader, and according to some activists, enjoyed the degree to which the government has become frightened of their activities. One activist opined:

The government had to put thousands of security forces on Tehran’s streets under scorching heat for most of the day. Logistically speaking, this is a great blow, since not only did they spend a lot of money to contain a ghost, but also fatigued their thugs.

Another lamented that if the government hadn’t put too many security forces on the ground, they might have held a rally.

What the day proved, however, was that the government is indeed troubled by the opposition, and is ready to go to any lengths to control their activities. This is a hard blow to a regime that has recently boasted that it has crushed the opposition, and that the Green Movement — a coalition of anti-government opposition groups — is not a threat. The streets of Tehran today were a witness to how much of a threat they expected.

Two of the city’s main squares, Enghelab and Hafte Tir, were covered by security forces. Roads leading to many other squares were also completely sealed by baton-wielding Basijis — a militant organization under the direct control of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. Basijis also patrolled the metro stations in the city and routinely questioned people there. Elsewhere, security forces set up checkpoints and searched ordinary Tehranis. Eyewitnesses have so far confirmed the arrests of at least a dozen people — indicating the real number to be much higher.

The situation in Tehran was much better compared to Shiraz, however.

Clashes broke out in this southern city when security forces attacked Ghoba Mosque, the main seat of Ayatollah Dastegheyb, a respected cleric and supporter of the opposition movement. Hundreds of Basijis entered the mosque and beat up the cleric’s students who’d gathered there. Mosque officials were told not to hold any gatherings, and the establishment was already surrounded by security forces before the attack.

Back in the capital, Basijis continued their attacks on Mehdi Karroubi’s house for the second day. They shot paintball guns, threw rocks, and shot at the house. They also beat up several people outside the house who were either passing by or attempting to enter the house. Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi called Karroubi to express his support, as did Grand Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani, another renegade cleric who supports the opposition. Sayed Yasser Khomeini — the grandson of the leader of Iran’s revolution, Imam Khomeini — visited Karroubi and decried the government’s actions.

Later in the day, videos from inside of Karroubi’s house were released, showing broken windows and bullet holes in walls. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFl-5hJ6_xM

As the day ended, most opposition supporters may have been disheartened, but one dissident summed up the situation with these words:

They held a small rally to make more enemies. We didn’t show up, but we’re making more friends every day.

www.JTA.org

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Mahmoud Abbas said he will not compromise during peace negotiations on core issues such as final borders and the status of Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Authority president also said in an interview with the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper that he rejects Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that he recognize Israel as a Jewish state. He said the issue is a ploy by Netanyahu to deny Israeli Arabs the right of return to their former homes in Israel.

Meanwhile, Abbas told reporters late Monday, September 6, that he has asked the United States “to intervene on the settlement issue” and prevent Netanyahu from lifting a 10-month freeze on construction in the West Bank.

Israel has said it will not extend the freeze, which is scheduled to end Sept. 26, though it may only lift the freeze in settlement blocs that are likely to remain with Israel in a final peace deal. Abbas has said he will quit the peace negotiations if the freeze does not remain in place.

www.JTA.org

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Making peace with the Palestinians “will not be easy,” Israel’s prime minister said in a Rosh Hashanah message to Diaspora Jewry.

“I believe that we should make every effort to reach an historic compromise for peace over the coming year,” Benjamin Netanyahu said in a holiday message to Jewish communities around the world that was released Monday, September 6. “I guarantee one thing: This will not be easy. But as Israel’s prime minister, it is my responsibility to make every effort to forge a lasting peace with our neighbors.

“Lasting peace must be anchored in security, and it must be anchored in the recognition of the Jewish state’s permanence in this region, not merely as a fact, but as something that our neighbors accept by right,” he said.

Netanyahu pointed out that last year was the safest in Israel in two decades and reiterated that Israel has weathered the global financial crisis better than nearly any other industrial country.

“In the next year, Israel will face many challenges,” the Israeli leader said. “I have no doubt that in meeting those challenges, Jewish communities around the world will stand by Israel’s side — I think we’ve seen that every step of the way up to now. We’ll see that every step of the way going forward.”

In a message released Monday to the Israeli public, Netanyahu stressed that any agreement “will be based on two criteria: security and recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.”

The message to the Israeli public, in Hebrew, was released on YouTube.

www.JTA.org

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will consult with Jewish leaders on the eve of Rosh Hashanah (Sept 7).

Obama will speak with rabbis in a conference call Tuesday in what appears set to become an annual tradition. Last year, Obama reached out to rabbis to solicit support for his health care reform package.

There is no word on what this year’s topic will be, but one focus is likely to be soliciting U.S. Jewish support for Israeli concessions likely to arise out of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations renewed last week.

Biden will meet Jewish leaders at his residence Tuesday evening for a pre-holiday reception.

Obama released a statement Tuesday afternoon marking the holiday.

“Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the spiritual calendar and the birth of the world,” he said. “It serves as a reminder of the special relationship between God and his children, now and always. And it calls us to look within ourselves — to repent for our sins; recommit ourselves to prayer; and remember the blessings that come from helping those in need.”

Obama used the occasion to appeal for support for the negotiations.

“At a time when Israelis and Palestinians have returned to direct dialogue, it is up to us to encourage and support those who are willing to move beyond their differences and work towards security and peace in the Holy Land,” he said. “Progress will not come easy, it will not come quick.”

www.BBC.co.uk

An Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning for adultery now faces being whipped for indecency, her son says.

Iranian authorities sentenced Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani to 99 lashes after The Times newspaper published a picture purportedly of her without a headscarf. The Times later published a correction, saying the photograph was of a different Iranian woman.

After an international outcry, Iranian officials temporarily halted Ashtiani’s stoning sentence in July. There are fears the death sentence could still be carried out by hanging.

Ashtiani’s son has given several interviews saying he was told of the new sentence of 99 lashes by people who have recently been released from the prison in Tabriz where his mother is being held.

On 28 August, The Times published a picture it said was of Ashtiani that it had obtained from one of her lawyers. The lawyer, Mohammad Mostafei, who has fled Iran, said he received the picture from her son, Sajad Ghaderzadeh—a claim Ghaderzadeh denies. Ghaderzadeh said the new sentence was “an excuse to increase [the authorities'] harassment of our mother.”

In an open letter, he said his mother had been sentenced to receive 99 lashes “on false charges of spreading corruption and indecency by disseminating this picture of a woman presumed to be her without hijab.”

He said he did not believe the sentence had been carried out but that her family and lawyer had not been allowed to visit her for two weeks and she had not been allowed to use a telephone. Ghaderzadeh said the family was appealing against the sentence.

In May 2006, a criminal court in East Azerbaijan province found Ashtiani guilty of having had an “illicit relationship” with two men following the death of her husband. She was given 99 lashes. But that September, during the trial of a man accused of murdering her husband, another court reopened an adultery case based on events that allegedly took place before her husband died. Despite retracting a confession she said she had been forced to make under duress, Ashtiani was convicted of “adultery while being married” and sentenced to death by stoning.

In August, Iranian TV aired what it said was a confession from Ashtiani of her involvement in her husband’s 2005 murder.