“Every single Iranian is valuable. The government is at everyone’s service. We like everyone.”
-Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, June 2009
I cannot use my real name. If the freedom of expressive condemnation practiced in this article were associated with my name I would never be permitted to return home. Dozens of family members would be in danger of interrogation and persecution for my words. This is an everyday reality for an Iranian-American. I live in America with my family and enjoy all the freedoms and privileges contained within the American dream. These are the freedoms that my fellow Iranians are fighting for. I use these rights to voice my thoughts and to condemn those who will not acknowledge our struggle.
On June 13th, 2009, in the aftermath of Iran’s tenth presidential election, the Iranian people marched through the streets outraged, denouncing the disputed and fraudulent re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As a result, the regime’s security apparatus fought the people’s will and tried to repress all forms of civil activism. Using different news media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, the Iranian people allowed their protests to be heard around the globe.
The brutal death of protester Neda Agha Sultan gave a face to the struggle of millions of Iranian youth who simply demanded to live freely like many of their counterparts around the world.
You know what kills me every time I come home from the protests? The fact that they beat you with the intent to kill, and you don’t know what to do. If you go towards them, they hit you even harder; they run after a few young ones that are running away; you run after them and yell at them to leave those kids alone, but that is all you can do. Because you don’t have a gun, or a knife, not even a piece of wood; all that you have is a green wristband!
-Solmaz, Iranian Free Elections protester, 2009
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With Iran’s internal struggle becoming a global subject of conversation, Time Magazine decided to put ‘Iranian Protestors’ on the list of candidates to become “Person of the Year.” Every year Time puts together a list of finalists for the coveted title and posts the list on the magazine’s website a few months before the annual issue goes to print. Online, Time readers can cast their vote on whom they think the person(s) of the year should be.
The Iranian protestors received 573,561 votes, out numbering second place President Obama by 400,000 votes and the magazines choice for person of the year, Ben Bernanke by over half a million votes. Yet somehow Time did not see fit to honor the Iranian freedom fighters with the title. In fact, in the December 15, 2009 ‘Person’ issue, Time disregarded the vote of over half a million readers by not once mentioning the Iranian Protesters. Thus, the votes of hundreds of thousands of Iranians, and non-Iranians weres once again ignored and discounted.
Frustrated by this account, I ask: Where has the spine gone in Western media?
I have had dozens of family members and friends marching through the streets of Tehran, getting beaten and arrested. They fight for the same freedom and democracy that the West has encouraged for years in the Middle East. The same freedoms America has sacrificed dearly for in the countries like Iraq and Afghanistan. One would think that these students would receive more support from the free Western media than we have so far. Instead we cannot even receive an acknowledgement, either from the media or officials in Washington.
A cracked empty voice spoke through my phone: “Pain is when you can’t feel your arm anymore, nor your leg, nor anything else in your body. You just can’t feel anything anymore; one of us didn’t come back today!” This was the response of my childhood friend after being beaten in the streets by the Iranian guard. Her anger and hatred shook me. She was becoming numb to pain, to loss, and all she could think about was fighting for her freedom. Nothing else seemed important enough to her anymore, not even her broken wrist or her bruised ribs.
Witnessing such accounts stirs me to action. What is it that I can do, being so far from home? Perhaps since I am in the US, thousands of miles away, recognition, acknowledgment of the struggle, and raising awareness are the only things we can do to let the Iranians know that their cries are not falling on deaf ears.
Neda Soltan
As an Iranian-American who is torn between two cultures and two homes, I ask you to continue taking a stand for freedom. US citizens, politicians and the news media need to acknowledge the fight that the Iranian students are putting up, and to show the Iranian government that the rest of the world is watching. The Iranian regime, with its bankrupt ideology, must know that this is a new era, in which personal freedoms and democracy are universal ideals; and that today, the world advocates for freedom and stands with the Iranian youth.
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