As details of the death toll for January’s protests continue to emerge, three students explain why they are resisting a return to normality

More than 45 days after a brutal January crackdown that left thousands of Iranian protesters dead, students across several universities are protesting again. As Iran’s new academic term began on Saturday, students in Tehran gathered on campus, chanting anti-government slogans, despite a heavy security presence and plainclothes officers stationed outside university gates.

The Guardian spoke to protesting students about why they were rallying despite the fact that thousands had been killed and tens of thousands arrested in the January demonstrations.

“Our classrooms are empty because the graveyards are full,” said Hossein*, 21, a student at the University of Tehran. “It’s for them – our friends, classmates and compatriots, who were gunned down in front of our eyes, that we decided to boycott the classes.”

  • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip
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    6 hours ago

    Well you’re partly correct, in that you seem to agree that it is, indeed, possible to limit yourself to target military targets… Instead of it being a cover for ‘bombing cities’ which is what was claimed here.

    But that’s separate from what happens in the vacuum later.

    You can look at the support for the Kurds in Syria as a good counter example - arming them and giving them intel and air support helped them defeat IS. Or working together with the résistance in WW2 to defeat the nazi’s.

    • QinShiHuangsShlong@lemmy.ml
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      5 hours ago

      Syria? The country currently controlled by terrorists massacring minorities is a good example of what you want? Also the USSR did 90% of the work of defeating the Nazis while America continued to trade with and fund them through ford IBM and other enterprises. I think the US should just stop intervening but they never will as the massive violence and immiseration is necessary to sustain their empire.

      • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip
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        5 hours ago

        I think you don’t have the slightest idea of what life would be like under the boot of IS (pretty comparable to Iran in most regards, imo) or even what life was like under Assad. Can you let me know how the current Syrian government is ‘massacring minorities’? Because that seems like quite the overstatement. Sure they’re islamists but Turkey seems to have the leash on pretty tight.

        Funny tangent you’re going on in the second half. USSR kickstarted German conquests allying with them at the start of WW2. And when they were inevitably stabbed in the back they had to call on the US to supply them so they had a bit more than their bare hands to fight back. I’m sure you can’t see the resemblance to the situation the Iranian people find themselves in.

        • QinShiHuangsShlong@lemmy.ml
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          5 hours ago

          USSR kickstarted German conquests allying with them at the start of WW2

          Ah you’re one of these people. Ok conversation with you will not be productive. Continue believing what you want all the best.

          • couldhavebeenyou@lemmy.zip
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            4 hours ago

            Hey as I’m currently enjoying some WW2 flight sim, here’s a relevant fun fact to close with :-)

            What plane did the top USSR ace use to kill most of his nazi’s?

            Do you think the plane would have been able to do it without him in it?