Posted on 09/14/2005 3:46:43 PM PDT by Do not dub me shapka broham
Let me first preface my remarks by stating for the record that I didn't attend this demonstration in order to voice support for a particular faction in the Iranian democracy movement, and was-quite honestly-surprised by the extent to which the MEK/NCRI had monopolized the crowd that had gathered in the shadow of the United Nations General Assembly in order to protest the visit to this country by a man who is the president of what is-bar none-the leading state sponsor of international terrorism.
The minute you entered the rally you began to spot the nearly beatific images of Maryam Rajavi and her better-or depending upon your perspective, worse-half smiling out at you from meticulously designed, campaign-style placards and posters.
The crowd itself was awash in a sea of blue and yellow, complementing-to a certain extent-the profusion of red, gold, white and green that I became immersed in after passing through the barricades erected by the NYPD in order to maintain a modicum of order and security, which was extraordinarly difficult, considering the fact that this anti-mullah rally took place directly adjacent to a very boisterous demonstration of support for the adherents to Falun Gong, who took the despotic gerontocracy currently running the PRC to task for their relentless persecution of Chinese citizens who choose to practice their faith as they see fit, in contravention of government directives.
Eventually the two groups began to overlap, as Falun Gong practitioners began to filter into the pit reserved exclusively-more or less-for anti-Khameini/Ahmadinejad and pro-democracy protestors.
Despite the somewhat oppressive atmosphere created by the multitude of Rajavi acolytes-and I hasten to add that they deserve some degree of credit for managing to organize such a visually arresting presence today-there were still representatives from a variety of different sectors of the Persian, post-revolution diaspora, including Kurds who proudly displayed their heritage-and denounced the persecution of their brethren by the totalitarian-not to mention, virulantly racist and chauvinistic-Iranian regime.
There were people representing Azeri political exiles, who demanded that their brothers and sisters-currently suffering in NW Iran-receive the full panoply of rights and privileges that should-by birth right, if not by legal statute-be accorded to them.
As I was exiting the rally I was pleasantly surprised to see a table promoting the Worker-Communist Party of Iran, and the words of Mansour Hekmat.
In spite of the vast chasm that separated us philosophically, I could appreciate their willingness to speak out forthrightly-and without equivocation-against the fascist ideology that animates the current despotic Iranian regime, whose political predecessors ensured that there would be no room for the existence of a WPI, or MEK, or any strain of Kurdish nationalism, or constitutional monarchism, nor any celebration of the wondrous tradition of Zoroastrianism that still captivates the collective psyche of Persia and its inhabitants.
In short, a complete and unmitigated denial of even the semblance of religious or political pluralism.
So, irrespective of our seemingly large political differences, I was able to salute his conviction, and we managed to come to agreement on at least a few points, one of which was the complete hypocrisy of the farcical Tudeh Party.
Another being the uselessness of dwelling upon past mistakes, no matter how far-reaching their reverberations might have been-for example, the military/intelligence intervention to remove Mossedegh-to the detriment of resolving present exigent crises, the most pressing of which is the rapid nuclearization of the world's most prominent state sponsor of terror.
This was a recurring theme of the demonstration, which was also marked by small posters that juxtaposed the gruesome visage of Iran's current (installed) president with the image of a gigantic mushroom cloud.
Two horrifying images that vividly illustrated the problem we're facing.
I think that is the salient point here.
Regardless of whatever internecine political squabbles may exist between us, we should all be united-as Americans, if nothing else-on this point.
We are dealing with a regime that not only flagrantly violates the fundamental natural rights of its own citizens, but one that is intent on blackmailing-at the very least-the rest of humanity with the threat of imminent nuclear annihilation.
This is not a regional threat, it is a global threat, and we ignore it at our own peril.
I wish that I could have composed a slightly more coherent summary of the actual events that took place, but due to the fact that I was only present to watch a few speeches-including the wonderfully lyrical jeremiad delivered by an extremely eloquent Rabbi Zucker, the capstone of which was a boldly defiant call on the shofar-I can't give you an accurate synopsis of the day's events, other than to recount the general atmosphere of the day and how it reflected the assets-and deficiencies-of the pro-freedom movement on the domestic front.
The fact that this was a high ozone day didn't exactly help matters.
I can't even begin to describe the migraine I'm experiencing at the moment.
In any case, your thoughts are welcome.
-good times, G.J.P. (Jr.)
Wish I could have made it.
You had a the WPI table-complete with flaming red banner sprorting a portrait of Karl Marx-standing across from the Rajavi swarm, while a group of guys who looked like they just stepped out of central casting-one of them wearing an Arkansas Razorbacks t-shirt-eagerly awaited a speech delivered by an impassioned Bapist minister who had come to New York City all the way from Georgia.
There were the Pahlavi supporters-who I believe were bussed in from either California or Texas, or both-marching and shouting down 2nd Avenue in their casual wear, bearing photos of the late Shah's son, mingling with banners that were imprinted with the unforgettable image of Mr. Batebi-an enduring symbol of student resistance.
There was a girl with-of course-the typical Che lithograph.
(Eye roll.)
There were even a few women wearing hejabs, which is something that I hadn't initially anticipated.
There was even one man-in cutoff jeans and a belly shirt-holding up a sign that highlighted Iran's ruthless persecution of homosexuals and lesbians.
Wow, that would have been a sight!
At least it shows the different political views in Iran...I just wish it had a majority of Conservative Palahvi supporters or something.
But the Che shirts...who did they think the Shah was trying to get rid of in the first place??
You always have to account for youthful naivete.
:0)
In defense of the Pahlavis, the group I ran into as I was leaving the rally said that they would be coming later on.
I honestly think that most of their support-and people who live on the west coast can correct me if this is inaccurate-comes from Socal and/or Texas.
ping
You were there in 2003, right?
Thanks for the report! How many Anti-regime protesters do you estimate were there?
I had heard that Pahlavi supporters were coming down from Toronto. There was also a group from Tx, though I don't know if they were specifically Pahlavi supporters. There were also some Calif, I guess. The Calif. Iranian TV stations advertised the demonstration.
The reason you had so many people seemingly in the MEK camp, was that they did the first internet ads and sign-up lists, and I think they did an ad in a NY paper. They got organized early, but never told anyone who they were.
That's their MO. They hide their identity, get a big crowd, and then report that the crowd is all supporters of there's. They have also in the past reported thousands attending a gathering, when there were hundreds.(and not all the people were supporters)
SO, no surprise, the media didn't think it worthy to report anything. As I suggested to someone else today, a few people should have carried anti-war posters, and maybe they would have gotten some coverage.
There was also a group (The International Fund) which paid people to show up advertising their website.
I still have no clue what their precise relationship to the rally was.
Then you had the Falun Gong supporters-and Mandarin-language media-that eventually migrated over to the anti-regime rally.
It got a bit confusing after an hour or so, which is when I made my exit, fortuitously running into some chanting Pahlavi supporters as they were marching toward 2nd Ave and I was heading toward the D train.
One more question: What time were you there?
I spent about an hour or two there, before leaving.
There were still people coming-a small group that was bused in, and as I mentioned, Pahlavi supporters-who I encountered on my way out.
Thanks for all the details
I do wish that there had been another FReeper or Protest Warrior in attendance with a digital camera handy.
There was an informational table set up by the PWI, which had a huge red banner with portraits of Marx and Engels as its backdrop.
I wish I had gotten a picture of that!
I seem to have inverted the word order of the Worker's Party of Iran.
Worker-Communist, according to this indecipherable-at least, from my standpoint-Farsi-language pamphlet.
They have a photoshopped graphic of President Bush as the pope, taken from freakingnews.com apparently.
I don't know what that's about.
Sounds lovely! You wanted pics for Halloween cards or what?
"President Bush as the pope" lol
All those religious people are the same.
yup!
Though I'm not sure whether it would be construed as scary-or just plain odd-in the context of a Halloween card.
:))
This is the kind of propaganda(crap) that MEK puts out there.....
"20,000 Iranians rally outside UN...."
http://www.ncr-iran.org/content/view/373/1/
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