QUB historian Liam Kennedy asks why Belfast protestors are not holding any events to mark 5000 citizens killed by Iran
A former QUB historian has asked why street protestors in Belfast have not organised any events in support of Iranian citizens - of whom some 5000 have been killed in a crackdown by their own government.
Edeh Zamani, 51, who has lived in Northern Ireland since 2001, organised a protest at Belfast City Hall last Saturday against the Iranian government massacre of some 5,000 protesters across the country.
She is organising another protest at Belfast City Hall at 1.30pm on Sunday, out of her desperation for her fellow Iranians.
However earlier this week she told the News Letter that none of the other groups which regularly organise street protests in Belfast have either supported her - nor organised their own protests in support of Iranians.
QUB emeritus Professor of History Liam Kennedy has now told the News Letter that he is concerned at the lack of concern about Iran on the streets of Belfast and Dublin.
Several street protests have been held in Belfast this month against the American government's seizure of Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro - a startling move which provoked concerns across the globe.
On January 9 the South Belfast Branch of the Workers Party organised a street protest outside the American consulate in Belfast, under the banner "hands off Venezuela".
The News Letter asked the party if it might also be planning any protests in support of Iranians, however it did not address the question.
In a statement, it said: "The Workers Party has been a long term and vocal critic of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
"Our party has close relationships with groups in Iran opposed to the government and has often issued statements in support of our comrades who have suffered at the hands of the regime."
On January 5, People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll posted a photo of a "Hands Off Venezuela emergency demonstration" in Belfast at which he spoke.
Asked if he would be taking part in any street protests on behalf of Iranian citizens, he did not directly address the question either.
"I extend my solidarity to the people of Iran," he said. "Many of those protesting hold legitimate grievances against an oppressive regime, stemming from both cruel western sanctions and resultant inflation and state corruption."
Professor Liam Kennedy told the News Letter that there are good reasons to protest against Trump’s "gunboat capitalism" in relation to Venezuela.
"But I would be far more concerned about the plight of the eight million Venezuelans who have had to flee the repressive Maduro regime than the two Venezuelan politicians recently kidnapped by the USA," he said.
"The so-called socialist regime deserves to be condemned for its almost unlimited crimes against the Venezuelan people. Some stock anti-Americanism is hardly enough."
Reflecting on the lack of protests in Belfast in support of Iranians, he added: "It is disappointing that street campaigners, north and south, are not protesting the oppression of Iranian women and the mass slaughter of Iranian civilians by its theocratic regime.
"The Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said the freedom demonstrators are waging war against God. If so, the Islamist god has blood on his hands.
"Yet we are slow to call out Islamist-inspired violence, be it at Bondi Beach, Berlin, or Tehran. Not to mention the silenced women of Afghanistan.
"I fear this selective sense of justice and tunnel vision simply discredits otherwise humane sentiments."
Reflecting on the apparent lack of support for her protests, Ms Zamani said she believes it is common for foreign countries to be stereotyped “without any knowledge of the facts”.
She added: “This is due to arrogant ignorance as well as the propaganda pushed out on social media. The Iranian people are now being villainised in the same way the Israeli people were.”
But she added that if the “Iranian Nazi government” falls it will have “a disastrous effect” on all terrorist groups in the region, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
"This does not suit the narrative of some, such as the Jew haters, Russia or China. Some of the big players in the world do not want to see Iran free and democratic.
"We should take people as we find them, everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and cultures. Trying to control, dominate and subdue people, as done in Iran, is fundamentally wrong on every level.”