Black Friday (1978)

Black Friday
Part of Iranian Revolution
Location Tehran, Iran
Date 8 September 1978 (GMT+3.30)
Deaths 89
Perpetrators Iranian army

Black Friday (Persian: جمعه سیاه Jom'e-ye Siyāh) is the name given to 8 September 1978 (17 Shahrivar 1357 Iranian calendar) and the shootings in Jaleh Square (Persian: میدان ژاله Meydān-e Jāleh) in Tehran, Iran. The deaths and the reaction to them has been described as a pivotal event in the Iranian Revolution when any "hope for compromise" between the protest movement and the Shah's regime was extinguished.[1]

Background and massacre

Jaleh Square shooting

As protest against the Shah's rule continued during the spring and summer of 1978, the Iranian government declared martial law. On 8 September, thousands gathered in Tehran's Jaleh Square for a religious demonstration, despite the fact that the government had declared martial law the day before. The soldiers ordered the crowd to disperse, but the order was ignored. Initially, it was thought that either because of this reason, or because of the fact that the protesters kept pushing towards the military, the military opened fire, killing and wounding several people.

Black Friday is thought to have marked the point of no return for the revolution, and led to the abolition of Iran's monarchy less than a year later. It is also believed that Black Friday played a crucial role in further radicalizing the protest movement, uniting the opposition to the shah and mobilized the masses. Initially opposition and western journalists claimed that the Iranian army massacred thousands of protesters. [2][3][4] The clerical leadership announced that "thousands have been massacred by Zionist troops."[5]

Demonstration of Black Friday, the sentence on placard: "We want an Islamic government, led by Imam Khomeini"

The events triggered protests continued for another four months. The day after Black Friday, 9 September 1978, Hoveyda resigned as minister of court, although unrelated to the situation. A general strike in October shut down the petroleum industry that was essential to the administration's survival, "sealing the Shah's fate".[6] Continuation of protests ultimately led to Shah leaving from Iran in January 1979, clearing the way for the Iranian Revolution, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]

Aftermath

Initially, western media and opposition incorrectly reported "15,000 dead and wounded", despite reports by the Iranian government officials that 86 people died in Tehran during the whole day. [14] Michael Foucault, an often sourced French journalist, first reported that 2000 - 3000 people died in the Jaleh Square and later he raised it to 4000 people dead. [2] BBC:s correspondent in Iran, Andrew Whitley, reported that hundreds died. [15]

According to Emad al-Din Baghi, a former researcher at the Martyrs Foundation (Bonyad Shahid, part of the current Iranian government, which compensates families of victims) hired "to make sense of the data" on those killed on Black Friday, 64 were killed in Jaleh Square on Black Friday, among them two females – one woman and a young girl. On the same day in other parts of the capital a total of 24 people died in clashes with martial law forces, among them one female, making the total casualties on the same day to 88 deaths.[2] Another source puts the Martyrs Foundation tabulation of dead at 84 during that day.[16]

The square's name was later changed to the Square of Martyrs (Maidan-e Shohada) by the Islamic republic. [4]

"Black Friday" in art

Persian language

In 1978 shortly after the massacre, the Iranian musician Hossein Alizadeh set Siavash Kasraie's poem about the event to music. Mohammad Reza Shajarian sang the piece "Jāleh Khun Shod" (Jaleh [Square] became bloody). The documentary maker Shahed Azad Soltani in 1980 made a documentary called Ruz-e Khodā (Persian for Day of God).

English language

Nastaran Akhavan, one of the few survivors, wrote the book Spared about the event. The book explains how the author was forced into a massive wave of thousands of angry protesters, who were later massacred by the Shah’s military [17]

See also

References and notes

  1. ↑ Abrahamian, Ervand, History of Modern Iran, Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 160–1
  2. 1 2 3 "A Question of Numbers".
  3. ↑ "Islamic Revolution of Iran".
  4. 1 2 "Black Friday".
  5. ↑ Taheri, The Spirit of Allah (1985), p. 223.
  6. ↑ Moin, Khomeini (2000), p. 189.
  7. ↑ The Persian Sphinx: Amir Abbas Hoveyda and the Riddle of the Iranian Revolution, Abbas Milani, pp. 292-293
  8. ↑ Seven Events That Made America America, Larry Schweikart, p.
  9. ↑ The Iranian Revolution of 1978/1979 and How Western Newspapers Reported It, Edgar Klüsener, p. 12
  10. ↑ Cultural History After Foucault, John Neubauer, p. 64
  11. ↑ Islam in the World Today: A Handbook of Politics, Religion, Culture, and Society By Werner Ende, Udo Steinbach, p. 264
  12. ↑ The A to Z of Iran, John H. Lorentz, p. 63
  13. ↑ Islam and Politics, John L. Esposito, p. 212
  14. ↑ Pahlavi, Mohammad Reza Shah (2003) Answer to History Irwin Pub, page 160, ISBN 978-0772012968
  15. ↑ "Black Friday Massacre - Iran (SEp. 8 1978)". Retrieved 7 June 2013
  16. ↑ E. Baqi, `Figures for the Dead in the Revolution`, Emruz, 30 July 2003, quoted in Abrahamian, Ervand, History of Modern Iran, Cambridge University Press, 2008, pp. 160–1
  17. ↑ Book's page in Amazon

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