The International Day of Families, celebrated each year on May 15, is a poignant reminder of the profound role this smallest—yet most powerful—unit of society plays in shaping individuals and our world. This day is more than just a calendar event to honor families across the globe. It is an opportunity to reflect on how we can build a world where every family, regardless of color, race, or culture, can live in peace and security.
The family is the first school where we learn love, socialization, respect, and compassion. It is within the family that we begin to practice kindness, justice, and responsibility. When parents respect their children, when siblings learn to resolve disagreements without violence, they are, in essence, cultivating a culture of peace and equality.
The United Nations recognizes that if the world is to become a better place, change must begin within these small units. That’s why it promotes programs like ending child poverty, supporting female-headed households, and preventing child labor—aiming to protect vulnerable families and enhance access to education and healthcare while reducing discrimination. It's no exaggeration to say that human rights begin here—with a child’s right to grow up in a loving home, and parents’ right to witness the flourishing of their children.
This day teaches us that family is a universal value, and preserving it is everyone’s responsibility. In this light, perhaps May 15 is not just a single day, but a starting point—a reminder to dedicate every day to family. Not just the family waiting for us at home, but a greater family we all belong to: humanity. Perhaps those families who have lost their children in terrorist attacks offer the most painful image of the collapse of this "human family." Terrorism doesn’t only claim lives, it shatters families.
These are families who did not choose grief, but were forced into it by the hatred of terrorist groups. The numbers are staggering. According to the Encyclopedia of Iranian Terror Victims, over 23,000 Iranians have been killed in acts of terrorism—each one representing a grieving family. These are not mere numbers. Behind every number is a mother who has waited for years for her child to return, a father who was buried longing to see his only child again, siblings who spent their childhood longing to play with the loved one they lost. Terrorism is not just an act—it’s a chain of pain that continues for years.
Among these 23,000 terror victims, there are stories that pierce the heart of any human being: families whose every member was assassinated in a single attack, survivors who lost all their loved ones in a single moment and are left alone with a lifetime of sorrow.
So why should these families hold a special place on the International Day of Families? Because they are living reminders of how fragile and illusory global peace can be. These 23,000 victims are not only casualties of terrorism but also of the double standards of nations that shelter terrorists within their secure borders. The International Day of Families must become a day to expose such hypocrisy—a day for the world to remember how Iranian families became victims in the political games of global powers.
It must be remembered how Western governments—particularly France, the UK, and the US—have provided safe haven, financial and legal support, and political protection to terrorist groups like Komala, the Democrat Party of Iranian Kurdistan, and the MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq). These governments, while claiming to fight terrorism, simultaneously protect groups with the blood of thousands of innocent Iranians on their hands—demonstrating that for them, human rights are merely a political pretext.
The international community must be the voice of these families—not with a mere minute of silence, but through meaningful action as these families have endured the harshest test. The International Day of Families is a chance for the world to finally hear their cry.
The United Nations, as a body that claims to defend human rights, cannot remain silent in the face of this human tragedy. It must establish a special committee to investigate these cases of terrorism and pursue legal justice. Until terrorists are denied refuge in Europe and the United States, victims’ families will never see justice. Moreover, the creation of international funds to support families of terror victims would be a practical step toward achieving justice since justice is not only about punishing perpetrators, but also about healing the wounds of survivors.
On this International Day of Families, we must ask: Does the world truly believe in the value of family? If the answer is yes, then the cycle of supporting terrorism must be broken. Terrorism is the number one enemy of families and of human rights. This is the true meaning of a "global family": to see others' pain as our own, and come together to protect it.
On the International Day of Families, let us proclaim louder than ever that supporting terrorists in any form is a crime. Iranian families have the right to know why the murderers of 23,000 of their loved ones live freely in Paris and London and why Western media refuse to speak the truth about the bloody acts committed by their own sponsored terror groups.
By Ebrahim Kimiaei, a political researcher