“We have no choice but to unite and protest”

These are the words of courageous political prisoner Narges Mohammadi, written from the dungeon called Qarchak, to the grieving families of those killed in the needless collapse of the Metropolis building in the port city of Abadan. But they could have been written to the hundreds being tortured in Iran’s prisons. Or the tens of thousands of Iranians who have been in the streets for the past month, righteously fighting for food, basic rights, and a better future, not backing down but courageously standing up to the Islamic Republic’s intensifying, often murderous brutality.

Iran’s courageous political prisoners – and its people – urgently need our support in fighting the increasingly barbaric theocratic tyranny they live under.  And the most powerful way we can support them is spreading the Emergency Appeal: The Lives of Iran’s Political Prisoners Hang in the Balance—We Must ACT Now, which has been signed by thousands from over 40 countries, including prominent voices of conscience including Nobel Laureates Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi, Noam Chomsky, Gloria Steinem, Daniel Ellsberg, Raymond Lotta and others.

World renowned author Ariel Dorfman urged participation in the International Emergency Campaign (IEC), writing, “I am convinced – from personal experience – that the prisoners themselves are given strength to survive and persevere, they are listening. They know others, faraway, care what happens to them, and we should not let them down.” Full statement here.

He’s right, we can’t “let them down.” An important step toward spreading it throughout society and the world and creating the kind of public outcry that the Islamic Republic of Iran cannot ignore: publishing the Emergency Appeal as a beautiful 2-page spread in Ms. Magazine’s Summer edition. Ms. has a track record of support for the Iranian people and a progressive audience of over 100,000.

So, give generously. You will be making a real difference to Iran’s political prisoners and to its future.

To donate, visit freeiranspoliticalprisonersnow.org/donate