“Never during the regime’s rule have any large protests been carried out simultaneously across all ethnic and religious groups in the country”
“While all living under the regime of the Islamic Republic are oppressed, minorities like Baluchis, Arabs, Baháʼís, Azeris, and Kurds face severe and systematic discrimination because of their ethnicities and their beliefs”
“Iran has a long history of Persian supremacy against its ethnic and religious minorities, characterized by a colonial approach with deep-rooted views about the country’s oneness. Persian-centrism has long been the dominant ideology in the country”
“Kurds are often not allowed to register their names but must instead have a name approved by the state — in Jina’s case, “Mahsa.””
“All too often, it is clear that Iranian self-perception does not leave room for any other identity because, in their eyes, we are all Iranian. But a minority group like the Kurds cannot and have not identified themselves with this concept as they have never been treated as equal citizens under that banner. It makes sense then that the majority of the Kurds identify with their ethnicity rather than a nationality that has been forced upon them”
“The Iranian society has well-established traditions of alienating the Kurdish people by keeping alive the narrative of Kurds being culturally inferior and uncivilized — thus legitimizing the state’s violent methods. The fact that Kurds make up almost half of Iran’s political prisoners even though they constitute only 10 percent of the population is telling, not to mention the disproportionately high number of Kurds who are sentenced to death in those prisons”
“As the Kurdish slogan “Jin Jiyan Azadî” was first repeated by the protesters, the intent was to echo the slogan as it was chanted in the Kurdish cities where the protests first started. These simple three words have become a symbol for the Iranian women when it in fact comes from the Kurdish women’s movements in Turkey and Syria, as well as Iran, against colonizing regimes that have occupied their lands and suppressed their identity”