|
Dear John,
On September 16th, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died under contentious circumstances in a detention center in Iran after her arrest by the morality police, who accused her of violating the laws on compulsory veiling. In the wake of her death, thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets to protest against the theocratic and authoritarian nature of the current Iranian political system and for the unequivocal rights of freedom for women.
Today, the exploitation of Islam to serve geopolitical interests is pervasive, as evident by the events currently taking place in Iran and around the world. Particularly, the hijab has become a tool of subjugation by both Iran and western liberal democracies. For example, morality police in several Muslim-majority countries continue to impose violence against women, while many European countries are banning women from wearing the hijab. The erosion of Islamic ethics under authoritarian regimes is one that we must stand united against.
However, this fight against tyranny has been an uphill struggle as historical bias distorts media reporting coming out of Iran. The conflation of Iran and Islam leads to stigmatization and Islamophobia, allowing for U.S. policy that impacts the most vulnerable groups in Iran: women, children, and religious and ethnic minorities.
Join us for our virtual webinar on Tuesday, October 4th, as we discuss the many complexities surrounding this topic.
|
