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BySusannah Johnston May 31, 2022 A group of Iranian-American human rights activists and their allies will be protesting at Oberlin College’s graduation ceremony in Ohio on Sunday, June 5 to draw attention to the alleged complicity of religion professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati in the Iranian regime’s mass killing of Iranian dissidents in the late 1980s. Activists from a recently formed group, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA), are working to highlight Mahallati’s support for Shia Islamism as well as his continued links to the Tehran government, says organizer Lawdan Bazargan, whose brother Bijan was killed by the Iranian government in 1988. Bazargan said that in addition to seeking justice for her brother, she is protesting for dissidents currently in jail in Iran. “People like Mahallati, with their false message of friendship and peace are the reason this brutal regime has stayed in power for the past 43 years,” she said. Mahallati, who denies being part of a cover up, has been the subject of a number of articles published by the school’s newspaper, the Oberlin Review, since 2020. During the controversy, he has portrayed himself as a promoter of peace and friendship at Oberlin while sitting on the editorial board of an Iranian-based academic journal that has lauded the designated terrorist organization Hezbollah as a legitimate tool of Iranian influence and a force for good in the Middle East. In addition to serving on the board of an academic journal that has promoted Hezbollah, Mahallati has put forth a narrative of Shi’a supremacism and Islamist expansionism in his native Farsi that seems to contradict the message of friendship, peace, and reconciliation he has promoted to Western audiences in English. Mahallati, who became a professor at Oberlin in 2007, began his academic career in the U.S. at Columbia University in 1991 after serving as an Iranian diplomat in the 1980s. Mahallati has also taught at Princeton, Georgetown, and Yale. Three of the five schools he has taught at —Columbia, Georgetown, and Princeton — received funds from the Alavi Foundation, an Iranian charity which was successfully prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice for serving as a front group for the Iranian government in 2017. During his time at Oberlin, Mahallati has cultivated his reputation as a peacemaker through lectures and with the publication of his 2016 book, Ethics of War and Peace in Iran and Shi’i Islam (University of Toronto Press), in which he portrays Iran as ready to extend the hand of friendship and peace with the United States and to accommodate Israel. The violence and cruelty of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and IS in Iraq and Syria, Mahallati wrote, have provided the impetus for Iran to choose “the stance of a staunch supporter of nonviolence, both conceptually and institutionally.” Mahallati appears to promote different attitudes toward the West and the United States while writing in Farsi, however. In 2013, Mahallati penned an article in Farsi for Iranian Diplomacy, a website run by Seyyed Mohammad Sadegh Kharraz, former deputy foreign minister for the regime. A Farsi translator contacted by FWI explained that, in the text, Mahallati argues “the term ‘Judeo-Christian civilization’ is a myth created by America and that this myth “obscures the history of Christian antagonism to Jews and Muslim friendship to Jews.” The translator adds that to Mahallati, “the idea of Western and Islamic civilizations being in conflict is another American myth designed to continue the Cold War with Islam as a substitute for Communism.” According to the translator’s summary, Mahallati asserts that “Iranian culture contains a system of ethics and international law that is superior to the current Western models” and that Islam’s spread in the West was accelerated by 9/11.” Consequently, “the West is now where 7th century AD Iran or the former Byzantine empire was” with “Western culture … merging with the Islamic faith to create a new Western Islamic civilization.” The translator indicates that Mahallati believes “it is extremely important for Iran to promote Shiism in the West so that Western Islam doesn’t fall under the control of [Iran’s] enemies like Saudi Arabia.” Mahallati currently serves on the board of an Iran based journal, Sepehr-e-Siasat, which promotes ideas similar to those expressed in his 2013 article.* For example, the journal recently published an article praising the violent Iranian proxy Hezbollah as “a regional power” that promotes Shiite identity and has taken “important measures to confront the regional domination system and the Zionist regime.” Mohammad Bagher Khoramshad, who serves as the political deputy of the Iranian Ministry of Interior also serves on the editorial board of the journal. Khoramshad’s boss is Ahmad Vahidi, former IRGC Quds Force commander– who is subject to an INTERPOL Red Notice for his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center that killed 85 people and injured hundreds. Khoramshad is known for backing Islamist reforms at Iranian universities—including preventing women from wearing makeup and requiring the “proper” hijab. Gholam Reza Behrouzlak, another member of Sepehr-e-Siasat’s editorial board, is also the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Islamic Awakening Studies. Behrouzlak has praised Qasem Soleimani, the late commander of the Quds Force of the IRGC, killed in 2020 by U.S. forces, declaring “The blood of the martyr has always been a beacon to Islamic society,” and that “With the martyrdom of Haj Qasem Soleimani, we witnessed the awakening of a national pride and a spirit of Islam and the outpouring of patriotism and people reorienting themselves towards God.” Sunday’s demonstration will be the third protest targeting Mahallati to take place at Oberlin since late 2021. Previous protests highlighted Mahallati’s alleged role in the cover up of a mass killing of dissidents perpetrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1988 while he served as an Iranian diplomat. Mahallati has denied the allegations, stating in October 2020 that he did not know about the killings as they were taking place. In November 2021 he declared, “I was doing my job, delivering the official statements of Iran to the U.N.” during the controversy over the mass killings in Iranian prisons. Oberlin officials and Mahallati himself have not responded to requests for comment. *Update: June 1, 2022: Professor Mahallati’s name has been removed fromContinue reading “Activists to Highlight Oberlin Professor’s Islamism in Graduation Protest”

By Gigi Ewing, Managing Editor May 20, 2022 After a series of international protests, the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists will return to Oberlin to protest at the class of 2022 Commencement on June 5. The protest will mark the third time that activists have protested the employment of Professor of Religion Mohammad Jafar Mahallati at Oberlin. Mahallati has been accused of covering up crimes against humanity when he served as Iran’s representative to the U.N. in the 1980s. According to Lawdan Bazargan, the protest organizer and sister of a 1988 massacre victim, the upcoming protest will be mobile, unlike the more stationary protests they have previously staged. Protesters have planned a highly visual event to draw attention from audience members at the Commencement. “We want to walk around and hopefully talk to as many people as possible and embarrass the College as much as possible,” Bazargan said. College fourth-year and Iranian-American student Sophie Bernstein expressed hope that the Commencement protest will attract broader support than the last demonstration, which only drew a small crowd. “I hope that because it’s Commencement, people who aren’t students will pay attention,” Bernstein said. “I think Oberlin College has failed these protestors in a lot of ways. I hope that a broader audience at Commencement would be more sympathetic than people have up until this point.” Bernstein specifically noted the lack of student response to the protest movement. “There has been a lot of pushback to talk about Professor Mahallati, especially because he’s tenured and he still works here,” Bernstein said. “I think it is concerning when there are such severe allegations against someone, people are not willing to have a conversation … especially because [the protesters] keep coming back — it’s not like the issue is over for the people that are affected. Oberlin prides itself on being a school that’s centered around social justice, but there are people seeking justice and their calls are not being answered.” Since May 12, the AAIRIA has rallied members in the United States and internationally to protest Mahallati’s continued employment at the College. Groups will continue protesting in a few other U.S. cities before culminating their movement at Oberlin early next month.  The group chose locations to target specific individuals, from Board of Trustees members Amy Chen and Chris Canavan to various offices of Greenberg Traurig, the law firm representing Mahallati. Notably, Canavan will also speak at the Commencement. Canavan declined the Review’s request for comment. Bazargan also commented on a recently resurfaced 1989 Reuters article in which Mahallati defended the  fatwā issued against Salman Rushdie after the publication of his novel, Satanic Verses. Although unsurprised that Mahallati supported the fatwā, as his position required that he defend the theocratic regime’s dictates, Bazargan expressed shock that the College continued to employ Mahallati.  “He had said back then that if Westerners believe in freedom of speech — this is our freedom of speech,” Bazargan said. “Can you believe it? Putting a bounty on the head of somebody is freedom of speech — and this guy teaches ethics and morality to you guys.” At the time, Mahallati defended the fatwā by arguing that other Islamic countries supported Iran’s stance toward Rushdie. “I think that if Western countries really believe [in] and respect freedom of speech, therefore they should also respect our freedom of speech,” Mahallati told Reuters. “We certainly use that right in order [to] express ourselves, our religious beliefs, in the case of any blasphemous statement against sacred Islamic figures.” Bazargan also responded to accusations that her protest movement peddles Islamophobia and aligns with pro-Trump politicians.  “We are none of that,” she said. “We are just victims of an Islamic regime, and that’s what we are talking about.” Although the College has yet to formally address the protests, Bazargan’s commitment has not diminished.  “We are also going after politicians — we have started [reaching out to] some contacts and we are asking some citizens of Cleveland to contact and talk to them,” Bazargan said. “We are trying to organize some other pressures coming directly from the government. But for sure we won’t let this go because it is not acceptable that somebody who was involved in such atrocity continues teaching students.” As they reflected on the Oberlin community’s response to the Mahallati issue toward the end of their College career, Bernstein described a lack of understanding and compassion for the protesters. They expressed hope that the coming protest would change the tides in the community’s acknowledgement of the allegations against Mahallati.  “I really hope that there’s more attention to this protest,” Bernstein said. “I hope there’s more flyers or publicity or conversations on social media. I don’t know what it will take to get people to care, but the people that are protesting are in mourning for a very real issue. At the very least some support would be awesome.” Please Click Here for the article.

By Isabel Vincent and Jon Levine May 12, 2022 | 9:01am Oberlin College professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati says he’s devoted to creating a peaceful world and forging a greater understanding between Muslims and Christians. But activists slam the so-called “Professor of Peace” and former diplomat for allegedly helping the Iranian government cover up the massacre of thousands of jailed political opponents in 1988, allegedly ordered by then-leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Relatives of the dead dissidents are demanding that Oberlin, a liberal arts college 30 miles southwest of Cleveland, fire Mahallati, 70, a professor of religion and a Presidential Scholar in Islamic studies who also has taught at Columbia, Georgetown and Princeton. “We believe … that his [Mahallati’s] role was to obfuscate and lie to the international community about mass crimes perpetrated by the Iranian regime,” said a group that reps 600 victims in a letter to Oberlin president Carmen Twillie Ambar in 2020 — part of a two-year campaign to oust the prof, who has worked at the college since 2007. Between 5,000 and 30,000 opponents of the regime were slaughtered during the summer of 1988, then buried in mass graves at secret locations, according to human rights groups. Critics charge that Mahallati aided the Khomeni government by denying the executions, which Amnesty International said were part of “ongoing crimes against humanity.” The group demanded a formal UN investigation in 2018, and also issued dozens of urgent appeals in the days after the massacre. Representatives of 50 international UN-affiliated nonprofits have also demanded that the school conduct “an immediate and impartial investigation into [Mahallati’s] continued employment.” Mahallati, who served as Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations from 1987 to 1989, was among a list of Iranian officials who said the killings never happened, Amnesty said. In 1988, in a statement to the UN, he said reports of the mass murders were “misinformation” and a year later called them “political propaganda against the Islamic Republic.” Victim Bijan Bazargan, a 28-year-old leftist dissident serving a 10-year-sentence, was condemned without a trial or any chance to defend himself, his sister, Lawdan Bazargan, told The Post. His family was sent only a duffel bag with a wristwatch, shirt and a death certificate, according to the New York Times. “When my father asked the prison officials to give him Bijan’s body, they said, ‘He was an apostate and has no place in this world,’” said Bazargan in an interview from Sweden. She’s there attending the trial of Hamid Nouri, a 61-year-old former Iranian prison official accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the 1988 executions. Swedish authorities arrested Nouri in 2019 while he was visiting relatives. Bazargan’s twin sister, Laleh, who lives in Sweden, has testified in the trial, she said. A verdict is expected shortly. “I am envious of my twin sister that the country she lives in arrests and puts on trial a criminal such as Nouri, but the United States rewards people such as Mahallati by giving them teaching positions to brainwash young minds,” Bazargan said.  Mahallati has denied what he called “unfounded accusations” against him, and issued a formal statement that Oberlin College posted on its website last year. “The official positions I formally took at the United Nations during the time I served do not portray my personal views,” the Oct. 28, 2021, statement reads. “My personal views are well portrayed in all my published books, articles, and teachings during the last 30 years since I left the U.N. post. It is important to note that my accusers have not found a single statement from me that is remotely consistent with their unfounded accusations.” A statement from his lawyer, who is not identified, is also on the Oberlin website, saying, “Professor Mahallati, who was in New York, had no knowledge in real time about the covert executions nor did he attempt to conceal the facts once they were revealed.” Oberlin officials said they conducted an internal investigation and are satisfied that Mahallati did nothing wrong. “After consulting a number of sources, and evaluating the public record, the College could find no evidence to corroborate the allegations against Professor Mahallati, including that he had specific knowledge of the murders taking place in Iran,” Oberlin’s statement reads. Since coming to Oberlin in 2007, “Professor Mahallati has developed a reputation as a scholar and a teacher for espousing religious tolerance and seeking peace and understanding between all people.” Mahallati also supported the Palestinian intifada of 1989 and publicly backed his government after Iran issued a fatwa for the death of British novelist Salman Rushdie following the publication of his 1988 book “The Satanic Verses.” Rushdie remained in hiding for nine years as ultra-conservative clerics and state media outlets in Iran raised the bounty on him to $4 million. Last year, Columbia scrubbed Mahallati from its website after a Post reporter began to ask questions about the professor. Mahallati, who previously taught international relations at the school between 1991 and 1997, was listed as the Mahdi Visiting Research Professor for the spring 2021 semester. At the time, a spokesman for Columbia told The Post, “there are no arrangements in place for him to come to our university as a visiting research fellow.” Please Click Here for the article.

Tehran is guilty of gross human rights violations, ignoring UN Security Council resolutions and violating nearly every one of its obligations to restrain its nuclear program. By MARK D. WALLACE Published: MAY 8, 2022 21:23 The Biden administration is on the precipice of approving another disastrous deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran. It will reportedly relieve pressure on Iranian terrorist organizations and provide hundreds of billions of dollars to a regime allied with Russia and China. Tehran is guilty of gross human rights violations, ignoring UN Security Council resolutions and violating nearly every one of its obligations to restrain its nuclear program. This should be cause for great concern, but in higher education, it is likely to be met with a shrug of the shoulders if not outright applause. Leading universities like Princeton University and Oberlin College in Ohio have for too long chosen to cast their lot with the Iranian regime, not the United States and its democratic allies. Iranian government agents are members of the faculty at both institutions. Princeton must cut ties with Iranian Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian and Oberlin with Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Jafar Mahallati. They represent the brutal Iranian establishment and hide behind calls for diplomacy and peace to mask their bloodstained records. It is shameful that both schools are standing by their side instead of prioritizing student safety and upholding their moral obligations to protect against infiltration by agents of hostile foreign powers. Despite mounting public pressure, as members of the faculty, they are protected by their brethren, no matter their offenses. This must stop. Just one member of US academia publicly mourned and attended the funeral of a slain terrorist leader, Qasem Soleimani, in 2020 – Mousavian.  Soleimani was the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, a US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization responsible for hundreds of US casualties in Iraq. Mousavian followed that with an outrageous justification for taking hostages as leverage to win financial concessions from the West, and an interview for an Iranian propaganda film glorifying Soleimani’s actions and reveling in Iranian death threats against American diplomats and their families. Nevertheless, Princeton has stood by him. This is perhaps unsurprising given Princeton’s disinterest in Mousavian’s history in the assassination of dissidents. While serving as his country’s envoy to Germany in the 1990s, a German court found that Iranian agents organized themselves at Iran’s embassy, at the time headed by Mousavian, before assassinating these individuals in a restaurant. AS FOR Mahallati, before joining Oberlin’s faculty in 2007, he served the Iranian regime as its ambassador to the United Nations (UN). He is accused of engaging in the cover-up of Iran’s mass execution of more than 5,000 political prisoners in the late-1980s, repeatably denying that such atrocities were taking place while ambassador. Furthermore, even after evidence of the murders have come to light, Mahallati has not amended his position, demonstrating his allegiance firmly lays with the Iranian regime. Mahallati has also peddled in antisemitic and anti-Baha’i rhetoric. At the UN, he made speeches encouraging violence against Jews, now as a professor of religion, Oberlin has stood by him allowing him to give lectures to their students, the future minds of America. Amid rising criticism, both institutions have provided weak justifications for not cutting ties with the men in question. Princeton has fallen back on its adoption of the Chicago Principles, a nonbinding document steeped in the traditions of classical liberalism and authored by academics that value civil discourse, using it to justify taunts of US officials and their families as free speech. And in Ohio, despite Mahallati being indicted by Amnesty International for supporting a cover-up of crimes against humanity, Oberlin has continued to take the stance that there is no evidence Mahallati knew about the murders – confusing lack of evidence for the denial of the truth. The line at which a member of the faculty has engaged in disqualifying behavior is clearly moving in the wrong direction. In the new paradigm, being a mouthpiece for a regime that fully endorses the call of “Death to America” is acceptable. Being complicit in the cover-up of mass political executions is acceptable. Religious bigotry is acceptable. Joining in a celebration of the life of a terrorist leader accused by the commander-in-chief of wounding or killing thousands of Americans is acceptable. Finding happiness in threats made against Americans is acceptable. It begs the question: what obscene behaviors are unacceptable? Perhaps officials at Princeton and Oberlin are content to absorb the risks, the reputational damage and the rising wave of criticism, but they have not yet been truly tested and have not had to take responsibility for enabling the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. The Biden administration should suspend all grants and contracts with those institutions for working with a regime that flagrantly violates all conventions of human rights. Congress and local governments should exercise oversight. Financial supporters from the largest foundations to individual donors should suspend or terminate their giving to institutions that host regime mouthpieces, as they are exposing themselves to great reputational risk. Students that would never tolerate their tuition dollars going toward paychecks for former North Korean or Taliban ambassadors should speak up against terrorist enablers and participants in a conspiracy to obscure gross human rights abuses. For Princeton and Oberlin, their path forwards are clear: they can continue to associate themselves with Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism, or they can immediately terminate ties with Mousavian and Mahallati. The choice is simple. The writer is CEO of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and is a former US ambassador to the United Nations for management and reform. Please Click Here for the article.

– در گردهمایی اعتراضی برلین در تاریخ ۱۲ ماه مه ۲۰۲۲ از ساعت ۱۵ تا ۱۷ در مقابل دفتر موسسه حقوقی Greenberg Traurig LLP (@GT_Germany) که شعبه آن در آمریکا وکالت محلاتی را بر عهده دارد و نیز یکی از صاحبان آن آقای بیرنباوم (Birenbaum) در جمع هیئت مدیره کالج حضور دارد سعی خواهیم کرد با ارائه مستندات و روشن کردن مواضع و مرزبندی اصولی، از آنها بخواهیم که خواسته ملاقات اعضای خانواده بازماندگان کشتار ۶۷ با مدیر دانشگاه اوبرلین، خانم Carmen TWillie Ambar را فراهم کند. سه شنبه ۱۳ اردیبهشت ۱۴۰۱ برابر با ۰۳ مه ۲۰۲۲ کاظم موسوی – در تاریخ ۱۲ ماه مه امسال، ایرانیان مقیم برلین، همچون دیگر هموطنان در شهرهای مختلف آمریکا و اروپا، قصد دارند با شرکت در یک حرکت اعتراضی علیه حضور محمدجعفر محلاتی در کالج اوبرلین که در کرسی اسلام‌شناسی و مطالعات صلح مشغول به کار است، شرکت کنند. محلاتی سفیر سابق جمهوری اسلامی در سازمان ملل بود که در جریان کشتار جمعی زندانیان سیاسی در تابستان ۱۹۸۸ حکومت ایران را نمایندگی می‌کرد. او بعدها قتل عام را یک دروغ «تبلیغات سیاسی علیه جمهوری اسلامی» نامید. علاوه بر آن، اظهارات محلاتی علیه بهاییت و بهاییانِ ایران در سازمان ملل در اوایل دهه ۱۹۸۰ و همسویی بی‌وقفه وی با دکترین و سیاست‌های ضد اسرائیلی جمهوری اسلامی، حمایتش از حماس و ترغیب دانشجویان برای تبلیغ مجازی کمپین BDS (جنبش بایکوت، عدم سرمایه‌گذاری و تحریم اسرائیل)، نقش مشخص این مهره حکومت ایران را بیشتر برجسته می‌کند. با وجود اعتراض خانواده قربانیان و انتقادات ایرانیان به استخدام یک فرد توجیه کننده قتل عام که مسئولیت مشخص دولتی در زمان کشتار ۸۸ داشت، دانشگاه اُبرلین و پرزیدنت این موسسه همچنان از هرگونه پاسخ مشخص سر باز زده و حتی درخواست ملاقات با خانواده قربانیان قتل عام توسط جمهوری اسلامی را نادیده می‌گیرد. و نیز جای انتقاد دارد که مسئولان دانشگاه اوبرلین، الگوی فرهنگ و هنر در آمریکا، از محلاتی عامل رژیم اسلامی ضد فرهنگ حمایت می‌کنند که هنرمندان، نویسندگان و دانشمندان دگراندیش ایران را سرکوب و اعدام و‌ یا آنان را وادار به جلای وطن می‌کند. دیگر اینکه چرا رژیمی‌که  محلاتی سفیر آن بوده و بارها فستیوال‌های کاریکاتور هولوکاست در انکار این جنایت تاریخی علیه بشریت برگزار نموده است،  از سوی مدیریت دانشگاه محکوم نمی‌گردد. پس از مطرح شدن موضوع محلاتی توسط کمپین «عدالت برای قربانیان محلاتی» در آمریکا و متعاقبا اعتراضات ایرانیان آزادیخواه علیه محلاتی، موضوع دانشگاه اوبرلین مورد توجه جامعه ایرانی در فضای مجازی قرار گرفت. برخی این دانشگاه را لیبرال و برخی آن را محافظه‌کار خوانده‌اند. کالج هنرهای لیبرال اوبرلین از قدیمی‌ترین دانشگاه‌های آمریکاست و تاریخ منحصر به فردی دارد. این دانشگاه در سال ۱۸۳۳ در شهر اوبرلین واقع در ایالت اوهایو تاسیس شد. در سال ۱۸۳۵ دانشگاه رسما با تغییر سیاست خود، برای اولین بار در آمریکا یک سیاهپوست را به عنوان دانشجو ثبت نام کرد. همچنین این دانشگاه در سال ۱۸۴۱ به یک زن مدرک لیسانس اهدا کرد که تا آنزمان بی‌سابقه بود. دانشگاه اوبرلین از همان ابتدا موقعیت سیاسی خود را در سمت و سوی الغای برده‌داری و مخالفت با دیگر قوانین نژادپرستی قرار داد. سیاست‌های دانشگاه اوبرلین در تاریخ بیش از ۱۷۰ ساله خود همواره موضوع مورد مناقشه میان لیبرال‌ها و محافظه‌کاران در آمریکا بوده است. پس از انتخاب رئیس جمهور سابق آمریکا، دونالد ترامپ، جنجال پیرامون جنبه‌های سیاسی- اجتماعی این دانشگاه به شدت افزایش یافت. در دوران ریاست جمهوری ترامپ، رسانه‌های راست افراطی، عملا این دانشگاه را به عنوان تولید کننده «جنگجویان عدالتخواه جامعه» که کنایه‌ای به رادیکال بودن نظرات این دانشگاه است، معرفی می‌کردند و در مقابل اغلب دانشجویان با دیدگاه‌های چپ و بعضا افراطی، با فعالیت‌های اجتماعی خود در فضای شهر، گفته‌ها و اعمال محافظه‌کاران را به چالش می‌کشیدند. این تقابل بین دو کمپ و نظرگاه، به‌خصوص در حیطه و فضای تنش‌آلود دوره ترامپ و با توجه به موقعیت ایالت اوهایو و اهمیت آن به عنوان یکی از ایالت‌های تعیین کننده در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری چنان تشدید شد که دانشگاه اوبرلین در مرکز وقایع قرار گرفت و حتی اتفاقات ناهنجاری را در شهر به وجود آورد. واقعه «فروشگاه گیبسون» Gibson Bakery که طی آن گلاویز شدن یک دانشجوی سیاهپوست با فرزند سفیدپوست فروشگاه، در صدر اخبار و گزارش‌های رسانه‌های محلی، ایالتی و حتی ملی قرار گرفت. فرزند سفیدپوست فروشگاه گیبسون، دانشجوی سیاهپوست را به اتهام دزدیدن دو شراب مورد ضرب و جرح قرار داد و ماجراهای دادگاه این پرونده چنان بالا گرفت که پشتیبانان اجتماعی دو طرف عملا آن را دستاویز اهداف انتخاباتی و سیاسی قرار دادند. علاوه بر موضوعات مورد مناقشه میان این دو اردوگاه مثل نژادپرستی، ورود مهاجران بطور اعم و مهاجران آمریکای لاتین بطور اخص، اسلام‌هراسی یکی از مواردی است که دو طرف همواره بر سر آن با یکدیگر درگیر بوده‌اند. راست‌های افراطی در آمریکا برای ترساندن رای‌دهندگان و پیشبرد خطوط خود از موضوع خارجی‌ها، به‌خصوص جنایاتی که توسط داعش و یا آخوندهای ایران رخ می‌دهد استفاده می‌کنند تا جامعه را نسبت به خطری که در جامعه آمریکا چندان واقعی نیست (نسبت به اروپا) حساس کنند. در آنسو، رادیکال‌های چپ برای مقابله با حریف، تا سرحد کمرنگ کردن جنایات اسلامی‌ها در ایران و خاورمیانه پیش می‌روند. در کشاکش میان این دو قطب سیاسی، لابی جمهوری اسلامی در واشنگتن همواره به خوبی از این موضوع سوء استفاده کرده و چهره افراد جنایتکاری مانند محلاتی و حسین موسویان و نماینده بنیادگرای خامنه‌ای‌ محمدعلی الهی رییس مسجد اسلامی رژیم ایران در شیکاگو را سپیدنمایی و پاکشویی می‌کند. تاریخچه نایاک که از سوی ایرانیان مقیم آمریکا به عنوان لابی جمهوری اسلامی شناخته شده است، مؤید این ترفند رژیم است. استفاده نایاک از گروه‌های چپ، و ضد جنگ مانند «کُد پینک» چند نمونه از این حرکت‌هاست. لابی حکومت ایران در آمریکا حتی در مواردی با به راه انداختن تورهای مسافرتی، بسیاری از فعالان این گروه‌های چپ و ضد جنگ را به ایران برده و با ریخت و پاش‌های توریستی، حتی مبادرت به چاپ کتاب‌های آنها نیز می‌کند. حال با توجه به موارد یادشده، مشاهده می‌شود اکثریت ایرانیان مقیم آمریکا که تضاد اصلی و شماره یک آنها رژیم جمهوری اسلامی است به سمت راست‌های افراطی متمایل شده و بدون هیچ خط و مرزی، بدون در نظر گرفتن عواقب اعمال و گفته‌هایشان، خود را به تمامی‌Continue reading “دانشگاه اوبرلین، محلاتی و سوء استفاده رژیم از فضای دو قطبی موجود در آمریکا”

4/26/20226 minutes Author: Lawdan Bazargan The author, whose brother was executed in Iran in 1988, argues that Russian atrocities in Bucha are not much different from mass killing of prisoners in Iran. Opinion – Earlier this month, the world woke up to the horrific images of the bodies of dead civilians lying on the streets of Bucha, Ukraine — some with their hands bound, some with gunshot wounds to the head. These shocking images of bodies in the streets have led to an outpouring of international condemnation of Russia. In response to accusations of war crimes, Russia’s Ministry of Defense denied responsibility. Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Wesley Nabin Zia, claimed that Moscow would present “practical evidence” to the Security Council, showing that its forces had nothing to do with the killings of Ukraine civilians. Russia’s propaganda machine also claimed Ukrainian forces “staged” or carried out the war crimes themselves. All dictators use the same playbook. In 1988, the Islamic Regime of Iran suddenly executed more than 5000 political prisoners, who had already been sentenced to prison terms, and spent several years behind bars. The only notice the families received from the authorities was a phone call or a short meeting with the authorities informing them that their children were executed because “they were apostates and had forsaken their Islamic religion.” The victims’ families were told not to mourn for their loved ones or organize memorial services. At the time that social media and satellite images were a dream of the future, the families found one of these mass graves, took some pictures, prepared lists of the names of people hanged, and sent them to the United Nations and Amnesty International and demanded an investigation,justice, and accountability. Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, the Islamic Regime of Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations at the time, just like Russia’s Ambassador to the United Nations, denied the families’ accusations and called the allegations about the mass executions “political propaganda against the Islamic Republic.“ The 1988 massacre is now well-documented. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called the killings “ongoing crimes against humanity.” In 2012, The Iran Tribunal, a one-of-a-kind grassroots movement modeled on the famous Russell Tribunal of the 1960s, came together to document the atrocities of the Islamic Republic of Iran during the 1980s. The presiding volunteer international judges, who are some of the highest human rights academics and jurists in the world, unanimously concluded that these crimes fit the definition of crimes against humanity, as described in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In 2013, Canada’s parliament recognized the Massacre as constituting crimes against humanity. Thanks to satellite technology, we know that Russia is lying and Ukraine’s accusations are true. Iranians have similar photos of one of the mass graves, called Khavaran. Khavaran Cemetery is an irregular, unmarked cemetery located in southeast Tehran. Since early 1981, the Islamic Regime of Iran buried leftists opponents in Khavaran because “they were apostates and must not contaminate the resting place of Muslims.” Once the families received the news of the executions, a few went to Khavaran. These families witnessed shallow graves with plastic bags and pieces of clothing poking out of the soil. They started moving the dirt with their hands and found scores of bodies dumped on top of each other. Mothers and relatives of the victims were shocked and could not make sense of the unfolding scene. The families took some pictures of the atrocity around them. Part of the head and face of a young man were lying in the dirt, the hand of someone was hanging in the air, and there were pieces of clothing sticking out of the soil. These pictures proved the Islamic Regime of Iran’s crime and show the length a brutal government is willing to go to eliminate its opponents. To punish Russia for its crimes in Bucha, more sanctions against Russian banks and institutions were announced, and two adult daughters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s wife Maria and daughter Ekaterina, and members of Russia’s national security council were added to the sanction lists. In Iran’s case, not only the people involved in these crimes against humanity did not receive punishment, but they also received higher posts. Khamenei, president at the time, was elevated to Supreme Leader and has ruled the country for the past 33 years with an iron fist. Mostafa Poormohammadi, the deputy intelligence minister, became Justice Minister. Hossein-Ali Nayeri, a religious judge in the revolutionary court, became President of the Supreme Disciplinary Court for Judges. Ebrahim Raisi, a deputy prosecutor, is now the Islamic Regime of Iran’s President. The most shocking, though, is that Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, is now a religious professor at Oberlin College in Ohio and teaches peace and ethics, among other subjects! Despite several letters that the family members of the victims of the 1988 Massacre have written to Oberlin College’s President Ambar and the board of trustees and two protests that they organized in front of the college, the administration refuses to fire Mahallati. Professor Jeffrey Robertson, human rights barrister, author, academic, and authority in crimes against humanity, concluded in his 2000 report about the 1988 Massacre that Mahallati is implicated in crimes against humanity, and the 2018 report of Amnesty International drew the same conclusion. Oberlin college claims that their internal investigation did not show that Mahallati knew about the Massacre, and thus he can continue to teach American students! Back in 1988, the International Criminal Court was not established yet. Crimes against humanity and enforced disappearance were not codified into the law the way it is now. Still, Iran was one of the signers of the Genocide Convention of 1948, the Geneva Convention of 1949, and the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights of 1966. Thus the Islamic Regime of Iran was bound by these rules. Furthermore, Amnesty’s Senior Research Adviser wrote, “All former and current officials who continue to treat the mass killings as state secrets effectively stand with those who have blood on their hands.” All of these should be enough for a Liberal Art College with anContinue reading “Opinion – Russian Massacres In Ukraine And Prisoner Mass Murder In Iran”

– در سال ۱۳۶۷ رژیم اسلامی ایران بیش از ۵۰۰۰ زندانی سیاسی را که پیش از این به زندان محکوم شده بودند،  و چندین سال را پشت میله‌های زندان  گذرانده بودند، به ناگهان اعدام کرد. تنها خبری که خانواده‌های قربانیان از مسئولان دریافت کردند، یک  تماس تلفنی یا ملاقات کوتاهی با مسئولان بود که به آنها اطلاع می‌داد فرزندانشان اعدام شده‌اند زیرا «مرتد بودند و هویت اسلامی خود را کنار گذاشته بودند.»– محمد جعفر محلاتی سفیر وقت رژیم اسلامی ایران در سازمان ملل متحد درآن زمان، درست مانند سفیر امروز روسیه در سازمان ملل که کشتار غیرنظامیان در اوکراین را رد می‌کند، اتهامات خانواده‌ها را تکذیب کرد و این ادعاها در مورد اعدام‌های دستجمعی را «تبلیغات سیاسی علیه جمهوری اسلامی» نامید. جمعه ۲ اردیبهشت ۱۴۰۱ برابر با ۲۲ آپریل ۲۰۲۲ لادن بازرگان – هفته گذشته هنگامی‌که جهان از خواب بیدار شد با تصاویر وحشتناکی از اجساد غیرنظامیان کشته شده در خیابان‌های بوچا در اوکراین مواجه شد. این عکس‌ها پیکر مردم عادی را در حالی که دست‌هایشان از پشت بسته شده بود و گلوله‌ای سر و یا بدن آنها را زندگی را از آنان ستانده بود، به تصویر می‌کشید. جامعه جهانی بعد از دیدن این تصاویر تکان‌دهنده، روسیه را به جنایت علیه بشریت متهم کرد. وزارت دفاع روسیه در واکنش به اتهامات مربوط به جنایات جنگی، مسئولیت کشورش در کشتار غیرنظامیان را تکذیب کرد. واسسلی نابین ضیا سفیر روسیه در سازمان ملل ادعا کرد که مسکو «شواهد عملی» را به شورای امنیت ارائه خواهد داد که نشان می‌دهد نیروهای روسیه دخالتی در قتل غیرنظامیان اوکراینی ندارند. ماشین تبلیغاتی روسیه نیز ادعا کرد که نیروهای اوکراینی «صحنه‌سازی» کرده‌اند و خودشان این جنایت جنگی را انجام داده‌اند. واقعیت این است که همه دیکتاتورها از شیوه‌های یکسانی برای پوشاندن حقیقت استفاده می‌کنند. در سال ۱۳۶۷ رژیم اسلامی ایران بیش از ۵۰۰۰ زندانی سیاسی را که پیش از این به زندان محکوم شده بودند،  و چندین سال را پشت میله‌های زندان  گذرانده بودند، به ناگهان اعدام کرد. تنها خبری که خانواده‌های قربانیان از مسئولان دریافت کردند، یک  تماس تلفنی یا ملاقات کوتاهی با مسئولان بود که به آنها اطلاع می‌داد فرزندانشان اعدام شده‌اند زیرا «مرتد بودند و هویت اسلامی خود را کنار گذاشته بودند.» به  خانواده‌های جانباختگان گفته شد اجازه سوگواری و یا اجرای مراسم یادبود برای عزیزانشان ندارند. با اینکه در آن زمان  رسانه‌های اجتماعی و تصاویر ماهواره‌ای رویاهای دوردستی بودند، خانواده‌ها یکی از این گورهای دستجمعی را پیدا کردند، چند عکس گرفتند، فهرست‌هایی از نام افراد به دار آویخته شده تهیه کردند و به سازمان ملل متحد و سازمان عفو بین‌الملل فرستادند و خواستار تحقیق، عدالت و پاسخگویی شدند. محمد جعفر محلاتی سفیر وقت رژیم اسلامی ایران در سازمان ملل متحد درآن زمان، درست مانند سفیر امروز روسیه در سازمان ملل، اتهامات خانواده‌ها را تکذیب کرد و این ادعاها در مورد اعدام‌های دستجمعی را «تبلیغات سیاسی علیه جمهوری اسلامی» نامید. امروز اما قتل عام زندانیان سیاسی در سال ۱۳۶۷ به خوبی مستند شده است. سازمان عفو بین‌الملل و دیده‌بان حقوق بشر این قتل‌ها را « ناپدیدسازی قهری» و « جنایات مستمرعلیه بشریت» می‌دانند. در سال ۲۰۱۲ جمعی از خانواده‌های جانباختگان جنایات‌های رژیم اسلامی ایران در دهه ۶۰ و زندانیان سیاسی سابق در دادگاه مردمی‌«ایران تریبونال» که از دادگاه معروف راسل دهه ۱۹۶۰ الگو گرفته بود، گرد هم آمدند تا فجایع جمهوری اسلامی ایران را در طول دهه ۱۳۶۰ مستند کنند. قضات بین‌المللی داوطلب که برخی از بالاترین دانشگاهیان و حقوقدانان حقوق بشر در جهان هستند، به اتفاق آرا به این نتیجه رسیدند که جرائم انجام شده متناسب با تعریف جنایت علیه بشریت-همانطور که در اساسنامه رم دادگاه کیفری بین‌المللی شرح داده شده است- می‌باشد. در سال ۲۰۱۳ پارلمان کانادا نیز این قتل عام را به عنوان جنایت علیه بشریت به رسمیت شناخت. امروز به لطف فناوری ماهواره‌ای می‌دانیم که روسیه دروغ می‌گوید و اتهامات اوکراین درباره جنایت جنگی در بوچا به دست ارتش روسیه درست است. ایرانیان نیز عکس‌های مشابهی از یکی از گورهای دستجمعی به نام خاوران دارند. گورستان خاوران گورستانی نامنظم و بی‌نشان واقع در جنوب شرقی تهران است. از اوایل سال  ۱۳۶۰ رژیم اسلامی ایران هواداران سازمان‌های سیاسی چپ را در خاوران به خاک می‌سپرد زیرا طبق قوانین اسلامی «آنان مرتد بودند و نباید قبرستان‌های مسلمانان را آلوده  می‌کردند.» هنگامی‌ که خانواده‌ها خبر اعدام‌ها را دریافت کردند، چند نفر به خاوران رفتند. این خانواده‌ها با گورهای کم‌عمقی مواجه شدند که کیسه‌های پلاستیکی و تکه‌هایی از لباس از ان بیرون زده بود. آنان با ناباوری با دست‌هایشان شروع به کندن خاک کردند و تعداد زیادی جسد پیدا کردند که بر روی یکدیگر ریخته شده بود. مادران و بستگان جانباختگان از دیدن این صحنه‌ها شوکه شدند و چند عکس از جنایتی که اتفاق افتاده بود گرفتند. قسمتی  از سر و صورت جوانی بر روی خاک افتاده است، دست کسی در هوا آویزان است و تکه‌هایی از لباس‌ها از خاک بیرون زده است. این تصاویر جنایت رژیم اسلامی ایران را برای همیشه ثبت کرده و نشان می‌دهد که یک دولت فاشیست مذهبی حاضر است برای از بین بردن مخالفان خود چه میزان قساوت و وحشیگری به خرج بدهد. برای مجازات روسیه به خاطر جنایاتش در بوچا، تحریم‌های بیشتری علیه بانک‌ها و نهادهای مختلف روسی اعلام شد  و دو دختر ولادیمیر پوتین رئیس جمهور روسیه، ماریا همسر سرگئی لاوروف وزیر امور خارجه روسیه و دخترش یکاترینا و اعضای شورای امنیت ملی روسیه به فهرست تحریم‌ها اضافه شدند. اما در ایران نه تنها افراد دخیل در این جنایت علیه بشریت مجازات نشده‌اند بلکه به درجات بالاتری نیز رسیدند. خامنه‌ای رئیس جمهوری اسلامی وقت، به «مقام معظم رهبری» رسیده و در ۳۰ سال گذشته با مشت آهنین بر کشور حکومت می‌کند. مصطفی پورمحمدی معاون وزیر اطلاعات، وزیر دادگستری شد. حسینعلی نیری قاضی دادگاه انقلاب، رئیس دادگاه عالی انضباطی قضات شد. ابراهیم رئیسی معاون دادستان،هم رئیس قوه قضائیه شد و هم اکنون رئیس جمهور رژیم اسلامی ایران است. کافکایی‌ترین قسمت این است  که محمدجعفر محلاتی سفیر وقت جمهوری اسلامی ایران در سازمان ملل متحد، هم‌اکنون استاد مذهبی کالج اوبرلین در اوهایو است و صلح و اخلاق تدریس می‌کند! با وجود چندین نامه که اعضای خانواده جانباختگان کشتار ۶۷ به رئیس کالج اوبرلین و هیئت مدیره انContinue reading “مقایسه قتل عام بوچا در اوکراین و کشتار زندانیان سیاسی در سال ۶۷ در ایران”

‘It employs a man with blood on his hands while serving for the largest terror sponsoring government’  By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL Published: APRIL 15, 2022 13:51 Charlie Weimers, a prominent Swedish member of the European parliament demanded on Thursday that the Ohio-based Oberlin College summarily fire its professor, Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, for his alleged role in covering up the mass murder of at least 5,000 innocent Iranian prisoners during the summer of 1988 in Iran. When asked by the Post if Oberlin College’s president Carmen Twillie Ambar should dismiss Mahallati, Weimers told The Jerusalem Post: “Absolutely! Not today or tomorrow, it should have been yesterday.” He added: “Any person serving for the world’s largest terror sponsoring regime should be sanctioned, especially those at the top and those who seek to cover up the crimes against humanity by that regime, like Mr. Mahallati.” The United States, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, have classified Iran’s regime as the top international state-sponsor of terrorism. Ambar has refused to meet with the families of the victims of 1988 massacre.  Weimers told the Post that “it is an absolute disgrace that Oberlin College President Ambar refuses to meet with the families of over 5,000 innocent victims of crimes against humanity. “For a college that states that it seeks a ‘respectful exchange of ideas and shares an enduring commitment to a sustainable and just society,’ the last thing one would expect is  that it employs a man with blood on his hands while serving for the largest terror sponsoring government in the world and that its President snubs victims and their families of that terrorist regime, who seek to ensure a just society.” Weimers is widely regarded as one of the leading champions within the European Parliament of the victims of the theocratic state in Tehran, Iranian dissidents and for the promotion of Iranian democracy and civil rights. The Swedish lawmaker said: “President Ambar must choose to stand on the right side of history, otherwise her position and that of her college are an absolute disgrace and a slap in the face to all victims of cruel, terrorist and immoral regimes.” Mahallati denied to the Post in 2020 that he covered up the mass murder in 1988 However, Amnesty International issued a highly detailed report in 2018, determining that Mahallati played a key role in covering up the 1988  massacre while serving as the Iranian regime’s ambassador to the UN. Raising the stakes Weimer’s entry into the row over Mahallati has raised the stakes for Oberlin College, as he is the first major politician to weigh in on Mahallati and has now turned the intense dispute over Mahallati’s employment into a wider global controversy. The 1988 massacre is currently front-and-center in the Swedish judiciary. Former Iranian judicial official Hamid Noury is currently on trial in Sweden for war crimes and for murder in connection with his alleged role in the mass execution of Iranian political prisoners in 1988 in Iran. Noury is on trial in Stockholm  for the mass murder of 136 Iranians in Gohardasht prison in Karaj, near Tehran, while he allegedly worked as an assistant to the deputy prosecutor. The Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists (AAIRIA) announced a protest against Mahallati and Ambar during the first week of June at Oberlin during the graduation ceremony week. The Post has learned that the AAIRIA plans protests against multiple businesses of Oberlin College trustees, including the global  law firm Greenberg Traurig Oberlin College trustee Charles S. Birenbaum, who is a shareholder of the Greenberg Traurig where he serves as its chair of its northern California branch, declined to respond to multiple Post queries on the matter.  When asked about Greenberg Traurig’s legal representation of Mahallati, Jill Perry, the managing director and  chief marketing officer of Greenberg Traurig, told the Post: “We are in receipt of your message. Our firm never represented Oberlin College in the investigation or otherwise on the matter, and whomever advised you of this is incorrect.” The Post asked Greenberg Traurig: How much did Oberlin College pay your law firm to represent Mr. Mahallati? Or was the legal work done pro bono? When the Post pressed Perry about a factsheet on Oberlin College’s website that states Greenberg Traurig’s Gregory W. Kehoe represents Mahallati, Perry said: ”As we told you, our firm did not represent Oberlin College in the investigation or otherwise on this matter. We cannot comment of the specifics of any client representation, but one of our lawyers did briefly represent the Professor in late 2020. He is no longer a client of our firm. We will look into what Oberlin College may have put into its website; but we will not have or make further comment for your story.” After the Post queries, Oberlin College scrubbed Greenberg Traurig and Kehoe’s names from its factsheet. The only reference to legal representation is the statement “ From the attorney” with respect to the document that claims to exonerate Mahallati of the allegations he was complicit in a cover up of crimes against humanity, his documented calls to abolish Israel and promote jihadi violence against the Jewish state, and his role in the incitement of persecution against the Baha’i community in Iran. The Post secured a screenshot of the original factsheet that lists Greenberg Traurig and Kehoe as Mahallati’s legal representation. Perry declined to answer if there is a conflict of interest. In a November, 2021, Jason Hawk, a journalist for the Chronicle-Telegram in Oberlin, reported that Mahallati’s “lawyer, Gregory Kehoe of the firm Greenberg Traurig, said criticisms leveled against Mahallati are ‘completely unjustified.”’ When the Post asked Oberlin College spokesman Scott Wargo about Greenberg Traurig, Wargo said: “The College has prepared a fact sheet about Professor Mahallati that also includes a statement from the College… The College doesn’t have any further comment.”  It is unclear why Oberlin College wiped Greenberg Traurig and Kehoe off its factsheet.  The AAIRIA plans to protest at the businesses and employment locations of Oberlin College trustees, Amy Chen Chief Investment Officer, Office of Investments at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.; Chris Canavan, from Lion’s Head Global Partners; Chesley Maddox-Dorsey, Chief Executive Officer at AmericanContinue reading “EU politician urges Oberlin College to fire Iran regime ‘criminal’”

By Jason Hawk The Chronicle-Telegram Apr 09, 2022 5:00 AM OBERLIN — A protest group that has repeatedly called for the termination of an Islamic studies professor at Oberlin College is now backing a push for increased compensation for the institution’s employees. Asking for raises and a better medical insurance plan, professors and students have rallied in recent months. They’ve leveled accusations of mismanagement against the college, and have branded board of trustees members as hypocrites for their treatment of union of employees while sitting on a $1 billion endowment. Joining the fray is the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, which sent a letter to the college last week backing “better work conditions, health benefits and adequate remuneration” for Oberlin faculty and staff. The group of alumni, human rights activists and Iranian-Americans has demanded since October 2020 that the college fire religion professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati. He was Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s during the state-sanctioned execution of untold thousands of political prisoners. At question is whether Mahallati was aware of and helped cover up evidence of the killings. Amnesty International lists Mahallati among those the organization claims “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 claims it reviewed a 2018 Amnesty International report in which accusations were leveled against Mahallati and engaged professional investigators to evaluate what role he may have played. Mahallati denies the allegations, and the college said its inquiry didn’t find proof to corroborate them. The college has not bowed to the Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists’ demands despite repeated protests. Another is being planned for June 5. “We have requested that the college initiate a transparent and independent investigation into professor Mahallati’s cover-up of the 1988 prison massacres,” said a release provided by activist Lawdan Bazargan. “All our calls have remained unanswered; all the documents we submitted to corroborate Mahallati’s role have been ignored. Our repeated demands for justice and accountability have been dismissed.” The group said Oberlin College has failed to live up to its ideals of fighting for social justice and defending human rights. Scott Wargo, director of media relations for the college, did not provide any new comment. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com. Please Click Here for the article.

‘Celebrating 43 years of resistance against the gender apartheid Islamic regime of Iran’ By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL Published: MARCH 9, 2022 09:48 Updated: MARCH 9, 2022 09:56 Iranian-Americans, college students and community members assembled in the town of Oberlin, Ohio on Saturday to protest against the gender apartheid policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the alleged role of an Oberlin College professor in the cover-up of a massacre of 5,000 Iranians in 1988. “Celebrating 43 Years of Iranian Women[‘s] Resistance Against the Gender Apartheid Islamic Regime of Iran,” read one sign held by Lawdan Bazargan, the lead organizer of the demonstration. The demonstration was held ahead of International Women’s Day, marked on March 8. Bazargan told The Jerusalem Post about the dire plight of a number of incarcerated Iranian women spotlighted at the protest. She cited the case of “Maryam Akbari Monfared, who was born in 1975, and three of her brothers and a sister were executed in the 1980s or in the 1988 massacre. As an adult woman, when she demanded an answer about why they were executed, she was put in jail. She was arrested in 2009 and was sentenced to 15 years. Her children grew up without her.”  A second case involves “ Saba Kord Afshari, a 20-year-old girl who protested against compulsory [wearing of the] hijab, who was sentenced to 27 years in jail on the charges of ‘promoting corruption and prostitution through appearing without a headscarf in public,’ and on the charge of ‘propaganda against the state,’ and on the charge of ‘assembly and collusion with an intent to commit a crime against national security.’ Later Afshari’s mother was arrested too because she spoke up demanding her daughter’s release,” Bazargan said. The activists want Oberlin College President Carmen Ambar to fire Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a professor of religion and Tehran’s former ambassador to the UN, for his reported role in the mass murder of Iranian dissidents. According to a 2018 Amnesty International report, Mahallati engaged, as Iran’s ambassador to the UN, in “crimes against humanity” by aiding the clerical regime in the killing spree conducted throughout the state’s prisons. Thousands of male and female prisoners were summarily slaughtered during the summer of 1988. Bazargan said at the protest that Mahallati should not be allowed to “teach ethics and peace” due to the grave allegation of “crimes against humanity” leveled against him. “We want justice and accountability,” she said, adding that new research showed that Mahallati declared, in a 1981 interview, that the persecuted Bahaʼi religion should not exist. Bazargan, whose brother Bijan was murdered by the Iranian regime in 1988 for his leftist views, announced, in a statement directed to Ambar: “Rest assured, we are coming back in June for the graduation” ceremony at the college. Roughly 75 Iranian-Americans and human rights activists protested against Mahallati in November. The activities against Mahallati have morphed into a global campaign that has unified the entire spectrum of Iranian dissident organizations and parties. A group of 15 people showed up on Saturday. Iranian-Americans are outraged at Ambar’s refusal to meet with the families of the 1988 victims. Post interviews with the protesters and activists involved in the campaign against Mahallati revealed a consensus among Iranian-Americans that the Oberlin College administration and its board of trustees do not value Iranian lives. Mahallati denied that he committed crimes against humanity, in a statement to the Post in October 2020 Oberlin College spokesman Scott Wargo sent the Post a fact sheet about Mahallati that appears on the school’s website. He added that “The college doesn’t have any further comment.” The Post previously reported on the fact sheet.  “Caution: Accomplice to Massacre Teaches at this College,” a sign held by Marjan Ghadrdan at the protest read. A third poster declared, “Four Decades of Resistance against Forced Hijab.” The Iranian regime requires women to cover their hair with a scarf, and if they refuse, they are subject to incarceration. According to an article by Dave O’Brien in the local paper, The Chronicle-Telegram, additional posters at the protest read, “Ask Mahallati Why he Lied,” “Ask Mahallati Why He Denied” and “Mahallati Represented a Murderous Regime with No Respect for Human Lives and Human Rights.” The Oberlin Committee for Justice for Mahallati’s Victims issued a statement ahead of Saturday’s protest: “To our dismay, the Board [of Trustees] decided to ignore our letter and Oberlin Review’s Editorial Board’s assessment that ‘Evidence against Mahallati was irrefutable.’ In addition, documents show that Mahallati stoked incitement against the people of the Baha’i faith and delivered antisemitic speeches against Israel and the Jewish people at the UN.” The statement continued, “We are taking the fight to the Board of Trustees of Oberlin College, including the chair, Chris Canavan, vice-chair Chelsey Maddox-Dorsey, and Amy Chen, the first chief investment officer at the Smithsonian Institution. We believe the continuation of employment of Mr. Mahallati violates Oberlin College’s historical stance on inclusion, respect, and tolerance.” The Committee for Justice added, “We are heartened by the outpouring of support from the Oberlin community that prides itself on pursuing justice. Oberlin’s Board should assume the same principled stance in support of the victims’ families rather than tarnish the university’s reputation” Their reputation is “rightfully damaged with each day that its leadership denies accountability. Prospective students and donors are watching whether the school’s Board of Trustees will act with integrity and oust Mohammad Jafar Mahallati.” The Committee added. Bazargan slammed Oberlin town councilman Ray English, a former director of libraries for Oberlin College, saying he had launched a campaign to discredit Iranian-Americans and advance the goals of the Tehran regime. “Ray English should be embarrassed to be using the same propaganda as the Islamic Republic,” she said. “We will not listen to his smear campaign. He should come to join with the victims of Mahallati.” Bazargan said English is “racist, xenophobic and antisemitic” because of a controversial memorandum he circulated dated February 17 and titled “The Jafar Mahallati Controversy: A Tentative Assessment.” The 10-page document, a copy of which was obtained by the Post, claims “Conservative elements withinContinue reading “International Women’s Day protest against Iran’s regime and ex-UN envoy Mahallati”