Friday, February 10, 2012


Transmission

Iran's Nobel Peace Laureate Praises 'Men In Hijabs' Campaign

Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi
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Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi
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Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has praised those men who have in recent days worn the Islamic hijab to express support for jailed student Majid Tavakoli, and to protest against the hijab becoming compulsory for women in Iran after the 1979 revolution.

In a statement posted on an Iranian feminist website, Ebadi said that those who took part in the symbolic action defended not only their friend who is behind bars, but they also defended "being a woman."

Ebadi, a human rights lawyer, said that the men demonstrated with their symbolic act that they are against laws that discriminate against women in the Islamic republic. "You shouted that you respect your mothers and defend the human rights of your sister," she said.

The campaign of "Men in Hijabs" (or "We're All Majid Tavakoli") was launched after the semi-official Fars news agency posted pictures of Tavakoli dressed as a woman. The news agency, which is said to be close to the Revolutionary Guard, claimed that Tavakoli had tried to escape from Tehran's Amir Kabir University after giving a passionate speech on Students Day on December 7.

Some bloggers and activists have suggested that Tavakoli had been forced to disguise himself as a woman by the authorities, who wanted to humiliate him.

Since last week's publishing of the images by Fars, dozens of Iranian men in Iran, the United States, France, Canada, and elsewhere have posted pictures of themselves wearing hijabs on Facebook and other websites such as iranian.com to express their support for Tavakoli. Several university professors have also joined the movement (video here of "Men in Hijabs" campaign in Paris).

Ebadi, who has been criticized by hard-liners in the past for not wearing the hijab at events outside Iran, says those men who have joined the "Men in Hijabs" campaign belong to the movement for equality of Iranian women. "We will record this symbolic action with pride in the history of our movement."

-- Golnaz Esfandiari

Tags: hijab , Shirin Ebadi , Iran

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by: Orhan Ertugruloglu from: the Netherlands
December 16, 2009 15:44
The human rights have never been violated that much in Iran. This harms the very essence of the regime. All the approaches of the West in the form of supporting the moderate movements and critical dialog delivered nothing.And this cost also dearly as far as the Iranian people are concerned and somethimes people paid the ultimate price at a very young age. Thousands of people lost their lives in the notorious prisons like Evin or in unkown illegal detention centers. Millions fled from their homes and country and seek refuge somewhere else in West. The women rights, human rights , freedoms of religion, press were ruthlessly suppressed. The economy went down and one of the oldest civilizations of the world was destroyed. According to Freedom of Press Index of Reporters Without Borders, Iran is at the very bottom of the list of 173 countries, indicatinga near -total absence of free expression and freedom of Press. Iran ranks 166th in the list. The Islamic guards control all the economic life. Iran is not a theocratic dictatorship but a religious military dictatorship. If this regime acquires nuclear weapons, together with its long distance missiles it will not only change Iran in its grip but it will transform all the region into dark ages. From the begining this regime was illegal and reforms from inside was impossible. The people used all the means to undermine the regime but failed. The regime is ruthless and very very repressive.The government became more brutal than the Shah of Iran. The Revolutionary Guards used excessive force to repress the protesters and dissidents. If the regime relaxes a bit from time to time it is cosmetic. You can't chose to live as you like. The women can only make a choice between a head scarf or Islamic hijab.Therefore sanctions, denying visa for those occupying high profile positions in the regime are neccessary for contributing to the efforts of freedom of people who has more than 2500 years of civilization and culture.

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