Neda

Neda Agha Soltan (1992-2009)
A Voice of a People - A Call to Freedom

After VV did her post, I had to go out and find out more info on this beautiful young woman called Neda, It has been reported that the name Neda means voice or call in Farsi... Her name was Neda... and she is the voice of the people. She is a call to freedom.

It is rapidly becoming the most galvanizing image in a week of drama and tragedy - perhaps the most image-saturated week in the history of the internet. I am talking about the unbelievable and heartbreaking events in Iran, a week of human drama captured in TwitPics, Flikr photos, YouTube videos, cellphone camera pics and blogs and hi-def video and...

Despite the billions upon billions of megapixels of imagery that have been captured to characterize this clash -- seas of greens, motorcyle thugs, clouds of tear gas, masked protesters -- one image is starting to make an impression above all the others, even in the short-attention-span universe of Twitter.

Early today, a beautiful young woman was demonstrating in Tehran, along with her father. When friction between the Basiji - the brutal packs of militia that patrol the streets of Tehran, beating women and children and students -- and the demonstrators broke out, it was her ill-fortune to become one of the first victims of Basiji homicide, though she was doing nothing more than standing by innocently, watching.

It is said that a Basij sniper shot her through the heart, simply to see her die.

The final moments of her tender young life leaked into the pavement of Karegeh Street today, captured by cell phone cameras. And not long after, took on new life, flickering across computer screens around the world on YouTube, and even CNN.

The words of her fellow students, her fellow Iranians are already burning an indelible message into cyberspace. Within minutes of her name being identified, it became the fastest-rising 'trending topic' on Twitter.

Her name was Neda, an innocent bystander shot dead just for watching.

Warning this is graffic


8:53 PM ET -- "Sister, have a short sleep, your last dream be sweet." Yesterday we printed a touching letter from an Iranian woman that began with these ominous lines: "I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow. Maybe they will turn violent. Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed..."
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Tonight, she posted a second letter, passed along and translated by two readers. She writes about her "sister" in this cause who was killed today, referring to Neda.


Yesterday I wrote a note, with the subject line "tomorrow is a great day perhaps tomorrow I'll be killed." I'm here to let you know I'm alive but my sister was killed...


I'm here to tell you my sister died while in her father's hands
I'm here to tell you my sister had big dreams...
I'm here to tell you my sister who died was a decent person... and like me yearned for a day when her hair would be swept by the wind... and like me read "Forough" ... and longed to live free and equal... and she longed to hold her head up and announce, "I'm Iranian"... and she longed to one day fall in love to a man with a shaggy hair... and she longed for a daughter to braid her hair and sing lullaby by her crib...

my sister died from not having life... my sister died as injustice has no end... my sister died since she loved life too much... and my sister died since she lovingly cared for people...

my loving sister, I wish you had closed your eyes when your time had come... the very end of your last glance burns my soul....

sister have a short sleep. your last dream be sweet.