Iranian students, who've used protests, boycotts and sit-ins, have found a new and innovative way to express their disenchantment against the oppressive rule of the mullahs-- the water gun fight.

After last week’s large-scale water fight in Tehran resulted in the rounding-up and arrests of young participants, students are now preparing to once again take on the theocratic regime by organizing another water fight this weekend, and could set off a ripple effect of other water fights in the future.


Almost 1,000 young Iranians gathered on a hot summer day at Abo Atash Park in Tehran last Friday, at an event organized on Facebook, called “Tehran’s Water Gun Fight,” which invited young Iranians to bring water guns, bottles, and any other water games to the park.

Student organizers declared, “Water fights are our undeniable rights!” paralleling President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s claim about nuclear arms.

The event called the attention of government hardliners who dispatched authorities to the park to crackdown on the fun and games. Several male and female participants were rounded up and arrested.

Despite regime threats and arrests, the “Tehran’s Water Gun Fight” Facebook page is calling for another gathering this weekend and a larger event Sept. 2, following the end of the month of Ramadan.

Students in Tehran have told Fox News that the regime has prepared for another water fight by fortifying security and police presence at the park a day in advance, this time possibly preparing for an event that can have more serious consequences.

“They don’t think that water fights will cause a revolution, but it’s a start,” said Bahar Milani, a United Kingdom based activist working for the Iran Solidarity movement. Milani helped to create an English version of the Water Gun Fight Facebook page to link and unite the rest of the world to Tehran.

“It’s been a while that we haven’t heard any news from the people of Iran, but the young people are showing they world that they want change, and they want to challenge the regime,” Milani said.

More than 15,000 people have “liked” the original Facebook page in Persian and many have actively used the page, connecting to other participants and posting comments, pictures, videos and links.

Pictures from last week’s event have been plastered across the Internet on Facebook, blogs and other sites, showing the young people happy, laughing and soaking wet.

The hype surrounding the Tehran event has made a wave across the country. There are now Facebook groups organizing similar water gun fights in Iranian cities such as Babol, Isfahan, Tabriz and Karaj.

Facebook has been pivotal in Iran’s youth movement since the post-election uprisings in 2009 when Iranians stormed the streets in protest of a fraudulent election. Facebook, and similar social networking and organizing tools such as Twitter and YouTube have resolved the opposition’s long-standing challenge with organization.

“They are trying to tell the regime, ‘all we want is to be happy.’ They are just young people trying to live their lives. They just want to have fun. The government is against them having fun,” Milani said.

An important statistic in understanding the Iranian political climate, similar to that of many Middle East countries who experienced the Arab Spring, is the overwhelming number of young people. About seventy percent of Iran’s 70 million population is under 35.

It is common for young people in Iran to be questioned for their clothing, hairstyles, and even choice in music.

“This is a warning to young people that we will not accept these types of organized activities and unacceptable behavior anywhere in our country,” the head of Tehran's morality police, Ahmad Roozbehani said about the arrests.

Those who participated in last week’s water fight said hejabs, or the Islamic headscarves, on the females in attendance had either fallen off or moved back, revealing the hairline.

The comfort with which males and females interacted, in a country where gender segregation exists is all aspects of life, also irked authorities.

Confirming the arrests, city police chief Hossein Sajedinia placed fault on participants for acting "abnormally" and going against Islamic values.

Iran's state television aired a segment Wednesday interviewing some of the participants with their backs to the camera, confessing to having played with water guns and describing details about the event.

“The first goal was just to have fun. The second might have been a political agenda,” said one male participant who was not identified.

Another young woman warned viewers that she did not know that so many pictures would be taken, and that officials would have access to what she posted on her Facebook page.

“The people just want to be free and happy, but the regime won’t let them. Fortunately this generation has grown too strong and too big for the regime to keep up,” Milani said. “They are modern and savvy and know too much for the government to contain them.”

Should the students show up for this weekend’s scheduled water fight, the reactions are expected to be even more inflammatory as Monday began the Islamic month of Ramadan.

During the month, Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset and do not partake in any bodily pleasures, such as swimming. Traditionally, government crackdowns during this time are stricter and harsher.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/08/05/students-preparing-to-take-on-authorities-by-staging-another-water-fight/#ixzz1UBYkzDTy

They just want to have fun. The government is against them having fun,” Milani said.


Ha! I thought Girls just wanta have fun?

Tough toe nail guys, there is nothing FUN in Islam.

New here. Sorry to see Fox's racist values quoted on a dating website??
Why even mention the assassination of an Arab leader here?

Just to correct you, the kids weren't "protesting Islamic values". They ARE Islamic.
They protest the corruption of their religion by corrupt leaders.
It's very similar to what we see here in how some leaders corrupt Christianity and Judaism for political purposes.

*Sigh* Read the damn article and at the end the head of Iran's Morality Police said it's against their values.

Someone's first post is coming in and talking crap and calling people racist? Nice.

Not to mention that this is the politics and news section ... not dating ...

Irans morality police are no more able to decide what is against islamic values than Anders Behring Breivik is qualified to speak for what christian morality is

Those kids are muslims, not one of them declared they were fighting islamic morality. Iran has a pretty messed up government, but trying to equate them with muslim authority is the same ignorance as equating the spanish inquisition with christianity as a whole

Wow!

Nothing to be impressed with here, the post above was made to highlight the ignorance of the title of this topic

Irans morality police

Peaceful Jihad's

Freedom of Speech in Islam

The Loving Allah


Oxymoronic Friday

There is nothing peaceful about anything associated with the Iranian Regime.

Trying to equate who with muslim authority?

Neither group is a moral authority for Islam. The Quran is the moral authority for Islam, literally the word of god to muslims. The Quran does not command women to cover their faces, it calls for modesty but not a command to cover their faces

Of corse the kids are not trying to be a moral authority for their faith, they are just trying to shed an old and outdated cultural norm and maybe poke the eye of their closed minded government

Exactly. If the past year has shown us anything (ie the arab uprising) it has shown not only that Islam is perfectly compatible with democracy but that muslims are actively seeking a democratic government. Corrupt leaders are not a product of Islam. Of course the protestors in Iran will have a long, hard time in achieving a change in government but I wish them all the best.

Iran was once a democracy and it can be one again.