This is my deep conviction that nothing can stop the will of a nation, especially if women are as brave as you
On November 20, 2024, the European Parliament welcomed Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the NCRI’s President-elect, to speak on the process of regime change and transition of power to the people of Iran.
Among dozens of meetings at the European Parliament, Mrs. Rajavi had a meeting with a group of women’s rights activists on the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Ms. Andreja Zver addressed this meeting.
Following are the remarks by Ms. Andreja Zver.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,
Dear Madam Rajavi,
Thank you for this kind invitation, and also thank you, Zala (Tomašič) for organizing this important event. And it seems that we Slovenians have a special empathy for victims of oppression, Milan (Zver), Zala, Janez Janša, and the rest. We feel with you because, for many years, for many decades, we have also been fighting against oppression.
And I’m especially honored that, I’m working for the institute that has been named after Dr. Jože Pučnik. He’s with us today. He was a political prisoner, a dissident in the communist times, and he was a professor of sociology. He was a democrat, and he’s also the father of the Slovenian independent state, which was established 33 years ago. So, I’m very honored.
I would like to start with you, dear Maryam because I think your personal life story and your family story are like the story of Iranian people brutally oppressed by the regime, without human rights, and without fundamental liberties.
I have read quite a lot about you, and I deeply feel your story, which is also, as I said, the story of many Slovenians, especially in the communist regime.
You started with a political career very early as a young girl in the university, and your family suffered a lot under the Shah’s regime. Your sisters were killed. One of them was pregnant with a baby. They tortured her, and they murdered her. And also, your brother-in-law was murdered, and your own brother was imprisoned and tortured. And many Iranian families have the same story. We feel this pain.
You continued your political career. You were a candidate in 1980 in the (parliamentary) elections, but there were huge frauds. We know now how this is, these electoral frauds in Venezuela, etc.
And, then you started to lead this resistance organization, which is now a huge organization, very important, the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
And immediately, as you started the leadership, you put women first, and this is important. As you said, dear Doreen (Rookmaker), women are the power.
They are the power. They are changing the world. We are changing the world. And we start within our families. It’s always like that.
I would like to say, dear Maryam, that this Mullah regime is considering you as a public enemy. You are the worst kind of enemy because you’re a courageous one. You’re number one. And they are terrified about your successes, your leadership, your international recognition.
We, all, have seen today that you are very popular among your people, and they want to restrict the resistance movement. They threaten you; they want to block you, but I think, this is my deep conviction, that nothing can stop the will of a nation. Nothing can stop that, especially if women are as brave as you.
And that’s why I deeply stand with you and with all the women of Iran and all the girls of Iran and all the youth of Iran and all the people that fight against this deeply undemocratic, theocratic dictatorship.
I would like to conclude with what my colleague, Doreen, here has been talking about: the prisoners in Iran’s prisons.
Women there are not treated as people. They are not people. They are not human beings. They face violations of human rights. They face all kinds of horrific things every day. Their human dignity is crushed into dust.
Yet, the Iranian women remain resistant and demand justice. They advocate for the release of detained protesters. And I urge every noble person to support their vision and your vision, dear Maryam.
I would like to conclude with a sentence that I read today, during today’s protests by teachers of Iran in front of the parliament. How courageous this is. And they have been chanting, “Enough is enough. Stop this tyranny now.”
