Neda: philosophy student murdered in Iran is becoming a global icon

[cyberianpan]

As we all know particular images can define a controversy: a naked child fleeing, a monk burning , a man standing in front of a tank

It would appear in Iran that the murder of Neda Soltani, a 27 year old philosophy student is taking on similar such importance. Also in Islam culture the concept of martyrdom has a high place - and Neda is fast becoming one

Wikepedia entry
London Times: Video clip of student's last breath makes her martyr of Tehran
Guardian: How Neda Soltani became the face of Iran's struggle

The below video literally shows her taking her last breath, a horrible, brutal, needless death:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtkiLBfHnvw"]YouTube - Neda Agha-Soltan Shot Dead in Tehran June 20 2009[/ame]

So is this where the You Tube generation truly join into global politics ?

Is this how the Iranian regime will be seen internally - and abroad ?

cYp

[Horace Horse]

I certainly regret this young woman's death. It looks like she got caught up in something more sinister and deadly than she had realized.

But as someone pointed out on CNN just yesterday, the Israelis a few months ago killed up to 1500 people in the space of a couple weeks, and there was no effort by the Western media to give each of these victims a face.

[EarlyBird]

I certainly regret this young woman's death. It looks like she got caught up in something more sinister and deadly than she had realized.

But as someone pointed out on CNN just yesterday, the Israelis a few months ago killed up to 1500 people in the space of a couple weeks, and there was no effort by the Western media to give each of these victims a face.

Selective outrage, they get outraged when it suits them.

Girl shot dead in Iran: "We are outraged, Iran is an evil regime"

100s bombed to smithereens in Gaza: "Israel was defending itself"

[cyberianpan]

Selective outrage, they get outraged when it suits them.

Girl shot dead in Iran: "We are outraged, Iran is an evil regime"

100s bombed to smithereens in Gaza: "Israel was defending itself"

That's not so much the issue

Occasionally a picture (or in this instance a video clip) takes on iconographic proportions:



And because people can empathise with it, it then becomes the story ... and that is what seems to be happening here - are we witnessing history - or just some flotsam in YouTube ?

cYp

[Thranduil]

The loss of Neda was an enormous personal tragedy for her familly, i hope those trying to foment separatist violence in Iran or hoping to pulverise the country in the false name of nuclear security do not use her name to overwrite the suffering that this will entail... The people who had their heads chopped off in Iraq by unnamed groups in masks (blamed on Al-Qaeda in Iraq) had their names used to justify the ongoing tragic occupation of that country and the greater number of deaths that resulted from it, the 9/11 victims had their names used to justify all these wars and of course Bin Ladin and co are not averse to using events like Abu Ghraib to justify their civilian massacreing activities... It's a cliche i know but it literally is a vicious cycle when that happens... I think the Iranians recognise that the fewer people died during the disturbances the better and to put that in credible context more people were killed in NI on Bloody Sunday than during the disturbances.

I understand that Iran has blocked a lot of the information channels coming in to the country from media organisations in nations hostile to it (eg the BBC, the Supreme Leader has blamed the organisation for inciting violence and accused Britain itself of being involved) so i reckon Neda will mostly be a martyr for the Western Media, i also think that the Iranians are not quite Westernised enough to become spellbound when an ordinary person is thrust into the public gaze from nowhere. I expect Neda will therefore remain an icon for those who were already converted to the cause she stood for, but only those.

[Twin Towers]

I doubt Hamas would have little compunction turning their guns on ordinary Palestinians if they chose to similarly revolt.

[Horace Horse]

I doubt Hamas would have little compunction turning their guns on ordinary Palestinians if they chose to similarly revolt.

That's hypothetical. It hasn't happened.

But we do have evidence of what Isreal does to people who revolt. They murder them by the hundreds. Thank God the Iranian authorities are more restrained.

I hope peace & order will return soon to Iran, indeed there is already evidence that things are getting back to normal.

[EarlyBird]

That's not so much the issue

Occasionally a picture (or in this instance a video clip) takes on iconographic proportions:

And because people can empathise with it, it then becomes the story ... and that is what seems to be happening here - are we witnessing history - or just some flotsam in YouTube ?

cYp

I know, but this one is being pushed bigtime by western media for a reason: the demonisation of the Iranian government. It is being utilised for propaganda purposes. No doubt the cries for "Regime Change" so that Iran can have "freedom" and "democracy" will get shriller as a result.

[Thranduil]

That's not so much the issue

Occasionally a picture (or in this instance a video clip) takes on iconographic proportions:



And because people can empathise with it, it then becomes the story ... and that is what seems to be happening here - are we witnessing history - or just some flotsam in YouTube ?

cYp

Iconic photographs represent something more than themselves, when that picture of that Vietnamese girl was sent around the world people knew that this wasn't just a case of one girl, she represented thousands, millions of unseen victims. The Buddhist monk was a symbol of self-sacrifice, the man standing in front of the tank was a symbol of raw courage. The Hooded man at Abu Ghraib represented all victims of torture in the US invasion of Iraq and the degradation of human dignity generally... They tell a story that is greater than what is apparent at a glance, they represent the unusal, extreme horror, pain, courage... and they change history. Neda could be said to be the representation of a government crackdown on rioters and protesters in Iran but because the numbers killed were relatively few compared to the Vietnam War, Iraq or even Tianaman Sqare and because being shot is not particularly dramatic (sad to say that a shooting isn't 'terrible enough') i do not think this image will be anywhere near as iconic or galvanising as those others were.

And then there is the point that we are saturated in media anyway, so unless it is highly unusual (such as Abu Ghraib) then an image cannot get it's head above the rest and be recognised as special if it is not really... even if the media blast it back and forth 24/7 at us.

[cyberianpan]

I know, but this one is being pushed bigtime by western media for a reason: the demonisation of the Iranian government. It is being utilised for propaganda purposes. No doubt the cries for "Regime Change" so that Iran can have "freedom" and "democracy" will get shriller as a result.

It certainly is being pushed by the Western media - and reportage from inside Iran is unreliable - however on YouTube a lot of the coverage appears Iranian

Time will tell regards this icon- global, Iranian,both or neither

cYp