Giving a Voice to the Voiceless Protestors in Iran

During the last four weeks as protests and social unrest have spread throughout Iran in what many are calling a new revolution, I have been fortunately enough to remain in touch via social media with many of my compatriots in Iran struggling for their freedom on the streets of various Iranian cities. Since I speak Persian language fluently and have covered the Iranian American community as a journalist for various news outlets over the years, some of my compatriots have reached out to me directly or indirectly with their messages, photos and video footage to share with Americans. Some of them have just posted their videos and messages alone on social media crying out for help. Despite the Iranian regime’s online filters and frequent shutting down of the internet through out Iran to prevent these protestors from communicating with the outside world, they have nevertheless bravely used their own methods and technology to get their voices heard. As a result, I have shared their individual messages, news and footage through social media over the past weeks as they have requested, but now I feel further compelled to share them collectively because their cries for help from the free world have grown even louder.

WE DON’T WANT THIS REGIME!

Perhaps the most popular and widespread message from the thousands of protestors through more than 80 cities and towns throughout Iran has been a call for regime change in the country. Protestors have been clearly expressing this message by chanting popular slogans such as; “We don’t want, we don’t want the Islamic Republic!” or “Death to the Dictator” or “Death to Khamenei” or “Death to the Islamic Republic!” Some videos posted by the protestors in Iran only show dozens of apartment buildings with their lights on at nights and random people’s voices shouting out from the apartments “Death to the Dictator!” or “Death to Khamenei!”  Likewise, there have been countless photos from the protestors and high school aged students in class gesturing their middle fingers at photos of Iran’s Supreme Leader or young adults making the same gestures at the regime’s authorities during their protests. In some other videos, young Iranians are burning photos of the regime’s late founder Ayatollah Khomeini. In their posts, Iranian protestors have been demanding a totally new democratic government that offers them wide freedoms, equal rights, a secular society tolerant of all and better opportunities for themselves in the future. In many of the Iranian cities, protestors have been frequently spray-painting messages on street walls with messages saying; “we will fight, we will die, but we will free Iran!” or “we are no longer afraid, we will fight!”

“WOMEN, LIFE & FREEDOM!”

At the same time, Iranian women protesting have been the most vocal and angry with the regime. From day one of the protests, women in the streets have been chanting the most popular slogan of the uprising; “Women, Life and Freedom!” The message behind is the slogan is that Iran’s women are tired of being treated as second class citizens and want a normal life and basic freedom to live their lives as they wish without any restrictions from the government. The videos from the protests show Iranian women not only chanting anti-regime slogans, but also burning their “hijabs” or mandatory Islamic head coverings required by Iran’s Islamic regime for all women to wear in public. The act of removing the hijab alone in public by a woman is dangerous in Iran as violators can face up to 10 years in imprisonment and even lashes to their bodies as punishment. Nevertheless, many of these brave Iranian women continue to burn the hijab defiantly and are still willing to face any consequences. In their videos they relay messages saying they have reached a boiling point and can no longer live under such “suffocating” social constraints in Iran. At the same time, many women in Iran are also publicly cutting their hair as an act of civil disobedience against the regime and have posted their hair cutting videos on social media as well.

BRUTALITY OF THE REGIME’S SECURITY FORCES

The most difficult video footage shared by protestors in Iran to view are those of the regime’s armed guards randomly shooting innocent people on the streets with live ammunition and beating protestors in the head with batons. Some videos show the Iranian regime’s thugs pulling women without hijabs by the hair and throwing them against the concrete sidewalks. There are also photos and videos of many young Iranian men and women who were shot in cold blood by the regime because they protested. Perhaps the most heartbreaking videos are those of the parents and family members crying hysterically at the graves of the young protestors who were killed by the regime. One recent video posted from Iran featured a young couple being beaten by a group of regime security thugs with batons and the man in the video crying out loud; “don’t beat my wife, she’s pregnant!” Other videos posted on social media show the regime’s paramilitary “Basji” forces riding around in motorcycles and shooting live ammunition into large crowds of protestors in various cities in Iran.

NO INTERNET ACCESS & SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP

Another major complaint I have received through out the weeks from individuals protesting in Iran have been the Iranian regime’s prolonged and frequent shutting down of the internet not just in specific cities but nationwide. The Iranian regime has now and over the years shut down the internet because of their fear that messages, video footage or photos of their brutality against the innocent protestors getting out to the rest of the world will cause an international uproar over their actions. Additionally, other protestors in Iran have complained about U.S.-based social media companies such as “Instagram” and “Facebook” frequently blocking or taking down their posted videos and photos from the protests that they have posted on these platforms. ‘Since when did Instagram and Meta agree to become the unofficial censors for the Ayatollah regime here in Iran? We thought America was the land of free speech!” asked one of the protestors in Iran in his message to me.

THEY’RE JUST YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WANT A BETTER FUTURE

One of the most surprising aspects of the new “Iran Revolution” which most Americans do not realize is that most of the protestors are teenagers and young people. They typically age in the range of 16 to 22 and are demanding a better future for themselves. “We’re cleaning up this huge mistake our parents and grandparents made in 1979 when they allowed Khomeini and these clerics to take power and destroy our country!” stated one protestor to me his message. Other young people protesting have said they want greater freedoms and no restrictive Islamic restrictions on their private lives. The young protestors have also found a popular anthem called “Baraye” for their new revolution which was sung and circulated on social media by the popular young Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour. The song garnered over 40 million views in the first 48 hours of its release online. Hajipour was subsequently arrested by the Iranian regime’s security apparatus for making the song but later released. Interestingly, many of the younger protestors in numerous Iranian cities have also been chanting slogans in support of Iran’s past king “Reza Shah” (the late Shah’s father) who died in 1944. The main slogan they have chanted is “Reza Shah, Roohat-Shad” which translates to “Reza Shah, god bless your soul” which is an expression of Iranian nationalism and solidarity. The main reason they recall Reza Shah is because this king massively modernized Iran at the start of the 20^th century, removing old social Islamic restrictions on women and severely restricted the influence and power of Islamic clerics in the country.

ISRAEL & PALESTINE

Last week many protestors in Tehran in one social media video angrily tore down and defaced street signs in the city with the names of the Islamic Republic and Palestine. One of them sent me a message saying; “We don’t give a F— about Palestine! We’ve seen the Israelis supporting us 100 percent during this revolution while the Palestinians have remained silent.” Likewise, many protestors in Iran have voiced appreciation in their social media posts to Israelis for their public demonstrations in support of their revolution.

Karmel Melamed is an award winning Iranian American journalist based in Southern California. Follow his regular reporting on events in Iran on Twitter: @karmelmelamed