For the third time in three days, New Yorkers came out in the hundreds to rally on behalf of the protesters in Iran. Organized by Amnesty International and other concerned rights groups, the rally featured speeches by the Executive Director of Amnesty, a former congresswoman, and several prominent activists. The usual chants of “The people united will never be defeated” and “What do we want? Freedom!” rang out in Columbus Circle at the edge of Central Park.
A moment of silence calmed the crowd, many of whom held white roses and candles in remembrance of those killed in the chaos that has followed the June 12th election. The night ended with a great performance by the Freedom Glory Project – one song’s lyrics crying “We will erase your name; we will show no restraint” – and the releasing of dozens of green balloons into the Manhattan skyline. NY1 and several news outlets also covered the event.
Click here to see the full slideshow, or check out the videos below – including a snippet from the band’s performance. Profiles on two of the rally’s participants will go up in the morning.
NYC For Iran 
Thank you so much to everyone for a peaceful and memorable demonstration. Free Iran.
It was fantastic to see both the informed and uninformed willing to show solidarity, AND just that – no cry for intervention, no cry for war, only a cry for justice. The band was fantastic and I wish they would put that song up.
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A Panorama of the rally is here:
http://www.twitpic.com/8j4nb/full
This is a photoshop stitch of 9 pictures from an iPhone so the quality is low but I felt it was the only way to show the size of the event.
When and where is the next NYC rally?
Amir –
We’re not quite sure yet. There is an organizer’s meeting today in Manhattan. I’ve got people passing on the details, so as soon as I have them, they’ll be posted on NYC for Iran.
This is the rally we had on June 20, 2009 in Atlanta in front of CNN Center. We also had a vigil night for Neda two days ago.