Friday
September 22 2000
Ansar-e Los Angeles
I went to Dr. Kamal Kharrazi's talk today at the University of California,
Los Angeles (UCLA), yesterday. Unfortunately due to some major error my
name was missing from the invitation list, even though it should have been,
as part of a group from the Association of Iranian Professionals here,
as well as a personal connection.
I talked with an officer of the Iranian mission to the UN and despite
his best efforts the guys from the U.S. State Department would not let
me in. Essentially I wasted five hours :-)
There was a lot of mixup with the names and the diplomatic security
services guys from State simply refused to move or consider anybody even
if the Iranian government guys begged them to! There were at least two
guys from the CIA there too - you could easily tell.
However it was not all a waste, although of course I would have liked
very much to attend the speech. Instead I saw a demonstation by about 120
Iranians outside the place - real live theater! Sad rahmat be ansaar-e
hezbollah! These guys beat at least five or six people that I saw with
my own eyes. They cursed and insulted and hit everybody who walked in,
including me (mozdoor! khaae'en! vatanforoosh! aakhoond-e bi ammameh!
kesaafat! olaagh! ... you name it!).
They beat two students just because they were walking with T-shirts
with "la elaaha ellalaah" on the front and "Hossein"
in the back - these poor guys had to run and literally throw themselves
at the police to be saved! They beat three or four other people dressed
in suits and ties and looking like professors. They almost tried to charge
and beat me and others standing next to me!
The anger in their eyes was evident, and they were very violent. One
of them appeared ready to kill a young Iranian girl standing next to me
(no hejab) who has recently come from Iran, and is pro-Khatami. One word
descibes them all: Vahshi! Totally! Politically they were a mix: Communists,
cherik-haaye fadaie, socialists, monarchists, MKO and other mixed up versions
of all these! What a scene! Some of their slogans in English:
UCLA shame shame!
Down with Khatami! (chanted much more than "Down with Khamenei")
Down with Islamic Republic of Iran!
Kharrazi Terrorist!
No to Hezbollah!
And the same in Persian. I feel like I went to Disneyworld, except
the rides were really life threatening and I am happy to be back alive!
Ali
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