Good evening,
If freedom could sing a song…
The Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou once wondered.
It is well known that the Iranian authorities try to kidnap and hurt Masih Alinejad.
Nothing pleases me more that the fact that they failed.
We all know why they want to hurt her.
If I were a religious fanatic, I would also hunt down anyone who prefers the world’s poetry and literature to reading only one holy book.
If I were the head of a regime based on fear, I would also want to silence the most courageous people standing up to me.
If I were a misogynist ayatollah who thinks that it is a sacred duty to tell women to shut up,
then I would most certainly attempt to eliminate the woman who has rebelled against oppression since she was a young girl.
The woman who, through her journalism, her writings and speeches has been relentlessly attacking the regime for decades.
The woman who has been the powerful and eloquent voice of a generation that strives to achieve what should have never been questioned in the first place, not only in Iran, but around the world:
Complete equality and absolute freedom for women.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Please join me in welcoming Masih Alinejad back to Amsterdam!
And of course, a special welcome to Masih’s husband, Kambiz Foroohar.
To tonight’s audience, let me explain why I am so thrilled that Masih is back in Amsterdam.
In 2021, De Balie organised a festival for free thinkers, and invited Masih to speak.
De Balie also invited Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who spend 14 years unjustly detained in Guantanamo Bay.
Mohamedou was denied a visa and could only attend online. But now Mohamedou is living here as an Amsterdammer.
He is spreading his message of tolerance among the city’s youth.
And now Masih is back, so we can persuade her and her husband to stay here as well.
So she can inspire the young people of Amsterdam with her free spirit, her courage, and her determination to fight for women’s rights.
But it would be selfish to keep Masih only for Amsterdam, because she should focus on her work in keeping the world’s attention on the struggle in Iran.
On the sixteenth of September last year, Masah Amini, a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman, was beaten to death by the morality policy for not wearing a head scarf properly.
Her death sparked one of the largest waves of protest since the founding of the Islamic Republic.
And Masih Alinejad is one of the most forceful spokespersons for this women-led movement.
Although in fact, she was already women’s rights activist and vocal critic of the regime long before Amini’s murder.
This year we commemorate with sadness that it has been exactly 40 years since the compulsory hijab was written into the Penal Code of the Islamic Republic.
Masih has resisted this law from a very young age.
Her rebellion against the regime not surprisingly led to an arrest and a sentence that was fortunately suspended.
During her career as a journalist, Masih kept on calling the regime’s leaders to account, reminding the people of their corruption and illegitimate power.
Since Masih has been living in the UK and the US, she has been an important figurehead, and a source of inspiration for women in Iran and around the world.
Dear Masih,
When I said we want you to become an Amsterdammer, I was of course partly joking.
My biggest wish is not that you should stay in Amsterdam, but that one day you can see your parents again.
In a free and democratic Iran.
Where boys and girls can play together again. Where youngsters can dance together and make music.
Where women can show what fantastic hair they have, or choose freely to wear the hijab.
If freedom could sing a song …
Masih, you have been singing the song of freedom, and we have heard it.
You are a great inspiration to many women and men in Amsterdam, especially members of the Iranian or Persian community here.
This is why the government of the City of Amsterdam has decided to honour you with an award, the Amsterdam Pin, which is given to people who devote their free time to society or display heroic behaviour.
It is not usually awarded to people outside the Netherlands, but for you, we gladly make an exception.
Please come up, and I will present you with the Pin.