Green Ribbons and Turbans: The Young Iran against the Mullahs
Publisher
:
Denoël
Parution date
:
EAN
:
9782207108611
Number of pages
:
250
Description
During the last presidential election in Iran, the only nonviolent way protestors could defy the mullahs’ power was by wearing green ribbons on their wrists. In this book, journalist Armin Arefi gives voice to the people who were closely involved in those events.
In June 2009, the inhabitants of Tehran lived underground, trying to escape the government’s authority, strangled by interdictions, and dreaming of freedom and another revolution. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the Islamist Republic of Iran and desperate to maintain his power, defeats his opponent, Mahmoud Mousavi, by massive electoral fraud. The resulting frustration and anger throughout the country spark a gigantic wave of opposition—and the Green Movement is born.
Iranians of all ages are ready to confront—pacifically—the Islamic Republic. Their weapons are cell phones and e-mails and the green bands around their wrists. Arefi introduces us to these young men and women, who hold various political views and come from every class of society. Ayar is a young journalist forced to leave his country because of death threats; Reza is a taxi driver; Kian has a rock band and dreams of becoming the next Coldplay of Iran; Azadeh—a young feminist—and her mother, Mandana, are willing to put their lives in danger to further the Green Revolution. And then there is Javad, who has enrolled in the Bassidji, the militia of the Islamic Republic.
Returning to the events that led to the Green Revolution, Arefi takes us to a world removed from the usual cultural and political clichés about Iran and lets us hear the voices of this new generation of Iranians, who have known nothing but religious dictatorship and repression since they were born. He also speaks on behalf of the first victims of the repression—Neda, Sohrab, and Taraneh—to tell their stories.
Author
Armin Arefi : Armin Arefi has written extensively about Iran for French newspapers, but also for The Huffington Post in the United States, covering the last presidential election in Iran, and the subsequent riots. More recently he campaigned for the release of Sakineh, an Iranian mother condemned to death by stoning or hanging for adultery. His is also the author of Rubans et turbans, to be published in English by Skyhorse.
To see an interview in English with Armin Arefi at the time of the release of Dentelles et Tchador in France, please go to:
http://www.france24.com/en/20090321-the-interview-armin-arefi-life-in-the-iran-of-the-mullahs
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