This Sunday I attended the protest against the atrocities occurring in Iran. The protest took place in Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester City Centre. It was a peaceful protest and although people were clearly very upset and concerned about the issue at hand, there was absolutely no trouble at all. As a sign of support, we brought down strips of green material and handed them out amongst the demonstrators, the colour now being synonymous with the opposition party fighting for freedom in Iran.
We seemed to be the only white Brits at the demo, and I was pretty disappointed not to see more faces in the crowd showing support… however it was clear that the Iranians attending the demo were very appreciative to see at least a couple of us standing with them.
I found the whole thing to be extremely moving, the most striking thing was the amount of people covering their faces to protect their identities, obviously concerned that their presence may cause trouble for family and friends in Iran.
Not being a Farsi* speaker I couldn’t follow most of the protests, but this only gave me time to reflect on how I would feel if it were my family and countrymen in a similar situation. We should all be thankful for our freedoms, not everyone is as lucky as us.
You can show support by changing your Twitter pic green here
Our thoughts are with the people of Iran.
*thanks for your corrections!