IRAN UPDATE: NYC RALLY FOR IRAN GATHERS ABOUT 2000 SUPPORTERS

self | 7-09-03 | RaceBannon

[RaceBannon]

Today, in New York City, at Dag Hammerskold Square, about 2000 supporters of Iranian Freedom gathered in sresponse to a world wide call from the Students in Iran.

I was there with Freeperette Firebrand, gladly standing and marching in support of the people of Iran.

What is unfortunate, is that there was only about 5 or 6 people who were not Iranian! But, it is good we showed up, because we get to tell you all what we saw, and why it is necessary.

[RaceBannon]

I will be posting soon, some pics I took.

I got there about 10:30, met Firebrand and walked over to greet these people and to join them.

They were quite happy to see us! And, we were welcomed with open arms. One thing that was noticable: Iranian people LOVE Americans.

That is not a joke. They truly appreciate being here, and they also HATE the Mullahs!

While we all heard bad things about the Shah 23 years ago, how many have heard of the things that happened because of the Mullahs?

I heard personal stories from many. One man, his brother worked in the American Consulate. He was killed by Khomenie's people.

Another person told me how he was arrested because he was caught walking down the street with a woman who was not his sister or his wife. He was thrown in Jail for that.

So were the women. Jailed.

There were women there who seemed to be Muslim, but were against being forced to wear the Burkha, (I forgot the Iranian name for this dress). They also spoke of what happenes to women who wear colored clothing: They get beaten.

Many stories were heard of beatings by the hired men of the Mullahs, and also how many of these people are not even Iranian that are doing the beatings!

How many know that the Ayatollah Khomenie was not even Persian? His Mom and Dad were from India!

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[RaceBannon]

bump for Iranian Freedom.

I was interviewed by Voice of America and also on live radio in Tehran. Unfortunately, I do not speak Farsi, so I could not answer questions, but I was allowed to speak to the radio talk show host and tell them that Americans suported Iranian Freedom!

I did speak about 2 minutes to the crowd as an American who supported Iran, and was warmly received. Also, while I spoke, a woman held up her cell phone to the speaker and spoke to Tehran Radio again.

CNN was there, and so were a couple of local TV stations in NYC.

The Iranian Americans who were there wanted all of us in America to know, what you see on TV is NOT what the Iranians think of us: they do not all run around screaming that we are the Great Satan, they want us to return.

I told them of what an Iranian man told me in an e-mail; that Iran is begging us to invade. THEY ALL AGREED! They want the US to invade to overthrow the Mullahs in Iran and give them their freedom back!

[risk]

Awesome pro-Iranian demo eyewitness report, bump!!!

[KriegerGeist]

The Voice of the Iranian Revolution
By Dale Hurd
CBN News Sr. Reporter
July 9, 2003

If Iran's hard-liners are having trouble sleeping, and they probably are, it is because Iranians are fed up. And they are fed up because they are finally getting the truth about how bad Iran really is broadcast by satellite from, of all places, Tinseltown.

CBN - LOS ANGELES - Some believe Iran's hard-line Islamic government could fall within the next six to eight months. If it does, it will happen, in part, because of a group of small TV stations broadcasting into Iran. They are run by Iranian Americans, and they are causing more trouble for Iran's hard-line government than the CIA ever could.

If Iran's hard-liners are having trouble sleeping, and they probably are, it is because Iranians are fed up. And they are fed up because they are finally getting the truth about how bad Iran really is broadcast by satellite from, of all places, Tinseltown....

Link to great article on Iran's Revolution

[dr_who_2]

Meanwhile, Bush and his advisors are futzing around in Africa for no particular reason. Would Reagan do that?

[SJackson]

If you'd like to be on or off this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

[1stFreedom]

Gotta have this during lunch time and publicize it. If I had known I would have been there!

[solzhenitsyn]

Thanks for being there, Race!

[RaceBannon]

Ok, Here is the public page of my pictures from New York City, the Rally for Iran!

http://community.webshots.com/album/80515932kQqsdb

[xJones]

Great job, Race!

Back in the late '70s, I met a lot of Iranian students in the U.S. who absolutely hated the Shah and the Savak. All of them loved living in America, and were ingenious at devising ways to extend their visas, even though they resented our governments' support of the Shah (which Carter stopped).

This generation you are meeting now hate the mullahs that replaced the Shah. Hopefully, the Iranian people will get their act together and finally establish a government they can live with. The people as a whole are well educated, and not Arabic, so maybe there is hope.

But you did well at the demonstration.

[Cacique]

I had planned on being there but got sick at the last minute.

[RaceBannon]

Iranian student leader Reza Amerinasab speaks to journalists at a news conference in Tehran on July 9, 2003 where students announced they had cancelled protests to mark the anniversary of 1999 university unrest. Following the news conference, armed Islamic vigilantes seized three student leaders witnesses said. (Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/030709/161/4msk4.html

[RaceBannon]

Iranian-Americans protest against Tehran regime in Washington

Wed Jul 9, 6:14 PM ET Add Politics - AFP to My Yahoo!

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hundreds of Iranian-Americans gathered on Capitol Hill to protest the regime in Tehran at an event marking the fourth anniversary of bloody student clashes with security forces in the Iranian capital.

AFP Photo

Members of the reformist student umbrella group, the "Office to Consolidate Unity" (OCU), wait for police protection following the arrest of three of their number by plain-clothes security men in central Tehran.(AFP/Atta Kenare)

The protesters came from around the country and gathered in front of Congress, where they chanted slogans against the Tehran regime.

"Iranians want freedom and a secular democracy," said Iraj Zamanian, a spokesman for the organizers. "So they want the Islamic Republic to be removed."

Farzad Nasiri, who was tortured by the Tehran regime, was equally blunt. "Go, go Islamic regime of Iran must go!" he chanted.

Nasiri, 32, was imprisoned for five years for his political activity against the regime.

"In jail, I was whipped in the back and under the feet," said Nasiri, who has lived in the United States since 1998. "And I had to pay if I wanted to get food."

Sophia Moshasha, 18, was angered at the strict lifestyle imposed by Iran's clerical regime. "In Iran, my cousins have to wear uniforms," she said. "On the beach, they cannot swim together, they are separated by gender."

On July 9, 1999 students and police clashed in Tehran, with at least one student was shot dead and hundreds of others arrested or injured.

Some of the students detained in the 1999 unrest are still in jail.

Thousands of Iranians converged on an area around Tehran University Wednesday to mark the fourth anniversary of bloody student riots, despite the deployment of hundreds of riot police and hardline vigilantes.

[RaceBannon]

Iranians living in Cyprus demand the release of jailed students in Iran during a demonstration in Nicosia on Wednesday, July 9, 2003. The protest took place on the anniversary of the 1999 student unrest in Tehran. (AP Photo/Philip Mark)

[nuconvert]

This is GREAT you 2. Has DRZ seen this? You need to have everyone on the Iranian Alert Live Thread see this.
And an interview!
AWESOME!

[RaceBannon]

Islamic Vigilantes Seize Three Iran Student Leaders
Wed Jul 9, 9:29 AM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030709/wl_nm/iran_protests_dc_3


By Jon Hemming

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Armed Iranian Islamic vigilantes seized three student leaders on Wednesday as they left a news conference where they announced they had canceled protests to mark the anniversary of 1999 university unrest, witnesses said.


Reuters Photo


AFP
Slideshow: Iran




Authorities have banned off-campus rallies, closed campus dormitories, postponed summer exams and vowed to deal strictly with any unrest after arresting 4,000 people during 10 nights of sometimes violent protests across the country in June.


"After the news conference when some of our friends wanted to leave, armed plainclothes men in three cars attacked the students and kidnapped three members of the Office to Consolidate Unity," Matin Meshkini, a student leader, told Reuters.


Other witnesses said some 15 people armed with handguns and with the trademark beards, walkie-talkies and untucked shirts of Islamic vigilantes pushed aside uniformed police who tried to intervene as they bundled the three into waiting cars.


"We cannot call it arrest, it was a kidnapping," Meshkini said.


Remaining student leaders locked themselves in the Office to Consolidate Unity, Iran's main student organization, fearing for their safety. They left hours later after Tehran's police chief guaranteed they would not be harmed or arrested.


"We believe remaining here would give them a pretext for a worse confrontation with student activists," Meshkini said.


Students said they canceled protests in front of the Tehran United Nations headquarters and a campus sit-in, fearing a backlash from security forces and after an appeal for calm from five reformist parliamentarians close to the student movement.


The plainclothes militiamen are fiercely loyal to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's most powerful figure, and are beyond the control of the elected government of moderate President Mohammad Khatami and the official police hierarchy.


One student leader said eight members of the Office to Consolidate Unity had been seized by unidentified assailants before Wednesday and their whereabouts were still unknown.


ANNIVERSARY OF CLASHES


The canceled demonstrations had been planned to mark the day four years ago when hardline vigilantes fiercely loyal to conservative clerics attacked a Tehran University dormitory, killing one person and sparking five days of mass protests.


Many ordinary Iranians, frustrated by Khatami's failure to advance reforms in the face of hardline opposition, pledged to join any student protests on Wednesday.


In June, demonstrations went one step beyond previous pro-reform protests. Chants broke the taboo against insulting Khamenei and also condemned reformist leaders. The United States strongly backed the demonstrations and was accused by Iran of blatant interference in its internal affairs.


Witnesses said police and military units were posted outside the Tehran U.N. headquarters on Wednesday and photographers and camera crews were prevented from taking pictures at the scene.


Khatami has remained largely mute on last month's protests, limiting himself to words of support for the democratic right to protest, while praising the actions of security forces.


The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance told news organizations not to go to any demonstrations. "It is expected that you do not attend any possible illegal gatherings," a faxed statement said.

[RaceBannon]

I finally learned to stop hating them. I can say that emotion is finally gone.

Now, I pity them. I hope they can throw out these mullahs that we ALL hate.

But, Iran has GUN CONTROL.

http://rescueattempt.tripod.com

[MoJo2001]

BTTT!! May God protect these brave men and women!