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Legitimizing the misogynist Islamic government is shameful!<\/p>\n
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We, signatories to this letter, wish to pronounce our serious objection to the veiled appearance of you, the women in the Swedish delegation, who visited Iran on 11th and 12th of February. Needless to say, such visits per se, due to the intense suppression of political and civil freedoms in Iran, and the destructive role they play in contributing to the survival of the Islamic dictatorship in Iran, are objectionable for us and many others.<\/p>\n
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Many have condemned your consent to wearing hijab as shameful. It is shameful because, despite the claims of the Swedish government in guarding the equality of women and men, by wearing hijab you sacrificed this basic principle to trade deals with Iran. You probably noticed that, having the hijab on, you had to walk behind men, hold your head down, and not raise your voice in the course of the discussions, because the Islamic hijab is a reminder of the second class status of women, and you accepted all this.<\/p>\n
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What you accepted to do is shameful because, considering that hijab is the symbol and banner of terrorist and misogynist Islamist movements, governments and groups, by submitting to it you obviously and offensively were placed next to these governments and these misogynist and anti-human Islamist movement and governments.<\/p>\n
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Your defense of this shameful action\u2014that compulsory veil is the law of the land in Iran and you were compelled to follow the law\u2014is worse than the act itself! Would your delegation also agree to the law of stoning women to death for having engaged in extra-marital relationships? Would your delegation give the nod to the Islamic government of Iran in the execution of children or homosexuals? Are you oblivious to the fact that for over three decades, despite the daily suppression, the risk of having acid thrown into their faces, despite arrests, humiliations, fines, or the risk of losing their jobs, millions of Iranian women courageously defy the compulsory veil and many other inhuman laws and regulations? How is it that the brave Iranian women can breach these laws but you, who do not have to face these consequences, voluntarily accepted this humiliation? Your action is practical corroboration with the Islamic government in further suppressing the protests of the Iranian women against the government of sexual apartheid.<\/p>\n
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Our other question: if you consider following the inhuman laws of a country mandatory, would you have been prepared to go along with the law of an anti Jewish country in disallowing a hypothetical Jewish member of your delegation? Would you have accepted the laws of the South African apartheid regime to put the hypothetical black members of your delegation on a separate bench away from the whites? Would not, in that case, the people of South Africa and the rest of humanity who side with them have condemned your action?<\/p>\n
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The issue, as we see it is quite clear. The Islamic regime in many ways is similar to the apartheid regime of South Africa. The difference is that apartheid this regime is based on sex rather than the color of skin. Half of Iranian society, i.e. the women, is deprived of their basic human rights on the basis of a misogynous ideology. Compulsory veil is the symbol of this disenfranchisement and a sign of the inferior position of women in Iran.<\/p>\n
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By evading the compulsory hijab you could have joined the minority of women diplomats who have so far objected to this restraint. You could have opened your ears to the constant protest cry of us women against this compulsion. Listen to this cry of us against the use of hijab by women politicians and stand by this protest action. By protesting to the hijab, rather than standing by the side of the criminals and bestowing legitimacy on those who have so far stayed in power through killing, crime, and genocide, not only in Iran, but engaging in murder and mayhem in the entire region, you could have sent a message to the sruggling women of Iran.<\/p>\n
Not only did you not do so, but you answered these legitimate protests by associating the protesters to your action with anti foreigners (according to Ann Lindy, European Union minister for Trade and Affairs\u2014Aftonbladet) and by the offensive comparison between the compulsory hijab with hats by the finance minister (who later apologized)and some other ministers.<\/p>\n
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On behalf of the millions of women and millions of freedom loving people who, under the threat of the Islamic Republic, acid throwing, humiliation and suppression, put out daily resistance against the compulsory veil, we strongly denounce your consent to compulsory veil during your two day trip to Iran.<\/p>\n
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Your action will be a stain, stigmatizing you and the Swedish government for all time to come. If you are not prepared to support these women and condemn the misogynous and anti-human laws of the Islamic government, the least you can do is to refrain from standing on their way.<\/p>\n
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