Diane Tucker: Iranians Worldwide Roll Out Green Scroll Against Ahmadinejad (SLIDESHOW, UPDATES): Via Huffington Post.
AUSTIN, TX -- When a reporter asked Vaclav Havel to comment on Iran's post-election crisis, the former Czech president said, "Expressions of solidarity with students and others who are defending human rights are important." Havel spoke from experience: he led the Velvet Revolution that peacefully overthrew a totalitarian regime.
But for Iranians living abroad who wish to express their solidarity with the anti-Ahmadinejad protesters, there's a fine line between support and outside agitation, and they must be careful not to cross it.
"Once in a while someone who is doing the same thing you're doing will get in trouble for it, and it creates an atmosphere of fear. In Iran, we never know who will be handpicked to be an example," explained expat Banafsheh Madaninejad, who lives in Austin, Texas, these days. Nevertheless, this past weekend she joined thousands of Iranians around the world who bravely signed a Green Scroll petition proclaiming Ahmadinejad is not Iran's president.
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