HELIOLITH

The people of Iran were peacefully protesting Ahmadinejad’s coup over a week before CNN bothered to begin reporting on it.  Their outrage over this stolen election brings tears to my eyes, and their determination in taking to the streets to voice their opposition inspires me.  Particularly beautiful are the themes of martyrdom that run through Iran’s religious culture and women’s prominence in the protests, which intertwined for the moment of Neda’s death to which the world over has now borne witness.

While the protesters struggle to exercise their political rights and the Basij militia infiltrates the demonstrations with provocateurs, providing excuses for its own unjustifiable violence, the country’s illegitimate leaders issue specious statements confirming the validity of the stolen election that no one could believe and make no effort to control their police forces.

Yet I read today that as police scattered mourners at a mosque, one police officer united, if only momentarily, with the protesters.

More than a dozen bearded men on motorcycles dispersed nearly 70 people gathered outside Niloofar mosque on Monday. Authorities ordered the mosques not to hold services for any victims of the demonstrations over the past few days.

“Go, get lost,” they shouted, as the regular police stood by.

But one police officer, watching the militia, said a prayer aloud with the crowd in her honor: “Peace be upon the prophet and her family.”

I believe this kind of breakdown of sides, this forging of ties across the false boundaries of protester and police, is one of the strongest form of human power.  To disregard uniforms and to unify opposition group with oppressor in the universally human act of mourning our dead is to reject the divisive forces the false government would try to wedge between the people to splinter their movement and thwart their momentum.

My prayer is that there are more moments like this in the days to come.