Iranian students donning the hijab in solidarity with imprisoned protester Majid Tavakoli
The Iranian regime locked up student protester Majid Tavakoli and, in an attempt to humiliate him, released photos of the young man dressed as a woman.
It backfired. Above is one of the hundreds of pictures sent in by Iranian men, wearing the traditionally female hijab, declaring their pride in Tavakoli and calling for gender equality.
It's the sort of moment that brings a smile to even the most cynical of lips. "We'll humiliate you by dressing one of your friends up as a woman!" "Oh yeah? Well now we're all dressed like women. And anyway, what's so bad about women?" All this in the face of a regime that still hangs gay people.
Much of the internet fervor behind the Green Revolution has faded, but in Iran it's quite clear there's still a lot of activity and simmering unrest. It's good to see that in the fact of repression unimaginable to many over here, the Green Revolution's people haven't lost their defiance or sense of humor. It's also heartening to see that what began as a simple call for reform has widened to an attack on societal repression.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the next time some politician blithely talks about bombing the middle east flat to get rid of "fanatics," remember this is the reality, and that is the lie.
So here's men in hijabs. Here's a lot of them. It ain't over.
Comments