‘Free Iran’: Anti-regime protests arrive in Jerusalem
"The people in Iran like the Israeli people very much, they like the Israeli government — and especially [Prime Minister Benjamin] Bibi Netanyahu."
By UDI SHAHAMUpdated: JANUARY 2, 2018 18:53Amin Neda at a "free Iran" rally in Jerusalem on January 2, 2018.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
A small group of Iranians protested on Tuesday outside Jerusalem's Old City against the Iranian regime. Protesters held signs reading “free Iran" and “help Iran” and waved the old Shah’s Iranian flag.The group identified itself as part of a larger group called “The Iranian Embassy in Jerusalem,” which intends to strengthen the ties between Israel and the Iranian people. The group consists mainly of Israeli-Jews from Iranian origin, according to Rani Amrani, one of its activists.Iranian journalist protests in Jerusalem against the Iranian regime and asks Netanyahu for help, January 2, 2018Among the protesters was Neda Amin, an Iranian journalist and human-rights activist who fled the Islamic Republic after the authorities sought to arrest her.Amin told The Jerusalem Post that here in Israel she feels safe, “baruch hashem [thank God in Hebrew]."“I am here as the Iranian voice. The Iranian people need help,” she said. “They don't want a regime of dictators — we want to free Iran.”Amin said that she staged this protest in order to call on the Israeli authorities to help the Iranian people.“The people in Iran like the Israeli people very much,” she said. “They like the Israeli government — and especially [Prime Minister Benjamin] Bibi Netanyahu. Many Iranian people told me to tell Bibi that we love him.”Another protester was Zvika Cohen, a fluent Farsi speaker whose parents came to Israel from Shiraz. He said that the people in Iran are waiting for the regime to collapse.“People there are suffering from poverty and famine. The regime takes money from people who have nothing to eat,” he said.“Where are the European leaders? Why aren't they helping the poor people of Iran? Do they care only about their own interests?”
