“We Iranians feel like we have been waiting our whole lives for the US or Israel to attack us. We have never been allowed to live, to breath, as we waited for their bombs to fall.”
Maryam Eslamdoust, Transport and Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) General Secretary spoke at last Saturday’s Stop Bombing Iran – Stop Arming Israel emergency demonstration called by the Palestine Coalition – you can read an edited version of her speech below.
I speak today, primarily, as an Iranian.
We are a great people.
And we will not be bowed.
We yearn for peace.
But we will not be bowed.
Yesterday, Iranians around the world woke up in fear.
But we were not bowed.
My first action in the morning was to call my dad in Tehran to check that he was still alive.
But I was not bowed.
And he was not bowed.
We Iranians feel like we have been waiting our whole lives for the US or Israel to attack us.
We have never been allowed to live, to breath, as we waited for their bombs to fall.
Now they are falling and we are not bowed.
To be Iranian is to be constantly demonised.
We will not be bowed.
We are constantly told that the crimes of our oppressors are actually our own crimes.
Israel secretly develops illegal nuclear arms, but Iran is the one accused of that.
Israel attacks Iran without any provocation, but the media and politicians say Israel is defending itself.
Israel kills, terrorises, oppresses, but we are called rogue.
In the face of lies and slander, we will not be bowed.
I lived through the horrors of the Iran-Iraq war. We Iranians suffered unimaginably.
But we were not bowed.
When the Americans came to attack Iraq, I marched with you to stop it happening. Iranians opposed the attack on our old enemy. We know the West has no solutions to the Middle East’s problems.
And since they destroyed Iraq, we have known it was inevitable that they would eventually come for us.
But we were never bowed.
We are heartbroken now it is happening. We long for it to stop.
But Iranians don’t sit dwelling on broken hearts, we raise our heads and walk on.
We will not be bowed.
Politicians here in Westminster have jumped to demand de-escalation. If you want de-escalation, stop Israel’s criminal wars. Stop the flow of arms. Stop the intelligence and logistical support. Arrest Netanyahu.
The criminals in Israel must be stopped – We will not be bowed.
- Maryam Eslamdoust is General Secretary of the Transport and Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA)– you can follow her on Twitter/X.
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