Iran’s contemporary history is marked by despotism and colonial exploitation, and this is not the first time that Iranians have spoken out against political repression, economic oppression and permeated global injustice. in all corners of their private and collective lives. However, this time, it is women, the most minoritized group since always and especially since the constitution of the Islamic Republic in 1979, who have taken up the torch of protests.
Posted at 12:00 p.m.
Women or rather legendary heroines who sacrifice their lives not only to claim their most basic rights such as the right to travel, the right to custody of their child, the right to wear or not to wear the hijab, etc., but also for freedom. Today, all over Iran, from north to south, from the Caspian Sea to the Persian Gulf, Iranian men and women of all ethnicities and religions, of all sexual orientations are expressing their anger accumulated against four decades of oppression and repression. Will these seeds ever bloom? Will a free life they claim be achieved?
As an Iranian woman in a Canadian university, I express my solidarity with the movement of Iranians. A letter of solidarity is circulating in English-speaking universities in Canada and I invite all colleagues in all Canadian universities, especially French-speaking ones, to sign and read this letter to show their solidarity with the Iranian protest movements for freedom.
* Co-signatories: Barbara Thériault; Audrey Lalande; Stéphane Moulin; Sirma Bilge; Isabelle Courcy; Marianne Kempeneers; Cecile Van de Velde; Julie Larochelle-Audet; Corina Borri-Anadon; Reyhaneh Khodaei; Ashley Chu; Marilie Ross; Karine Fofou; Aurel St-Pierre; Francoise Armand; Yifan Liu; Roberta Soares; Justine Gosselin-Gagne; Stephanie Thibodeau; Fabiola Melo; Guillaume Sirois; Wejdene Guizani; Jean-Francois Jutras; Elodie Fournier; Sara Teitelbaum; Marie-Odile Magnan; Estelle Carde; Sophie Hamisultane; Chloe Vandal; Laurie Nadeau; Oceane Rigollet; Annelise Voisin; Catherine Maynard; Helen Magny; Catherine Combes; Eric Lacourse; Yanick Noiseux; Emerlisa Preci; Garine Papazian-Zohrabian; Giovanni Gomes; Sarah Maille; Ahmed Hamila; Felicite Mbarga-Abega; Fasal Kanoute; Antoine Parrenin; Dominique Heraudet; Maxime Archambault; Simon Wautier; Alexandre Allard-Charett; e Diana Medus; Veronique Biehler; Hamidreza Bakhtian; Marie-Joelle Vrinat; Josee Charette; Etienne Labarge-Huot; Amira Bensahli; Camille Wiener; Francisco Toledo Ortiz; Françoise Tournerie; Maude Laflamme; Ksenia Burobina; Coralie Bouchard; Diego Torres-Carranza; Kathleen Ambridge; Emmanuelle Kristof-Tessier; Francis Mitaine; ; Lili BeauchampLina Rouxel; Clementine Courdi; Juline Parrenin; Christine Poyer; Arielle Tordjman; Baptist Miquel; Rym Yahia; Christian Barrault; Christopher Lambert; Alain Guillouet; Leila Metivier; Gersende Parrenin; Clemence Lesne; Emilie Brisebois; Laurent Parrenin; Julie Pinel; Lysiane Assoulay; Isabelle Archambault; Lara Gautier; Martin Urèche; Emmanuelle Khoury; Kate Frohlich; Annick Lavogiez; Khady Konate; Ryoa Chung; Véronique Dupéré; Bilkis Vissandjee; Colleen Dwyer Meloche; Leah Blain; Lorraine Doucet; Sisto Nadia Otmani; Maya Weisman; Joelle Roll; Bertrand Schmitt; Nathalie Ouellette; Deirdre Meintel; Arnaud Saint-Martin; Sivane Hirsch; Anne Calves; Christian Maroy; Steven Bednikoff; Christopher McAll; Claudine Bertrand; Deena White; Jules Pector-Lallemand; Martine Randon; Vincent Parrenin; Fernand Rioux; Patrick Plaetevoet; Mathias Daddys; Catherine Pajak; Carole Lara; Cherifa Bouchama