some protestors are so stupid

[Chet]

Canadian woman dies after setting herself afire in protest

LONDON (AP) - A Canadian woman who set herself on fire outside the French embassy here last week as part of a protest has died, police said Tuesday.
Police did not name the woman, but said she died from injuries sustained last Wednesday during a protest at French measures against an Iranian opposition group. At the time, fellow activists identified her as 24-year- old Meda Hassani of Ottawa, Ont. Police said the protester died on Monday afternoon at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. They released no further details at the family's request.

Hassani was one of four people who set themselves alight outside the French embassy last week to protest a round up by French police of members of the Mujahedeen Khalq, an Iranian opposition group accused of terrorism by the United States and the European Union.

Three men also set themselves on fire outside the French embassy but survived their injuries. A woman who set herself alight in a similar protest in Paris died from her burns.

[Chet]

I can see the point of protesting but killing youreslf is gonna get you nowhere
this is gonna get the cause... nowhere
where is she going? Nowhere

[Jingles]

martyrdom is the ultimate for some people though (jesus anyone?)
Suicide bombers are revered in their home towns - many have their faces on flags and their families are treated with much respect with by their communities

In north America, dying for a cause just isn't on the top of our list of priorities - likely no soccer mom would set herself on fire to lower class sizes ----

but there have been many instances of people sacraficing themselves to bring attention to their cause -- like the monk who set himself on fire (that famous picture..you know the one) It's a foreign concept to me..but then again i don't know what she was protesting

[Chet]

that is true
but once you are dead there is nothing else you can do
the suicide bombers are atleast killing the 'enemy' and dying for it
just like the kamikazi pilots of WWII
but commiting sucide to bring attention to a cause only takes the attention away and puts it on the "Martyr"

[Hot Karl]

chet: sometimes some people get more accomplished in death than they do in life.

[Chet]

thats true but it just blows my mind
maybe it's because I don't belive in anything strongly enough to give my life for it
but wow
who does that

[Prissypants]

Hmmm...I had never heard of this woman's cause before and I bet if it was a normal protest, you probably would never have written about it. But the fact that she killed herself brought attention to herself and her cause so was the act totally in vain? I think not.

[Chet]

not really
it brings a little bit of attention to the cause but I'm sure the public would instead focus on the people lighting themselves on fire, which is just one big and extreme publicity stunt
when I read that I didn't think " holy shit those accused terrorists should go free" instead I thought "whoa some lady set herself on fire"

I don't remember why the monk set himself on fire
I only know that he did and someone got rich taking a picture of it

[Hot Karl]

^it's different nowadays now too. the effect of martyrdom is not as strong as it used to be. our whole society is so cynical and jaded.

[Senior]

Originally posted by Chet:
not really
it brings a little bit of attention to the cause but I'm sure the public would instead focus on the people lighting themselves on fire, which is just one big and extreme publicity stunt
when I read that I didn't think " holy shit those accused terrorists should go free" instead I thought "whoa some lady set herself on fire"

I don't remember why the monk set himself on fire
I only know that he did and someone got rich taking a picture of it

Keep in mind though that us North Americans have a very self(ish) centered view of things in general. So while you might not pay much attention to this a lot of people might. Also you have no idea of the context of what happened. What if it was some of her family members who have been affected by what she was protesting? I know that if I was ever to do something so insane it would be connected to family 100%.

[.anya]

well, as Martin Luther King once said: "a man who won't die for something is not fit to live".
i'm not sure i totally agree, but there is something to admire in that woman's courage. on the other hand, there is something to question in her logic...

[sungoo]

when you believe in something so strongly, you're willing to sacrifice everything for it. sometimes, even your life.