ALAMEH Statement on Iran

ALAMEH (Association of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage) released a issued a statement on current events in Iran. Read it here or in full in this post.

Association of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage

November 16, 2022

Zan. Zendegi. Azadi. Woman. Life. Freedom. These are the words Iranian citizens have been shouting from the streets throughout Iran for the last several weeks. Iranians took to the streets to protest the murder of a Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini. She was arrested and died at the hands of the “morality police” for wearing her mandatory hijab “improperly.” The people of Iran took to the streets to protest her death and Iran’s gender apartheid regime.

What started as protests have turned into a women-led revolution. From the start of this revolution, women, men, and children have been killed. Iranians have been imprisoned for fighting for their freedom and collective liberation. For weeks now, people across the globe have been protesting in solidarity with the people of Iran.

The ELCA Association of Lutherans of Arab and Middle Eastern Heritage stands with the women and youth of Iran in their fight for equality. We support their fight for justice, freedom from oppression, and against gender-based discrimination. We are called into a lifelong commitment to caring for our neighbor in our baptism. Our faith calls us to speak out against injustice, violence, and oppression.

We pray for the leaders of the revolution. We pray for the families that have lost their loved ones at the hands of the Iranian government. We pray for Iranians living in the diaspora who cannot go home and who have loved ones living in Iran. We pray for an end to the state-sanctioned violence against Iranian citizens. Finally, we pray for liberation, freedom, and peace.

We call upon the ELCA to raise the women and youth of Iran in prayer as they continue to fight for their freedom and liberation.

Rev. Khader El-Yateem
ALAMEH President