Palestinian Intellectuals, Authors Express Solidarity with Iranian Protests

People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)
People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)
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Palestinian Intellectuals, Authors Express Solidarity with Iranian Protests

People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)
People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)

A group of Palestinian intellectuals and writers issued a statement in solidarity with protests in Iran, saying that the demonstrations witnessed in Tehran and several Iranian cities in the last few days confirmed the longing of the Iranian people for freedom and to rid themselves of theocratic tyranny they live under.

Ayatollah clerical hierarchy was exploited to impose absolute control over the people, they said.

The Faqih totalitarianism’s power is cemented by the regime, guardian of the jurist, the Revolutionary Guard militia, its extra-territorial arm, the Quds Force and other security services.

“In this statement, we affirm our unbound solidarity with these popular movements (the Tehran protests) and their just and legitimate demands based on issues related to freedoms and justice, and for establishing neighborly relations not overwhelmed with prejudice and aspirations of hegemony,” the statement said.

They also collectively backed the “restoration of the rights of the Iranian people and the liberation of Arab countries—such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen—from the heavy toll brought about by the Iranian regime, and freedom from its crude and malicious interventions.”

The signatories considered that the success of the Iranians in overthrowing the state Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, the Faqih rule, and the Revolutionary Guard, putting the country back on the rightful track of revolution and building a pluralistic and democratic system, which recognizes human rights as stipulated in international charters, will have a profound and positive impact on the structure of subsequent political transformations in the Arab world.

It would also open a new horizon for transformations towards a state based on freedom, citizenship and democracy in the Middle East.



7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
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7 Dead, Dozens Injured after Commercial Bus Overturns in Mississippi

A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)
A tractor trailer dangles from a bridge on Interstate 75 near Tampa, Fla., early Monday, Aug. 5, 2024. (Florida Highway Patrol via AP)

Seven people, including a six-year-old and 16-year-old, were killed when a bus overturned east of Vicksburg, Mississippi, early Saturday, Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey said.
The two young victims were siblings, Reuters quoted the coroner as saying.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol said the incident took place around 12:40 a.m. on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County when a 2018 Volvo commercial passenger bus traveling westbound left the roadway and overturned.
Thirty-seven passengers were transported to different hospitals with unknown injuries, the agency said. It said the co-driver was not transported.
"Anytime you have people injured or killed, it's tragic but when you have a situation like this where you have multiple fatalities and multiple injuries, it makes it even worse," Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace told an ABC affiliate.
Huskey said most of the passengers on the bus were Latin American.