...Why...?

There are so many things I know I will never understand...I can accept that...But right now, I will never understand why a strong, beautiful young woman had to be sacrificed; why her blood had to be spilled just so some heartless bastard could stay in power. The Iranian girl whose letter I re-posted in a few places online...she is dead. Her friend, Idiomagic, received the news from Fayah's sister that she had been severely beaten by Basij militia and never regained consciousness. This was Fayah's last message to the world:

"I love life. I love to laugh and be with my friends. There are so many books I want to read, movies I want to see, people I want to meet. I want to marry, to be a good wife and mother. I want to grow old with the people I love, to feel the sun on my face, to see the ocean, to travel.

My country is in a terrible state. People have no jobs. There is no money. People have no freedom. Women must hide themselves from the world, and we have no choices.

Our people--we are not terrorists. We hate terrorists. And that is what our government has become. They kill our people for no reason. They torture us in their prisons because we want freedom. They make our country look evil, they make our religion look evil.

We are fighting for our freedom, for our religion, for our country. If we do nothing while injustice abounds, we become unjust. We turn into the ones we hate.

I have to fight. I have to go back on the streets. I will make them kill me. I will join Neda, with my friends, and then maybe the world will hear us.

I never thought I would become a martyr, but it is needed. The more of us they kill, the smaller they become, the more strength the people will have. Maybe my death will mean nothing, but maybe it will buy my country freedom.

I am very sad that I will never be a mother, that I will never do the things I love, but I would rather die than do nothing and know that I am to blame for the tortures, the murder, the hatred.

Please tell the world how much we love life. That we are not terrorists. We just want to be free."

She died on August 2nd, I will be marking her 40th day anniversary - an important time of mourning for Muslims - to honor her. Her message inspired me to keep going. And just when I started to question myself, she has re-inspired me again. I hope the men that murdered her will be brought to justice. I wish her goal for martyrdom had failed...I wish she could have fallen in love, become a good wife and mother just like she wanted to instead. Even though I never met this person, I won't forget her. May she be resting in peace.

Those who killed her will be brought to justice, they will be the ones on trial next for their crimes. There is no excuse for killing others who are only guilty of seeking freedom.