CITIZEN_2015

The so called opposition leader of MEK say that: Women played a key role in recent protests in Iran, taking to the streets to eliminate the clerical regime and to liberate the entire nation. I agree with the statement but what she is not saying is that the same women who played a key role in recent protests were actually calling for the return of exile King, Reza Pahlavi and not one slogan in her support among all those tens of thousands of demonstrators in 142 Iranian towns and cities!!!!. The same king that she refuses to recognize as the next leader of Iran. MEK almost as bad as the traitor Tudeh party always worked with Iran's enemy to steal power. In 1979 they helped the Ayatollahs to gain power and we now see the consequences and the heavy price the Iranian people are still paying 4 decades later and when iraqi Saddam invaded Iran bombing civilians they join Saddam to fight against Iran. As why they are hated by the people of Iran. https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/02/18/Opposition-leader-Women-should-assume-role-of-furthering-Iran-uprising.html

Most of those who took over in 1979 were living abroad. When the population inside rose up then they board the plane, landed and took over. I am not sure Iran is an Islamic state. Not any more. Yes the government claims it is but not sure about the people if they follow.

I am not sure this is true. The most credible opposition is the people of Iran and some 90% of Iranians live in Iran and some 90% are what you called moderates (or against the status quo and non-religious). The recent uprising calling for removal of the regime came from the poor mainly from small towns and religious cities who are now highly educated not from middle class or large cties or the Capital. Today in Iran with over 99% literacy rate where over 15 million have college/University degrees and over 40 million (over half the population) connected to the world via internet and satelite TVs not same as before ever. And every day the numbers changing and not in favor of the regime.

Yet Another political prisoner died in prison this time an Iranian Canadian!!. https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/iranian-canadian-professor-dead-in-iran-son-1.3798347

It depends on what you mean by foreigners. I consider those who are not born here but immigrated and assumed citizenship as Canadians with same/equal rights as Canadians. Yes they will have that right. But I don't think non-citizens (on visa or even landed immigrants) should influence Canadian politics and political parties same as they are not granted the right to vote either. Non-citizens however, should be allowed to be active for matters related to their own countries while here as far as it is non-violent, like fund raising to fight and expose their dreadful regimes and lobbying the government to impose sanctions and similar actions.

Yes we help those who fight terrorists but we do not arm or economically help those states with proven records of terrorism who terrorize their own people for their own survival.

No, I thought it was about selling arms to Stink Arabia and Middle East in general. I don't see issues in selling arms to Philippines.

Read my post again. I said I was not referring to Philippines. Let them buy somewhere else and then someone else would have the blood money on their hands not Canadians. Selling arms to repressive regimes is like arming a known murderer to commit more murders. Or freeing a known rapist to do more acts of evil.

I think it was clear that I wasn't referring to Philippines when I spoke of murderous regimes who murder, torture, rape and intimidate their own majority people. Saudi Arabia as stinky as it is, their nation is not advanced enough to rise up and seek freedom however, they are currently engaged in massacre of defenseless civilians in Yemen and blockage of this very poor nation and the cause of mass starvation in that region. We can trade oil but we must not sell arms to Stink Arabia. The Chinese and Russians are not currently suppressing their own people (not since 1989) and don't need our arms anyways. They build their own and export them to syria to beef up murderous Bashir Asshole regime in Syria or in case of Russia directly involved in mass murder of defenseless Syrian people. But my emphasis was on SELLING ARMS rather than oil. Canada is an exporter of raw resources. I don't believe we need to rely on Africa for that,

And this comes from a Rightist. Me. No it is not because we disapprove of them but because these brutal regimes use the technology, business, arms or whatever else we provide them to repress/murder/torture their own people or fight a war against other people. Do you wish blood money?. Do Canadians wish to do their groceries with the blood of all the defenseless repressed people of the world. No, we are not Russians or Chinese who are cold blooded heartless unelected governments. We are Canadians and very proud of it too and what distinguishes us is that we say loud and clear to our elected government NOT to sell arms to tyrannical regimes especially those in Middle East. Help their people to overthrow the tyrany and thugs in power by putting political and economic pressure on the regimes. Break ties with these repressive regimes and do not trade with the devil. We do not wish to be on the same level as murderous regimes in China and Russia who support or trade with their own kind, the more murderous regimes. Do not create Frankeshtain Monsters. Once they are done with murdering their own people they turn their guns against you (the West) because this is where they see their demise will be coming (democracy) and hence this is where they hate the most. So even if you are okay with blood money then think of this.

Victory to all feminist movements especially the extremely brave women of Iran. In a true democratic and socially advanced society nothing is made mandatory. Hijab or lack of it.

It is very sad and disappointing that supposedly feminist Trudeau stays silent on the bravery of Iranian women who as we speak risking their lives asking for basic human rights (freedom not to wear idiotic compulsory hijab) and correct terminology mankind to peoplekind while ignoring real actions. http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/glavin-demonstrations-for-equality-in-iran-peoplekind-jokes-in-canada Well said Ottawa Citizen above. and below: It is also a fact that even if it were something as effortless as a strong and stern public statement warning the ayatollahs that we are all watching them, or some small gesture of affection and encouragement the House of Commons might make towards the Girls of Revolution Street, we are instead reduced to this.

Support the exceptional Bravery of Iranian Women and their 4-decade long Movements for Equality and Freedom: CNN)The bravery of the women recently protesting in Iran stiffened my resolve to participate in the 2018 Women's March in Los Angeles. As a decadelong advocate for women, I felt compelled to use my freedom of expression to demand theirs. Though I walked alongside people of diverse political persuasions, I felt empowered by a common purpose -- a world in which the rights of women and girls are protected and respected. While I was encouraged by the numerous signs supporting women, I was disheartened that in this time of female solidarity w 4 decade e were largely ignorant of our counterparts in Iran, who just weeks prior to our march had risked arrest or worse to take to the streets and demand their inalienable rights. On December 27, 2017, a brave Iranian woman named Vida Movahedi, a 31-year old mother, stood peacefully on a box in the middle of a busy Tehran sidewalk, and silently waved her government-mandated veil from the end of a stick. This basic freedom that women take for granted in nearly every country in the world -- to feel the wind on our bare heads -- is illegal in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Movahedi's defiant act came on the eve of national anti-government protests in Iran fueled by widespread economic, social and political discontent. She quickly disappeared after her images went public, and it was later reported she had been arrested. But Movahedi's act of bravery has inspired dozens of women throughout Iran -- old and young, veiled and unveiled -- to engage in the same act of civil disobedience, standing bareheaded in public as they silently wave their scarves from the ends of sticks. According to CNN, 29 people, mostly women, have been arrested. The courage of these women has been contagious, garnering additional momentum with the social media hashtag #GirlsofRevolutionStreet. To be clear, this Iranian movement did not happen overnight, and the plight of the Iranian woman runs far deeper than challenging compulsory clothing regulations. However, for many women in Iran, the hijab has become a constant reminder of their inequality and oppression in a social, political, legal and religious climate that favors men. At the inception of the Islamic Republic -- 39 years ago this month -- tens of thousands of Iranian women demonstrated in opposition to the new government's compulsory hijab ruling. Their cries were met with batons, lashes, acid thrown in their faces and imprisonment. Too few Iranian men showed solidarity. But this impulse for gender equality could never be suppressed and has only grown stronger with time. Women's rights activists like Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, human rights activist Narges Mohammadi, and lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh helped pave the way for this watershed moment. In opposing Iran's patriarchal and discriminatory system -- in which married women are forbidden from getting a divorce or traveling abroad without their husbands' permission and females convicted of adultery have been subjected to unspeakable cruelty -- they and countless others have sacrificed their own freedom and security. Ebadi -- charged with "disturbing public opinion" -- was imprisoned, subjected to death threats and eventually exiled to London. Her sister was detained in an effort to silence her while she was abroad, and her husband was arrested, tortured and coerced into denouncing her on state TV. In 2016, Mohammadi was sentenced to 16 years' imprisonment on trumped-up national security charges, which she is currently serving. Sotoudeh has been in and out of jail over the last decade, separated from her husband and two children. While it is women's rights defenders inside Iran who are making the most arduous sacrifices to precipitate real change, those outside the country are also trying to do their part. Brooklyn-based journalist and activist Masih Alinejad -- who was also imprisoned and eventually exiled from Iran -- launched the popular online movement My Stealthy Freedom in 2014, calling on women in Iran to protest mandatory hijab by uploading photos of themselves without a headscarf. The campaign's Facebook page has since amassed more than 1 million followers. Alinejad's 2017 White Wednesdays initiative encouraged women in Iran to protest forced hijab by wearing white clothing and headscarves on Wednesdays. She recently joined the Women's March in New York, notably waving a white scarf on the end of a stick, just as Movahedi did. Indeed, there should be no room for polarization or partisan politics when it comes to human rights. We should open our eyes to the suffering of women and people beyond our borders and jurisdiction. We should be able to equally loudly and in one voice condemn both the Muslim-majority travel ban and forced Islamic dress codes. The freedom of religion does not give one carte blanche to take away other people's freedoms. The timing of the Women's Marches and the women protesting in Iran are not a coincidence, but a convergence. These episodes are part of a global awakening in women's rights, and these expressions of bravery and civil disobedience must not be viewed as isolated incidents -- even if they are not organized under one banner. It is incumbent upon us to acknowledge this moment as an inflection point to bring about real social and cultural change. Otherwise, we risk having our movement forgotten and our moment wasted. I marched in Los Angeles and joined in spirit and solidarity with women in cities across the world from Frankfurt to Osaka to Kampala and Buenos Aires -- but I also marched for the women in Iran, who are breaking their silence, and at far greater cost. https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/06/opinions/iran-global-women-rights-opinion-boniadi/index.html Long live feminism and victory to feminist movements all over the world.

You are right and this is a back up article published today that the 1953 coup changed Iran from what would have been (Japan or South Korea) to what it is now (North Korea). Iran is also a very rich country having 1% of population but close to 10% of world's resources (oil, gas, mines) and a very rich human resources (highly educated and skillful) but the people living in poverty (except the thieves and liars and we know who they are). https://theintercept.com/2018/02/05/iran-cia-coup-mossadegh-ayatollah/ Down with USA and Death to Britain. The past bloodsuckers. And Death to Russia too, the past, present and likely future bloodsucker.

The government poll shows half of Iranians are against compulsory hijab. https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/05/middleeast/iran-hijab-law-report-intl/index.html A few cautions. 1 - This poll was conducted by the research arm of Islamic government's president not an independent poll. 2 - It was conducted 4 years ago but released now. Iran has been going through a social upheaval since 2010 due to many factors like internet, satellite TVs, social media and large number of universities opened since then with many millions of both gender (majority of university students being women). The actual statistics now and by an independent poll may be significantly higher.

This thread is going on 36 pages and likely more on a simple topic that Israel announced Jerusalem as its Capital. I don't know much about the Arab Israeli conflict or the international laws/rules but military conquer has happened many times in the past and recent past too in spite of the UN (examples are Soviet invasions, Iraqi invasion, Russian invasion of Ukraine, US invasions) so the move is not exceptional but only when Israel does it? Israel is surrounded by very hateful enemies so to some extend its brutal actions for self preservation may be understandable though not justifiable because it is not only directed against the enemies (armed fighters) but also against innocent defenseless women and children. That said believe me if Arabs ever conquer Israel there will a massacre of unseen scale but that will never happen and though I always condemn Israeli army actions (Israeli civilians are a different entity and I have no issues with them) against innocent defenseless civilians but moving the Capital to Jerusalem is not going to hurt civilians.

Bravery and self sacrifice of lion hearted women continues with more intensity http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5347779/Iran-anti-hijab-protests-continue-despite-earlier-arrests.html

These are good points. The uprising lacks leadership however, it appears the most popular slogans have been those calling for the return of the Shah and monarchy. Oh Shah of Iran Return to Iran Iran which does not have a King is in Chaos Reza Reza Pahlavi Prince of Iran where are you? To come to our aid? Not one slogan even in support oh hated MEK. Maybe it is the time that the Prince of Persia takes the leadership however, he seems reluctant to call people on streets as he knows what the regime would do to them and he does not wish bloodshed.

The United States condemned the reported arrests in a press release Friday. "We condemn the reported arrests of at least 29 individuals for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms by standing up against the compulsory hijab," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said.

I have reminded them several times already but it falls on death ears. Somehow it appears they wish to overshadow Iran women's cry for equality and news on Iranian women's bravery risking their lives in demanding for basic human rights with their totally unrelated posts. They possibly don't even realize that by diverting the thread into radical Islam, or Nazis or personal life then they are undermining the struggle of millions of these defenseless women crying out for support. Very Sad!!!.

Arrests did not stop Iranian lions to continue protests" http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational/the-national-today-newsletter-iran-u-s-secrets-super-bowl-1.4510911

Our best wishes for the victory of Iranian females against tyranny of compulsory hijab. https://en.radiofarda.com/a/iran-police-arrests-girls-hijab/29014920.html

Iran police arrested 29 women for peaceful protest against the most visible symbol of oppression. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-police-arrest-hijab-head-scarf-protest-tehran/29013882.html

More on the acts of Bravery. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5334343/Iranian-women-chador-supports-anti-hijab-protests.html Being myself a feminist (of male gendre) in the West it makes me thrilled to see females fighting for their rightful rights anywhere in the world so bravely. Long live female struggles all over the world, strongest being in Iran. Saudis and other women should learn and rise up too.

Well the second part was a response to second part of your quoted post.