A Street in the Capital of Austria Named After 'Zhina Mahsa Amini'

Marina Hanke, an official from the Austrian Social Democratic Party, announced on Monday that for the first time in the world, a street in Vienna, the capital of Austria, will officially be named after Zhina Mahsa Amini. According to a press release issued on Monday, the news of this naming was announced at a gathering in the Human Rights Square in Vienna. The official announcement of this naming is set to take place in two weeks. At this gathering, Shora Hashemi, an Iranian-Austrian diplomat, Mariana Hanke from the Social Democratic Party, and Mina Khani, an Iranian writer and feminist, spoke. According to the report, this naming was the result of efforts by Ava Farajpour, an Iranian-Austrian politician from the Social Democratic Party. Ms. Farajpour, of Iranian Kurdish descent, has played an active role in advocating for political prisoners in Iran in recent months. Shora Hashemi has also been active in highlighting news about Iran in Austria in recent months. Mina Khani described the naming of a street in Vienna after Mahsa Zhina Amini as a historic event, stating: 'The name Zhina Mahsa Amini has become a symbol of the people's resistance; as someone wrote on her grave: Zhina, you are immortal, and today a street is named after Zhina Mahsa Amini, in honor of the Iranian people's revolution.' In an interview with Voice of America, she noted that 'such symbolic actions keep the memory of Zhina and the revolution in Iran alive,' adding that 'similar actions have been taken regarding the victims of fascism in Germany, which remain in the memory of the people of that country and the world.' She further stated: 'The culture of remembrance and the culture of not forgetting is something that post-fascist Europe, especially Germany and Austria, reached in the process of denazification after World War II.' Mina Khani also mentioned: 'That today in this part of the world we can keep the memory of Zhina Mahsa Amini and the Iranian revolution alive, especially in times when media attention to Iran has diminished, is very impactful.' According to this Iranian feminist activist, another important aspect of this issue is that the suffering of the Iranian people is recognized, and their struggle against the ruling dictatorship in Iran is acknowledged. Previously, streets or squares in several European cities had been named after Mahsa Amini, including a main square in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Additionally, in a ceremony on May 7, a street in Frankfurt, where the Iranian consulate is located, was symbolically and unofficially named 'Zhina Mahsa Amini Street' with the permission of the Frankfurt municipality. Earlier, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, stated at a ceremony on October 6 of last year in front of the Paris City Hall that soon a street in the French capital would be registered in the name of Mahsa Amini so that she would not be forgotten. However, no news has been published regarding this naming.