On 12 June 2009, after 10 days of exciting campaign, 85% of eligible Iranian voters all over the world turned out to vote for their favorite candidate. But the morning after elections the result was not what they voted for. Their votes were stolen, politicians, human right activists and opposition leaders had been arrested over night, foreign media corespondents and international journalists had been expelled and cities were full of riot police and security forces. Despite all these Iranians have come to streets to shout their freedom and ask for their vote. Hundreds have been killed so far and thousands have been arrested. But until now, after 40 days, Iranians inside Iran still continue their protests, and all over the world expat Iranians and other countries’ citizens support them by protesting in front of Iran embassies. This movement is known as “Green Movement” because of using green color by Iranian protestors that was Mousavi’s campaign color.
The song is an old Italian antifascist song. This video is made for all brave Iranians who stay against bullets and despite brutal repression ask for their vote and freedom.
About the song:
(From wikipedia) The song Bella Ciao was sung by the left anti-fascist resistance movement in Italy, a movement by anarchists, communists, socialists and other anti-fascist partisans. The author of the lyrics is unknown, and the music seems to come from an earlier folk song sung by riceweeders in the Po Valley. Another interpretation has been given following the discovery in 2006 by Fausto Giovannardi of the CD “Klezmer – Yiddish swing music” including the melody “Koilen” played in 1919 by Mishka Ziganoff.
The song has been recorded by various artists in many different languages including Italian, Russian, Bosnian, Kurdish, Croatian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, English, Spanish, Finnish, Kabyle, German, Turkish, Japanese, Tagalog, Breton and Chinese.
Singer of this version is Lidija Percan.
Lyrics
Una mattina mi son svegliato,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
Una mattina mi son svegliato,
e ho trovato l’invasor.
O partigiano, portami via,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
O partigiano, portami via,
ché mi sento di morir.
E se io muoio da partigiano,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E se io muoio da partigiano,
tu mi devi seppellir.
E seppellire lassù in montagna,
o bella, ciao! bella, ciao! bella, ciao, ciao, ciao!
E seppellire lassù in montagna,
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.