Neda, and a Death Seen Around the World.
While this is my first post on the current events in Iran I have been following the situation. There’s so much happening there and so many stories to tell but this one, in particular, struck me. Her name is believed to have been Neda, which translates into “the call” in Farsi, and she was brutally murdered in the streets during a protest in Tehran. ***Warning: Stories and videos contain graphic content (descriptions and depictions of real-life violence). ***
Huffington Post: Iran Updates : Live-Blogging The Uprising
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2:23 PM ET — Neda before she was shot. A reader forwards this video showing Neda (in the black shirt and blue jeans) and her father (blue striped shirt) during the rally. Another reader sends an unconfirmed report of a memorial service for Neda planned for tomorrow at 5PM at Niloufar mosque at Abas Abad, Tehran.
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10:27 AM ET — What Neda’s father said. The image of Neda, a young Iranian woman, being shot and killed in the streets yesterday has become a rallying cry for Iranian reformists and their allies internationally. If you haven’t seen the video, I’m reposting it below, but please be warned, it is very very graphic.A reader who couldn’t quite make out what her father was saying in the video understood after learning that her name is Neda. He sent in the transcript: “Neda, don’t be afraid. Neda, don’t be afraid. (There is yelling and screaming.) Neda, stay with me. Neda stay with me!”
Time: In Iran, One Woman’s Death May Have Many Consequences
Iran’s revolution has now run through a full cycle. A gruesomely captivating video of a young woman — laid out on a Tehran street after apparently being shot, blood pouring from her mouth and then across her face — swept Twitter, Facebook and other websites this weekend. The woman rapidly became a symbol of Iran’s escalating crisis, from a political confrontation to far more ominous physical clashes. Some sites refer to her as “Neda,” Farsi for the voice or the call. Tributes that incorporate startlingly upclose footage of her dying have started to spring up on YouTube.
Although it is not yet clear who shot “Neda” (a soldier? pro-government militant? an accidental misfiring?), her death may have changed everything. For the cycles of mourning in Shiite Islam actually provide a schedule for political combat — a way to generate or revive momentum. Shiite Muslims mourn their dead on the third, seventh and 40th days after a death, and these commemorations are a pivotal part of Iran’s rich history. During the revolution, the pattern of confrontations between the shah’s security forces and the revolutionaries often played out in 40-day cycles.
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“Neda” is already being hailed as a martyr, a second important concept in Shiism. With the reported deaths of 19 people Saturday, martyrdom also provides a potent force that could further deepen public anger at Iran’s regime.
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Because of Hussein, revolt against tyranny became part of Shiite tradition. Indeed, protest and martyrdom are widely considered duties to God. And nowhere is the practice more honored than in Iran, the world’s largest Shiite country.The revolutionaries exploited the deep passion about martyrdom as well as the timetable of Shiite mourning in whipping up greater opposition to Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi. With the deaths of “Neda” and others, they may now find the same phenomena used against them.
Regrettably it’s likely Neda is among the first of many to lose their lives in this revolution.
