Iranian Jewish Activist Continues Her Fight Against Regime From Israel

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Farisa Daniel is undeterred by trials and tribulations, even those that have repeatedly threatened her life. Daniel is the director of Israel-Pars TV, an Israeli television station in Persian which allows opposers of the regime to broadcast their opposition to a foreign outlet. For Daniel, toppling the regime is a goal she hopes to assist with her support for the dissidents – as she herself once lived in Iran and was an opponent herself.

Born in Shiraz, Iran, to a Jewish family, Daniel was forced to marry a man she didn’t want when she was only 17. Later she became involved in the Jewish community in Shiraz as an activist, which made her a target for the Iranian authorities.

Daniel told I24 news that she was imprisoned by the authorities in Iran and then released.

“I moved to Tehran, and I spent three months there under a hidden identity. I didn’t have money because the authorities blocked my bank account,” she said.

Eventually Daniel succeeded in escaping Iran with her two daughters by crossing treacherous snow-covered mountains into Afghanistan. Arriving in Israel, Farisa started working in a supermarket, but this was by far the end of her troubles.

Just a year and a half after arriving in Israel, Daniel discovered that she had stage four breast cancer. “The doctors said that there was nothing they could do. But I didn’t give up. I told myself that I don’t want to die. I want to see the downfall of the Iranian regime before I go.”

Daniel recovered from her illness and in 2016 founded Israel-Pars TV, an online channel which brings news from Iran to Persian expatriates worldwide. Ever since the start of the protests, Daniel and her colleague Karman Aviv, another Iranian Jew living in Israel, have received many more calls from Iranians asking for help.

People call and ask for help.” says Daniel. “They tell me to talk to Benjamin Netanyahu and Yair Lapid to help them. They tell me that the European countries must close their embassies in Iran and cut ties with the country.”

“Many of them want to move to Israel,” Daniel adds. “Even non-Jews. They curse Mohammad, saying that it’s all a lie. The government lied to them and betrayed them. Their faith is not Islam anymore. They believe in Cyrus the Great.”

Daniel claims that protesters are so determined to topple the regime that they are not even afraid to die. “They tell me, ‘It’s either we’ll all die, or the regime will fall,'” she says and promises to be a voice for the courageous people of Iran as they battle their regime.