Hear the women of Iran roar

Women in Iran are at the core of the protest movement

With Iran’s population currently revolting, a lot of attention is being paid to the country’s women. Here are just three of the many articles telling their stories: 

While I don’t always agree with the Christian Science Monitor’s editorials or the paper’s religious standing, they generally print high-quality, informative reports. This editorial addresses the situation of women in Iran’s current “uprising”. “What is striking about the Iranians protesting fraud in the June 10 “election” is the number of women on the front lines. Among all those cheated at the polls, they may feel the most denied.”

Excellent and informed article on The National:  “We feel cheated, frustrated and betrayed,” said an Iranian woman in a message circulated on Facebook. Iran’s energetic female activists are using the social networking site to mobilise opposition to Mr Ahmadinejad. Iranian women also have a dynamic presence on the country’s blogosphere – the biggest in the Middle East – which they are using to keep up popular momentum against the election outcome.

This article on Comment is Free on The Guardian is as dull as dishwater to read but containts some interesting facts. 

“Over the last year, for example, there have been a series of small but significant victories: Iranian MPs have declined to enact laws that would have further facilitated men’s ability to indulge in polygamy; new measures are presently under discussion to enhance women’s inheritance rights; and reforms are also being put forward to end the insulting, discriminatory rule in compensation cases, where a family of a dead woman will be awarded literally half of the compensation paid for a man’s death.”

Beirut Bleeds

People have once more shut themselves indoors following a gun attack on mourners attending the funeral of a pro-government supporter killed in earlier violence. Different reports give different accounts: Al Jazeera says gunmen drove by the procession and opened fire, killing 6. Yahoo says a “Shiite Muslim shop owner” opened fire on the procession, killing 2. From the photo above it shows two obviously dead men, with another injured youth being carried off and an ambulance filling up with more injured. Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has just spoken and has said Hizbullah’s arms are now an “issue”. He has called for the army to intervene- but with the army being sectarianly divided, any intervention could result in defection and disaster. Hizbullah is said to enjoy wider support amongst the army, and ally Michel Aoun (Christian opposition leader of the Change and Reform bloc and the Free Patriotic Movement), a former army General is still highly influential within ranks.

After Siniora’s speech, I heard a few sporadic gunshots. Things may escalate once more. It is the weekend for most around the world, but the people of West Beirut will be staying at home to avoid putting themselves out on rapidly developing front-lines.

(AP photo available on Yahoo)