For Neda, We Will Not Be Silent

Protests in Iran erupted into violence over last week’s election results that supported incumbant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over moderate Mir Hussein Moussavi, pitting reformists against those who support the establishment and causing the death of at least 13 people. One of those people, a woman known only by the name “Neda,” has become the most recent symbol of the Iranian fight for justice.  While sources still have not accurately identified the woman, filmed after being shot among peaceful protesters, she is being referred to by the media as “Neda,”  meaning “voice” or “call” in Farsi – a voice, heard loud and clear around the world that injustice and tyranny will not be  tolerated.

Neda’s only crime was that of standing against what she believed, understandably, to be a corrupt system and an invalid election.  Iran is a republic, and like the United States, it’s citizens are ultimately guided by the theory of a social contract and the consequences of a breach thereof: when a government becomes tyrannical, it is not the right, but rather the responsibility of the citizen to overthrow said government and, as the saying goes, “provide new guards for their future security.”

Iran is currently the only nation in the region that has had a successful people’s rebellion (1979), but has shown it’s capacity for tyranny in both it’s oppression of members of the Bahá’í faith, the 1998 systematic killings of dissident writers and intellectuals, continued censorship and abuses by the Islamic Revolutionary Court and the current injustices on those who oppose Ahmadinejad’s allegedly fixed election. 

Frankly, the current regime in Iran has gone too far, and brave people like Neda are inspiring others to fight back – and just as they had years before, they can win.  The people of Iran can no longer allow themselves to be bullied by their oppressive government, and they will not because of the thousands of voices, inspired by one – Neda – that cannot be silenced by tyranny.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, stated today that the election results were legitimate, and that further defiance of the government would lead to further violence, effectively threatening dissenters with continued oppression and murder.  It is my hope that the Iranian people, supported by the citizens of the free world, issue this response: “For Neda, our Voice, we will not be silent.”

Follow Sean J. Palmer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sjpalmer17

If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy other writing on WeThePeoplePolitics.com. Consider subscribing to our RSS feed and follow us on twitter.