Translator’s Note: I decided to translate this blog by Jila Bani Yaghoub, Bahman Ahmadi Amouei’s wife because she expresses the thoughts that went through my mind when the 16 political prisoners finally decided to end their hunger strike after 15 days this week. I recall the noise on Facebookand and Twitter. People questioning whether after putting all this pressure on the Islamic Republic, if the prisoners should have ended their hunger strike. I remember being furious, thinking out loud “Do you not have compassion? Can you not put yourselves in the shoes of their family members, even for one second?” It became clear to me then, that it’s easier to preach when you are not the one putting your life in danger. It’s easier to be a hero when you are not the one affected. It is easier to forget the human suffering when you are so disconnected….
The content of Jila Bani Yaghoub’s message posted on her blog on Wednesday August 11th, 2010 is as follows:
I have heard that some are disappointed and unhappy about the fact that the political prisoners ended their hunger strike. I am not going to go into any significant detail regarding this matter. I will say, however, that we should perhaps take into consideration the level of human endurance. Perhaps we should try and imagine, if only for one moment what these families have endured; imagine not just Majid Dari’s mother, or Ali Parviz’s or even Hamid Reza Mohammadi or Hossein Nourani Nejad’s, or any of the other mothers, spouses and relatives who were unable to eat for two weeks, but also my mother whose son-in-law was on hunger strike and couldn’t touch food.
Think of little Amir Ali, who despite all our efforts to hide things from him, is smart and figured out from the whispers of the adults that his uncle Bahman was not eating. Think of little Amir Ali who was suffering from severe anxiety and couldn’t sleep at night. Think of this young boy who had difficulty breathing and when his mother would inquire why would respond “I’m afraid that uncle Bahman will starve, fall to the ground and never get up.” It made me want to call Bahman and to tell him “Even if the requests by important well known figures are not important to you then at least end your hunger strike for little Amir Ali who is having trouble breathing day and night.”
I also believe that the fact that the message of those on hunger strike reached our nation was a victory in itself; it meant that their demands had some how been met. We could not tolerate to see any further risk on their heath. The two week hunger strike by these prisoners was significant enough in and of itself. Why should we be upset that it ended? How many more days should their mothers and spouses have worried about their well being? We were close to a disaster both for the prisons and for their families. If you had witnessed the agony and distraught look on the faces of mothers who stood in the hot summer sun outside of the prosecutor’s office and the prison, you too would realize that the lives of these mothers based on the physical and psychological pressures they had endured was in no less danger than that of their imprisoned children.
Believe me when I say we could no longer bear to see the tears of their mothers and to watch them refuse to eat. We could not bear to see them disappear slowly in front of our eyes. They suffer enough as a result of their children’s incarceration. Please don’t ask more of them. Some of the prisoners on hungers strike suffer from acute illnesses and this was of grave concern to us. Need I say more?
Source: http://zhila.org/spip.php?article301
طاقت نداشتیم سلامت اعتصاب کنندگان بیش از این به خطر بیفتد
چهار شنبه 11 اوت 2010
ژیلا بنی یعقوب
شنیدم که برخی از شکستن اعتصاب غذای زندانی ها ناراضی هستند .من نمی خواهم خیلی در این باره توضیح بدهم .فقط می خواهم بگویم که گاهی به طاقت انسان ها توجه کنیم .گاهی به طاقت خانواده ها هم نگاه کنیم.نه فقط مادر مجید دری ، مادرعلی پرویز، مادر حمیدرضا محمدی و مادر حسین نورانی نژاد و بقیه مادرها و همسرها نزدیک دو هفته بود چیزی نمی خوردند که مادر من هم که دامادش اعتصاب کرده بود نمی توانست غذا بخورد.
امیرمهدی کوچولو که هرچه مخفی کاری کردیم فایده ای نداشت و چون باهوش است از حرفهای درگوشی بزرگترها فهمید که دایی بهمن اش غذا نمی خورد ،دچار اضطراب شدید شده بود و شب ها خوابش نمی برد و می گفت نمی توانم نفس بکشم و وقتی مادرش می پرسید چرا؟می گفت می ترسم دایی بهمن از گرسنگی بیفته زمین وبعدش دیگه نتونه هیچ وقت از جاش بلند بشه و راه بره ! و من دلم می خواست بهمن زنگ بزند بگویم اگر درخواست شخصیت ها برایت مهم نیست ،لااقل به خاطر امیر کوچولو که نه فقط شب ها توی رختخواب دچار تنگی نفس می شود که در روز چند بار نفسش بندمی آید ،اعتصابت را بشکن .همین!
ضمنا فکر می کنم همین که پیام اعتصاب کنندگان به مردم رسید ،آنها به خواسته شان رسیده اند و ما طاقت نداشتیم که بیشتر از این سلامت شان به خطر بیفتد.اعتصاب دو هفته ای و جمعی زندانیان به اندازه کافی بزرگ و تاثیر گذار بود.چرا باید از تمام شدن آن ناراحت باشیم ؟چند روز دیگر قرار بود مادران و همسران شان نگران سلامت و به خطر افتادن زندگی عزیزان شان باشند؟ممکن بود فاجعه ای برای زندانی ها و یا حتی خانواده هایشان رخ دهد.اگر شما هم مثل من حال آشفته و نزار مادرها را مقابل دادستانی و زندان اوین زیر آفتاب گرم تابستان می دیدید ، با تمام وجود احساس می کردید که زندگی این مادران به خاطر فشارهای روحی وارده ،کمتر از سلامت فرزندان شان درخطر نیست.
باور کنید !ما طاقت اشکهای مادران را ،طاقت غذا نخوردن آنها را ،طاقت ذره ذره اب شدن شان را بیشتر از این نداریم.آنها به اندازه کافی به خاطر زندانی بودن فرزندان شان رنج می کشند ، دیگر بیشتر از این ،از آنها نخواهیم.
برخی از اعتصاب کنندگان بیماری های حاد داشتند و این خیلی ما را می ترساند.بازهم بگویم؟
