Monday, June 22, 2009

Neda



This is Neda Agha Soltan. I didn't know and still don't know much about Neda other than the bits and pieces I could scrape from the internet. She was a 26 year old philosophy student who was with her singing teacher on a side street in Teran. They had just got out of the car in hot weather. She was not political. Her only wish was for freedom. A simple philisophical concept that has eluded the middle east.

I can only wonder what her parents are feeling. First the shock of loosing your daughter. Then the anger at the snipers and the government responsible. Then there's the reaction of knowing that your daughter may become a symbol of a revolution. Is there any confort in knowing that your daughter did not die in vain? Or will it be a sense of embarassment and a reminder of the pain of the loss?

3 comments:

Tom Harper said...

Interesting questions. It's hard to know how bereaved parents would feel about their murdered daughter becoming an international symbol.

Snave said...

In this day and age, when our nation's media is geared toward a collective short attention span, will Neda have staying power in America as an international symbol of the fight for personal liberties and freedom? It makes me wonder. My guess is that her story will have great staying power in Iran, though.

S.W. anderson said...

A report I read said she wasn't out protesting, so her death really points up the complete stupidity of Iran's goons with guns.

So, Neda's death seems more a symbol of the power lust and brutality of Iran's theocratic leaders than of one young woman giving her life for a cause. I expect others have met the same fate.

It's a tragic, senseless loss. I feel sadness and sympathy for her loved ones.