IRAN: More than 100 Facebook pages honor Neda
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More than 100 Facebook pages have been created in honor of Neda Agha-Soltan, who was shot and killed during clashes in Tehran on Saturday.
They include at least 103 groups and 15 fan pages. Cellphone video footage showing the 26-year-old bleeding in the street has turned her into an icon of the protests against the outcome of a disputed presidential election.
As Bloomberg notes, just one of these group pages has already garnered more than 15,000 members. The 55 people who administer the page come from around the world, including Zambia, Kuwait, Canada, Italy, the U.S. and Haiti.
Members have flooded the pages with comments expressing sadness over the young woman’s death and anger at the crackdown against the protests. They have also posted pictures and video footage. The disturbing image of Agha-Soltan’s blood-splattered face appears over and over again.
The administrator of a fan page called “Neda Soltani” posted status updates saying, “The bullet that killed you made me come alive” and “Neda died with open eyes, Shame on us who live with closed eyes.”
A member identifying herself as Eleonora R. Sedeqey said, “They want to close our mouth with the fear to be killed but the result is opposite and they must be ashamed to call themselves muslims. Shame on you criminals! Allah will punish you for using his Holy name to clean your dirty hands!!!”
-- Amber Smith in Los Angeles