I remember when I was a student, "Quds Day" compelled all students in school to participate in a rally. As students, we were supposed to shout slogans like "Death to such and such" and "Down with this and that," imitating the revolutionary and combative spirit, burning the flags of certain countries in a savage manner, all in the name of being devout believers. I used to quietly escape from the ranks to avoid participating in the rally. Years passed, and in 2003, at the age of twenty-three, I emigrated to Israel. I got married in Israel. Now, every year on the "Jerusalem Liberation Anniversary," I celebrate it with my children in their schools. I am the first to arrive at the celebration and the last to leave. When I hold the flag of Israel and dance with my Israeli children during the Jerusalem Liberation celebration, I feel a great sense of joy. It should be noted that schools in Israel do not force students or parents to participate in these ceremonies like the schools in the Islamic Republic regime. Instead, all students and their parents participate willingly in their children's school events. In these ceremonies, there is no slogan of "Death to any country," and no flags are burned. You can see a photo of the Jerusalem Liberation celebration in my children's school.
In the same Jerusalem Liberation Anniversary, there is a celebration called "Flag Dance." People from all over Israel come to Jerusalem carrying the flag of Israel and participate in this celebration. Once again, I emphasize that the Israeli government, unlike the Islamic Republic regime, does not oblige people to participate in this event. Instead, everyone participates in the celebration according to their own will. You can see a photo of me in the "Flag Dance" celebration in 2004, one year after I immigrated to Israel.
In 2002, I was in the Shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh in Qom.
In 2004, I was in the "Flag Dance" celebration (Jerusalem).
But why did I mention all this? I remember when I was in fourth grade of primary school (Isfahan - Nateq School), when short-legged pants became fashionable among girls in Isfahan. The government declared these pants illegal, but due to their popularity, stores continued to sell them. The morality police (also known as "pious" beasts) sat on their motorcycles with long sticks with blades attached to the ends, and if they saw a woman wearing short-legged pants, the motorcycle driver would accelerate, and the person sitting behind with the stick would hit the girl's legs, causing them to bleed. I remember once when I was with my mother at Enqelab Square (33 Pol, Isfahan), I witnessed the morality police cutting a girl's leg with a blade for wearing short-legged pants, and blood spurted out instantly. Almost thirty years have passed since that day, but it's still the same soup and the same bowl. Iranian women are still fighting against compulsory hijab, a civil struggle against forcibly suffocating intellectual thought, just like my own struggle and the Quds Day protests.
