Celebrating Iranian Women History of Resistance on International Women's Day

Here is the clip on Iranian women protests on March 8 1979 against mandatory Hijab ordered by Khomeini soon after 79 Revolution.

Lila Ghobady is an exiled Iranian writer-journalist and filmmaker living in Canada since 2002. She has been involved with human rights since working as a journalis in Iran and has continued her work in Canada when she arrived as a refugee. She has worked as a Producer and associate Director of internationally-praised underground films along fellow exiled filmmaker Moslem Mansouri before leaving Iran. Her recent film Forbidden Sun Dance has been well-received in several countries. As a journalist, she received the title of BlogHer of the Week for her Review piece on Slumdog Millionaire in March 2009. Lila has received her Master’s degree in Canadian/women studies from Carleton University in Ottawa. Lila Ghobady is the Venus Project Foundation's director of Iranian / Persian documentary film production.

“The overwhelming existence of many historical FACTS and EVIDENCES, that beginning over 12,000 years ago the matriarchal Persian Empire has been recognized as a peaceful advanced civilization ruled under matriarchal social governing system, governing Asia, Europe and North Africa, up to little less than 4000 years ago. - Under the matriarchal rule Persian people have developed a flourishing civilization, language, music, dance, poetry, philosophy, science, mathematics, agriculture and much more. - The Persians highly rich culture and civilization, or the World's Cradle of Civilization and Culture, was centered in Mesopotamia, the capital of Persian Empire for thousands of years, an ancient region of southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in today's Iraq. Mesopotamia was attacked by the Islamic savages and destroyed little over 1300 years ago. Soon after the invasion of Mesopotamia Arabs began subjugating and force converting people of central Asia to Islam at the point of the sword.

Had it not been for the initial 8,000 years of matriarchal civilization, wisdom and enlightenment, we the humankind would probably be still living in caves?” Bahram Maskanian, the founder of Venus Project Foundation

We The Iranian Women, Will Not Be Silent...!

- By Lila Ghobady

Throughout the history of Iran, women have fought abuses, inequality and despotism as forcefully and progressively as men, if not more. Women such as “Tahereh Qurratu'l-`Ayn” steered freedom movements forward and acted as the pivots of change.

In Iran’s modern history, more than 150 years ago and concurrent with most progressive women’s movements worldwide such as the women’s movement in France, Tahereh Qurratu'l-`Ayn (1814 - 1852) was the first woman who took off her covering-hijab and revolted against the establishment. She did this in a society where women were supposed to be fully subservient to men in both the physical and social (under the hijab) spheres.

“Tahereh” fought for “equality” and “freedom” in Iran around the same time that the West had only begun to be introduced to the idea of Socialism. She was a true freedom fighter who believed in freedom, equality and women liberation.

Tahereh Qurratu'l-`Ayn’s flame of freedom will never burn out; “You can kill me as soon as you like, but you cannot stop the emancipation of women.”

Half a century later during the Constitutional Revolution, a few brave women from the province of Azerbaijan took another step toward freedom and equality when they fought against Quajar tyranny side by side with male freedom fighters, but secretly, by dressing as men...

By the beginning of 20th century (1924) another brave woman – a great freedom loving singer “Ghamar ol-Moluk Vaziri” – bravely took off her hijab (Scarf) in an all male setting and sang:

The country is in ruins

The nation is asleep

Oh women of this country

It’s time for revolution!

Fifty five years later, as chauvinistic elements from left to right helped Khomeini and his Islamic Republic steal the “people revolution” under the lie of “anti-imperialism,” the women of Iran showed their tremendous bravery and tact by staging mass protests on International Women's Day on March 8th, 1979- less than a month after the Islamic Republic took power. They shouted (1):

Freedom is global, not eastern nor western!

We didn’t have a revolution in order to regress!

We women of Iran will not stay silent!

And they did not stay silent, and have been the flag bearers against the inhumane Islamic Republic over last three decades. Their demands are crystal clear: Freedom, equality and human rights!

The reality of 30 years of the backward anti-women’s regime of Iran shows that the equality and women's right remains a dream under the current regime; Reform is not possible under this misogynist -hypocrite Islamic regime which on the one hand stones women to death savagely and on the other hand sells little Iranian girls from Dubai to China as part of their sex trade mafia...

The only solution is to overthrow one of the most anti women’s murderous regime of all time and replace it with a secular democratic system. We will shout louder than ever on March 8th:

Down with the anti women Islamic regime of Iran!

Long live women’s rights!
Long live human rights! We women of Iran will not be silent!
March 8, 2010