A pejorative comment about ‘what Western media manipulation has done’ to Neda:
Her image is no longer that of a woman in death but rather a sign of Iran’s oppressive regime.
Some facts about who has acted to make Neda a sign of Iran’s repressive regime, and some facts about who has acted vigorously in defense of Neda’s ‘privacy.’ From Wikipedia:
* After being pronounced dead at Shariati hospital, Agha-Soltan was buried at the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery in southern Tehran; she was denied a proper funeral by government authorities.
* On June 23, it was reported that government authorities directed Agha-Soltan’s family to remove the black mourning banners that were hanging outside their residence in the Tehran neighborhood of Tehranpars in order to prevent the home from becoming a place of pilgrimage.
* On June 24, The Guardian reported the results of interviews of neighbours who claimed that Agha-Soltan’s family was forced to vacate their apartment some days after her death.
* The Iranian government has issued a ban on collective prayers in mosques for Agha-Soltan in the aftermath of the incident.
* Soona Samsami, the executive director of the Women’s Freedom Forum, who has been relaying information about the protests inside Iran to the international media, told the foreign press that Agha-Soltan’s immediate family were threatened by authorities if they permitted a gathering to mourn her. Samsami stated, “They were threatened that if people wanted to gather there the family would be charged and punished.”
* On June 22, Iranian riot police dispersed a crowd of between 200 and 1,000 protesters with live ammunition and tear gas who had gathered in Tehran’s Haft-e Tir Square after online calls for protesters to pay tribute to Agha-Soltan and others killed during the demonstrations.
* On that same day, about 70 mourners gathered outside Niloufar mosque in Abbas Abad, where the Agha-Soltan family attended services. A leaflet posted on the mosque’s door read, “There is no commemoration here for Neda Agha Soltan.” Many in the crowd wore black. Some recited poems. After about ten minutes, 20 Basij paramilitary arrived on motorcycles and dispersed the attendees.
Embedded in these various bullets points are reports of lots and lots of non-Western Muslims – real people, with real feelings and real rights trying to take control of their own destinies and identities, but some Western Muslims clearly seek to diminish or ignore them. Therefore ‘Muslim sources’ and ‘feminist sources’ should be deconstructed of the license these labels give them to speak with authority about non-Western and female perspectives.
