If you're man enough, come to Iran Come be Nika
Who was barely seventeen when she hit the streets and climbed on cars and trash cans, setting her headscarf on fire and waving it at the police while chanting woman life freedom
Nika was chased down, beaten up, abducted and handed back to her family in a bodybag
Come be Maedeh, Setareh, Sarina, and all the teenagers who have been doing just the same thing, at every single protest across the country for almost six months now,
Even though they know what happened to Nika
If you're man enough, come to Iran
Come be Asra
Who went to school one day and got asked to sing a propaganda song in praise of the dictator, together with her classmates, in front of state regime officials. The whole class, including the teacher, was chased and hit with batons for refusing to comply. Some of them had to be hospitalized
Asra got hit too hard, and was returned to her family in a body bag.
Come be all the schoolgirls who still head to school every morning, and refuse to cover their hair, and equally refuse to be force-fed the regime's propaganda, and risk gas poisoning and sexual abuse.
Even though they know what happened to Asra
If you're man enough, come to Iran
Come be Nasrin
Who relentlessly fights for human rights and womens rights, and political prisoners rights, to the point of becoming one herself, and endure years of solitary confinement.
Her health is fragile and every now and then she gets released on bail, or put in house arrest, but every time, at the expense of her own safety, and that of her family, she still talks, demanding justice, loud and clear
Nasrin will go back to jail, again and again, and keep talking anyway.
Come be Atena, Fatemeh, and all the other lawyers and human rights advocates who keep being sent to prison. Over and over again.
Even though they know how it always ends.
If you're man enough, come to Iran
Come be Niloufar and Elaheh who wrote in the press about the death of Mahsa Amini, after she was taken to the hospital with all the symptoms of brain hemorrhaging, following her brutal arrest for improper wearing of her headscarf.
They were arrested months ago and they are both facing execution on espionage charges now.
Come be Nazila, Elnaz, and all the other journalists who keep trying to do their job, and tell the world about what's going on in Iran,
Even though they are aware of what happened to Niloufar and Elaheh
If you're man enough, come to Iran
Come be Aida, who went to the houses of wounded protesters every day after her shift at the hospital, to treat their wounds without exposing them to the risk of being arrested if they went to the ER.
Aida disappeared during one of those rounds, and was handed back to her family in a body bag
Come be all the doctors and nurses and even veterinarians who keep doing the dirty work, repairing broken skin and bones, cleaning hollowed eyes and open wounds, after hours, in backyards and living rooms across the cities of Iran...
Even though they are aware of what happened to Aida.
If you're man enough, come to Iran
Come be Bahar, who posted her protest artwork online, and handed over flyers in support of the revolution, and got chased up to her apartment by plainclothes agents and was eventually thrown out her own window.
Come be Astiaj who was sentenced to 10 years of emprisonnent, alongside her boyfriend, for the crime of dancing together in front of the Freedom Tower.
Come be all the anonymous artists who risk their lives to release their art in the open, even though they know what happened to Bahar, and Astiaj
If you're man enough, come to Iran
Come be Zeynab
Zeynab was your textbook insta mom, with a tribal pride twist (yes, Iran is a nation of many tribes).
Zeynab would proudly post picture after picture of her two boys and her husband Maysam in full traditional tribal attire, and videos of her firstborn, 9 year old wannabee engineer Kian, showing off his inventions and experiments.
During the countrywide demonstrations that came along the mourning ceremony marking the 40th day after Mahsa Amini's death, Zeynab's car was targeted by regime forces. Her husband Maysam was shot in the spine, and to this day, has not recovered. Kian was shot in the chest and died. But his mother made sure he never saw the inside of a bodybag.
After 40 days of protests and dozens of horror stories, Zeynab knew that regime forces had made a habit of holding the bodies of their victims hostage, and blackmailing the families over them, sometimes performing secret burials in random graveyards, unbeknownst to them.
So while her maimed husband (who remained blissfully unaware of his son's fate) was being taken to the hospital, Zeynab, who still had her younger, 4 year old son to take care of, went door to door, asking neighbour after neighbour for chunks of ice, to keep her child's body from decomposing while awaiting burial.
I'll give you a second to let that sink in.
On the day of Kian's funeral, she sang a nursery rhyme on his grave, and changed the lyrics into slurs against the child killing regime. The police barged in and took the microphone away from her.
Zeynab kept slurring.
Months later, after going through the excruciating pain of losing her child, and having to break the news to his father, and then bringing him home from the hospital with a broken heart and an equally broken spine, and despite the constant threats of the regime, Zeynab, was still asking for justice on instagram.
After she got fired from her teaching job and summoned to court (together with her bedbound husband), Zeynab was still posting pictures, videos and poems, and demanding justice.
To this day, she still is.
If you're man enough, come be Zeynab
Come be all the Iranian mothers who refuse to shut up, after losing so much, and even though they know that they still have so much to lose.
If you're man enough
Come to Iran and be a woman
(en français: https://femmevieliberte.wixsite.com/my-site/post/viens-en-iran-si-t-es-un-homme?postId=2551b865-5850-496a-8f93-276e7a2ba6d8)
