‘Say Her Name With Me’: Jewish-Led Indie Rock Band Releasing New Song Honoring Mahsa Amini, Symbol of Iranian Protest Movement
An image of Mahsa Amini, allegedly murdered by the Iranian authorities, is seen on the tail of the plane that carried Brazil’s national soccer team to the Women’s World Cup in Australia. Photo: Reuters/Nurphoto
A new single commemorating the first anniversary of the death of Jina “Mahsa” Amini — the 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested and allegedly tortured by the Iranian regime’s “Morality Police” for wearing her hijab, or head covering, inappropriately, sparking historic demonstrations across the country — is being released by the indie rock band Iraqis in Pajamas.
The band, whose music is based on traditional Iraqi Jewish song, will release the track, titled #MahsaAmini, on Sept. 16, when Jews around the world mark Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.
In August, the band invited its fans to record themselves saying Amini’s name, along with names of the hundreds of people people killed by Iranian security forces in the clashes that followed Amini’s death. Nineteen names of protesters will also be included in the song. The lyrics reflect the defiance of the demonstrators, with a chorus that declares, “Mahsa Amini, say her name with me.”
Attempts by the Iranian authorities to portray Amini’s death as the result of brain surgery she had as a child were widely dismissed, as world leaders expressed disgust at the manner of her death and thousands of Iranians adopted her as the symbol of their “Women, Life, Freedom” revolution.
Iraqis in Pajamas is led by Loolwa Khazzoom, the daughter of an Iraqi Jewish refugee and its only Jewish member alongside drummer Chris Belin and guitarist Mike Deeth.
Following Amini’s death, Khazzoom sprang into action, sharing content on social media, writing to US government officials, and raising funds for advocacy groups supporting the protesters.
The song honoring Amini is based on a poem she wrote in tribute. It includes the lyrics” “We won’t take it anymore and suffer silently/Burn the hijab/Show your face, fearlessly.”
Iran’s female protesters are also praised in the song and called “goddesses in black.” The band sings: “Your courage is breathtaking/Igniting the world to act/ We hear you; we see you/Ladies, we’ve got your back.” Describing Amini’s ordeal, the song states that the “police grabbed her/Beat her to death mercilessly/Tell me/Is this your idea of godliness/And modesty?”
A statement on the band’s website announcing the new single noted that for Khazzoom, “the song emerged from a deeply personal place. As a girl, she experienced sexual violence that stemmed from Middle Eastern men’s obsession with women’s hair, and in addition, she inherited her grandmother’s abaya – the full-body covering that all women of Iraq had to wear by Muslim law, regardless of a woman’s religion.”
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