Israel Pars TV, the Israeli channel fighting the Iranian regime

From her small apartment in central Israel, Parisa Daniel is trying to help make a difference in Iran with a TV channel.

With the help of another Iranian-born Israeli named Kamiran Aviv, Daniel created Israel Pars TV, an online television channel that broadcasts in Persian to Iranians everywhere. On the channel, aired programs and interviews denounce the current Mullah regime. 

Born in Iran's Shiraz to a Jewish family, Daniel faced many hardships in her life. Forced to marry a man she didn't want at the age of 17, she then became an activist against the Islamic Republic, becoming a real target for the authorities. 

"I was put in prison and then released and not allowed to leave the country. I then moved to Tehran where I lived for three months under a false identity. I was alone, nobody knew where I was. I had no money either because the authorities had blocked my account," she said.

In 2014, she managed to escape the country with her two daughters by crossing the border with Afghanistan during a snowstorm. She then arrived in Israel where she found work in a supermarket. It was a short-lived respite because a year and a half later, she was diagnosed with metastasized breast cancer at a particularly advanced stage. 

"The doctors told me it was too late, and that nothing more could be done for me. But I didn't give up. I promised myself that I would not die until I saw the Iranian regime fall. My time had not yet come," Daniel said.

It was not long after that, in 2016, when she went into remission, that she established Israel Pars TV. She noted that the channel's impact has never been stronger since the anti-regime protests triggered in September by the death of Mahsa Amini. Parisa Daniel and her colleague have since been receiving more and more calls for help. 

"Some Iranians, for example, ask me to speak to [Israel's Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and [Opposition Leader] Yair Lapid so that they can help them. Many, including non-Jewish Iranians, also say they want to immigrate to Israel," Daniel said. Other Iranians, especially those based in Tehran, send her messages congratulating her for her struggle, even from a distant country like Israel. 

According to Daniel, 90 percent of Iran's citizens no longer want to be religious and would opt for a secular life if the regime fell.

"Their faith is in Cyrus, the Persian king who ruled in 580 B.C., and they curse the prophet, Mohammed. They feel that the regime has lied to them and betrayed them. At the height of the protests, some of them were on the streets day and night. They would call me while they were making Molotov cocktails and say they were ready to die for the regime to fall," she said.