Earlier this year I called for an afternoon of "silent protests" against the last election results for the German government. There was a pretty good response. Hundreds of people met me on the sidewalks of Spitalerstrasse, a main shopping street here, and, as requested, people kept pretty silent. No one shouted any slogans.

Silent protests in Hamburg

There were some haunting moments when police showed up from their nearby post. We successfully ignored them and they only picked up some punks who were just caught shoplifting. As you can tell from the picture, my call for "silent protests" was a great success.

I was therefore not astonished to see the Iranian opposition copying my concept:

Tehran – The Iranian opposition on Sunday called for silent protests against the government on the second anniversary of the disputed presidential election, opposition websites reported.

Those "silent protests" called for yesterday seem indeed to have happened. But the news accounts on them vary a quite a bit. I wonder why that might be so.

Let's start with the LA Times:

Two years to the day after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a highly disputed election victory amid allegations of fraud, sparking a months-long uprising, small gatherings of possible protesters were easily dispersed in central Tehran on Sunday.

A witness spotted a police van with three young men detained inside on Vali Asr Street. But there were no other signs of protest or slogans chanted.

Hmm … "possible protesters" – why only "possible"?

The AFP account:

Security forces were deployed on part of Tehran's longest avenue, Vali Asr street, which bisects the capital from north to south, and in nearby areas, [witnesses] said.

However, small groups of people were seen on the avenue as well as in Vanak Square, in apparent response to calls for a demonstration by the opposition.

Okay, so there were "small groups of people" seen along Tehran's biggest street (10.7 miles long). Good.

The Associated Press:

Iranian police swinging clubs chased protesters and made arrests yesterday to disperse hundreds of people who gathered in the capital to mark the second anniversary of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed reelection, the opposition said.

The opposition said something. A big thanks to AP for letting us know what the opposition said. While you are at it AP, what did happen in Tehran?

The U.S. sponsored RFE/RL site has this:

A demonstrator told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that many opposition supporters marched under the eyes of the security forces.

"We started walking on Vali Asr Street. As [expected], special forces were deployed on both sides of the street like a human wall," the man said. "But people ignored them and continued walking on the sidewalks without chanting."

The Wall Street Journal report hits the ball out of the park:

BEIRUT—Tens of thousands of Iranians marked the second anniversary of the 2009 turbulent presidential elections that sparked an uprising with a nationwide silent march against the government on Sunday.

In Tehran about 15,000 people congregated along the capital's famous Vali Asr Avenue, historically the scene of opposition protests, on late Sunday afternoon, quietly marching up and down the sidewalk, witnesses said. Similar protests were planned in other cities.

So we have "small gatherings of possible(!) protesters", "small groups of people", "hundreds of people", "tens of thousands" all on the sidewalks of a 10.7 miles long busy big street, "congregating" and of course, not chanting.

Could it be that there were no protests at all? That while some exile Iranians called for "silent protests" the local western media stingers only reported seeing people in a busy street. Could the Wall Street Journal reporting from Tehran Beirut be a bit off in its interpretation? Maybe.

Whatever. I am convinced that the concept of "silent protests" is a good one. Try it yourself. The next time before you go downtown, call for a "silent protest" in your city. You should of course have a decent cause fitting the 140 character Twitter limit. Then, when downtown, you will be astonished how many people will join your cause, walking with you on the sidewalks without chanting. Maybe you will even get the Wall Street Journal to report on it – from Beirut.