Twitter, micro-blog cum social network, a joint recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize! Not as bizarre as it first seems, especially if we consider previous recipients of this prize.

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/twitter/5768159/Twitter-should-win-Nobel-Peace-Prize-says-former-US-security-adviser.html
 http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0706/p09s02-coop.html

To me, twitter was a means of filling the void with inane comments. Do we really wish to know what so-called 'celebrities' are doing from one boring minute to the next of their pathetic lives?

 http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/01/workshop-the-winner-stands-alone/

That was my view, until I saw how effective twitter has been in Iran. A snapshot of 24 hours when Neda was shot shows how effective twitter can be.

 http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article6575477.ece
 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6524127.ece
 http://publish.indymedia.org/en/2009/06/925965.shtml

If you can send sms, if you have an Internet connected phone, then with 140 characters, you can get your message out, but unlike with sms where you are communicating with a handful of people at best, with twitter your are potentially communicating with millions.

By use of a short url, you can embed in your message, or 'tweet' to use the jargon, a link to more information.

 http://bit.ly
 http://m.bit.ly

I will demonstrate with a link to this article as soon as it is published.

 http://twitter.com/keithpp

Neda Soltan, a 26-year-old student, was shot dead in cold blood. All she wanted was freedom. The moments of her death were filmed with a mobile phone. Within minutes, this grainy footage had been uploaded to the net and was available for the world to see.

 http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/23/iran-by-neda/
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8113552.stm
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1194641/YouTube-martyr-Neda-Agha-Soltanis-final-plea-shot-dead-Iran-rally.html
 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6557858.ece
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8113552.stm

The world was shocked. Neda has become the symbol of the revolution, 'we are all Neda now', in the same way that the death of Czech student Jan Palach became the symbol of the of the 1968 uprising in Czechoslovakia.

The young in Iran are media savvy. When they first took to the streets to demand freedom, their banners were in Persian and English. The western film footage was beamed around the world and back into Iran. CNN was slammed on twitter for failing to initially cover what was happening in Iran. [see #CNNFail]

 http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10264398-2.html
 http://mashable.com/2009/06/14/cnnfail/

When the Western media was barred from filming, the net savvy Iranians took to the net, they made use of twitter, Facebook, YouTube to get their message out. They routed around the road blocks.

 http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/06/15/web-users-in-iran-reach-overseas-for-proxies/

Thanks to systems installed by Nokia Siemens Networks, the evil regime is able to monitor mobile phone traffic.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8112550.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8114002.stm
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8131095.stm

A recent call to Iran, the recipient thought the call originated in Iran. It didn't, it originated outside of Iran.

So important was twitter to what was happening in Iran, that the US State Department asked twitter to postpone maintenance that would have resulted in down-time at a crucial time.

Events as they unfold can be followed in real time by means of #tags

#iran #neda #iranelection

Repressive regimes hate citizen activism as they get their message out. Indymedia was born out of the police repression in Seattle during the WTO talks. The mainstream media was not covering what was happening in the street, Indymedia was.

That repressive regimes fear citizen activism was seen a few years later in Italy when the police went in hard and brutally attacked an Indymedia centre, the walls were splattered with blood.

Twitter takes this to a whole new level, whilst at the same time, via short urls, making use of what has gone before.

Once a regime could keep the lid on its atrocities. Now all it takes is one person with a mobile phone and thew whole world knows.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8141873.stm

One of the first persons to see the film footage of the death of Neda was Paulo Coelho. He was shocked as we all were, but he had another reason to be shocked. The doctor who tried to save the life of Neda was his personal friend Arash Hejazi.

Paulo Coelho posted the film footage on his blog. It then went mainstream. Paulo Coelho's blog became another outlet for Iranians.

 http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/23/iran-by-neda/

Once Paulo Coelho knew his friend was safe in London, he published an exchange of e-mails that took place with Arash Hejazi whilst he was trying to leave Iran,

 http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/26/the-doctor/
 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6579510.ece

then once in London, an interview Arash Hejazi gave to the BBC.

 http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2009/06/26/arash-hejazi-interview-for-bbc/
 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6579675.ece
 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6579626.ece
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8119713.stm

Arash Hejazi was no stranger to challenging the regime. He has spoken out against state censorship, is publisher and translator of The Zahir (copies of which were confiscated by the regime), and is a writer in his own right.

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4544105.stm
 http://www.iranfocus.com/en/iran-general-/brazilian-author-paulo-coelho-says-his-latest-book-banned-in-iran-02084.html

The situation in Iran is now very bleak: arbitrary arrests, torture, forced confessions, summary executions.

The death of Neda, the thoughts of Arash Hejazi, the people who have taken to the streets, have shown us that there is another Iran to that which we usually see of a fundamentalist Islamic regime. We have been shown the real Iran because the people of Iran have been able to speak directly to the world and to each other. The people want freedom from religious repression, the women want the freedom to dress as they please, the freedom to walk the streets and not be slashed by razor-wielding basij. The people found the courage to defy clubs and bullets to realise their dreams.

There are two faces Iran presents to the world: One is the evil regime, the other is the people who have taken to the streets. The people are embarrassed by the image of Iran that the evil regime presents to the world.

When a regime sheds the blood of its people it has lost all claim to legitimacy.

The flame of freedom has flickered in in Iran. Are we to allow that flame to be snuffed out? Is Neda Soltan's death to be in vain? Is the courage of Arash Hejazi in speaking out to be in vain, is the courage of those who took to the streets to be in vain?

The dark forces cannot be allowed to succeeded.

The regime has said the street protesters killed Neda, that she was killed by thugs hired by the BBC. Arash Hejazi has nailed that lie. He has also nailed the lie that the demonstrators were armed.

Neda was not killed serving on a front line, she was not collateral damage. She was silenced by an evil regime. Neda wanted the voice of the people to be heard, she wanted freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, free and fair elections.

The fire burns beneath the ashes, and one reason it continues to burn is the use of the net to spread information, it is the oxygen that keeps the flame alive.

More links to articles

 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25642664-15084,00.html
 http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/443634
 http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0615/p99s01-duts.html
 http://www.osnews.com/story/21673/Twitter_Facebook_Play_Key_Role_for_Iranian_Protesters
 http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/15/earlyshow/leisure/gamesgadgetsgizmos/main5088668.shtml
 http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10264398-2.html
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061603391.html?hpid=topnews
 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/16/irans-twitter-revolution/
 http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,631170,00.html