This time of year brings out the best and the worst in some folks. This year has been a really great year for me. I’ve had great days, and I’ve had dark days. I’ve seen life, and I’ve seen death. I’m glad I have freedom and live in one of the best environments for freedom in the world. And while the United States isn’t perfect, it could be worse.
I could be living in Iran.
The Boston Herald profiled the life of bloggers Iran. This Holiday Season remember the bloggers who might not share the same freedoms you do—whether that’s freedom of speech or freedom of religious choice.
By day, Alireza Samiei covers banking and insurance for an industry newspaper. By night, he writes a daring online blog about Iran’s social and political ills.
In a recent blog entry, he described a scene he saw while talking to a greengrocer about soaring prices: A young child was pleading, ” ‘Mommy, I want watermelon.’ The woman, shy and sorrowful, singled out one broken, small watermelon from the spoiled fruit bin and told the grocer, ‘Just this one, please.’ She put 20 cents on the counter and hurried away.”
Samiei, 27, is among the growing ranks of Iranian bloggers who are relentlessly pushing the boundaries of free expression, making Farsi one of the 10 most popular languages for blogs. The bloggers are testing just how much political and social dissent the nation’s rulers will tolerate on the Internet.
The authorities are pushing back. They have blocked access to thousands of websites in recent years that are deemed to threaten Iran’s Islamic revolution, including the BBC’s Farsi-language site. A trial began this month against four bloggers on charges including propaganda against the state. And in October, the government barred high-speed Internet service in private homes.
Source: Boston Herald
Originally posted on December 18, 2006 @ 8:04 pm