In Stanislaus, protesters raise voices, banners in solidarity with the people of Iran
Dozens of demonstrators on Sunday waved flags, held signs and shouted demands for democracy and human rights, hoping their voices echo in Washington and from there are carried to the land they love and the rulers they loathe.
Iranian Americans from Stanislaus County and beyond, as well as supporters, gathered in the afternoon in Turlock, at the corner of Monte Vista Avenue and Countryside Drive. They decried the brutal oppression by the Islamic Republic of Iran of those citizens, many of them young people, who are crying out against beatings, rapes, imprisonment and killings
The rally was held as the current uprising against Iran’s ruling Islamic system enters its 10th week despite a violent crackdown by security forces that rights groups say has so far killed more than 320 people. The violence led the European Union to announce fresh sanctions on Iran’s police and military last Monday.
Rights groups say at least 15,000 people have been arrested since the protests started Sept. 17 following the death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly flouting Islamic dress codes.
According to Iran’s judiciary, some 1,000 people have been indicted for protesting and many of them face serious national security charges. One person has been formally sentenced to death, according to the judiciary’s news portal, Mizan Online.
Amini died Sept. 16 under mysterious circumstances after being arrested three days earlier by “morality police” and taken to a “re-education center,” allegedly for wearing her headscarf too loosely. Many Iranians say she was killed by law enforcement.
Demonstrators on Sunday chanted, “Say her name! Mahsa Amini!” and held banners reading “Women*Life*Freedom” and “Stand with the women of Iran.”
Among the rally organizers was Siamak Namdarian, a 55-year-old Fresno dentist who came to the U.S. from Iran when he was 23. “It really breaks our hearts,” he said of what’s happening in the country that was home to him and many others who gathered Sunday. “This is not about hijab or cover anymore. ... This is about human or sexual inequality, it’s about the gender inequality.”
It’s about rights Iranians deserve, he said. They don’t have the basic freedoms to assemble, to protest, Namdarian said, and when they do speak out, they are arrested or worse.
“We are here today just to be a voice,” he said as music played and passing drivers honked their horns in support. “We are miles away from the country, but our heart is with them. And whatever we can do, through our system here: constituents, Congress, White House and State Department. Every day, really, we send letters and we we request that America, as the beacon of freedom for the world, also help us.”
Asked specifically what the American and other Western governments can and should do, Namdarian replied, “Stop negotiating with terrorists, that’s No. 1.” And cut ties. “There is no secret that, unfortunately, many Western countries helped Iranian regime for years — for 43 years, they had many financial deals with them, especially Europe.”
And how can the American people help? They can stay informed and put pressure on their members of Congress, he said.
They can sign a petition by Change.org that urges leaders of democratic countries to “hold the Islamic republic accountable for these occurrences of systematic torture, abuse, murders and brutal suppression of peaceful protesters.”
And, Namdarian said, they can to organizations that actively advocate for the Iranian people, such as NUFDI, the National Union for Democracy in Iran.
“This country was a blessing for me, as you can see,” he said. “I appreciate the freedom and liberty that we have here, and this keeps bothering me: If we have it here, why not in Iran?”
