Neda= Voice

Obviously many people are following up with the news coming from Iran. some news, which are recorded or reported from bystanders, since professional journalists are presently unable to work in Iran.
But the news we get here, might only be qualitatively not comparable to the professional ones. the message given is the same. Violence, scream for freedom and liberty.
I do not want to get too much into the politics behind the scene, but only look at women's role in this new "revolution", if I may call it so at this point.
Look at Neda Soltani. She would be the best example. While there are tons of rumors about how old she was and what she was doing at that time on the streets, and whether she was an active member of the demonstration or a bystander.The point is that when one compares the videos to the ones form 30 years ago when the Islamic revolution took place, one can discover a major difference. At that time, even though it is considered a more modern and western time in Iran, women are not actively participating. They had no Islamic clothes on, but were wearing western attires, they could come and go as they pleased. However, they were not actively participating. Forget the couple of videos you might see, whowing hundred women in black tshadors. That is not what I mean. I mean the women from now, dressed in Islamic attire (more or less), full make-up, beautiful young girls, willing to run on the streets of Tehran for freedom. Standing and taking bullets for their country.
Don't tell me that this is part of the whole picture of changing the Islamic republic. I know that they are not against the Islamic Regime or against the religion. It is the aim to reach the level of independence, freedom and equality. shoulder on shoulder women prepared the election campaign and now united with their male counterparts they stand on the streets. They became the voice of Iran. It might be just a coincidence that the most famous of the killed ones was named Neda, in Persian voice.

IRAN

“Human beings are members of a whole, In creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, Other members uneasy will remain. If you have no sympathy for human pain, The name of human you cannot retain.” - Saadi.

What Saidi had said so many years ago, was never so applicable for the country he came from as in the past couple of days.
Elections. What you can imagine under that word and under the act can fluctuate and be subjective. In foreign Soviet Union it did not exist, in Germany it is free, in the US it is complicated, and well, in Iran? I guess that has to be determined. when a country had a revolution some 30 years ago with the aim to decrease the level of differences between rich and poor, with the aim to make Iran Iran again and get rid of Western Influences... and now history repeats.
I remember the days before the first Persian revolution. I was a child and had no idea what was happening. For us kids it was just exciting to see so many people screaming on the streets, and not having school. Little did we know that the revolution, which we were about to have, the change of government would change people's lives. Including my own. Sure, I belonged to one of the families who had ties outside the country and was able to move out again. But the remaining ones are the ones who had to live through a war, through censored media, through lack of food, lack of freedom.
Now the ones who were my age and stayed in Iran have children, who do not even know any other government except this one.
These "children" are the ones who made a new Iran, not a Monarchy, not a Islamic Republic. It is their country. They should be the ones deciding who should be their leader.
all of this said and understood, for me the question comes up why we do not see any democracy in any of the Middle Eastern countries? I guess it is the culture, people's personality of not being able to loose, of not being able to be the leaders. I don;t want to get into the discussion who should have been the leader now in Iran. I guess from my tone it is obvious whose supporter I am. But generally middle eastern cultures have a temper, which does not let them be well balanced. So what happened to Saidi's words? I guess Iranians all have his books, read them, and leave it as is. Except the new generation. My heart aches when I see the news and see faces full of hope of change. Their hope destroyed through more force. Why? Because in all the political talk the older Iranian generation seems to have forgotten what the aim of humanity should be. Iranians of the older generation who do not support this change should be ashamed, the ones who do not see the inequality should be ashamed. Come on, we were the people of Cyrus the Great, the one who was the first to write down Human Rights! What happened? I guess more people will die, more battles will be fought just to prove humanity.