Word: crowd
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...toward Ferdowsi Square several kilometers away. People debate what to do next, should we go to Friday Prayers and let them know that we respect and accept our Rahbar, our Supreme Leader, this nezam ("system") and Revolution? Or do we stay away? Is it better to not antagonize a crowd that will no doubt be hot. There are reports and rumors that the basij will be out in full force, that the Supreme Leader will speak and no doubt cast his final verdict on the elections. It is ultimately decided to not go, a decision that seems to flow through...
...crowd pushes in. We are all arms, legs, elbows. Even for a country with no notion of personal space the compression on the train is incredible. Readers who had the privilege of being in Washingon D.C. for Barack Obama's inauguration will remember the scenes at the Capitol Hill metro stations. This tudeh, or mass, is the same, maybe more. For almost a week now, every day has been Inauguration Day in Tehran. (Read Joe Klein's account of what he saw in Tehran...
...have died in the past few days at the hands of the reprehensible basij, the volunteer paramilitary gangs who back Ahmadinejad. The chants that played such a prominent role prior to the elections and which peep out here and there are contained by the "shuushes!" and "quiets!" of the crowd...
...crowd gathers around a woman and a man; they are speaking in anguished tones. The woman, older, has her face covered like so many others here: fear still remains despite the strength of numbers. I can see only red, red eyes. Chera? Chera? Why? Why? We ask who she is, what has happened. We find out that she is a mother of a young shaheed, or martyr. People reach for their phones to take a picture and the man who is comforting her beseeches them to put the cameras away, to have sympathy for her. Over the gathered shoulders...
...other side of the square, miniscule then unseeable, unhearable. Bishin agha! Bishin! "Sit down! Sit down!" We squat on our hams like soccer players lining up for a photo. I hold onto the shoulders of the guy sitting next to me. Mousavi never rises far enough out of the crowd for us to see him but we can track his progress through the press by the security and cameramen standing on top of his car. They float above the heads of the thousands gathered and make their way north...