The global campaign against Nokia, after it emerged the company is assisting the Iranian regime in its monitoring program, continues:
“Nokia out of Iran!” demanded protestors gathering peacefully on Thursday outside the Nokia Flagship Store in New York City. “Iran has cracked down on nonviolent protestors with surveillance technology developed by Nokia,” observed rally co-organizer Ricky Chen, a student at Middlebury. “Until Nokia severs its partnership with the Iranian regime, we are boycotting Nokia.”
With police and several Nokia executives in suits watching from the sidewalk, the protestors chanted: “Repression we can’t condone – throw out your Nokia phone!” The event was organized in partnership with Students for Justice in Iran and with mobilizing assistance from the “Where Is My Vote?” initiative.… As the rally began, the Nokia store – which features funky interior walls that change color every few minutes – ironically began to glow green, the color of solidarity with Iranian protestors.
“We want Nokia executives to know we will not be silent, and we want Iranian students to know we stand with them,” said Alaleh Solati, a student organizer at American University. “Nokia should be ashamed for helping to enable this crackdown – and Iranian students need to see that we won’t abandon them.”… A “flash mob” followed the rally at New York’s Penn Station, attracting over a dozen police officers and thousands of curious commuters.
At the same time, protesters gathered outside the Nokia Store in Chiacgo. The success of all these events has activists vowing to make such protests a regular occurrence.