Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Lets raise our voices for Neda Agha-Soltan

"Although Neda has been murdered and is dead, they are still afraid of her, they come to the graveyard and want to kill her again. She's dead but her memory is getting brighter and brighter every day." - Hajar Rostami (Neda's mother interviewed in The Guardian on June 11, 2010 )
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On the day of her death, the the last phone call Neda made before she was shot was to her mother. Her mother begged her to come home since everyone knew there were people being killed in the streets.

Neda said, "If I don't go, who will?"

This is the question we pose.

If we don't raise our voices, who will?

The above text was taken from the Airborne Toxic Event's you tube page and below is there video:



Time to take action for Neda!

Background information

Neda Agha-Soltan born on January 23, 1983 was shot to death by a basij — an Islamic volunteer militaman — who shot her from his motorbike on June 20, 2009. She was only 26 years old. Her extra-judicial killing drew international attention after she was killed during the 2009 Iranian election protests because it was captured on video by bystanders and broadcast over the Internet. Nedā (ندا) is a word used in Persian to mean "voice", "calling," or "divine message," and she has been referred to as the "voice of Iran." Her death became iconic in the struggle of Iranian protesters against the fraudulent election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

November 2009 the Mullah's condemned Oxford University for having one of its colleges set up a scholarship in honor of Neda Agha-Soltan In January 2010 the Iranian government tried to present a cover story to obfuscate her tragic death which her music teacher and an a eyewitness to the killing described as a: "shameful attempt to cover up the truth and place the blame for Neda's death on others." Now days short of the one year anniversary of her passing the Iranian regime is doing all it can to block Iranian's access to a film about her life and tragic death. The government in Iran is shameless. Watch the HBO documentary here:



Neda's tragic life has inspired musicians and artists around the world the band, The Airborne Toxic Event, has released a song NEDA of which purchases on I-tunes will go to Amnesty International. Below you can learn how the band was inspired to write the song, and watch a recording of the live performance of "Neda."


The Airborne Toxic Event - Neda (live from The Echo, Los Angeles, CA 5-25-2010)

Neda's fiance, Caspian Makan, left Iran and has spoken out all over the world on camera and in print to denounce the atrocity. I met Caspian and heard him speak at the 2nd Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance, and Democracy on March 9, 2010. It is powerful testimony. Below is an interview broadcast over Al-Jazeera in English.


Fiance tells of Neda's last moments - 23 Jun 09

Over the past year the Iranian regime has demonstrated itself to be shameless, and has demonstrated with its actions that moderation is non-existent and virtue is extinguished. Perhaps this campaign can rekindle a sense of shame, but at least it will inform and remind the world of this atrocity and the kind of system operating there.

Whilst shame keeps its watch, virtue is not wholly extinguished in the heart; nor will moderation be utterly exiled from the minds of tyrants. - Edmund Burke

To take additional action & for more information visit http://nedaspeaks.org/

Update #1: Important story today in The Guardian: Neda Agha-Soltan: 'She is dead but regime is still afraid of her'

2 comments:

  1. I still remember in June 20, 2009, on twitter this is become 'trending topics' all the time, the video also spread across the internet virally, quickly gaining the attention of international media and viewers. And now I just watch For Neda documentary film created by Antony Thomas, and now I would like you and other to shee this documentary video online.

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  2. Thank you! I saw the documentary both powerful and moving.

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