Dirt and Dust

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s term for those protesting against the Iranian election results.

Iranian protesters have adopted as a rallying cry derisive remarks aimed at them by their President, Robert Tait reported for The Guardian. Speaking at a victory rally on June 14, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad dismissed protesters as “dirt and dust,” and likened them to angry soccer hooligans:

But, just as street protests the world over seize upon a poignant image to convey their message, so Ahmadinejad’s contemptuous phrase “dirt and dust” has entered folklore and provided a focus for the rage of the protesters.

So far it has inspired pithy slogans, blog headlines, posters and a litany of insults throwing the president’s words back in his face. “Dirt and dust is you, it is you who are the enemy of Iran,” one chant goes. Another frequently-heard slogan has been: “We are not dirt and dust, we are Iran’s nation.”

The phrase (khas o khashak in Farsi) has become a badge of pride. Etemad-e Melli, a reformist newspaper, carried a huge picture on yesterday’s front page showing marchers carrying a banner bearing the slogan, Epic of Dirt and Dust. The offending words were written in green, the colour adopted by Mousavi’s campaign.

Tait also reported that one of Iran’s most famous musicians, Mohammad Reza Shajjarian, asked the state broadcaster (I.R.I.B.) to refrain from broadcasting his songs, “because this is the voice of dirt and dust and will always remain so.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, Ahmadinejad later attempted to downplay his remarks, stating:

I only addressed those who made riot, set fires and attacked people. … Every single Iranian is valuable. The government is at everyone’s service. We like everyone.

As demonstrators gathered to mourn those protesters killed by Iran’s basijis(pro-government militia), The Telegraph’s Angus McDowall and Colin Freeman highlighted another potent means of protest:

In place of the chants and blaring car horns was an equally deafening silence, as denoted by the banners saying “Sokot” (“silence” in Persian).

“You can’t help but be overwhelmed by the sea of people in black standing there in silence,” said one protester. “No matter how many of these one goes to, you just can’t get used to the sight of tens or hundreds of thousands of people walking or just standing there in silence.”