[GPSCC-chat] suggestions for demonstrators
Jim Doyle
j.m.doyle at sbcglobal.net
Fri Oct 28 11:09:55 PDT 2011
This from
http://www.juancole.com/
Sefat: Top 10 ways OWS can Excel: Counsel from Iran’s Green Movement
<http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/sefat-top-10-ways-ows-can-succeed-counsel-from-irans-green-movement.html>
Posted on 10/28/2011 by Juan
/Kusha Sefat writes in a guest column for *Informed Comment* /
Following the disputed Presidential election in Iran, our Western
compatriots gave many suggestions on combating state oppression. Various
tactics and strategies were devised for Iranian protesters, some on this
very blog. It seems that most of those recommendations were ineffective
within Iran’s particular social and political context. It may be worth
outlining some of the tactics that were in fact useful to Iranian
protesters particularly as the OWS movement kicks into high gear
(assuming these tactics make sense within the American socio-political
context). The following are the Top 10 most effective tactics for the
OWS, stemming from the experience of mass social movement in Iran.
1) Pick a color to represent your movement and wear it daily in public
places (work, restaurant, etc.). Remember, this is a numbers game. You
want maximum visibility, and to bring your movement into everyday life.
2) Have an all-inclusive strategy. Accept people with different views
who are willing to join you in protest. Contrary to popular belief, you
don’t have to know what you want as a movement yet. The goal at this
stage is to point to your opponents and say that they have been lying to
you; that the show they have constructed is false and that you are sick
of it.
3) Demonstrate peacefully. Committing violence during demonstrations
leads to ruptures within your movement, diminishes public sympathy, and
gives the security forces a reason to violently suppress your protest.
4) Be rigorous. Security forces, dressed as civilians, may commit public
acts of violence in order to have an excuse to squash protests. Find
footage of those that police accuses of acting violently. Make sure they
are legitimate protestors. Expose them if they are not.
5) Be creative. During demonstrations in Iran, security forces dressed a
male protester in female attire in a bid to embarrass him. The next day,
hundreds of male protesters came out in female attire.
6) Record protests with your mobile phones and send to television
stations. Many broadcasters are owned by the very people who are in the
1%. But every now and then, there are producers and news workers who are
willing to get in trouble for showing the truth. This happened in Iran
on many occasions. News websites have an e-mail address and they
generally ask you to send them footage. Do IT.
7) Send your footage of acts of violence committed by the police to
foreign television broadcasters like Al Jazeera, RT, etc. When they show
the footage, it puts pressure on American broadcasters to do the same.
(Iranian protestors used BBC very effectively, even though it is a
British outlet).
8) Write, “I am 99%” or “OWS” on all dollar bills that you circulate.
Remember, you are fighting on the plane of the symbolic, and cash
circulates widely and quickly.
9) Do not let politicians co-opt your movement. Many politicians,
domestic or not, may hope to use your movement to their advantage. Allow
them to join your movement, but DO NOT let them lead or act as spokesperson.
10) Write arguments and op-eds that aim at the logic of the system that
has robbed you of opportunities and comfort. Do not aim at a particular
person. People can be replaced; it is the system that is hurting you.
——–
Kusha Sefat was a media consultant in Iran and is now a Doctoral Student
in Sociology at Queens’ College, University of Cambridge
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