Iran's Fight for Democracy: A Panel Discussion
Iran's Fight for Democracy--Do we have a role?
Tues., January 26, 7:15 pm
West Vancouver Memorial Library, 1950 Marine Dr. , West Vancouver
The Northshore Greens will host a discussion to highlight the world’s largest pro-democracy movement – taking place in Iran today. Last June, the scenes of millions of people demonstrating for freedom exploded across television screens, newspapers, the Internet and on social media. The tragic death of Neda Agha-Soltan, a young woman who was participating in a protest against the outcome of the Iranian 2009 presidential election, became a rallying cry for the demonstrators.
Why is all of this happening? What chance do democracy demonstrators have?
The Green Party of Canada is committed to grassroots democracy. We have been watching these events intently. That’s why the local North Vancouver Green Party association has invited several well-informed speakers to participate in a discussion, shed light on some of the significant issues, and answer your questions. We’d like to understand the events better and perhaps discover how Canadians can lend their support to this drive for democracy. This event is open to the general public and is free.
Our panelists:
Soushiant Zanganehpour is a consulting analyst with SFU’s Graduate School of Business. Until recently, he was the Iran Program Coordinator and a researcher at UBC’s Simons Centre for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Research. He is a co-author of Iran in the World: The Nuclear Crisis in Context. He will speak about human rights in Iran, the problems of dual citizens and policy implications for the Canadian government:
Alireza Ahmadian is a History and International Relations Honors student at UBC, co-organizer of Silent Scream 4 Iran and a representative of the Vancouver Green Students Movement for Iran. He will discuss how the Iranian-Canadian community mobilized to respond to the presidential elections and provide insights about how it will continue on a local, national and international level.
Silent Scream 4 Iran was a series of silent candle light vigils and events in downtown Vancouver during the summer of 2009 organized by an independent, non-partisan and grassroots group of Iranian-Canadian students and young professionals. The purpose of the vigils was to show solidarity with the Green movement of Iran. The vigils drew crowds of over 5000 on a consistent basis and featured introductory speeches from local artists, academics, and several mayors, MLA’s, and Members of Parliament from different political parties including Minister James Moore, Senator Yohan, Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff. Silent Scream 4 Iran was covered in the media locally, nationally and internationally. The group also received wide-spread endorsement and support from members of the Iranian community and high-level politicians.
We will have two other speakers who wish to keep their names out of the public doman. One is actively involved in providing commentary and analysis about the developments in Iran. He will give a first hand account of what is really happening behind the media blackout, the development of citizen journalism during the crisis and the impact of the opposition movement on the ideological foundations of the regime and prospects of change. A second speaker who was in Tehran during the election will describe the election and its aftermath.
More information about the protest movement:
