Politics
Iranian Protests Finally Reported on by Mainstream Media
Protests are raging in Iran after the death of 22-year-old woman Masah ‘Jhina’ Amini, who was arrested and detained by Iran’s so-called Morality Police for incorrectly wearing the mandated hijab headscarf.
SANDY HOSIER: To events unfolding in Iran now and the tragic death of 22-year-old woman Masah ‘Jhina’ Amini, arrested by Iran’s so-called Morality Police, an islamic guidance patrol, for incorrectly wearing the mandated hijab headscarf. Iranian officials claim Amini fainted in police custody and died from pre-existing conditions in hospital 2 days later, but witnesses say she was insulted, beaten and tortured before becoming unconscious, sparking widespread protests across the country and the world. Women burned headscarves and cut off their hair in the streets of Tehran, finally providing western media with images that could capture the attention of their audiences. INN’s Rupert Holesworthy was in Tehran to investigate whether any other complex issues threatened to upstage women’s rights protesters, such as ongoing tension between the Iranian government and Kurdish opposition, representing Jhina Amini’s people, the world’s largest ethnic group without a home.
RUPERT HOLESWORTHY: Flashback to International Women’s Day, 1979, the year Iran became an islamic republic, drastically changing law and fashion in the region forever. Today, women once again stormed the streets of Tehran, protesting the suspicious death of Masah ‘Jhina’ Amini, the 22-year old reportedly tortured and killed by the islamic regime for fashion faux-pas regarding her hijab – a compulsory head-covering mandated under Sharia Law in the country. Footage of women burning headscarves and cutting off their hair in protest, went viral on social media, the Iranian government cutting internet services, attempting to prevent anti-government sentiment. But the story was engaging to western audiences, accustomed to pictures like these during the 44-year islamic reign over Iran – many discovering their were urban areas in Iran for the first time, and that women and other minority groups lived there.
BELLA: – “I couldn’t believe when I saw the pictures, I thought it was Europe! The women feel more like real people now, I mean, I don’t care about the politics and religion but I stand against having to wear a head covering all day.
WAYNE: “The headcoving rule is stupid and I think everyone thinks the same and we should all demand change immediately…
REPORTER: And what about the ongoing conflict between kurdish seperatists and iranian government? WAYNE: I don’t know mate, I just thought i’d change my facebook picture for a couple of days.
BELLA: Those islamic leaders need to learn to discriminate equally, against men, women and gays, all of them, i think without killing would be nice too.”
HOLESWORTHY: Amini was never referred to as Masah, despite use of the name by mainstream news outlets – She used her Kurdish name Jhina, and had crossed into Iran from Kurdish territory shortly before her arrest. However, mainstream news preferred the headscarf angle rather than the less digestible 1000-year sunni-shite conflict western audiences have no taste for. To protect our own ratings and donations, I’ll use 10sec to suggest that Jhina was a Kurd, a group fighting a freedom war against Iran since the UK failed to provide promised land to them after World War 1, and become one of half a million kurds killed in Iran since 2004, But for now, images like these elevate Iran somewhere other than being America’s next big threat, proving much more effective than previous protests against the regime in 1999, 2003, 2009 and 2011, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 2021.
SANDY: Oh, ah, we’re back! I must admit I lost track of all that towards the end there, but Brian these protests are not just about wearing hijabs, and I applaud leaders like Canada’s Minister for Gender Equality Marci Ien, who cut through the complexity to tell it like it is. And Justin Trueau is flexing his lovely muscles too, committing 76 million dollars to impose sanctions on the morality police and 25 Iranian individuals, freezing their Canadian assets and restricting travel rights, much like the penalties he imposed on Canadian Truckers protesting earlier this year.
BRIAN: Sandy – doesn’t Iran allow judges to imprison, maim, whip or execute anyone who breaks Islamic Sharia Law?
SANDY: I think so Brian?
BRIAN: Well what’s the point in telling women they should self-determine their own paths?
SANDY: Because they should Brian!
BRIAN: Yes of course, but women and men can get 72 lashes, prison or even execution for breaking mandated dress codes? Or for instance if they sell alcohol, plot with foreigners, insult government officials, have unlawful meetings, offend God, hoard goods, fix prices, lie to authorities – or even if they kiss illicitly?
SANDY: Oh, I don’t know what happens over there Brian, but I wouldn’t want to wear that headscarf!
