Neda: A young woman's murder becomes the symbol of Iranian resistance

By now you might have seen the wrenching YouTube video: A young woman shot dead on the streets of Tehran as she and her father (some reports say he was one of her professors) watched a crowd of protestors on Saturday. You see her standing; you see her fall; you see the desparate effort to save her as blood spurts from her nose and mouth and streams down her beautiful, youthful face.

Allegedly, her killer was a member of the Iranian Basij, a paramilitary force that reports to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. According to news reports, her name was Neda Agha Soltan, a 26-year-old philosophy student. And now, she is the symbol of Iranian resistance.

BagNewsNotes posted the still image of the moment after the murder:

Of course, the way her eyes happen to focus in the direction of the camera after being hit -- as if she's still sentient -- is what makes the image so powerful. That, and her name (Neda, which I've seen translated as "the voice" or "the "calling") makes for the most potent image of the standoff so far.

In California on Sunday, protestors took the the streets with posters bearing Neda's image:

The Martyrdom of Neda

The killing of Neda Agha Soltan, like everything that has happened in Iran over the last few days, has only become public because of the reports of citizen journalists on the ground. The Iranian government has ordered international news organizations to obtain government approval for anything they report. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned the nation on Friday that any protests would be dealt with harshly. Despite efforts to shut down internet and text-messaging networks, Twitter, Facebook and Youtube continue to supply a steady stream of news, and they have become the source of mainstream media reporting. Whether paid or volunteer, those who are trying to get the news out of Iran face imprisonment or worse -- a point underscored by the arrest of Newsweek magazine reporter Maizar Bahari.

NPR's On the Media has a report on the struggles facing journalists in Iran, including an interview with a professor at University of California San Diego, Babak Rahimi, about the isolation in which Iranian citizens live.

It remains to be seen how these images will affect the course of the protest movement. A galvanizing image such as the killing of Neda Soltan can have a deep political and cultural impact without affecting the power structure of a regime. After all, it was 20 years ago this month that the image of another young, unarmed person riveted the world's attention to another human rights crisis:

Twenty years later, we still don't know how many protesters died in the brutal government crackdown at Tiananmen square. Scholars have documented the impact of the massacre on tourism to China, as well as attitutes among the Chinese people. Of course, Iran has not sought the kind of economic ties to the west that China was cultivating in 1989. No doubt, the Iranian regime is hoping that its militant response will quell the protests, as they did in 2003. However, as with China in 1989, the Iranian regime has not been able to keep the world from watching what it is doing to its own citizens. When we look back at this time 20 years from now, we may find that this moment made all of the difference.

Submitted by Kim Pearson (view blog

) on Sun, 06/21/2009 - 9:13pm

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thanks for blogging about this

it is a very powerful piece of video--and one that is deeply disturbing

Submitted by landismom on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 11:36

Thank you for telling this story so
compassionately

Kim,

I came to BlogHer in hopes of a summary and OF COURSE YOU would have written one.

Your thoughtful care to include the details that so many of us are scurrying to make sense of .....of course you would write this.

Your journalism and writing continue to inspire me...and countless others no less.

This whole event is one that perhaps is getting necessary coverage from the standpoint of citizen journalism though the recurring themes of people not obtaining the freedoms so rightly theirs...well, it's surely a several millenium old reality.

As someone who strives to carve out a spiritual perspective in my day to day, I have great hope that through our use of social media, like mindeds around the globe will continue to unite and gather and commune and take action as we can.

Most will be moved when they see this video....it's propelled me deeply into how am I helping my sisters and our daughters around the globe...and our sons....

What more can each one of us do right in our back yards to help give VOICE to all the ones within our reach who are too scared, too shy, or feeling too inadequate to give breath to their very own.

I'm asking myself a lot in the past 72 hours, what am I doing ..how am I giving voice myself...or helping others to...to do whatever is the most basic to the most complex..whether that means helping someone feel his / her life is worthy and is significant to more practical and tangibles like helping senior neighbors get online and learn how to use email....

ALLLLL of us matter. The Iranian's revolution is our revolution...to advocate and stand for freedoms that are inherent and ought to be widespreadly honored and protected.

I'm hugging you deeply for taking the risk to write these ideas.

But none of us have to stand back and feel helpless, as shocking and disconcerting as the facts and images in Iran are.

My hope is that each one of us take moments and dig deep within...

How can we love ourselves more..and honor our own voices and share them.

How can we help a loved one, a relative, a neighbor more to overcome some intimidations and fears or feelings of insiginificance and lack of worth.

As we each in our own realms stand for our inherent liberties, even if it takes centuries, eventually, people and their defense of their freedoms will be what stands...

With heartfelt gratitude and deep respect for blogging this story, thanks so much Kim.

Tre~

tw: @tresha

fb: http://facebook.com/tresha.thorsen

e: tre@thoughtbythought.net

blog: http://thoughtbythought.net

Submitted by Tre - on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 14:18

Thank you for understanding and for raising
your voice

You are very kind. Like you, I think a great deal about what we can do in situations such as this. China suffered financially as a result of its government's actions at Tiananmen Square. What consequence will matter to the Iranian government?

In peace,

Kim

BlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Submitted by Kim Pearson on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 15:25

Really good question

And in moments like this having social media and making our own connections helps much...doesn't it? helps us connect and lean and hug and support one another bc no one can keep a dry eye imagining...i don't know what consequence will matter. but just thinking about it helps..listening, reaching out, seeing how others are thinking about it...so appreciative of your perspective truly...let's see where this discussion goes...i know the day i got the news of Neda i was outside walking my dog..a neighbor from east africa who is typically really hurried (he has 4 jobs) was holding his children's hands and all were eating icecream...they stopped and talked with me for a while. i've not met them yet. and in those moments..when i was really needing a connection to humanity..to world..to fellow man..to neighbors there it was. i'm grateful for the willingness to drop my own agenda in those moments and reach out. the kids played w/ my dog, he told me of his jobs...(he'd asked why i tearing up...and i'd told him i was watching the news of the protesters)....every day gives us ways to make connections...to grow a global family. perhaps in my now i'm simply hungering for it more....peace to you too friend,

Tre~

tw: @tresha

fb: http://facebook.com/treshathorsen

e: tre@thoughtbythought.net

blog: http://thoughtbythought.net

Submitted by Tre - on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 15:49

Thanks for a well-written

Thanks for a well-written piece. It is difficult when viewing this situation from half a world away. I wonder what I can do, as a single person, to make a difference.

http://2ndverse.blogspot.com/

Submitted by Grey on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 17:20

Yes, thank you Kim

Thank you Kim for bringing this story to BlogHer. The personal cost of writing about pain, suffering, injustice and horror in the all too real world is rarely acknowleged, but I would like to thank you for consistently bringing us perspective on issues that have emotional and energetic costs to you the reporter who must surround yourself in bloody and outrageous details to create clear-headed coverage of stories that are tough to cover.

Namaste,

Nancy

Build Peace

My Life As An Avatar

Submitted by artpax on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 18:20

I saw the YouTube video early in the day...

I don't know how long after her death the video made it to the 'net, but for me I felt as if I was seeing her death happen at the moment. I will never forget it. One moment she was lying there with her eyes open and the next blood was gushing out of every orifice. It made the situation in Iran very real to me--and very personal. When YouTube took the video down as "too disturbing," when CNN showed it with Neda's face pixilated so that you saw nothing, I was appalled. Who decides that we need these cleaned up images? Who decides that we are too weak to view death up close and in all its horror? Shame on the cowards that make those decisions; I imagine that all they are thinking of is their bottom line, the great "do not tell the truth lest we offend some and lose our advertising." This isn't journalism; it's censorship.

By Jane

http://midlifebloggers.com

http://byjane.blogspot.com

Submitted by ByJane on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 19:37

I struggled with the decision also

Hi Jane,

Thanks for your kind comments. To be honest, I think there are good arguments for restricting the video that have nothing to do with the bottom line.

Journalists struggle with these decisions every day. I struggled as well. Especially with the cable news stations replaying the video every 15 minutes, at what point are we exploiting tragedy? The news media censor images of death all of the time. We don't see the charred bodies in the local house fire. We get told about them and we hear the local fire chief's impassioned plea to householders to maintain their smoke detectors. There are many other gruesome examples that are kept out of our local news every day.

Every spring, I teach a media ethics course in which we struggle with these decisions. Was it ethical to show the pictures of people leaping to their deaths from the Twin Towers on 9/11? What about the Pulitzer-prize winning photo of a 19 year old woman and 2 year old child falling from a collapsed fire escape in Chicago? Does the enormity of 9/11 justify it? Does the fact that the fire escape photo led to a change in building codes and beefed-up enforcement efforts in that city?

Finally, at what point do we become inured to these images? Or perhaps worth, at what point does the horror overwhelm us, paralyzing us into a numb resignation? How can Neda's murder become a catalyst for change?

KimBlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Submitted by Kim Pearson on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 02:45

I don't agree with you, Kim

Journalists, reporters, the press are meant to be the eyes and ears of our informed society. We cannot make the decisions we must if members of the press, for good or ill, are deciding what is and is not right for us to know. As far as our becoming inured to horror--no, I think each incident brings it home anew. As it should. I don't fear people being paralyzed into numb resignation. We, the people, are pretty strong, you know, not to mention smart. We don't need to be protected from life as if we were children. I assume from your points here that you were in favor of the last administration's refusal to allow the caskets of returning soldiers to be photographed. I couldn't disagree more. Life is dirty and messy at times, but if we are not allowed to experience that, we are shortchanged on experiencing its polar opposite--the wonders of life.

By Jane

http://midlifebloggers.com

http://byjane.blogspot.com

Submitted by ByJane on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 16:04

Perhaps we must agree to disagree

Hi Jane,

Actually, I did not agree with the Pentagon's decision to ban photos of the caskets of returning war dead. In fact I blogged in support of the Memory Hole's gallery of casket photos in 2004. To say that there are times when it is appropriate for editors to exercise discretion is not to say that he government should have the right to engage in censorship that is unrelated to national security needs or individual privacy rights.

In this instance, I concluded that it was appropriate to link to the youtube video page rather than posting it directly, so that people can make their own judgment. At that time, youtube had a page up that required viewers to enter their age in order to see the video. I thought that struck an appropriate balance between the public right to know and the need to ensure that the video is not used in an exploitive way.

Peace,

KimBlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Submitted by Kim Pearson on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 17:20

It is a personal struggle

For years I regularly wrote in my build peace blog about suppressed stories, news left unreported for political reasons, political sentiments and actions that many, at the time, viewed as "un-American." Only when I began to publicly dissent did I realize that dissent is not covered by any of the news media.

This is one of the reasons I am so torn by the graphic depiction of personal horror allowed by the new, truly mass media.

Numb resignation or becoming accustomed to injustice? On the surface these can look very similar, but like the emotions of love and hate, when you graph them as a circle they are right next to each other rather than on opposite ends of a straight line. The danger of course is becoming numb before you understand the personal nature of violence. It is a distinction with which most of us who are attracted to the political aspects of life have wrestled. I am both heartened and horrified by aspects of the coverage of Neda's tragic murder.

For far too long the vast majority of women stayed away from political conflict. culture tried to keep us from even speaking about such unseemly aspects of life, "it's not nice to talk about sex or politics." Screw that! Women must intimately live with the consequences of both sex and politics in a way that men do not. Women and children are vastly over-represented in the casualties and negative impacts of war. It only makes sense that of hat women become active earlier in the process rather than to mild manneredly wait for war to tear their lives apart.

Is it proper to show a little girl running down a road naked? Kim Phuc was the nine year old girl in the 1972 photograph of a burn victim running from her home village that had been bombed with napalm. Is it proper to show a video of Neda dying? No - of course not. Sometimes such intimate and horrific imagery is necessary, though.

Nancy

Build Peace

My Life As An Avatar

Submitted by artpax on Tue, 06/23/2009 - 07:13