Dissent in Iran: 16-Year-Old Neda Becomes the Symbol of Reform Movement

One of the most viewed images on the internet -- that of a shot and bleeding young woman named Neda -- came out of the demonstrations in Iran Saturday. CNN showed comments from Twitter and Facebook, commenting on the fallen girl. "Her name is Neda," one read. "She was 16."

CNN reported that the young woman was a bystander at a demonstration when she was shot by Iranian Basij paramilitary police.

Some are calling her a martyr. One Twitter comment explained that the name "Neda" is common and means "divine message/voice." Neda has not yet but may soon become the name of the opposition movement.

Americans and people all around the world are witnessing the beginning of a revolution in Iran. And part of it is being fueled by the feeling of solidarity with supporters around the world for the opposition to Iran's current regime. That support is coming through loud and clear through electronic media.

CNN also quoted opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi's Facebook, which stated Saturday that Iran's government was "going to the slaughterhouse." Mousavi also maintains that he is ready for martyrdom. He continues to call for a re-vote, disputing the election results.

And he could be right.

After the national elections in Iran on June 12, when incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the victor by Iran's Ruling Council long before a majority of the votes had been reported, reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi was also declaring victory. When election results gave Ahmadinejad the victory by 62%, cries of election fraud were heard from all the opposition candidates. Hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Iran.

And the streets ran green.

Regardless of who Iranians voted for, opposition to the ruling regime and Ahmadinejad seemed to coalesce behind Mir Hossein Mousavi and took on the color of his party -- green. But instead of growing smaller and fading back into the normalcy of Iranian life, disappointed and beaten, the size of the demonstrations grew. Confrontations, of course, were inevitable. People were killed.

After days of demonstrations, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei spoke publicly. He told Iran that the elections could not have been rigged, the margin of Ahmadinejad's victory was far too great. He called for an end to the demonstrations, but told the people of Iran that those who continued to demonstrate would be held responsible for their actions.

The battle lines were drawn. Demonstrators hit the streets of Tehran in open defiance of Khameini's words. Lining the streets were the Basij paramilitary police force. Some images getting out of Iran (very little has gotten out of Iran since the government crackdown on transmissions, controlling nearly every mode of electronic communalization) have shown chaotic clashes between the police and protesters, vehicles burning in the streets. Chants of "Death to Khameini!" have been heard, words that have never been heard before on the streets of Iran, according to Christiane Amanpour on CNN.

And there is the sad and troubling video of Neda.

CNN reported just before midnight on Saturday that unconfirmed reports out of Tehran claimed that at least 19 people had been killed in Saturday's protests. Some sources were saying that as many as 150 people have died in the demonstrations in the past week.

It remains to be seen if the protests will continue amidst a brutal crackdown. But if the rest of the world has something to say about it, a revolution is afoot. Still, distance texting, blogging, and iReporting one's support is not the same as actually bleeding for the cause one supports.

The color of this revolution may be green, but it still bleeds red.

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Sources:

CNN Television

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