Today is one year since the death of Neda. HBO's recent documentary For Neda covered the events and the aftermath. You can watch it in its entiret
June 21, 2010

Today is one year since the death of Neda. HBO's recent documentary For Neda covered the events and the aftermath. You can watch it in its entirety at YouTube,
or download it directly from the site.

(Wikipedia) The footage of the death of Neda Agha-Soltan (Persian: ندا آقا سلطان - Nedā Āġā Soltān; January 23, 1982 – June 20, 2009) drew international attention after she was killed during the 2009 Iranian election protests. Her death was captured on video by bystanders and broadcast over the Internet and the video became a rallying point for the reformist opposition. It was described as "probably the most widely witnessed death in human history". Nedā (ندا) is a word used in Persian to mean "voice", "calling," or "divine message," and she has been referred to as the "voice of Iran." Her death became iconic in the struggle of Iranian protesters against what they said was the fraudulent election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The video above is by Amnesty International for their site Neda Speaks. Music by The Airborne Toxic Event.

Neda Agha-Soltan, whose brutal murder at the hands of the Iranian regime during the protests in Tehran last year, has become a symbol of human rights the world over.

We believe that the viral video of Neda's death was a sea change in political power in the world. It was the first viral video to change the course of history, a symbol that the power of broadcasting is no longer simply in the hands of governments and corporations, but in the hands of people. It is in the hands of anyone with a cell phone camera and an internet connection. It is in your hands right now.

Iranian state-run television would have never broadcast the footage of Neda's death. It took a person with a cel-phone camera and an internet connection to do that. This is a new era and a new type of democratic power.

That said, there is also something about Neda herself. About the simplicity of her request and the violence of the response her government gave her. She represents the most fundamental decency of the human spirit standing in the face of the most base corruption of that spirit. All she wanted was for her vote to be counted. For that, she was shot through the heart in the street in broad daylight holding a sign that said simply "freedom."

Many others died that week and more were wrongfully imprisoned, beaten, tortured and executed in the year since. Some still sit in jail cells. These are people we do not know and we will never meet. But we have to let them know that we stand with them. That we admire their courage and will support their struggle.

There are a lot of us. We need each other, and we need your help.

On the day of her death, the the last phone call Neda made before she was shot was to her mother. Her mother begged her to come home since everyone knew there were people being killed in the streets.

Neda said, "If I don't go, who will?"

This is the question we pose.

If we don't raise our voices, who will?

Join us.

The world is watching. The world is filming.

The revolution will be televised.

Can you help us out?

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