Neda. The face of a revolution

I was gone on vacation all last week and out of touch with much of what was happening in Iran. I saw some of it begin before I left but decided to totally check out on this vacation. No TV, no Internet, no cell phone. It was dreamy. The last night we were there, however, I decided to check what kind of world I was walking back into. Although I knew the protests were still going on I had no idea how far they had gone. I read Andrew Sullivan’s blog quite a bit. Not just because I like his blog but he is so good at linking to other bloggers for more information. Saturday night I sat down at my sister-in-law’s laptop and headed over to read Sullivan and catch up. What I saw blew me away. Sullivan has been collecting Tweets from people in Iran for days. It is really remarkable to see what is going on in this way. This is a technological revolution. We have always heard how tech was going to change our lives in significant ways. In my opinion this is the most significant to date. While the Iranian regime is trying to stifle outside communication it’s citizens have been finding a way. Who knew that the tool that allows us to further our obsessions with celebrities would be the one way a revolution could communicate with the outside world when the rest of the media is being cut-off. And let’s not forget youtube. Amateur video of the demonstrations and atrocities are all over the site. including the video of the killing of a young girl named Neda. Youtube, rightly in my opinion, has chosen to air this video uncensored. I warn you it is graphic and disturbing. That fact makes it no less important for people to see.

I only hope her death and the others who have died lead to real change in Iran. It is the key to change in the Middle East. This doesn’t look like it is going to end anytime soon. Today there have been talks of nationwide strikes to shut down the economy. What we are witnessing is historic. It is an enlightened, impassioned movement standing up for their rights as citizens of the world. They are no longer just Iranians in my eyes. They are comrades at war with oppression and abuse of power. We should all stand beside them now.