‘Death to China’ heard at Rafsanjani sermon. Why?
Protesters also targeted Russia. Both countries had quickly recognized President Ahmadinejad's reelection victory last month.
By Kristen Chick | Correspondent 07.17.09
The US received a tiny reprieve from playing the role of the “Great Satan” in Iran Friday when protesters directed their ire toward a few of America’s global rivals instead.
“Death to China!” and “Death to Russia!” chanted supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi during a sermon by influential former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, according to news reports. Mr. Rafsanjani used the speech to criticize the government’s crackdown on dissent following the contested June 12 election.
The Associated Press reports that the slogan broke out after hard-line supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yelled out the familiar “Death to America” chant during the speech. And Nico Pitney of The Huffington Post posted a YouTube video showing an outdoors rally in Tehran today, in which he says the protesters are chanting in Farsi “Russia, do us a favor and let go of our country!”
Both regimes recognized Ahmadinejad’s reelection
But the US government shouldn’t get too hopeful that it will be replaced as Public Enemy No. 1.
The enmity likely stems partly from Russia and China’s early recognition of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s government-certified victory in the disputed election. Mr. Mousavi maintains that the vote was fradulent, and his supporters are bitter toward the two regimes for backing Ahmadinejad.
China’s treatment of Uighurs also a factor
The sentiment toward China also may be related to the Chinese government’s forceful clamping down on violent ethnic riots between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang Province on July 5. China says that 46 Uighurs died in the violence, while Uighur exile groups maintain the number is much higher.
Several accounts of Rafsanjani’s speech say the chants against China broke out after the cleric condemned China’s crackdown in Xinjiang. The Guardian, liveblogging the speech, reports: “Rafsanjani criticizes China’s suppression of Uighur unrest. His comments are greeted with rebellious cries of ‘Down with China.’ ”
Saeed Valadbaygi, liveblogging the sermon at Revolutionary Road, has this account: “Rafsanjani condemns China. People chanted ‘Death to China.’ He asks that people stop their chants.” He quotes Rafsanjani as saying “China has a rational government. It must look at how it can benefit from its relations with the Islamic world. We hope that we will no longer be witness to such atrocities towards Muslims in China or anywhere else in the world.”
Iran censored coverage of Uighur unrest
The Monitor reported recently that Muslim reaction to the unrest in Xinjiang has been, for the most part, notably muted. (An exception is Turkey, where Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the events “genocide” against the Uighurs, the Monitor reported. And on the extremist fringe, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb threatened to attack Chinese citizens in North Africa in retaliation.)
The Iranian government has been criticized for its tepid response to the Uighur killings. The New York Times reported that three prominent clerics condemned the government for not denouncing China’s treatment of Uighurs, criticism laden with pointed domestic implications as well.
One of the clerics, Ayatollah Youssef Sanei, a reformist, drew a sardonic parallel, suggesting that Iran, which considers itself the defender of Muslims worldwide, could not criticize China’s repressive tactics while it was doing the same thing. He also said Iran’s silence was related to its commercial, military and political links with China.
The Guardian’s Tehran correspondent said that Iranian state-run media censored coverage of the riots in Xinjiang, and “did not refer to Uighur protesters as Muslims, but called them ‘hooligans.’ “
<< In Friday sermon, Rafsanjani criticizes Iran’s crackdown | MainComments
2. Elizabeth | 07.17.09
It’s more than a tiny reprieve. The crowd always chants “death to America” after the cleric says “death to America,” in a call and response fashion. From what I read at Nico Pitney’s live blog, the cleric said the usual “death to America” today, and the crowd surprised him by responding “death to Russia” and “death to China.” Subtle, but significant.
3. Hamid | 07.17.09
I watched the YouTube, and I need to correct what the protesters were saying about Russia. What they were saying is NOT, “Russia, do us a favor and let go of our country!”. The real translation is “Russian, shame on you, let go of our country!”.
4. stormnnorman1 | 07.17.09
It would seem that Iran, North Korea, China, Russia are all for inclusion in one world government and at the top of that list is none other then Barack Obama of the United States. The leadership of all these Countries it would appear wish to stop dissent.
In the United States Barack Obama wishes to silence the media saying anything that is not coming from this Administration, as in the fairness doctrine that is anything but fair.
The peoples of the world have reason to be concerned. We believe we have Democracy in the United States and so do those believing some freedom is freedom. It is however and illusion of freedom. As these powers move closer together what we are seeing is BIG BROTHER using our talents and money to compromise our values. It is the greed of power driving these delirious leaders.
The worlds people if you wish to live in tyranny then do nothing. Those of us that wish to have peace and be left to our lives. We know it is not the people but the lynch pin of governments that tell us who we will fight for them. The war in Iraq was a war which should never have been fought. It is our leadership in all our countries that seek power over others that bring us to disastrous decisions.
Fight the good fight against tyranny whenever and however it is possible. Those that have the guns will learn that guns are not enough to stop those that wish to be free of government intervention into our very lives.
5. German Alvarado | 07.17.09
The people of Iran need to know that their revolution has not been co-opted by a new shah in religious clothing with his puppet gov’t and enforcers who cover themselves in self-deception. The Iranian people deserve better than what they got!
7. JOHN BAGOTI | 07.17.09
America under Obama should not continue to put fire in the Iranian unrest. It will not help us but will harm us dearly because all Mullahs have only one agenda of condemning “Great Shatan’ for their sufferings. Rather we should help the elected Government to normalize the situation allowing more freedom and human rights and show us real friendship.Obama and his team is not doing any different than what Bush and his neocons were doing.
8. JOHN BAGOTI | 07.17.09
I do not understand what America and the Western World will get promoting the highly corrupt family goons of Hashemi Rafsanjani? May be we may get one more Karzai or Saddam?
9. Ben Darian Buchanan | 07.17.09
The US should not celebrate this wording change by a few people too much. It came at the cost of over 400 million USD of tax payers money under Bush. Most US Citizens have little knowledge of why they have been made to hate Iranians and that is due to lack of knowledge about the power of EU and US oil companies over the US government, senate and congress. Oil is the reason for animosity towards Iran. Iran can do little to the USA in terms of the bogus nuclear threat.
10. Ali | 07.17.09
Yop,
That’s typical answer from a moral and intellectually bankrupt who cannot help but spewing his unwanted opinion on every single matter.
11. Pejman | 07.17.09
Thanks for article. Here in The Hague we tried to organize a peaceful demonstration in front of Russian Embassy but because of Russia’s pressure Dutch police canceled that. Iran’s people never forget China and Russia’s role in Iran’s dictatorship.
BTW in the article “Farsi” has been used as the English name of Iran’s official language; “Farsi” is the native name of this language; its English name is “Persian”. (like Deutsch vs. German)
12. Mike | 07.17.09
Why are these Shiite Muslims in Iran supporting the murderous rampages of the Uyghur sunnis in Xinjiang? Do they seriously think the Chinese government should simply stand aside while the Uygurs hack to death more than one hundred ethnic Han Chinese? They really need to take care of themselves first…These Iranians dont seem to understand that the only two countries standing in the way of bombs falling on Tehran are China and Russia. Keep this up, and dont come crying to Beijing and Moscow when Israel take out all significant “points of interests” with its American-financed and built warplanes….
13. dom youngross | 07.17.09
Look at the map. It’s a game of tic-tac-toe, between Saudi and Pakistani bookends.
The official military-industrial-oil complex checklist:
Iraq. Assigned to Bush. Done.
Afghanistan. Assigned to Obama. In progress.
Iran. Assigned to Romney. Next.
14. farid | 07.17.09
Today I was there , I wish I could explain what I saw, but to whom which were not in the scene I must tell that the real situation is really different than what you see on tv . I mean being in the middle of protesters and suddenly understanding that a huge number of motorcycles are behind you who are shooting plastic bullets and tear gas is something else. we dont wnt them anymore. today (like other days) every type of humankind were in the streets.
and please always remind that the supporters of hmadinejad were taken to there from cities nearby tehran. they were soldiers with no military clothes. the buses have filled the street from friday morning. if they didnt do that, believe me , no more than 2000 people come to say “down with america” .I was affected but tear gas today and now , after 10 hours im not ok, I have many othere senses that I cant say in english , thank you
15. Lord Percy | 07.17.09
For any individual or any country, there must be a sense of conscience.
If a group of people starting riots arsons, murders, regardless of their religions, it must be stopped.
For those Uighurs committed serious crimes, they must be stopped regardless of their religions.
16. K-Sizzle | 07.17.09
Farid,
Although I can say that my government and its people are not perfect by any means, a lot of us do support your right to have a free election as well as other basic human rights. Keep shouting and your voice will be heard. Soon more people will gain the courage to protest such as yourself and others.
17. juan | 07.17.09
–”But the US government shouldn’t get too hopeful that it will be replaced as Public Enemy No. 1″
Tha something I like.
18. Momen | 07.17.09
This chanting against Russia is only a way to reflect the blames made by A.N that those who protest are agents of US.
Besides people of Iran simply don’t want to be another North Korea
19. Zagross | 07.17.09
Hi every body
I think you receive hate relatively close to your contribution in Iranian people’s measury;
By the time when Americans and other western contries supporting Saddam in bombing inocent people just to sell their weopns (not one day or two but 8 years)all the Iranian anger and hate where going to them, also to our stupid and fool leaders.
Nowadays Russians are wellcoming our hate and anger as they are supporting these crazy dictators
20. Shawn | 07.17.09
Well, how does US regime treat the Iranian people and how would Iranians take revenge against US regime?
21. yvonne | 07.17.09
im sick of some hypocritic guys talking shamelssly about freedom or democrcy. who really cares about the dead killed by the Uighur thugs? who cares about their heartbroken families? if these rioters should win ur sympathy, i have to say U r the real enemy of human beings.
22. zagros | 07.18.09
You will receive what you deserve
USA blamed for helping Saddam to bomb inocent people in Iran.
Today russia is helping dictators in our country and deserve the slogan
23. FiveLittleMonkeys | 07.18.09
After watching the election development I have to say Iranian is naive. Don’t you know that your foes are watching from the backstage and laughing aloud about your performance? Don’t you think your foes are waiting for Iran to be weakened, invaded and bombed to the Stone-Age like Iraq or Afghanistan is today?
24. Elizabeth | 07.18.09
Sorry to cut and paste, but Nico Pitney is covering this better than ANY OTHER American journalist.
(Note to Farid: God bless you and your fellow human rights activists!)
1:59 PM ET — “Death to Russia!” A fascinating video. From reader Sadeq Rahimi:
Here’s a clip from today’s prayers in Tehran that I think is a MUST for your weblog! There’s not much by the way of image, it’s taken by people who couldn’t make it inside, but it’s the recorded audio that is fascinating. Traditionally, there’s this guy at the Friday prayers whom people mockingly call ‘vazireh shoaar’, or the minister of slogans. His job is to shout slogans through loudspeakers and lead the crowd to chant death to America or Israel or whoever after him. In this clip you hear the crowd going flatly against him as he desperately cycles through the usual slogans (death to America, death to Israel, death to England and so on), and regardless of what he shouts, the crowd keeps repeating one chant: ‘marg bar roosiyeh’ (Death to Russia) !!
The chants against Russia and China — whose governments have both recognized Ahmadinejad’s election victory — were widely used today. As noted below by a reader, the strategic benefit here seems to be associating the Iran’s government with a foreign power, just as the government is trying to do to tar the reformists.
25. Jim | 07.18.09
Farid,
You put the event we saw in context and that perspective is invaluable. Media outlets have a big agenda to catch people’s attention so they can sell advertisements and they don’t always tell the whole story. Thank you for your first hand account.
26. Ban | 07.18.09
This report is seriously flawed; though it makes some good points it leaves out serious factors about the longtime relationship of the regime with China in terms of China’s never-ending deals with the regime for various things from oil to import/export goods that have turned out to be absolutely wortheless, as well as the fact that China has been using the Persian Gulf for ALL kinds of explorations, digging the coral reefs dry…AND of course in order to further polarize as well as keep alive the “cold war” divides, Iran has manipulated both China and Russia who have happily coalesced with the regime. The Uighurs are a recent and rather peripheral issue actually.
27. Nancy | 07.18.09
Hashenmi Rafsanjami have about US$1 billion in his pocket through corruption when he was the President of Iran. How can this corrupted man tell his people to revort against his own government and country. It is for his own interest and his own fortune. Why don’t he go into the street and get shot by the police with the Iranian people. Who is he to tell us.
28. Amir | 07.18.09
In fact iranian people (majority) do not assume the west including US as an enemy , of course there are some black points in the history of relationships between Iran and USA , like the us driven coup against the democratically elected prime minister Mosadegh and supporting Shah’ dictatorship in Iran! except this , Iranian people very much like americans and the rest of the world and wanna live in peace with the humanity.
The matter with China and Russia at least is :
1- they both shamelessly acknowledged Mahmoud (A.N) as president while nothing was so clear!
2- They both sell illegal weaponry to Iran and gain a huge profit.
3- china supports internet censorship in iran. Its said that Iran regime has paid Millions to buy filtering instruments from china.
4- these both countries support the undemocratic regime of iran in G8 and united nations congresses so that the influence of other countries is weakened and lets say why do they do that? Oil money which goes straight from Iranian regime to their pockets( in fact this money belongs to iranian people!) and these two corrupt goverments support the corrupt government of Iran for thousands of other benefits like Gas and Oil contracts and providing a big market for low quality chinese products by iranian corrupt regime.
5- IT IS said that russia has designed and helped iranian dictatorial regime in the methods of its quasi-coup and crack down of the people and torturing the prisoners.
You Want more?
29. Howard | 07.18.09
A small group of goons chanting ignorant slogans… why should we take it seriously?
30. Gaston | 07.18.09
dom youngros;
Lets remember the late President Eisenhower warning to the nation about the military-industrial complex.
Iraq assigned to Bush-done
Afghanistan assigned to Obama- in progress
Iran assigned to Romney- next
USA,bankrupted, owned & controlled by the PRC(PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA) circa 2050
31. Iranian | 07.19.09
You all are pathetic and the author has lost the message entirely. The reason protesters were chanting death to Russia and so forth had nothing to do w/ Russia, America or change of heart. It was a form of defiance to the ruling authorities. People are saying we are opposing you in every which way. If you say death to America and consider her as your enemy we say death to your friend “Russia”. An indirect but profound civil disobedience. This is start of a revolution in Iran and neither the author nor the replies above cared to understand.
32. Neil | 07.19.09
to stormnnorman1 #4
you listed four countries and made your own judgement. You, like a foreseer of human,talked about Freedem, Humanrights and Democracy . In your opinion, the only conmmon thing in all of that four country is tyranny.
But you should know, in my eyes, a young guy in china, the reason that you list the four together is not about Freedem, Humanrights and Democracy. The conmmon ground of the four is they are not “western”. And you,in my view,are typical western critics who judge everything in your room.You never visit our countries, never talk with people in thoes countries and never know what exactly happens in there.
May I ask you some questions:what is truth in your eyes? Is that the articles and pictures in the media? Do you think most of the people in these countries hate their goverments?
I am not a party member of CPC and I know there are some flaws in our society. But the truth of our country is definitly different with the reports under western jounrnist’s camera. If you want make comment on our country, Please come here and talk to us…
34. SkysoldierRecon173 | 07.19.09
The “uber rich” run things. Thats the way it has and probably always will be. As far as Iraq goes, they will become an Iranian client state. We went there for no good reason. Iran, as it gets closer to a nuclear weapon, gets closer to being annihilated. They can chant all they want, it will not change things. Freedom is paid for in blood, and until the opposition is ready to go full tilt, Iran will continue to be an islamic theocracy. Its true, the moslems love to blame others for thier own problems. Its never thier fault, its the US, Israel or the UK. Go ahead, defend ur moslem bro’s in China, see where that gets ya. They will swat you like so many flies-just like the ILLEGITIMATE Iranian gov. So, same difference there.
35. SkysoldierRecon173 | 07.19.09
Americans exercise ur 2nd Amendment rights so we can fight the tyranny to come. If Iranians had weapons I bet it would be a whole different story. God help us all.
36. 4D4F | 07.19.09
I know the US is messed up, but man, one thing I’ve learned since June is that Iran is MESSSED UP. How do you get off killing your own people? How do Iranians let their officials push them around like that. One thing about the US, when we make a stink, we make a STINK.
37. kathy | 07.19.09
In Iran, crowds of so called reformists chant death to China, death to Russia, death to US? Where are the chants Death to Israel, UK and France?
What is wrong with this picture?
There sure is an agenda. Islamic groups have already defeted the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, with US help, and now have backstabed the US, and are fighting to defeat the US. Their propaganda states that after the defeat of the US, they will move on to China.
Meanwhile, in it’s holier than thou blindness, chauvinists in America imagine that they can win by inciting violence between one Islamic group and another. Do folke really believe that Muslims don’t see this tactic?
38. juitter | 07.19.09
welcome to modern world，China!the most significant indication of that and is that you are hated by Muslim,but your ticket price is too high,more than 150 Han ethnics has been killed by those rioters,most brutally,one of them is a 5-year-old girl.
39. Iran reporter | 07.20.09
What was interesting that the Friday sermen did their usual Mullah chant of Death to America, Death to Israel, but the crowd repeated a completley different chant toward China and Russia, for their support and recognition of Ahmadinejad corrupt regime. Very brave people. A few years ago no one dared to go against the Mullah’s and now, people are standing up to them and letting them know you DO NOT REPRESENT us any longer… Hope Iranians succeed in throwing out the Mullahs soon.
40. Christine | 07.20.09
http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0715/p18s01-hfcs.html
A prayer for peace in Xinjiang province,China
an otherwise wonderful article filled with rational thoughts and conscience
41. Viktor | 07.20.09
TO AMIR
The matter with China and Russia at least is :
1-they both shamelessly acknowledged Mahmoud (A.N) as president while nothing was so clear!
>>>what was not so clear? that there some attempts to test “color revolution” standart scheme in Iran.
2- They both sell illegal weaponry to Iran and gain a huge profit.
>>>everybody who have weapon settle a bargains like this. just a buisness, nothing personal.
4- these both countries support the undemocratic regime of iran
>>>why its undemocratic ??
5- IT IS said that russia has designed and helped iranian dictatorial regime in the methods of its quasi-coup and crack down of the people and torturing the prisoners.
>>>where it has been said…in west mass media, which demonizing Russia in any case? U think without russians - its impossible to torture the prisoners? russians have unique technique ? ))
“Who do you work for?, Amir”
43. Alexander | 07.21.09
Iranians have nothing to blame Russia for. Russians are the ones who build the nuclear power generating station at Bousher. Russians are the ones who sell them an air defense systems and conventional arms to protect them from a possible US and Israeli attacks. Russians are the ones who stand for Iran’s interests in nuclear energy production. Russians are the ones who negotiate without any prejudices or stereotypical, ideology-based theses.
So Iranians owed Russians some. For my money, the open-minded Iranians do admit that.
But yes, there is a minority thinking different. Are they ignorants? Nope.
They are compradors protesting while paid. And the source is US of A.
45. hello | 07.23.09
“Uighurs and Han Chinese in Xinjiang Province on July 5. China says that 46 Uighurs died in the violence, while Uighur exile groups maintain the number is much higher.”
conveniently not mentiong more than 100 other ethnics died ??
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1. Decentralize | 07.17.09
Well, it’s nice to see the rabble expand their horizons a bit; spread the hate around. It really gives you hope that we can someday learn to hate equally, without being bound by national borders.