In Iran, people are protesting. They are women, mostly girls, and many men are joining them. It all started on September 16 after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was stopped by the religious police in Tehran because she did not wear the veil correctly. So far there have been more than seventy deaths and thousands of arrests.
In Russia, people are protesting. Throughout the country there are demonstrations against the mobilization announced by Vladimir Putin. Two thousand arrests so far, says the BBC. The most violent clashes were in Dagestan, the republic with the highest number of soldiers killed in the war.
In Tunisia, people are protesting. The supermarkets are empty, there is a lack of sugar, butter, mineral water and soon milk and bread may also be scarce, prices are rising, fuel prices in particular. Hundreds of Tunisians took to the streets spontaneously in the popular neighborhoods of the capital.
In Italy, people are protesting. They are mainly girls and boys who took part in last Friday’s global strike against the climate crisis in seventy cities. There were thirty thousand in Rome, ten thousand in Milan and the same number in Turin. Many more than those who, on the same day, were at the closing rallies of the electoral campaign.
Why are protests always important for democracy? Richard Norman, Emeritus Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Kent, UK, tried to list six reasons for OpenDemocracy: “1. People realize they are not alone. 2. Protesting means changing priorities and opening a debate. 3. In an electoral democracy, protests provide an essential voice for minorities. 4. Sometimes you win! 5. Sometimes you win in ways that were not foreseen or planned. 6. Sometimes you win, but not immediately and it takes more than a generation ”. ◆