(Enduring America) | March 11, 2010
The tireless Dr. Scott Lucas, professor of American Studies at Birmingham University in the U.K., and editor of the esteemed Enduring America news blog covers today’s notable news on Iran.
While it’s worth reading the liveblog in its entirity, I found this part to be particularly interesting because of who the quote came from:
From Czechoslovakia to Iran. Vaclav Havel, the playwright and activist who was instrumental in the movement that challenged the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia and then became the country’s first post-Communist President, has sent a message to Iran’s protesters. The occasion was the award of the Homo Homini Award by a Czech NGO to Iranian student activists Majid Tavakoli and Abdollah Momeni:
Of course all of us are interested in Iran’s nuclear program and the nature of the current regime, just as we are interested in the abuses committed under the flag of Islam and whether or not the 2009 election was rigged. However, what I am most interested in are the brutal violations of human rights. I found myself in high political position thanks to peaceful public demonstrations and thanks to the students, who led them and made them happen. As a result, I have an elevated sensitivity for certain things and am deeply outraged and shocked that for participating in similar demonstrations in Iran, people are not only being sentenced to several years in prison, but are even being executed. It seems to me like an endless barbarity and I firmly believe this savagery is about to come to an end.
Read the full liveblog for March 11 from Dr. Scott Lucas in the fantastic Enduring America.
