Emphasis by Dozens of Organizations and Civil Activists on the Necessity of Organizing Protests and Strikes

About 120 student and pupil organizations, as well as civil activists, announced in a joint statement on Friday, November 9, that "the way out of the crisis of warmongering is the active role of freedom-loving people and the organization of nationwide protests and strikes and the establishment of a general strike." The statement reads: "Our salvation lies in organized collective struggle and our resistance under the banner of 'Women, Life, Freedom.'" The signatories emphasized that "the continuation and expansion of councils and groups for organizing and holding protests in cities and neighborhoods can strengthen resistance against the government's tactics and repression and turn our struggles and the 'Women, Life, Freedom' revolution into the center of transformations." The statement also noted that "today, more than ever, it is necessary for nationwide strikes and protests to be pursued and initiated more broadly by various sectors of society with the increasing presence of the aggrieved people." The statement stresses that the continuation of the "general strike" is not only "a response to oppression and repression; but a practical and vital strategy to confront the warmongering and repressive machine of the Islamic Republic." The signatories called on "freedom-loving Iranians abroad and all groups, organizations, networks, campaigns, and political parties" that have carried the banner of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' revolution over the past two years to "organize broader protests and work towards boycotting the gender apartheid and warmongering government." Part of the statement reads: "We, the people who have been taken hostage in a prison as vast as Iran by the Islamic Republic regime, have repeatedly proven that neither prison, nor torture, nor repression, nor execution can break our resolve." The organizations and activists signing the statement emphasized: "In this large prison, we have moved towards the practical abolition of compulsory hijab with widespread non-hijab and with all our struggle and power, we have changed the image of Iranian society in the world to one with modern, secular, and universal demands. These are among our greatest achievements for liberation." They also wrote: "We, the freedom-loving people, are not only not alongside the warmongering government; we are not waiting for external equations and saviors either." Among the signatories of the statement are the Progressive Students Organization, the National Committee of Kurdistan Students, the Students' Organization of Islamic Azad University in Isfahan, the Union of Students of Alzahra University, the Revolutionary Students' Organization of Tehran, the Revolutionary Students' Organization of Bushehr, the Association of Families of Victims of Aban, the Association of Victims and Seekers of Justice of the Jina Uprising, the International Physicians and Healthcare Staff Association of Iran, the Tomaj Salehi Foundation, Women of Kurdistan Against Gender Discrimination, the Australian Republican Iranians Group, the Sustainable Women’s Independence and Equality Network, the Global Network for the Freedom of Political and Belief Prisoners in Iran, and the Iranian Network in Norway. The statement is also signed by the Global Campaign Against the Death Penalty in Iran, Kokab Badaghi-Pegah, Mahbubeh Farahzadi, Nasrat Beheshti, Pouran Nazemi, Soheil Arabi, Farangis Mazloom, Sara Siyahpour, Narges Zarifian, Azam Daneshvar, Elham Rasouli, Raheleh Ahmadi, Hadith Sabouri, Barzan Mohammadi, Manzar Zarabi, Shirin Shams, Elham Modarresi, Fariba Baluch, Mahshid Nazemi, Yahya Serkhani, Soran Mansournia, Saba Alaleh, Nahid Hosseini, Azmat Azhdari, and Fariba Borhan-Zahi. Other signatories include Melika Amina, Rezvan Moghadam, Fatemeh Davand, Fatemeh Khushru, Mehdi Mousavi, Shoaleh Pakrovan, Sara Sediqi-Hamdaani, Ladan Bazargan, Keyvan Samadi, Mahsa Pirayi, Shiva Mahbubi, Azam Bahrami, Azadeh Davachi, Mojgan Keshavarz, Shaparak Shajari-Zadeh, Maria Mahmoudi, Bayan Azimi, Shahla Daneshfar, Mina Ahadi, Mina Khani, Hajar Mehrabi, Joanna Timisi, and Siamak Farid. Protests by healthcare staff in three cities: Enough promises, our table is empty. The Free Union of Iranian Workers: The freedom-seeking of teachers, university professors, and youth cannot be suppressed. Protest gathering of medical students of Islamic Azad University in front of the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The National Teachers' Organization of Iran condemned the continued repression of teachers' union activists under the government of Medicalian. The National Teachers' Organization: Administrative violation committees continue to suppress teachers. Workers of several South Pars gas refineries went on strike in the eleventh week of Tuesday protests.