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Swedish member of the European parliament Abir Al-Sahlani cut her hair during a speech in the EU assembly. The Iraq-born Al-Sahani member of parliament (MP) called for EU action against Iran.
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Al-Sahlani cut her hair in solidarity with the anti-government protests in Iran that sparked after 22-year-old Mahsa Amini died in the custody of the morality police.
She said, “Until Iran is free, our fury will be bigger than the oppressors. Until the women of Iran are free we are going to stand with you.” Al-Sahani then took a pair of scissors and said, “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi. Women, Life, Freedom,” while she cut off her hair.
She also called the EU foreign police chief Josep Borrell a “spineless coward”. She said, “He has cowardly refrained from supporting the protesters in Iran.”
Who Is Abir Al-Sahlani?
- Abir Al-Sahlani is an Iraqi-born Swedish Member of the European Parliament, representing the Center Party.
- She was born in Basra, Iraq in 1967 and her father Faisal Sahani was a leading opposition politician. After she fled Iraq with her mother, she arrived in Sweden alone when she was 15.
- In 2004, the politician was appointed to the position of Secretary General of the Iraqi National Democratic Alliance (DNA) position. In 2007, Al-Sahani became a member of Sweden's Center Party.
- Al-Sahlani was elected to the European Parliament in 2019 and has served on the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs since then.
- She is also a member of the European Parliament Intergroup on Seas, Rivers, Islands, and Coastal Areas, the European Parliament Intergroup on Disability, and the European Parliament Intergroup of LGBT Rights.
- Since 2021, Al-Sahlani has been a part of the Parliament's delegation to the Conference on the Future of Europe.
- In October 2022, Al-Sahlani cut off her hair in the middle of her speech at European Parliament in Strasbourg, France in solidarity with the women in Iran and the Mahsa Amini protests.
- Al-Sahlani called upon Europe to act against Iran's government and show their support for the protestors.
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Suggested Reading: From France To Afghanistan: Iran Protests Against Mahsa Amini's Death Spread