The story of the Iranian mother, Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery in Iran and sentenced to death by stoning has made news around the world.
The Iranian government, in the face of public outrage and international pressure, commuted her stoning sentence yesterday.
One of the reasons this story received so much attention and public figures around the world were galvanized in the effort to save Ms Ashtiani was because of the frantic efforts of Toronto's Heather Reisman, the founder and chief executive of Indigo Books.
Ms. Reisman made some calls in her power rolodex (Blackberry?) and within a day an online petition was garnering thousands of signatures and her friends in the media, like Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post were spreading news of the potential atrocity through the world's media.
However the Iranian government has not yet committed to sparing Ms Ashtiani's life and may find another medieval method of executing her.
Ms Reisman, whose chain of bookstores was the subject of a failed boycott attempt by hapless anti-Israel partisans upset at her philanthropic contributions to the the Mideast's only democracy, has shown a type of activism that is life-saving rather than the self-serving histrionics of her opponents.
You can see some of the boycott Indigo clowns in the video. If waving keffiyehs around and shrieks following a badly choreographed dance performance is likely to alter your political outlook, then these people may be on to something, but personally, I think they come across as intellectually-challenged buffoons.
And as an addendum via Blazing Cat Fur, Michael Coren has a funny observation
UPDATE: July 12 - unfortunately, It appears Ms Ashtiani isn't out of the woods..or quarry yet.
EYE ON A CRAZY PLANET
Source Vagabond stuff is great. I highly recommend them. First time I'd heard Source Vagabond supplies the IDF though.
ReplyDeleteAlso a lot of the 'Lone Soldiers' are not people who have come from abroad specially to fight in the IDF, but just youngsters with no parents or families, who nevertheless have to do the mandatory military service and need a lot of help making ends meet, because army salaries for conscripts are miniscule.