poetspace.poetscoop.org

Irans Opposition Green Movement Still Active, but Ignord by Western Media

Lost in the chatter of oil slicks off the US coast, storms and the US withrawal from Iraq, are the continuing Green Movement opposition protests in Iran. The large monster meeting style street protests have died down - though more are planned for the anniversary of the election - the movement is now in a regrouping phase. Having lost their use to the Western Powers, they are now left on their own, their activities no less valid today than when they started, unreported by the worlds media. An adultress facing stoning to death reached the headlines, the protests aiming for reform of such barbaric laws ignored. Arestees left to their fate.

The video of Neda Soltani bleeding to death on a YouTube video in front of my eyes is something that will stay with me until the day that I die. The blood erupting from her mouth, flowing each side of her nose, cascading over her chin, to the cracks of her eyes as her life left her, to the scrams of despair of those who tried to assist her is something that will never be forgotton. Yet hers was one of the more pleasent deaths at the hands of the Iranian regime.

The enduring image of the sea of green was the empowerment of women in the society, whose brand of Islam is oppressive of women. Prehaps it is only fitting that the icon for the world for the protests was to be a woman, Being a country of contradictions, many in the urban areas live modern lives, co-habiting without marraige and such like, its the rural areas that traditions are strongest, yet archaic laws such as stoning for adultry are common and gaining ground.