Update on “Postcards for Iran”

Less than 2 weeks ago, Mideast Youth launched “Postcards for Iran“, a campaign that aimed to draw awareness to the worsening situation in Iran, and to encourage individuals across the world to take action in response.

So what has happened since the launch?

To date, we’ve received well over 400 submissions from all corners of the globe: from Canada, El Salvador, Ghana, Bermuda, Australia, Germany, Ethiopia, Slovenia, Afghanistan and many others.

A large number of those who submitted postcards chose to send “Postcards of Concern” to the Iranian Head of the Judiciary or the permanent mission of Iran to the UN.

But even more chose to send “Postcards of Support” to prisoners in the notorious Evin prison. Detained bloggers, women’s activists and student activists received messages of support, reassuring them that the world is aware of their plight and wishing for their safety. But a majority of the postcards were sent to the 7 Baha’i leaders in Evin, who have been imprisoned for over a year now under preposterous charges.

Reactions to the campaign have been overwhelmingly positive (and inevitably, it was also accused of being a “Zionist plot” led by the “evil Shirin Ebadi), and three days after its launch, it was featured on the front page of the Jerusalem Post.

We’re all truly gladdened by the success the campaign has met with so far. Had we chosen to pursue the “traditional” route and launch an online petition or requested people to send letters of appeal, we’re fairly certain that fewer individuals would have chosen to participate.

In fact, we believe that the strength of the “Postcards for Iran” campaign derives from the fact that it draws the benefits of both online and offline activism.

Unfortunately, after sending out our 300th card, we had to temporarily suspend the mailing out process. We promised participants that we would ensure their cards are printed, stamped and mailed to their destination of choice, and so we have! But that process requires money.

The postcards campaign is extremely important to us, but so is paying our server fees, so are our commitments to bloggers and activists whose projects we promised to sponsor, and so is the maintenance of our current projects.

We wish to thank all those who have contributed to date, but they’ve covered only a fraction of the total amount.

We need your help in order to keep the campaign alive and running. Every $50 we receive helps us cover the cost of mailing out 25 postcards.

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