Sahar Delijani was born in Evin Prison in Tehran. Her mother, who had been part of the movement that toppled the Shah in Iran, had been jailed as the new regime silenced some of the coalition that brought it to power. Her uncle was subsequently one of many political prisoners executed by the regime in 1988.

Sahar Delijani wrote about those experiences in her bestselling novel, Children of Jacaranda Tree.

On June 23 Israel bombed Evin Prison during their attacks on Iran and 71 people including jailed dissidents were killed.

On Free State today Sahar Delijani recounts her own experiences in Iran and why those experiences have made her more fearful of the west and Israel's demonisation of Iran. She talks about how the dangerous talk of regime change threatens ordinary Iranians. She explains why people have lost faith in the west and why Israel’s attempts to look for change would be laughable if it wasn't so dangerous.

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In the aftermath of having their US visas revoked following their comments at Glastonbury, Bob Vylan issued a statement saying they were “a distraction from the story”.

“We are not for the death of Jews, Arabs or any other race or group of people,” their statement said. “We are for the dismantling of a violent military machine … a machine that has destroyed much of Gaza.”

On Free State today, Joe and Dion look at why Bob Vylan are not a distraction, it is more dangerous than that. Instead they explain why they, like Kneecap, are being turned into a futile sacrifice, not to distract from the genocide but to brainwash the gullible into believing they aren’t seeing what they know they’re seeing.

In the week that Palestine Action were banned alongside two neo Nazi groups, they ask what has happened to a society that foams with outrage over comments on a stage but remains quiet about a genocide.

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