The women of Iran are leading a revolution for change but it’s one that requires support from people around the world, said Vianna Tobasi as she stood with hundreds in the streets in front of B.C.’s legislature Saturday night.
“We are far, far away but we expect the countries that we are living in, that they do not work with the government of Iran,” Tobasi said. “They are dictators. They are killing people.”
In solidarity with protests in Iran and in cities around the world, several hundred members of the Iranian community and their supporters called for basic human rights for women and girls in Iran, as they marched to the legislature from Centennial Square.
Along the way, they called for freedom for Iran and the fall of the Islamic regime: “Women, Life, Freedom” as well as “One solution, revolution” and “Say her name, Mahsa Amini.”
Once at the legislature the Persian song Baraye or “because of” by Shervin Hajipour brought even greater emotion to the gathering. The song, released on Sept. 28, comprising the social media posts of Iranians explaining why they were protesting — posts that began with “because of” — have become a rallying cry.
The protests in Iran were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in the custody of the country’s morality police on Sept. 16 after being arrested, allegedly because her head scarf was too loose.
Women have burned their hijabs during large-scale protests, prompting Iranian security forces to push back, dispersing gatherings in the country with live ammunition and tear gas, killing more than 200 people, including teenage girls, according to rights groups.
Niloofar Sadeghi was at the rally in Victoria to support the women and men of Iran who want equal rights and freedom: “We are here to be their voice.”
She was emotional, talking of the high price being paid for simple freedoms.
“It’s unbelievable, they are paying with their life,” said Sadeghi, who has lived here for a decade.
“I’ve been to protests before in Iran and you know when you go out you might not come back,” she said. “But seeing all the brave people around you gives you the courage to stay and to fight.”
Sadeghi saw a lot of non-Persian friends at the rally “which is very heartwarming — it’s a small city with not a very large Persian community but it’s amazing seeing the people here.”
Ida, who left Iran last year and declined to give her last name, said she has lived through the oppression as well as the protests being seen today. “It’s powerful, it’s encouraging, it’s inspiring to see the next generation, they are speaking up.”
Raumina Rezai was born in Vancouver but her parents’ families are in Iran. “The Iranian government has shown they are responsive to the protests around the world and the more that we show we are listening, wherever we are in the world, the more impact we are going to have on what happens in Iran,” she said.
The state of injustice in Iran is such that some women see no recourse but death: “People are willing to die to have the rights they deserve and I don’t think there’s anything more brave than that,” she said.
Rezai encourages people to advocate for the Iranian people through social media and protests.
Elsewhere, chanting crowds marched in the streets of Berlin, Washington DC and Los Angeles on Saturday in a show of international support for demonstrators facing the violent government crackdown in Iran.
On the U.S. National Mall, thousands of women and men of all ages — wearing green, white and red, the colours of the Iran flag — shouted in rhythm “Be scared. Be scared. We are one in this” before marching to the White House. Iranians from as far away as Toronto took part in the rally.
In Los Angeles, home to the biggest population of Iranians outside of Iran, a throng of protesters chanted for the fall of Iran’s government and waved hundreds of Iranian flags. “We want freedom,” they thundered.
Shooka Scharm, a lawyer who was born in the U.S. after her parents fled the Iranian revolution, said: “Women are like a second-class citizen and they are sick of it.”
In Berlin, a crowd estimated by German police at several tens of thousands turned out, with many from elsewhere in Germany and Europe.
Shakib Lolo, from Iran and now living in the Netherlands, said: “This is not a protest anymore, this is a revolution in Iran. And the people of the world have to see it.”
— With The Associated Press
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