News in Brief

• With the start of Ramadan, tensions have flared among Iranian internet users. Some Friendfeed users posted photos of food during the day, which others perceived to be an unfair form of torture regardless of whether they were fasting or not. Adding fuel to the fire, a group of anti-Islamic internet users then began a campaign to post as many pictures of food and alcoholic beverages as they could, which offended a number of their online acquaintances who ended up blocking these incendiary users from their own feeds.

Acid attack victim Ameneh Bahrami has pardoned her attacker, what do Iranians think?

Ameneh Bahrami, who was blinded and scarred in an acid attack in 2004, has stopped the qesas [retributive blinding sentence] against her attacker, which was granted by the Iranian judicial system at her request, from going ahead at the last moment. In May we reported on the debates that flared in the Iranian webosphere when the courts agreed to her demands to punish her attacker under Sharia law. Now that Ameneh has revoked the retribution order, the topic is trending once again and many bloggers and social networkers are appreciative of the mercy she has shown.

Environmentalist blogger Naser Karami suggested that Ameneh could become symbolic and synonymous with mercy: “In our society, a society overwhelmed by violence, all of us should draw wisdom from her great decision.” Nesvan, a group blog written by three women, addressed Ameneh in an open letter: “Ameneh, my sister, you have shown that acid may blind eyes but it cannot ruin souls.” Azadnevis wrote, “Today Ameneh has become a national hero.”

There were however some critics who were dissatisfied with the results. Google Reader user Ali Abdi said, “It was good of her to do this, but we should not delight in the result so much that we forget the responsibilities we have to protest against patriarchy and fanaticism.” Somayeh also emphasised social responsibility: “How can we be happy when these violent actions are likely to recur in the future? The root of the problem is still there.” Some other social networkers were sceptical about Ameneh’s decision, believing that she may have done so under pressure from the authorities.

Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami published a note dedicated to Ameneh on his personal website: “In all of our social and political activities we should learn how to respect each other in the most critical of moments, especially when we are in power.”

Fighting with water; playing with fire.

On July 29 more than 800 Iranian Facebook users gathered together in Tehran’s Ab o Atash [Water and Fire] Park to have a water fight. After the event TehranLive.org published a series of photos taken on the day and showed a map pinpointing where the fight had taken place.

Pro-government and ultra-conservative websites unanimously condemned the event. Saham News reported that an unknown number of people who participated in the event were arrested by the police. Hardliner website Rajanews sliced the copyright notice off TehranLive’s photos and republished them, calling the event a ‘mixed-gender party,’ which is disallowed by Iran’s interpretation of Sharia law.

Conservative Friendfeed user ‘Seltoon’ condemned the event saying that it was a disaster for Iran society: “What is happening to this country of ours? Oh, strike me down Imam Reza! Someone [from the Revolutionary Guard] has just been martyred in a fight with PJAK [the Kurdish liberation group] and our countrymen are eating hot dogs, sitting in comfort beneath their air conditioning units and now having this ‘mixed party’ in the park.” Ultra-conservative Friendfeed user ‘Abel Santamaría Cuadrado’ invited those who had participated in the water gun fight to play with fire: “Hey dummies, your water game is over? Now it’s time to fight with fire ... Would you even dare to show up for that game?”

‌But anti-government Friendfeed user ‘Ali Ba’ mocked the conservatives: “I’ve just discovered that the entire foundation of the Islamic regime has been attacked by girls armed with water guns!” Most anti-government internet users believe that the backlash against this event shows that Iran’s regime has a problem with people outwardly showing happiness in public.