Remembering Jina Mahsa Amini: You remain one of us

Four years ago, on September 16, 2022, Jina Mahsa Amini was dead. Three days earlier, she had been arrested by the so-called moral police in Tehran because she was allegedly not wearing her hijab properly. Her death became the beginning of “Woman, Life, Freedom.” Today it should be less about the movement and more about Jina. About a 22-year-old woman who walked through Tehran with her brother and never came home again. About a woman who could have been any of us.

Jina, you weren't just one of us. You were one of us. What makes your death so unbearable for many Iranian women to this day is its frightening everydayness. You didn't protest that day. You didn't have a weapon. You didn't attack anyone. You had shown a bit of your hair. That was all.

is an Iranian author and student. She has lived in Germany for several years and publishes under a pseudonym for security reasons. In 2026, her essay “If I hadn’t been born in Iran” was published by cross-publishers.

If you didn't grow up in Iran, you might be wondering what a few extra inches of hair meant. For us they were often a language of disobedience. The angrier and more desperate we became, the further the headscarf slipped back. It said: This is not my decision. You're forcing me to do this. I wore my headscarf the same way. My mother often asked me to move it forward because she was afraid for me. I also traveled to Tehran with my family. I could have been arrested too. I too could have been the one who doesn't come home.

The taz is an independent, left-wing and opinionated daily newspaper. We have been arguing in our comments, essays and debate texts since the taz was founded in 1979. We often cannot and do not want to agree on an opinion. That's why you'll find some completely opposing positions here - all part of the very broad left-wing spectrum of opinions.

Maybe that's exactly the reason why I still can't let go of you, Jina. We know you today as a symbol. But you should have been much more. You were allowed to grow older, love people, make mistakes, travel, argue and change your mind a hundred times. Jina means life. Four years later, we should remember not only what your death triggered, but also the ordinary, unknown life that was taken from you.