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A NUMBER OF scholars and academics took part in a protest outside the Iranian Embassy in Dublin today over the imprisonment of an Irish citizen in Iran.
Homa Hoodfar is a professor and anthropologist based at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada and is an Irish citizen from her first marriage.
Hoodfar was arrested and imprisoned in Iran on 6 June 2016 and her supporters say she has been held in solitary confinement since. She is said to have been charged with collaborating with a hostile government against national security, and propaganda against the state.
Her supporters (who run a website dedicated to her release) say that Hoodfar – who is 65 – has a serious neurological condition and that her health is declining rapidly.
Amnesty International has seen 40,000 people send a message to Iranian authorities calling for Hoodfar’s release.
The Canadian and Irish authorities are being urged “to do everything within their diplomatic ambit to secure her release”.
Speaking from Brazil, Hoodfar’s neice Amanda Ghahremani told TheJournal.ie:
The latest news that we have about Homa is her hospitalisation – we know she was hospitalised in August and she is now back in prison. We have had very little information on her health condition, why she was hospitalised, or whether she is doing better. We don’t know how long she was in hospital and so we’ve had very little information on her coming out of prison.
Ghahremani said that Hoodfar travelled to Iran in February to visit friends and family. Two days before she was due to return to Canada, she was stopped by guards in her home.
“She was questioned about her work and she was ultimately told that she was being investigated for essentially dabbling in feminism.”
She posted bail and was able to stay in her residence there for the first three months with “constant interrogations” but then was imprisoned.
“She is Irish, she has an Irish passport and the Irish government has a responsibility of care for her,” said Ghahremani, who has been in touch with the Department of Foreign Affairs on the issue.
But she says she is disappointed with the “lack of engagement and creative engagement with Iran” on behalf of the Irish government.
Her niece said that Hoodfar is being accused of being “a key player in trying to impose western feminism in Iran”. She said this is a disservice to women in Iran who have been fighting for their rights for hundreds of years.
Hoodfar’s work includes researching Muslim women’s lived realities and how they engage meaningfully in their society.
When Hoodfar was doing her PhD and Masters in the UK, she built up links to the Irish community there, says her niece.
Irish involvement
Canada does not have direct diplomatic relations with Iran, but Ireland has an Iranian embassy in Dublin.
“So my hope has been and continues to be Ireland should step up and take a more proactive role,” says Ghahremani, adding she believes Ireland should collaborate with the Canadian government in dealing with Hoodfar’s case.
She hopes that today’s protest will show the level of support in the country for Hoodfar and “that [the Irish government] do see that they have a responsibility to her as an Irish citizen and that they send their ambassador to Iran”. The ambassador is based in Turkey.
Asked about her fears for her aunt, Ghahremani said:
I’m absolutely scared that her health is deteriorating. That her medical conditions that she had prior to imprisonment are being exacerbated. And I can only imagine the amount of psychological and physical pressure she is under. She is 65 years old – she is already quite a frail woman.
Her family are concerned she won’t be able to endure these conditions much longer, says her niece.
The protest today was organised by academics from Ireland “who wanted to show solidarity with a fellow citizen and fellow colleague”, said Ghahremani.
“They were in their full academic regalia and it was a point that they were trying to make which is their support for academic freedom and support for an Irish citizen who regardless of where her life has taken her in her trajectory is Irish. This was a statement for the Irish government to pay attention and to make her case a priority and also [to show Iran] that she is an academic first and foremost.”
Ghahremani said she is willing to travel to Ireland to speak to the Irish government about her aunt’s situation.
“I hope that they take this opportunity of the protest and media coverage, and my willingness to really engage,” she said.
TheJournal.ie has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs for comment on the protest.
Wow. RTE Celebrities complaining that the world doesn’t love their podcasts.
Newsflash. Your not in Montrose now Toto.
You’d get a bit tired of listening to hours and hours of content talking about mental health
@Ned Gerblansky: Bressies podcast is actually very interesting, and very helpful, which is why it’s won an award.
@Ned Gerblansky: Yip, while people with mental illness are struggling because mental ” health” is taking away valuable resources. Learn how to meditate, exercise and become more resilient. It’s pretty simple and it’s free.
@Ned Gerblansky: Now they’re whining that they can’t make money from it. FFS.
@D’oh: where do you see them whining?
Blindboy isn’t talented. Take the bloody bag off your head, it was funny for 5 minutes, 10 years ago
@Dub Cell: he doesn’t do it to be funny. Also, I think 2 best selling books, constant sold out live podcasts and a listenership of over 1m people each week will say otherwise.
You wouldn’t know talent if it smacked you in the face
@Dub Cell: could you be more wrong!?
@Tom: He’s spouting out populist dseudo intellectual drivel.
@Tom: it’s a matter of opinion Tom, I’m entitled to mine as you are to yours. I feel he jumps on bandwagons (gretha) and uses intellectual sound bites which appeals to his liberal followers. He made a song called “horse outside” ffs, he’s hardly Christopher Hitchens material
@Dub Cell: I heard an interview with Blindboy on the radio about 2 years ago (Guess what, it was dealing with mental health!). Inside about 20 minutes, in an effort to agree with opiniond coming in from listeners, he contradicted himself twice.
How can he win in the British Podcast Awards when he’s Irish? Are the Brits at it again?
podcasts are so last decade !
@ed w: No, they are the future, so much to listen to and you can pick and choose what you want and when you want, and they are not restricted by radio rule and you can support them if you want. Haven’t really listened to a radio show in ages.
I suppose the reason podcasts are not included in the JNL RADIO listeners figures is in the name. It’s a different medium. Listening to a podcast is a more focussed and deliberate activity than listening to the radio, which might be just on in the background, being listened to by multiple people. What advertisers need is a JNLP statistic.
@Conall: The article misses pointing out a very important fact …the JNLR research costs thousands and thousands of euro to conduct the listenership survey and compile the ratings – this is paid for (jointly -the hint is in the title ) by radio stations who use the findings to sell advertising – are the podcasters going to contribute and pay for the research to be commissioned or included in JNLR – somebody has to actually fund the research it is not free – and the model that evolved for radio made perfect sense to get it ot this point – makes sense to ask now HOW to move forward but just reads like having a rant without addressing the key issue -how much Poscasters are willing to who wants to actually PAY for the research to be commissioned – there is a big shift underway in terms of listening habits and a similar shift required in terms of the model to monetize podcasting etc
Can’t take Breslin seriously. Tired of z listers pushing this stuff. RTE isn’t much better with its rampant nepotism over the years.
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