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Rio Olympics: Iranian woman pressured to take down sign or leave the venue/be banned

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M

Madness

Member
http://summergames.ap.org/article/olympic-security-asks-female-iranian-fan-drop-sign

https://www.thestar.com/content/dam...-volleyball.jpg.size.custom.crop.1086x724.jpg

Apologize for the giant pictures, so had to quote.

f85e1f855aa6a463eb40d2a14da7eb13


iran-volleyball.jpg.size.custom.crop.1086x724.jpg


424ca6cbba5fdcb1b39065bb9082c6ab
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Olympic security personnel questioned a female Iranian volleyball fan Saturday when she showed up for a match holding a large sign that read "Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums" and wearing a white T-shirt with those same words.

Darya Safai, who sat in a front-row courtside seat at Maracanazinho arena and briefly cried during the ordeal "because it hurts," said that Olympic officials pushed her to leave the venue but she was determined to stay put.

"They said they didn't want the sign in front of the cameras and they asked us to leave," said Safai, who was with friends also wearing the T-shirts. "They even tried to impress me with military people. I think it is a pity they always listen to what the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran says.

"This is not the first time I had this experience but I won't give up because that's what Iranian women do, they keep fighting for their rights."

The International Olympic Committee bans political statements at the games.

Born in Tehran and now living in Belgium, the 35-year-old Safai is the founder and director of "Let Iranian Women Enter Their Stadiums!" and an activist against gender discrimination. Women have generally been banned or heavily restricted from attending all-male sports events in Iran.

Women in Iran saw Safai's efforts on TV and appreciated the solidarity, taking to social media to offer their support.

"The Olympic Spirit, which is against discrimination, is what Iranian women need in their country," Safai said. "It should be the right of everyone, men and women, to attend a sports game. It is a pity that women have to travel to Brazil to watch and cheer for their national team."
Click to expand...

Thoughts? The Olympics is supposed to be about unity and the power of sport, and I am also against politicizing things, we have other venues for that, but this is something that touches on the very thing the Olympics is supposed to represent. Reading up on it, it seems a lot of the Iranian male fans jeered her for her signs as well and that women in general are not allowed to watch events or enter stadiums with males, or are allotted very little tickets for spaces far away and usually women only so as to not mingle with men. Gender equality in sport should be recognized for all Olympic countries. It also seems Iranian organizers tried to get Brazilian personnel to get her to leave under the guise of "no political statements".
 
N

Nokterian

Member
The Olympics is not about unity..it's about money and power..have you not seen that they are going after internet because making a GIF is copyright infringement do you even realise how stupid this sounds? I haven't followed the Olympics in a longtime and yet see here now intimidating people even with force of military it is pathetic. IOC has more control above a law than no other that's why it is dumb and governments won't do jack shit anyway.
 
K

Kolx

Member
I mean it's a tough decision. Morally they should have let her, but this could be used as a precedent for other cases and cause major controversy.
 
Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Member
Now this is a protest I can get behind (unlike some of the other shit coming out of the Olympics) as

Women have generally been banned or heavily restricted from attending all-male sports events in Iran.
Click to expand...

is absolutely disgusting.

This is the sort of thing I'd rather see YT "celebs" run on their channels than being pissed James Rolfe saying he wasn't going to see Ghostbusters.

What is likely though? This gets a couple of GAF pages and very little presence in social media. Cmon people, focus on the good fights. This women is a hero as said above by another GAFer.
 
M

Madness

Member
dragonlife said:
That third pic in the OP breaks my heart :(, especially because of how lively she looks before it.
Click to expand...

Well they did send in Brazilian military to try and intimidate her to take down the sign before making her leave the venue. You can see she genuinely loves her country and sport. It's crazy all she is fighting for is for the right of Persian/Iranian women to watch sporting events in their country, to be allowed to enter stadiums or watch events like Iranian wrestling, judo, soccer etc.

Very tough here. Women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights, but political statements are rarely tolerated by the IOC. Just sad. Don't know wtf is up with these theocratic countries that treat women so badly. Nothing will happen if you sit besides a woman and watch soccer games. Think about how crazy it is the next time you go to watch a sporting event and see men, women, children all enjoying the games or matches.
 
G

G.ZZZ

Member
Sadly the majority of the muslim world is probably against her views, and a statement like hers is considered provocative and subversive. A western nation not removing her sign it would be probably be seen as a provocation of the west that can't respect the sovereignity of islamic states when they do things that are wanted by the majority but disliked by western people (like re-employing the death penalty or having penalties for apostasy and all that jazz), but don't do anything when minorities provocative views are expressed. Same thing as statues being covered and all that jazz. You can't reason with those kind of views. Just ignore them and wait for them to come around, else you just give ammunition to nationalism.

I mean, in a "western" country like the US, you have like what, 30% of the people outright supporting Donald Trump? I don't think people actually realize how regressive the average person in less socially evolved states is. Sad things all around.
 
Audioboxer

Audioboxer

Member
Ninja Of Chaos said:
Holy shit at the death stare the man is giving her in the third pic.

Chill man.
Click to expand...

It is probably just camera caught a bad picture, but it's really bad timing if so. Gives off the whole "shutup women you are inferior and should know your place" vibe expected from regimes as oppressive and discriminatory as those Iran allows.
 
N

Ninja Of Chaos

Member
Audioboxer said:
It is probably just camera caught a bad picture, but it's really bad timing if so. Gives off the whole "shutup women you are inferior and should know your place" vibe expected from regimes as oppressive and discriminatory as those Iran allows.
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Yeah, true.

And to be fair, the man on the right seems to be standing up FOR her.
 
M

Maztorre

Member
Banning "political statements" is in itself a political statement in that the IOC is showing once again that they are happy to brush aside human rights abuses, as long as they get paid by their hosts.
 
F

freeofgreed

Member
Madness said:
http://summergames.ap.org/article/olympic-security-asks-female-iranian-fan-drop-sign

https://www.thestar.com/content/dam...-volleyball.jpg.size.custom.crop.1086x724.jpg

Apologize for the giant pictures, so had to quote.





Thoughts? The Olympics is supposed to be about unity and the power of sport, and I am also against politicizing things, we have other venues for that, but this is something that touches on the very thing the Olympics is supposed to represent. Reading up on it, it seems a lot of the Iranian male fans jeered her for her signs as well and that women in general are not allowed to watch events or enter stadiums with males, or are allotted very little tickets for spaces far away and usually women only so as to not mingle with men. Gender equality in sport should be recognized for all Olympic countries. It also seems Iranian organizers tried to get Brazilian personnel to get her to leave under the guise of "no political statements".
Click to expand...

Is this your first time watching the Olympics? The Olympics have always been politicized.
 
A

antispin

Member
If anything international events should shelter and encourage opinions that are otherwise banned in oppressive regimes.
 
andythinkpad

andythinkpad

Member
There is a wonderful little Iranian movie called Offside about a girl trying to sneak in soccer stadium dressed in man's clothing. It's probably my favorite Iranian movie. You guys should give it a try.
 
U

ultratruman

Banned
The Olympics organisers have always been very stringent when it comes to any sort of political protests / messages during the games. However, I can see the argument that these kinds of human rights issues really go beyond politics, and it's hard to see IOC as an arbiter of neutrality after they allowed themselves to be pressured into permitting Russia's state sponsored doping.
 
A

Alavard

Member
mcrommert said:
Hmm...yeah since they formed it in the 70's with overwhelming popular support...they do deserve it

Just like russians deserve Putin for supporting him overwhelmingly
Click to expand...

Even going by that logic, how long ago was the 1970s? How many of their current population hadn't even been born yet? Do they deserve it too?
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
mcrommert said:
Hmm...yeah since they formed it in the 70's with overwhelming popular support...they do deserve it

Just like russians deserve Putin for supporting him overwhelmingly
Click to expand...
I suggest you to take a long look at the 2011-2012 unrest.

There's a huge divide between young/urban Iranians and old/rural ones, on top of the fact that the current government came to power after purging all the other revolutionary parties following the coup.

Oriel said:
The Iranian people consistently back their shitty govt in elections. Even the "liberal" faction in the Iranian parliament are staunch Islamists.
Click to expand...
The country is a de facto dictatorship, but not exactly by popular choice. The council makes sure the only options are Diet Islamism and Super Duper Islamism so they continue to operate unchallenged. They are sitting on a ticking demographic bomb, though, so I don't expect the current situation to last forever.
 
S

*Splinter

Member
Maztorre said:
Banning "political statements" is in itself a political statement in that the IOC is showing once again that they are happy to brush aside human rights abuses, as long as they get paid by their hosts.
Click to expand...

Well of course she's asked to leave. It wouldn't be much of a protest if she was allowed to be there?
 
M

MikeDown

Banned
Nokterian said:
The Olympics is not about unity..it's about money and power..have you not seen that they are going after internet because making a GIF is copyright infringement do you even realise how stupid this sounds? I haven't followed the Olympics in a longtime and yet see here now intimidating people even with force of military it is pathetic. IOC has more control above a law than no other that's why it is dumb and governments won't do jack shit anyway.
Click to expand...
I'm really not sure what the woman is protesting; totally agree with you about the corruption of the IOC, especially when it comes to copyright. But I really don't see an issue here, Olympic policy (even in the trials) has really always been very strict when it comes to political messages/protests/statements.
 
B

Brinbe

Member
Surprise! The Olympics (and FIFA) are a fucking terrible and corrupt organization. It's yet another means for rich people to exploit and get richer, that's all. They don't give two shits about human rights.
 
R

Royal_Phalanx

Member
Funky Papa said:
I suggest you to take a long look at the 2011-2012 unrest.

There's a huge divide between young/urban Iranians and old/rural ones, on top of the fact that the current government came to power after purging all the other revolutionary parties following the coup.


The country is a de facto dictatorship, but not exactly by popular choice. The council makes sure the only options are Diet Islamism and Super Duper Islamism so they continue to operate unchallenged. They are sitting on a ticking demographic bomb, though, so I don't expect the current situation to last forever.
Click to expand...

Hopefully the young Iranians can take out their shitty theocracy eventually.
 
O

Oriel

Member
Funky Papa said:
I suggest you to take a long look at the 2011-2012 unrest.

There's a huge divide between young/urban Iranians and old/rural ones, on top of the fact that the current government came to power after purging all the other revolutionary parties following the coup.
Click to expand...

It's worth pointing out that during the unrest in the wake of the disputed presidential elections of 2009 activists insisted they fully supported the Iranian Islamist constitution and the political system that exists in the country. Protesters (in general) emphasise they support the present system but they want significant reform nonetheless.


Funky Papa said:
The country is a de facto dictatorship, but not exactly by popular choice. The council makes sure the only options are Diet Islamism and Super Duper Islamism so they continue to operate unchallenged. They are sitting on a ticking demographic bomb, though, so I don't expect the current situation to last forever.
Click to expand...

It's an authoritarian state with elements of democracy existing, much like Russia. The battle taking place is between liberal Islamism backef by the nation's youth and ultra-conservatism backed by the elderly Mullahs and clerics. It'll be interesting to see how this clash of generations plays out.
 
F

Funky Papa

FUNK-Y-PPA-4
Oriel said:
It's worth pointing out that during the unrest in the wake of the disputed presidential elections of 2009 activists insisted they fully supported the Iranian Islamist constitution and the political system that exists in the country. Protesters (in general) emphasise they support the present system but they want significant reform nonetheless.
Click to expand...
Other than that they'd be treated as coupists/insurgents instead of activists and addressed as such.

Not to mention that it would be foolish to expect an Islamic republic to transition from Middle Ages mores to secularism and equality. Getting close to Jordan in terms of human rights (which will probably happen sooner than later) would already be a huge achievement.
 
W

War Peaceman

You're a big guy.
The IOC bans political statements, but to ban women from participating in sports seems anti-Olympic. Also, stupid. Cowards.

On the other hand, this has probably given them more media attention than if they had done nothing at all.
 
J

JMTHEFOX

Member
The 3rd picture in the OP is so devastating. I feel extremely sorry for that woman, the ban for women to participate in the Olympics is disgusting.
 
N

nampad

Member
This is actually the best thing that could have happened to her. Elsewise, I would have never heard of the issues of Iranian female athletes.

The situation wasn't handled well of course but in the end her protest reaches more people this way. If I would have just read her sign on TV I would have no clue what it is about.
 
H

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Bull shit about the Olympics now allowing political statements. The entire event itself is one GIGANTIC political statement in of itself. Each country that is chosen for the event becomes a political statement. Whoever wins, how they win and so in is a political statement. What a crock of shit from the Olympic officials.
 
R

Royal_Phalanx

Member
Funky Papa said:
Other than that they'd be treated as coupists/insurgents instead of activists and addressed as such.

Not to mention that it would be foolish to expect an Islamic republic to transition from Middle Ages mores to secularism and equality. Getting close to Jordan in terms of human rights (which will probably happen sooner than later) would already be a huge achievement.
Click to expand...

What is Jordan like in terms of human rights?
 
V

Valhelm

contribute something
mcrommert said:
Hmm...yeah since they formed it in the 70's with overwhelming popular support...they do deserve it

Just like russians deserve Putin for supporting him overwhelmingly
Click to expand...

No, that's false. The Iranian Revolution was not Islamist in its inception, but Islamist groups seized power because they were more well-organized, and immediately banned left-wing opposition to keep their grip over Iran.

Ganzlinger said:
She is holding the Pahlavi dynasty flag.

Kudos!
Click to expand...

From what I can tell, the Shah really wasn't much better for the Iranian people. He was just more secular.
 
andythinkpad

andythinkpad

Member
nampad said:
This is actually the best thing that could have happened to her. Elsewise, I would have never heard of the issues of Iranian female athletes.

The situation wasn't handled well of course but in the end her protest reaches more people this way. If I would have just read her sign on TV I would have no clue what it is about.
Click to expand...


Dude, not female athletes. Female audience. Read the OP.
 
G

Gorillaz

Member
People keep buying into this whole narrative that the Olympics is all about peace and unity. Shit is literally a dick measuring contest between countries on the biggest stage of sports. Besides the world cup.

It is political to the bone
 
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