Women. Life. Freedom. It was the rally cry for people in Iran as they threw off the shackles of one dictatorship in Iran in the 1970s, and sadly it is the rally cry today as they must attempt to do it again.
There are almost 16,000 people of Iranian origin who are living on the North Shore, one of the largest communities outside of their homeland. On Sunday, thousands marched through miserable weather to honour the memory of those killed in the crash of Flight PS752, which Iran’s military shot out of the sky three years ago, killing 176.
We are pleased to see there will be a permanent memorial here on the North Shore, where so many tears were shed.
But the shooting down of Flight PS752 was just another in a line of demonstrations by Iran’s government that they have no respect for human rights or life whatsoever.
In September, the country’s “morality police” beat to death 22-year-old Mahsa Amini for the crime of failing to properly wear a hijab. Today, they are executing high-profile protesters in hopes of quelling the revolt they’ve instigated.
Many of those who braved the rain on Sunday remind us how high the stakes are for friends, family, business partners and total strangers back home.
We don’t have a simple answer to a complex geopolitical problem, but we are acutely aware of the difference between right and wrong.
Because we have such a close connection, the struggle of the people of Iran is our struggle too, and we offer them our solidarity, our rage and our compassion in whatever form it is sought.
Women. Life. Freedom.
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