.IRAN: Authorities suppress Gaza protests
Yes, you read that right.
Iranian authorities normally lead protests against the Israeli incursion into Gaza.
But apparently they don't tolerate them when they are carried out outside the framework of officially organized or instigated movements.
A human-rights organization reported today that a rally against the ongoing violence in Gaza was forcibly broken up by security agents in Tehran on Sunday.
The International Campaign for Human Rights said in a statement that activists from the Iranian independent group Mothers for Peace were attacked by security agents in plainclothes as they gathered in front of the building that serves as the de facto embassy for Palestinian interests in Iran.
The organization did not explain why authorities stopped the protest but said that protesters were calling for an immediate end to armed confrontation and for peace in Gaza.
Iran strongly supports armed resistance by Palestinian fighters in Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are believed to receive arms, cash and training from the Islamic Republic. And, so, calls for a peaceful settlement in Gaza can be branded as “disloyal.”
One photographer, Raheleh Asgarizadeh, who was allegedly attacked during the protest, told an Iranian website that her assailants were chanting, “Death to peace seekers and compromisers.”
She said that her camera was confiscated.
The human-rights group accused the Iranian government of “exploiting the Gaza tragedy as a political weapon to suppress Iranian civil society.” It added that authorities were preventing independent groups from “voicing their support for Palestinian civilian victims.”
Hadi Ghaemi, the campaign’s representative, said, “The government seems to want a monopoly on this issue, so it can suppress civil society and claim the high moral ground. But these recent actions expose their cynical motivations.”
The suppression of the gathering comes after a group of extremist students attacked the home of Shirin Ebadi earlier this month. Ebadi is a 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate and human-rights lawyer. The government justified the violence against Ebadi as a reaction to human-rights violations in Gaza, accusing Ebadi of sympathizing with Israel.
In a separate event, a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza organized by ethnic Arab Iranians last week in the city of Ahwaz in southwestern Iran was also quelled by authorities, according to the website of the Arab satellite TV channel Al-Arabiya.
Iranian human-rights organizations told the website that about 40 protesters were arrested and many were injured as security forces attempted to end the peaceful march by force.
Babylon & Beyond
Iranian authorities normally lead protests against the Israeli incursion into Gaza.
But apparently they don't tolerate them when they are carried out outside the framework of officially organized or instigated movements.
A human-rights organization reported today that a rally against the ongoing violence in Gaza was forcibly broken up by security agents in Tehran on Sunday.
The International Campaign for Human Rights said in a statement that activists from the Iranian independent group Mothers for Peace were attacked by security agents in plainclothes as they gathered in front of the building that serves as the de facto embassy for Palestinian interests in Iran.
The organization did not explain why authorities stopped the protest but said that protesters were calling for an immediate end to armed confrontation and for peace in Gaza.
Iran strongly supports armed resistance by Palestinian fighters in Hamas and Islamic Jihad, who are believed to receive arms, cash and training from the Islamic Republic. And, so, calls for a peaceful settlement in Gaza can be branded as “disloyal.”
One photographer, Raheleh Asgarizadeh, who was allegedly attacked during the protest, told an Iranian website that her assailants were chanting, “Death to peace seekers and compromisers.”
She said that her camera was confiscated.
The human-rights group accused the Iranian government of “exploiting the Gaza tragedy as a political weapon to suppress Iranian civil society.” It added that authorities were preventing independent groups from “voicing their support for Palestinian civilian victims.”
Hadi Ghaemi, the campaign’s representative, said, “The government seems to want a monopoly on this issue, so it can suppress civil society and claim the high moral ground. But these recent actions expose their cynical motivations.”
The suppression of the gathering comes after a group of extremist students attacked the home of Shirin Ebadi earlier this month. Ebadi is a 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate and human-rights lawyer. The government justified the violence against Ebadi as a reaction to human-rights violations in Gaza, accusing Ebadi of sympathizing with Israel.
In a separate event, a rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza organized by ethnic Arab Iranians last week in the city of Ahwaz in southwestern Iran was also quelled by authorities, according to the website of the Arab satellite TV channel Al-Arabiya.
Iranian human-rights organizations told the website that about 40 protesters were arrested and many were injured as security forces attempted to end the peaceful march by force.
Babylon & Beyond
posted by madtom at 9:02 PM
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