In the last three weeks we have witnessed a grass roots revolution in Iran, largely because of cell phones and social Internet sites such as Twitter. With legitimate journalists forced to leave the country this technology has had a profound effect on the way we view the Iranian crisis. We empathize with the people on the ground; we see their grainy videos shot in secret and under penalty of death if they are discovered. We hear the sounds of gunshots, and the cries of the wailing women as their loved ones’ are beaten or dragged away. These first-person home movies are the lifeline that links the Iranian people to the outside world.
These images show us the facts, once just glossed over by Iran’s secretive and oppressive government. Amateur videos, emotionally charged blogs and Twittered texts sent in a fleeting moment by a scared teenager across the planet from us, bring our shared humanity to the forefront. We feel at a very basic level solidarity with these folks, running for their lives, dreaming of freedom that they hope is possible. We, who wake up each day to the richness of our freedoms, root them on as they attempt to take back their government from the terrorist who now rules.
My wish is that we could somehow drop thousands of working cell phones down to the people living in the refugee camps at Darfur. Perhaps if we could see the graves of the 400,000 people who have already lost their lives, we would feel more empathy. Would we be moved to action if someone could send live footage on a daily basis showing that 80% of the children under five are suffering from severe malnutrition or the over 2.5 million people who have been driven from their homes? Women and girls who have the task of getting water for the group are in fear of being raped or murdered each day as they leave the camps with their water buckets-we read these statistics, but they remain words on a page. Would our hearts be pierced to call on our government to DO SOMETHING if we could see these images and hear the cries of the people of Darfur?
Our government has already stated that the crisis in Darfur is an official Genocide, yet there is little movement on the part of the International Community to save these displaced and oppressed people.
We all know that the people of Darfur have no cell phones with which to call out to us, and their only social networking is in relationships with others who share the squalid refugee camps they now call home. We who know the taste of freedom have a responsibility to reach down and give aid to those who thirst for it as well.
These images show us the facts, once just glossed over by Iran’s secretive and oppressive government. Amateur videos, emotionally charged blogs and Twittered texts sent in a fleeting moment by a scared teenager across the planet from us, bring our shared humanity to the forefront. We feel at a very basic level solidarity with these folks, running for their lives, dreaming of freedom that they hope is possible. We, who wake up each day to the richness of our freedoms, root them on as they attempt to take back their government from the terrorist who now rules.
My wish is that we could somehow drop thousands of working cell phones down to the people living in the refugee camps at Darfur. Perhaps if we could see the graves of the 400,000 people who have already lost their lives, we would feel more empathy. Would we be moved to action if someone could send live footage on a daily basis showing that 80% of the children under five are suffering from severe malnutrition or the over 2.5 million people who have been driven from their homes? Women and girls who have the task of getting water for the group are in fear of being raped or murdered each day as they leave the camps with their water buckets-we read these statistics, but they remain words on a page. Would our hearts be pierced to call on our government to DO SOMETHING if we could see these images and hear the cries of the people of Darfur?
Our government has already stated that the crisis in Darfur is an official Genocide, yet there is little movement on the part of the International Community to save these displaced and oppressed people.
We all know that the people of Darfur have no cell phones with which to call out to us, and their only social networking is in relationships with others who share the squalid refugee camps they now call home. We who know the taste of freedom have a responsibility to reach down and give aid to those who thirst for it as well.
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