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BY JADE NASH CLEVELAND PUBLISHED 4:00 PM ET OCT. 03, 2022 LAKEWOOD, Ohio — Fatemeh Pishdadian and her husband, Hamid Charkhkar, made signs to carry at a protest. What You Need To Know A protest against the death of Mahsa Amini took place at Cleveland Public Square on Oct. 1 Fatemeh Pishdadian and her husband, Hamid Charkhkar, attended Pishdadian’s parents died as political activists in Iran in the 1980s “This is to support the Iranian people, who took to the streets to protest their anger,” Charkhkar said. The couple joined the millions of people around the world speaking out against the death of Mahsa Amini, 22, who died days after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for how she wore her head covering. “She was arrested because of not wearing [a] proper hijab,” Pishdadian said. Both Pishdadian and Charkhkar grew up in Iran, and Pishdadian said she was shocked by the size of this uprising. “What is so significant about this uprising in Iran is it’s a progressive aspect,” Pishdadian said. “It’s about women and their rights.”  She said she felt motivated to speak out because of her parents. “They were political activists, and they were arrested and imprisoned,” Pishdadian said. “My father was killed under torture, and my mother was executed for the crime of speaking out.” Pishdadian said her parents died when she was just eight months old. Despite having no memory of them, she said she wants to carry their legacy. “Every time I attend a protest, I take them with me because I want the three of us to be together whenever we are raising our voices,” Pishdadian said. It’s a type of support that Charkhkar said he’s proud to join his wife in. “In my opinion, it’s not just a women issue, it’s a human rights issue,” Charkhkar said. They said they planned to make their voices heard in the middle of Cleveland Public Square on Oct. 1. “Even though we are far away from home, our heart goes out to them. We are breathing and living this call for freedom every day,” Pishdadian said. The couple added that after the protests end; they want the world to continue keeping their eyes on Iran. “It is very crucial for people to keep saying Mahsa’s name,” Charkhkar said. Please Click Here for the article.

Jason Hawk, The Chronicle-Telegram Sep 30, 2022 5:00 AM OBERLIN — Two members of Congress say religion professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati’s employment at Oberlin College raises concerns “about the Iranian regime’s infiltration of our higher education system.” U.S. Reps. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, and Virginia Foxx, R-North Carolina, sent a letter Wednesday to Oberlin College trustees and President Carmen Twillie Ambar, saying they are worried about national security and demanding documents about his job and who pays for it. Both are members of the Committee on Education and Labor. The letter accuses the college of whitewashing Mahallati’s “well-documented involvement in human rights abuses” while he served as Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1987 to 1989. During that time, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed thousands of political prisoners and buried them in unmarked graves. No one knows exactly how many were killed. Human Rights Watch estimates the deaths range between 2,800 and 4,500 while others believe as many as 30,000 perished. “Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Canada’s Parliament labeled these mass killings as crimes against humanity,” Banks and Foxx wrote. “Despite the clear and overwhelming evidence that these events were occurring, Mr. Mahallati dismissed these atrocities as ‘nothing but propaganda’ and ‘fake information.’” Mahallati taught at Princeton, Georgetown, Yale and Columbia University in the 1980s and 1990s, and was hired at Oberlin College in 2007. There he has developed courses in friendship and forgiveness studies and started the annual Friendship Day Festival. In October 2020, a group calling itself the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists demanded Mahallati be fired. Leading the group was Lawdan Bazargan, who said her brother was among those put to death in 1988. Reached for comment Thursday, she said Mahallati “spent his life defending a brutal gender-apartheid regime” and said her group is “shocked and disappointed that Oberlin College has given Mahallati a platform to promote radical Islamic ideology, spread hate and division and call it peace and friendship.” She also criticized his role as a trustee of the Boston-based ILEX Foundation, which promotes the study of Middle Eastern civilizations. Through the foundation, Mahallati has allegedly invited controversial Iranian politicians to speak. As Iran’s representative, Mahallati had to know about the slaughter and was culpable in covering it up, Bazargan has said on several occasions. In a 2018 report, Amnesty International listed Mahallati among those who “were actively involved in denying the mass killings in media interviews and exchanges with the U.N. to shield those responsible from accountability.” Oberlin College said it conducted an investigation over the following year. “The inquiry did not find proof to corroborate the allegations that Professor Mahallati knew of the atrocities at the time he was asked about them during his tenure at the United Nations,” according to a statement from the college. Nor could the review find a pattern of antisemitic behavior or calls for the destruction of Israel, Oberlin College said in response to accusations lobbied by protesters. Mahallati told the college he believes in a two-state solution allowing Israel and Palestine to coexist peacefully, according to the statement. Bazargan has also helped advance a recent claim that as Iran’s ambassador Mahallati defended Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s order to kill Salman Rushdie. The controversial author’s novel “The Satanic Verses” was based on the life of the prophet Muhammad and was perceived by many Muslims as blasphemy. Rushdie has survived a number of assassination attempts in the decades since, including being stabbed 15 times on Aug. 12 of this year. But the claim that Mahallati endorsed the fatwa against Rushdie is somewhat tenuous. Pressed about it in 1989, Mahallati reportedly said, “I think all Islamic countries agree with Iran. All Islamic nations and countries agree with Iran that any blasphemous statement against sacred figures should be condemned,” but did not explicitly call for violence. In their letter, Banks and Foxx said Mahallati has maintained a “close association with Tehran’s tyrannical regime” during his tenure at Oberlin. They called into question Oberlin College’s reporting of foreign funding under the Higher Education Act, and whether the Iranian government played a role in securing Mahallati’s job in 2007. Banks and Foxx have asked the college to disclose whether it’s received funding or in-kind contributions from Iran or anyone linked to its government and to disclose the funding source for Mahallati’s endowed professorship. They are also demanding any related financial statements, all contracts associated with Mahallati’s employment and his course syllabi from the past 15 years. The two representatives set an Oct. 12 deadline for the college to comply. “The United States has a clear interest in refusing to coddle human rights violators, and Congress has repeatedly raised concerns about domestic political interference from hostile foreign regimes on our college campuses,” they wrote. “It is utterly perplexing that Oberlin so obstinately harbors Mr. Mahallati, an individual with such a disgraceful past and of questionable current allegiance.” Mahallati and Oberlin College did not respond to requests for comment. Jason Hawk can be reached at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com. Please Click Here for the article.

A letter sent to Oberlin wants answers on professor’s ‘apparent leading role in covering up the Iranian regime’s atrocities’ By Benjamin Weinthal | Fox News Two Republican lawmakers from the Committee of Education and Labor called for an inquiry Wednesday into Oberlin College’s religion studies professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati due to his reported ties with the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran and his alleged role in the cover-up of a massacre of up to 5,000 Iranian political prisoners, Fox News Digital can exclusively report.  “Mr. Mahallati’s current association with and his open loyalty to the Iranian regime causes serious national security concerns. It also puts into question Oberlin’s reporting of foreign funding: any omissions from this report would violate section 117of the Higher Education Act, “wrote Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind and Rep Virginia Foxx, R-NC in a letter to Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar and Oberlin’s Board of Trustees.  Fox News Digital obtained the three-page letter.   According to the letter, there are questions “whether the Iranian regime played a role in his [Mahallati] employment at Oberlin and whether federal taxpayer dollars should be provided to a college that goes to such great lengths to protect and defend an Iranian regime affiliate.” OHIO BAKERY CELEBRATES DEFAMATION WIN OVER OBERLIN, VOWS TO REBUILD WHAT FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM DESTROYED The congressional members’ probe plunged Oberlin College management into new chaos after the college experienced a humiliating legal defeat against the community Gibson’s Bakery following accusations of racism.  “Just this month Oberlin had to pay $36 million for defaming a local bakery with false accusations of racism.  Oberlin has a track record of politically motivated dishonesty and can’t be trusted to give an honest assessment of Mahallati’s past. Our concerns have nothing to do with academic freedom or unorthodox views—they’re about Mahallati’s past and his apparent leading role in covering up the Iranian regime’s atrocities. I’d like to thank Ranking Member Foxx for her commitment to investigating higher education’s ties to hostile foreign regimes when Republicans retake the majority, “Republican Study Committee Chairman Banks told Fox News Digital.  The congressional letter stated “Mr. Mahallati’s connections with one of America’s chief adversaries are not a secret. Indeed, Mr. Mahallati served as Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 1987 to 1989. During his tenure, the Iranian government carried out a systematic extermination of political prisoners and other dissidents. While estimates differ on the number of those killed, Human Rights Watch estimated that the deaths range between about 2,800 and 4,500. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Canada’s parliament labeled these mass killings as crimes against humanity.”  Mahallati denied the 1988 massacre as “nothing but propaganda” and “fake information.”   Writing in the September 23 issue of the student newspaper Oberlin Review, Dr. Mansour Farhang, a professor of Politics at Bennington College and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s first ambassador to the U.N., slammed Mahallati “as an agent of Iran’s totalitarian theocracy” who refuses to recognize the clerical regime’s mass murder of innocent Iranian political prisoners in 1988.   OBERLIN COLLEGE’S ‘PROFESSOR OF PEACE’ ENDORSED FATWA TO MURDER SALMAN RUSHDIE Farhang is an opponent of Iran and resigned as ambassador in 1980, because the founder of the Islamic Republic Ruhollah Khomeini refused to release American embassy hostages. Congresswoman Foxx told Fox News Digital “Oberlin College is plagued by its own ivory tower ignorance and its stark unwillingness to denounce Mohammad Mahallati’s ties to Iran’s maligned regime raises serious concerns over national security and the ideals of an institution receiving millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars. At best, its blind ignorance. At worst, it’s an illustration that Oberlin gives priority to providing academic refuge to a man whose interests are aligned with terrorists instead of rejecting interference from foreign governments. We look forward to their responses to this inquiry.”  The letter asked Oberlin College to provide the following information within the next two weeks: Mahallti’s course syllabi and whether Oberlin College has “received any funding or in-kind contributions from the Islamic Republic of Iran or from individuals or entities linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran.”  The investigation into Mahallati seeks to answer “What is the vetting process in place at Oberlin for hiring faculty, and are there additional processes for those closely linked to a hostile foreign regime?” and “What is the funding source for Mr. Mahallati’s endowed professorship, as such a post previously did not exist?”  Both Banks and Foxx also requested “all documents and financial statements related to his professorship.”  DOZENS DEAD, OVER 1,200 ARRESTED IN IRAN AS REGIME WARNS OF ‘DECISIVE’ CRACKDOWN The last series of questions ask: “What led to the hiring of Mr. Mahallati at Oberlin in 2007? What are the terms and conditions of Mr. Mahallati’s employment at Oberlin?”  Prior to the allegations that Mahallati played a key role in the cover-up of the mass murder of Iranians, the Islamic studies academic had been dubbed the “Professor of Peace.” His Iranian-American critics call him the “Butcher of Oberlin.”  Fox News sent press queries to Oberlin College’s President Ambar and the communication department.  The congressional letter cited Fox News Digital report on Mahallati’s endorsement of an Iranian regime fatwa to assassinate the author Salman Rushdie.   Iran’s regime issued the fatwa because Rushdie depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad irreverently.  In August, a 24-year-old man named Hadi Matar, who has posted favorable comments on Iran on social media, stabbed Rushdie in the neck and liver during the author’s speech in Chautauqua, New York.  When asked about how Mahallati secured citizenship and his endorsement of Tehran’s fatwa to murder Rushdie, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital “Visa records are confidential under U.S. law; therefore, we cannot discuss the details of individual visa cases.” The State Department spokesperson added “We’re not going to comment on reports regarding a private citizen’s views, but the United States was clear in our condemnation of incitement to violence against Salman Rushdie. We will continue to vocally defend respect for human rights in Iran and around the world and will work to promoteContinue reading “Exclusive: Congress probes Oberlin College prof. with links to Iranian regime”

“It’s shameful that Oberlin College allows Mahallati, with such a dark past and present, to have access to young students and brainwash them,” human rights activist Lawdan Bazargan tells the Post. By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL Published: SEPTEMBER 27, 2022 18:21 Oberlin College has again been plunged into chaos after a prominent Iranian-American academic and Tehran’s first ambassador to the UN in late September urged Oberlin professor Mohammad Mahallati to condemn the Islamic Republic’s massacre of political prisoners. Dr. Mansour Farhang, a professor of Politics at Bennington College, slammed Mahallati “as an agent of Iran’s totalitarian theocracy” who refuses to take responsibility for the clerical regime’s mass murder of 5,000 Iranians in 1988. Mahallati served as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s ambassador to the UN from 1987-1989. Farhang resigned as the top UN envoy for the theocratic state in Tehran in 1980 because the founder of the Islamic Republic Ruhollah Khomeini refused to release American hostages. Khomenei’s revolutionary Islamic regime dismissed a UN Commission of Inquiry recommendation report to free the US embassy hostages. Farhang published a scathing indictment of Mahallati’s refusal to confront the reported crimes against humanity carried out by the Iranian regime in the September 23 issue of the student paper Oberlin Review. The article was titled “Professor Mahallati Should Condemn ’88 Iran Massacres.” Who is Dr. Mansour Farhang? Farhang is the first formidable former top-level Iran diplomat to blast Mahallati. His role as a distinguished academic also adds a new dynamic to the growing calls for Oberlin College to fire Mahallati. Farhang wrote about Mahallati’s reported car crash June interview with Voice of America journalist Masih Alinejad, in which she asked the Islamic studies professor Mahallati what knowledge he had about the 1988 massacre. Mahallati told Alinejad “I strongly believe that killing one person is equal to killing the entire world.” Farhang wrote “This absurd and demagogic answer to a specific question reveals the shameless hypocrisy of Mahallati. Has there ever been a despot who admits to killing innocent people? All dictators consider their critics or opponents guilty. Mahallati, as an agent of Iran’s totalitarian theocracy, implicitly follows the same rule but uses the preposterous words quoted above to hide his position.” The former ambassador added that “Mahallati denies knowing about the massacre when it happened.” He maintains that “one is responsible based on the information they are aware of. This is another example of his sophistry. The truth is that, shortly after the Iranian state started its criminal acts, Amnesty International and several news organizations, including the Associated Press, reported the crimes. The information was out there; Mahallati chose to continue the regime’s cover-up.” Lawdan Bazargan, an Iranian-American human rights activist who has been leading a campaign to secure Mahallati’s dismissal from Oberlin College, told the Post: “Dr. Farhang’s decision to resign from his post as Iran Islamic Regime Ambassador to the United Nations and his choice to leave the country and work for a Human Rights organization proves that Mahallati had options other than staying close to Iran’s regime too. “Mahallati willingly chose to stay with a brutal regime, promote its propaganda and its leaders, such as Khatami, and stay close to power. It’s shameful that Oberlin College allows Mahallati, with such a dark past and present, to have access to young students and brainwash them.” In a highly detailed 2018 Amnesty International report, the London-based human rights organization accused Mahallati of covering up “crimes against humanity” when he was ambassador. A press query was sent to Mahallati on Tuesday. In a 2020 response to The Jerusalem Post, Mahallati denied that he played a role in the cover-up of  “crimes against humanity.” Iranian-Americans from Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists protested against Mahallati and the Islamic Republic’s president Ebrahim Raisi last week in New York City in front of the United Nations and in front of the business of the chair of Oberlin College’s Board of Trustees, Chris Canavan. Raisi delivered a speech at the UN. Canavan’s company Lion’s Head Global Partners is located in Manhattan. Iranian-Americans urged Canavan to “stop protecting Mahallati.” In a digital information flyer, the protestors wrote Canavan “has turned a blind eye to crimes committed by the former Iranian official and & Oberlin College Professor, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati.” The Iranian-American activists noted that “Mahallati defended the killing” of author Salman Rushdie. The Post reported in May that Mahallti supported the Iranian regime’s directive to assassinate Rushdie for allegedly defaming the prophet Mohammad in his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses. In August, a pro-Iran regime suspect named Hadi Matar stabbed Salman Rushdie while he was onstage in Chautauqua, NY. The Post sent press queries to the president of Oberlin College, Carmen Twillie Ambar. Please Click Here for the article.

The Oberlin review Editorial Board|September 23, 2022 Oberlin has a national and historical reputation for its politically active student body and campus that is constantly abuzz with activism and protests. We have noticed, however, that besides a few gatherings in Tappan Square with chanting and posters, there have been few, if any, sustained protests or movements since the College shut down due to COVID-19 in March 2020. Observed from a distance, the trend of protests growing fewer and farther between reveals a disconcerting pattern in the spirit of activism on campus. Last fall, Nancy Schrom Dye Chair of Middle East and North African Studies Mohammad Jafar Mahallati was investigated by the College for alleged war crimes during his time as Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in the late 1980s. When the College finished its investigation into his alleged wrongdoing and concluded that the allegations were unsubstantiated, an activist group mostly consisting of members from outside the Oberlin community took to Tappan Square to express their discontent with this decision. Considering that the protest was organized by people outside Oberlin, College students needed only to educate themselves and show up. Still, very few students participated in these protests, despite the severity of the allegations and numerous disputes to the College’s investigations. The same activist group held two more protests against Mahallati — one in March and one over Commencement Weekend in June — both of which drew limited student involvement. In addition to the virtual absence of students from protests, there was scant, if any, conversation among students about the allegations against Mahallati during this period, and little conversation has occurred since. A prior Editorial Board commented on this lack of student engagement in “Evidence Against Mahallati Irrefutable,” The Oberlin Review, Nov. 5, 2021. In the past year, we have continued to witness the lack of a campus response in the face of other massively consequential issues that directly affect students, contradicting Oberlin’s rich history of student activism. Thus far, there has been little organized activism against the College’s decision to contract with Harness Health Partners, despite HHP’s recent announcement that it will not provide students with certain essential reproductive and gender-affirming services. Many students will tell you that they are upset even though the College has since contracted with a new provider for reproductive and gender-affirming services. In our conversations with peers, we have heard lamentations about the injustice of HHP’s change in position; many believe that the College supporting a Catholic health provider is problematic regardless of the quality of care they expected.   This widespread anger and concern, however, has yet to bring anything larger to fruition. There have been few public statements or actions from students on the situation, despite the fact that this change has deeply shaken and infuriated the student body. There have been no protests against HHP for going back on its agreement with the College, and even more surprisingly, there have not been any fliers or posters condemning HHP or the College distributed around campus.  When Ohio legislators introduced HB 454, a bill that required school officials to out transgender students to their parents and prohibited public funds from being given to organizations that provide gender-affirming care to minors, campus discourse was once again scarce. When the bill passed, there was no large-scale response, save for people posting infographics on their Instagram stories about the bill and the damage it would cause. While this practice does educate viewers who are unaware of the issues at hand, it is hollow in the absence of continued action. Hosting information sessions, posting fliers around campus, and organizing in protest are just some of a variety of approaches we could have taken to gather momentum against this intrusive and problematic bill. Each of these actions produces media attention and demonstrates support that adds to the broader symposium of voices fighting against injustice. The Review inherently plays the role of disseminating information on campus ,while also creating a platform for members of our community to comment and educate each other on the goings-on around campus. In the past year, the Editorial Board has repeatedly used this column to comment on issues such as faculty pay, abortion restrictions, and the College’s failure to recognize its problematic history, but we also understand that there is more that every individual on this Editorial Board can do to promote positive change. We, along with the rest of the student body, must hold ourselves accountable and work with one another to revitalize campus activism. Actions speak louder than words, and in the past few years, Oberlin students have whispered at best.  Please Click Here for the article.

Dr. Mansour Farhang, Professor of Politics at Bennington College|September 23, 2022 Editor’s note: Segments of this piece are reprinted from the author’s book review, “Nasser Mohajer, Voices of a Massacre: Untold Stories of Life and Death in Iran, 1988,” published on Oct. 27, 2020 in the Center for Human Rights in Iran. The author served as the Islamic Republic of Iran’s first ambassador to the United Nations between 1979-80. The clerics who run the authoritarian theocracy in Iran represent one of the predominant anti-Enlightenment regimes of the modern world. That is to say they seemingly reject the very idea of human rights and demand that citizens follow duties and obligations dictated by the self-appointed “viceroys of God” on earth. The hostility of these characters toward gender equality has a certain barbarity in common with what Margaret Atwood describes in The Handmaid’s Tale. When supporters or representatives of Iran’s theocracy face Western audiences, they become sophists in answering questions or rationalizing their position.  An example of such behavior is illustrated in a recent Voice of America Persian News Network interview with the former Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, Oberlin College Professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati. The interviewer, Masih Alinejad, asked Mahallati about his response to the 1988 execution of an estimated 5,000 political prisoners in Iran, pointing out Mahallati’s position in the U.N. at the time of the massacre. Mahallati said he did not know about the executions — an unprecedented tragedy in Iranian history. Then, Alinejad asked Mahallati what he thought about the massacre now that he knew about it, to which Mahallati replied, “I strongly believe that killing one person is equal to killing the entire world.”  This absurd and demagogic answer to a specific question reveals the shameless hypocrisy of Mahallati. Has there ever been a despot who admits to killing innocent people? All dictators consider their critics or opponents guilty. Mahallati, as an agent of Iran’s totalitarian theocracy, implicitly follows the same rule but uses the preposterous words quoted above to hide his position. Mahallati denies knowing about the massacre when it happened. He maintains that “One is responsible based on the information they are aware of.” This is another example of his sophistry. The truth is that, shortly after the Iranian state started its criminal acts, Amnesty International and several news organizations, including the Associated Press, reported the crimes. The information was out there; Mahallati chose to continue the regime’s cover-up.  In 1988, then Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a secret fatwa (a religious edict) ordering judicial authorities to execute political prisoners, resulting in between 4,500 and 5,000 killings. The inmates were men and women, young and old, who had been arrested over the previous 10 years for writing, speaking, or demonstrating against the regime. Some of them were teenagers at the time of their arrest. A tribunal that came to be known as the death commission carried out the order within three months.  Bodies of the victims were buried in mass graves, and their families were kept in the dark for the following three months.  Since then, international human rights organizations have documented the massacre and described it as a crime against humanity. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have thoroughly documented and exposed the crimes. Several exiled Iranian writers, artists, and political analysts have published articles and produced documentaries about these atrocities. Ervand Abrahamian’s Tortured Confessions: Prisons and Public Recantations in Modern Iran and Geoffrey Robertson’s The Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran, 1988, published by Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation in 2011,  provided witness testimonies and official statements disclosing the crimes. Some members of the death commission, including current Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, are still in positions of authority in Iran. Yet, mass media in the United States has hardly covered this unprecedented massacre. In Voices of a Massacre: Untold Stories of Life and Death in Iran, 1988, author and scholar of modern Iranian history Nasser Mohajer gives a unique and creative portrayal of this tragic reality. This new book provides a highly credible series of reflections, testimonies, eyewitness descriptions, and memories of the victims’ loved ones and friends during the massacre. It reveals how the death commission executed Khomeini’s sociopathic fatwa in such detail that the Iranian regime’s denial of its crimes becomes a nihilistic absurdity. It provides eyewitness accounts by inmates of what happened to prison victims and how executions were carried out in different cities. The suffering of Iran’s prisoners in general, and those of the great massacre in particular, is most vividly illustrated by the activities and memoirs of the victims’ families and friends, for they played a central role in drawing international attention to the plight of political prisoners in Iran. “The vanguard of this resistance and struggle was made up of women: the mothers, wives, daughters, and sisters of those who braved tyranny, aspiring for a better future for their country,” Mohajer wrote. These activists made a significant contribution to the rise of the women’s movement in Iran, unprecedented in the Islamic world’s history. The purpose of Voices of a Massacre, as Mohajer explains, is more than to expose the lies of Iran’s clerical rulers. Instead, it “seeks to embody what Primo Levi defines as the ‘Duty of Memory.’” That is to say, we need “to gain insight into the historical reality and portray the subtle details of the ‘policy of cruelty’ in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the author wrote. Lynn Novick, co-director with Ken Burns on the documentary The Vietnam War, bemoans the obvious lack of transparency. “It is a shortcoming and self-humiliating to say that they have lied constantly; there is no doubt that they have lied,” Novick said. “But what we really want to do is to show what has happened.” Voices of a Massacre reveals the cruel nature of a theocracy that rejects the idea of human rights politically, socially, and in the private sphere of life. Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, whom we call upon to condemn these crimes against humanity, currently teaches Muslim Oral Culture: Persian Poetry in Translation, Music and Calligraphy at Oberlin College. Dr. MansourContinue reading “Professor Mahallati Should Condemn ’88 Iran Massacres”

Mohammad Jafar Mahallati was Iran’s UN ambassador when the fatwa was issued. Says 1989 quote in Reuters that “all Islamic countries agree with Iran” was out of context: “I have simply condemned blasphemous statements that have harmed many hearts, whatsoever the source.” Posted by Johanna Markind Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at 07:00am In May of this year, the Jerusalem Post uncovered a 1989 Reuters report suggesting that Mohammad Jafar Mahallati supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa against author Salman Rushdie. Mahallati was then Iran’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and is currently a Professor of Religion at Oberlin College. According to the 2022 Jerusalem Post report, Mallahati was asked in 1989 about the fatwa and whether Khomeini had the right to put a bounty on someone’s head. As reported contemporaneously by Reuters, Mahallati responded: I think all Islamic countries agree with Iran. All Islamic nations and countries agree with Iran that any blasphemous statement against sacred Islamic figures should be condemned. I think that if Western countries really believe and respect freedom of speech, therefore they should also respect our freedom of speech. We certainly use that right in order to express ourselves, our religious beliefs, in the case of any blasphemous statement against sacred Islamic figures. Rushdie was stabbed multiple times in a barbaric attack on August 12, 2022, and remains hospitalized with reportedly life-altering injuries. Khomeini issued the fatwa in 1989 after claiming Rushdie’s 1988 novel Satanic Verses was blasphemous. Declaring Rushdie an apostate, Khomeini’s ruling was a death warrant legitimating the murder of Rushdie and of all the book’s editors and publishers. Since then, at least one of the book’s translators has been murdered, others attacked and injured, and in Turkey at least 37 people were killed in a fire evidently targeting the Turkish translator. The price on Rushdie’s head is currently worth about $3.3 million. In response to LIF’s inquiry, Mahallati did not deny making the above comments but claimed they’ve been taken out of context. Mahallati’s response, in full, was as follows: Dear Johanna Greetings! Thank you for asking the question before wrongful judgment about my position on this unfortunate episode and an out of context quotation from me more than 30 years ago. I am and have been fundamentally and strongly opposed to any physical or verbal violence against human beings, against people’s sacred beliefs and against harmless institutions. By implication, I do not believe in an absolute freedom of speech if it is abused to harm an individual or a group of people verbally or physically. I believe it is very unfortunate that an absolutist view of the “freedom of speech” has mutually harmed a large number of Muslims and Mr. Rushdi himself. Again, I cannot find myself in any agreement with physical or verbal violence whatsoever the context. Belief systems cannot provide an excuse for irresponsible and immoral use of pen or arms on all sides of human relations. Presently or in the past, I have never supported any act of violence, but I have simply condemned blasphemous statements that have harmed many hearts, whatsoever the source. Therefore even in my misquoted statements there is NO support for ayatollah’s fatwa. In case you are truly interested in my diplomatic or individual stance and record regarding violence, I invite you to look into my entire activity records in the UN Security Council in the year 1988 when I served in the United Nations. The year began with the murder of 5000 unfortunate Kurdish people with Chemical Weapons and I pressed the UN Security Council to issue TWO resolutions condemning the use of chemical weapons. I went beyond my mandate to push for peace between Iran and Iraq and managed to play a major role in the ceasefire. I convinced the Iranian government to accept the UN Human Rights Representative to visit Iran for a close enquiry about human rights, an unprecedented development since the Iranian revolution of 1979. I worked with the UN Security Council to condemn the downing of the Iranian passenger flight by an American missile which killed 299 unfortunate innocent passengers. As you see above, that specific year was full of international violence and Mr. Rushdi’s episode was just one amongst many. So I consistently worked with the UN system to condemn all kinds of violence through historic resolutions. In the following 30 years of my academic career, I continued my stance against violence through my teachings and writings. I have produced more than 20 books in three languages on promoting global friendship, forgiveness, tolerance, gratitude and observing ethics even in wars. In the face of these undeniable records, accusing me of supporting violence is more than a mistake. I hope this is clear enough. Respectfully Jafar Mahallati Mahallati’s current endorsement of non-violence is commendable, but readers may compare his current comments with the 1989 statement and form their own opinion as to whether his earlier statement supports violence. The question Mahallati was answering, according to the 1989 Reuters report (as reported earlier this year by the Jerusalem Post), was whether Khomeini had the right to put a bounty on Rushdie’s head. A fair interpretation of his 1989 response is that calling for and committing violence against a ‘blasphemer’ are ‘expressive activities.’ Tragically, this Orwellian claim that murder is an “expressive” activity is what passes for received wisdom among today’s left, particularly at universities. To Islamists and the woke left, words are violence, and violence is speech. Mahallati has also come under criticism over the past couple of years as reports surfaced that he helped cover up some of the Iranian regime’s crimes against humanity. Please Click Here for the article.

سه شنبه ۲۵ مرداد ۱۴۰۱ برابر با ۱۶ اوت ۲۰۲۲ ما، جمعی از بستگان جانباختگان  قتل عام زندان‌های ایران در دهه ۶۰ و کشتار زندانیان سیاسی در تابستان ۶۷، اعضای جامعه ایرانی- آمریکایی، دانشجویان و دانش‌آموختگان کالج اوبرلین و شهروندان نگران اوهایو، در سال ۲۰۲۰ کمپینی را علیه محمدجعفر محلاتی، سفیر سابق جمهوری اسلامی ایران در سازمان ملل و استاد فعلی دین در کالج اوبرلین آغاز کردیم. تا کنون ما سه تجمع در کالج اوبرلین و چندین تظاهرات در شهرهای مختلف (سانفرانسیسکو، لس آنجلس، آتلانتا، واشنگتن، لندن، برلین) در مقابل بیزنس‌های مرتبط با اعضای هیئت امنای اوبرلین  برای تحت فشار قرار دادن کالج اوبرلین برای پایان دادن به استخدام محلاتی برگزار کرده‌ایم. با توجه به حملات تروریستی رژیم جمهوری اسلامی ایران برعلیه مسیح علینژاد روزنامه‌نگار ایرانی- آمریکایی، مایک پمپئو وزیر امور خارجه سابق آمریکا، جان بولتون مشاور امنیت ملی و سفیر سابق ایالات متحده در سازمان ملل و سلمان رشدی نویسنده انگلیسی- آمریکایی، ما از پلیس دولت فدرال (اف‌بی‌آی) درخواست می‌کنیم در مورد روابط محلاتی با سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی تحقیق کند. در ماه مه ۲۰۲۲، کمپین ما شواهدی را کشف کرد که دفاع محلاتی از فتوای قتل سلمان رشدی و ادامه روابط  او با رژیم اسلامی ایران را تأیید می‌کرد. چنین شواهدی حاکی از آن است که محلاتی خطری برای امنیت ملی آمریکا و ارزش‌های لیبرالی است که این کشور از آن حمایت می‌کند. محلاتی به دروغ مدعی شد که فتوای خمینی در حیطه «آزادی بیان» مسلمین است، اما فتوا حکم یا قانونی شرعی  و قابل اجرا است. اظهارات محلاتی نفرت‌پراکنی و تحریک به خشونت بود. فتوای سلمان رشدی هفت ماه پس از آن صادر شد که خمینی در فتوایی دیگر دستور اعدام زندانیان سیاسی ایران را صادر کرد. بیش از ۵,۰۰۰ زندانی که قبلاً به حبس محکوم شده بودند، ناگهان متهم به ارتداد شده و به دار آویخته شدند. محلاتی به خوبی عواقب فتوای خمینی را می‌دانست، زیرا در آن زمان مسئول سرپوش گذاشتن بر قتل عام زندانیان سیاسی در سال ۱۳۶۷ از جامعه جهانی بود. متأسفانه خانم کارمن تویلی آمبار، رییس کالج اوبرلین، و آقای کریس کاناوان، رئیس هیئت امناء، از محلاتی، متهم به انکار کشتار جمعی و محافظت از مسئولین در برابر پاسخگویی، حمایت می‌کنند. ما نه تنها درخواست سال ۲۰۲۰ خود را تکرار کرده و خواستار برکناری فوری محلاتی از سمت استادی در کالج اوبرلین هستیم، بلکه همچنین خواستار محاکمه محلاتی به دلیل نقش وی به عنوان همدست در قتل عام زندانیان سیاسی در سال ۱۳۶۷ هستیم. ماه گذشته، دادگاهی در سوئد، حمید نوری، معاون دادستان ایرانی را به دلیل قتل و ارتکاب جنایات جنگی در جریان قتل عام زندان در سال ۱۳۶۷ به حبس ابد محکوم کرد. ما معتقدیم محلاتی نیز مانند نوری باید محاکمه شود و پشت میله‌های زندان قرار گیرد. Please Click Here for the article.

منتشر شده در: 16 اوت ,2022: 04:04 شب GST آخرین به روزرسانی: 16 اوت ,2022: 04:21 شب GST این کمپین با انتشار بیانیه‌ای خاطرنشان کرد، محلاتی «خطری برای امنیت ملی آمریکا» است کمپین «عدالت برای قربانیان محلاتی» با انتشار بیانیه‌ای از اداره تحقیقات فدرال آمریکا موسوم به «اف‌بی‌آی» خواست تا تحقیقاتی را درباره دفاع محمد جعفر محلاتی، استاد کالج اوبرلین آمریکا از فتوای قتل سلمان رشدی، نویسنده بریتانیایی آغاز کند. این بیانیه خاطرنشان می‌کند، کمپین «عدالت برای قربانیان» محلاتی، در ماه مه سال جاری، شواهدی را کشف کرد که دفاع محمد جعفر محلاتی از فتوای قتل سلمان رشدی را نشان می‌دهد. تهیه‌کنندگان این بیانیه تصریح کردند: «محلاتی خطری برای امنیت ملی آمریکا و ارزش‌های لیبرالی است که این کشور از آن حمایت می‌کند.» به‌دنبال انتشار کتاب «آیات شیطانی» توسط سلمان رشدی، نویسنده هندی – بریتانیایی، فتوای قتل او توسط روح‌الله خمینی، بنیان‌گذار جمهوری اسلامی صادر شد. کمپین عدالت برای قربانیان محلاتی در بخش دیگری از این بیانیه، خواستار آغاز تحقیقاتی درباره ارتباط بین محلاتی و سپاه پاسداران شده است. محمدجعفر محلاتی که پیشتر سفیر ایران در سازمان ملل متحد بود، متهم به ایجاد «سپر دفاعی» برای عاملان اعدام‌های دسته‌جمعی زندانیان سیاسی مخالف جمهوری اسلامی در تابستان 1367 و جلوگیری از «پاسخگو دانستن» مجریان این اعدام‌ها در سطح بین‌المللی است. سازمان «عفو بین‌الملل» در گزارشی در سال 2018، مدعی شد که محلاتی از جمله مقامات ارشد و دیپلمات‌هایی است که «در مصاحبه‌های رسانه‌ای و مبادلات با سازمان ملل متحد در انکار کشتار جمعی [زندانیان سیاسی] فعالانه شرکت داشتند تا از مسئولین در برابر پاسخگویی محافظت کنند.» کمپین «عدالت برای قربانیان محلاتی» در ادامه بیانیه خود، خواستار برکناری فوری محلاتی از سمت استادی در کالج اوبرلین و محاکمه او به دلیل «نقش وی به‌عنوان همدست» در قتل عام زندانیان سیاسی در تابستان 67 شده است. Please Click Here for the article.

We, the relatives of the victims of Iran’s 1988 prison massacres, members of the Iranian-American community, Oberlin College students and alums, and concerned citizens of Ohio, started a campaign in 2020 against Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a former Islamic Republic of Iran Ambassador to the United Nations and a current professor of religion at Oberlin College. Since 2020 we have had three rallies at Oberlin College and several protests in front of company headquarters connected to Oberlin Board of Trustees members (San Francisco, Los Angles, London, Berlin) to pressure Oberlin College to terminate Mahallati’s employment. In light of Iran’s attempted terrorist attacks on Iranian-American journalist Masih Alinejad, Former US Secretary of the State Mike Pompeo, former United States National Security Advisor and Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, and British-American writer Salman Rushdie, we demand that FBI investigates Mahallati’s ties with Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps. In May 2022, our campaign uncovered evidence corroborating Mahallati’s defense of FATWA (Islamic Decree)to assassinate Salman Rushdie and continued ties with the Islamic Regime of Iran. Such evidence suggests that Mahallati represents a danger to the US national security and the liberal values that it stands for. Mahallati falsely claimed that FATWA is “free speech,” but fatwa is a ruling or decision under Islamic law and actionable. Mahallati’s statement was hate speech and incitement to violence. Salman Rushdie’s fatwa was issued seven months after Khomeini ordered the execution of Iran’s political prisoners in another fatwa. More than 5000 prisoners who had been previously sentenced to prison terms were suddenly accused of apostasy and were hanged. Mahallati knew well the consequences of Khomeini’s fatwa since, at that time, he was in charge of covering up the 1988 Massacre of political prisoners from the world community. Unfortunately, the Oberlin College leadership, Mrs. Carmen Twillie Ambar, Oberlin’s President, and Mr. Chris Canavan, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, have been protecting professor Mahallati, accused of denying the mass killing and shielding those responsible from accountability. We not only stand by our 2020 campaign demand, calling for Mahallati’s immediate removal from his professorship at Oberlin College, but we also demand that Mahallati be prosecuted for his role as an accomplice to war crimes in the 1988 prison massacre. Last month, a court in Sweden convicted Hamid Noury, an Iranian deputy prosecutor, to life in prison, for having committed war crimes during the 1988 prison massacres. We believe Mahallati, like Noury,  should face trial and be put behind bars.  For more information contact: Lawdan Bazargan (562) 212-9546  lawdanbazargan@gmail.com Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists http://www.aairia.org