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Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019) and AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021).

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Remember them - political executions in Iran

(Reposted from a widely-distributed email from Maryam Namazie, with my full endorsement.)

Dear friend

I want you to remember two names - Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour.

They were two young men who were executed by the Islamic regime of Iran at dawn this past Thursday, January 28 for the ‘crime’ of ‘enmity against god’.

Yet another two beloved, murdered for protesting medievalism and theocracy …

And whilst this act of barbarity will leave many of us outraged and ‘speechless’ (see writer Jim Herrick’s act of solidarity against the executions: http://iransolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-am-speechless-on-execution-of-two.html), we can only do them justice if we keep the pressure on.

The Islamic regime of Iran is on its last legs and will do anything it can to maintain power just a while longer. It is flexing its muscles to intimidate and threaten and we need to flex ours.

It plans to execute at least another 66 people that we know of in the coming weeks.

But we just cannot – no, we will not - let them.

Those on death row, languishing in prisons and who dare to come out onto the streets of Iran every opportunity they can represent the undefeated even after thirty years of Islamic rule. We must come out in full force to stop the executions and support the people of Iran in their struggle to get rid of this regime.

We mustn’t let up until we win. The future is ours.

In solidarity,

Maryam

Maryam Namazie
Coordinator
Iran Solidarity

Notes:

Things you can do:

1. Send a letter of protest to the Islamic regime of Iran over recent and impending executions. For details, click here: http://iransolidarity.blogspot.com/2010/02/66-political-prisoner-sentenced-to.html

2. Support Iran Solidarity and its demands by signing up to our petition: http://iransolidarity.org.uk/iscommit/iscom186.php?nr=97158834&lang=en.

3. Sign up to the Manifesto of Liberation of Women in Iran: http://equal-rights-now.com/IntWD/IntWD649.php?nr=63719093&lang=en

4. Join our daily acts of solidarity with the people of Iran. Since Monday July 27, we have organised acts of solidarity EVERY SINGLE DAY. It is easy to join in – just videotape or photograph yourself doing something and send it to us to upload to our blog. You can see other acts here: http://iransolidarity.blogspot.com/.

5. Join rallies and events in various cities against the executions and the Islamic regime of Iran, including every Saturday. You can find out about such protests on our blog.

6. Set up Iran Solidarity groups in your neighbourhoods, workplaces, universities and cities. So far we have groups in Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Like the solidarity committees during the anti-apartheid era, these committees can be instrumental but we need many more in every city in the world for that to happen.

For more information or to send in your daily acts of solidarity, contact:
Maryam Namazie
Iran Solidarity
BM Box 2387
London WC1N 3XX, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 7719166731
iransolidaritynow@gmail.com
www.iransolidarity.org.uk

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've often wondered why the secular Left, especially in Europe, is so reluctant (or is it afraid?) to criticize repressive, Islamic theocracy. Are they afraid of being branded "racist", or losing their multi-culti credibility?

Anonymous said...

My friend and I were recently talking about how we as a society are so hooked onto electronics. Reading this post makes me think back to that discussion we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.


I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as the price of memory drops, the possibility of transferring our brains onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's one of the things I really wish I could encounter in my lifetime.


(Posted on Nintendo DS running [url=http://knol.google.com/k/anonymous/-/9v7ff0hnkzef/1]R4i[/url] DS HomeBrow)

Unknown said...

'I've often wondered why the secular Left, especially in Europe, is so reluctant (or is it afraid?) to criticize repressive, Islamic theocracy. Are they afraid of being branded "racist", or losing their multi-culti credibility?'

We aren't all apologists for theocratic tyranny! But ... I guess recent events have left us wary of such issues being used to provide a cloak of justification for aggressive war and occupation.