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Monday, 06/19/2023 | 4 minutes Dr Fieda Fuchs, independent scholar and former visiting professor at Oberlin College, calls for a full investigation of an Iranian faculty member suspected of covering up mass executions in 1988. —————————————————————————————————————————————————————- On March 3, 2023, Ray English, the former Director of Libraries at Oberlin College, responded to our co-authored op-ed published on February 24, 2023 in which English disagrees with our claim that Oberlin College Professor of Religion Mohammad Jaffar Mahallati played a role in covering up the mass execution of political prisoners in his country (the 1988 “prison massacres”) during his tenure as Iran’s UN Ambassador (1988-89). Rehearsing Oberlin’s official response (published on the college website on October 28, 2021), English argues that the allegations against Mahallati are unsupported by evidence. Mahallati’s defenders rest their case on the top-secret nature of the massacres, which allegedly made it impossible for him to have “real time knowledge” of the events. We do not doubt that Mahallati’s geographical distance from Iran made it difficult for him to know all the details. However, the international press and Amnesty International began reporting about the massacres already in summer 1988. We know that Mahallati officially claimed that these reports were exaggerated or false. We also know that Mahallati went to Iran in late August 1988 where he met with Hashemi Rafsanjani (the second most important political leader after Ayatollah Khomeini). Mahallati also misled his UN colleagues by claiming that the massacre’s victims were battlefield casualties. The truth is that most of them had been in prison for years prior to their execution. Finally, Mahallati argued that reputable sources with a long history of professional journalism and human rights investigations (The Financial Times, The New York Times, and The Guardian, and Amnesty International) were misled by left-wing guerrilla fighters based in Iraq who were peddling false information. Ray English highlights Mahallati’s role as a peace broker in the Iran-Iraq war. He argues that Mahallati’s humanitarian impulses are evident from his effort to set up a UN human rights delegation to investigate claims about possible human rights violations. English also tells us that Mahallati was briefly detained after his official term expired because he fell in disfavor with regime hardliners. A more careful look at the evidence calls into question these claims. In 2018, Mahallati wrote a letter to the President of the Majlis (Iran’s parliament) in which he denied that he had been detained. Instead, he claimed that these rumors were spread by regime hardliners who branded him as an American spy. Mahallati’s proposal to create a UN delegation to investigate the prison massacres was not necessarily borne of humanitarian impulses either. Rather, it was based on a quid pro quo, whereby Iran’s government would agree to the committee if the UN dropped a censure motion against the country for human rights violations. According to a New York Times article from 26 November 1988, Mohammed Jafar Mahallati told the General Assembly’s Third Committee that “Iran would admit a United Nations human rights investigator and cooperate if the resolution is watered down” and that “the committee has to choose between a confrontation or a cooperative approach.” Thirty-seven UN records and international media reports show that Mahallati conditioned visits to Iran by the UN Special Representative on the removal of critical references to the mass executions from the December 1988 resolution of the General Assembly. When the UN proceeded to censure Iran for human rights violations anyway, Mahallati rescinded his offer. It was only in 1990, a whole year after Mahallati left his post, that Iran finally allowed UN officials to conduct the investigation. However, the three visits UN officials paid to Iran between 1990 and 1992 were highly staged occasions, as often happens in authoritarian regimes. As internationally renowned human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson noted, Iran denied the UN delegation independent access to prisons, prisoners, and potential witnesses. We also know that Mahallati used diplomatic immunity to defend himself against any allegations of wrongdoing, as he did when he attacked minority Baha’i communities or supported the fatwa against Nobel Prize-winning author Salman Rushdie. Iran’s leaders have deliberately obfuscated the country’s abysmal human rights record for decades now. In this case, the goal is to demonize the 1988 prison massacre victims as violent left-wing terrorists aligned with Israel and American imperialism. Just how plausible is a conspiracy theory in which Islamic Marxist revolutionaries serve as stooges of Zionism and American power? Oberlin College’s administration should not play the role of a fellow traveler for a dictatorship that systematically violates human rights, not the least of Iran’s women who have stood up against dictatorship so bravely in recent months. Nor should it obfuscate, rather than honestly investigate, the role of a professor in covering up the crimes of Iran’s authoritarian and misogynist regime. (Note: Dr Frieda Fuchs was mistakenly introduced as “Assistant Professor at Oberlin College” when this article was published. Consequently correction was made.) Opinions expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of Iran International Please Click Here for the article.

دفتر روابط رسانه‌ای دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» روز چهارشنبه در ایمیلی به اورشلیم پست نوشت: «در حال حاضر هیچ برنامه پژوهشی فعالی با دانشگاه تهران وجود نداشته و مک‌گیل هیچگونه قرارداد رسمی همکاری با دانشگاه تهران ندارد.»علیرضا نادر مدیر «اتحادیه ملی برای دموکراسی در ایران» (نوفدی) مستقر در ایالات متحده، به اورشلیم پست گفت: «جمهوری اسلامی به شکل قابل توجهی در دانشگاه‌های غرب و آمریکا نفوذ کرده و این امر مستلزم بررسی است. عملیات نفوذ و لابیگری رژیم به‌ویژه در کانادا قوی است و ممکن است بر سیاست‌های اتاوا در قبال جمهوری اسلامی تأثیر گذاشته باشد». جمعه ۲۵ فروردین ۱۴۰۲ برابر با ۱۴ آپریل ۲۰۲۳ بنجامین وینتال (اورشلیم پست) – دانشگاه تهران حامی جریانی یهودستیز است که اسرائیل را هدف قرار می‌دهد و حتی یکی از استادان دانشکده حقوق این دانشگاه از فتوای رهبر جمهوری اسلامی برای قتل سلمان رشدی دفاع می‌کند. در همین ارتباط روزنامه اورشلیم پست خبر داده است که دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» در مونترال کانادا به همکاری تحقیقاتی خود با یکی از یهودستیزترین مؤسسات آموزشی جهان، دانشگاه تهران، پایان داده است. دفتر روابط رسانه‌ای دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» روز چهارشنبه در ایمیلی به اورشلیم پست نوشت: «در حال حاضر هیچ برنامه پژوهشی فعالی با دانشگاه تهران وجود نداشته و مک‌گیل هیچگونه قرارداد رسمی همکاری با دانشگاه تهران ندارد.» به گفته سازمان عفو بین‌الملل، رژیم ایران نیلوفر بیانی فارغ التحصیل دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» و از فعالان مدنی حامی حیات وحش را بر اساس اتهام واهی جاسوسی به پنج سال حبس محکوم کرده است. «جایی برای رژیم صهیونیستی نخواهد بود» حجت‌الاسلام محمدجواد حاج علی اکبری آخوند حکومتی در «روز قدس» سال ۲۰۲۲ در محوطه دانشگاه تهران اعلام کرد: «رژیم صهیونیستی جایی در آینده جهان نخواهد داشت.» «روز قدس» آخرین جمعه ماه رمضان است که از سوی روح‌الله خمینی پس از روی کار آمدن جمهوری اسلامی در ایران، به عنوان روز مبارزه با اسرائیل و نابودی این کشور اعلام شده است و هر سال نه تنها در شهرهای مختلف ایران راهپیمایی‌های حکومتی برگزار می‌شود بلکه در برخی شهرهای دیگر جهان از جمله در قلب اروپا نیز در این روز از سوی اسلامگرایان تظاهراتی برپا می‌شود. محمدصادق کوشکی استاد دانشگاه تهران از سوء قصد علیه سلمان رشدی نویسنده انگلیسی هندی‌تبار که در اوت  ۲۰۲۲ در شمال نیویورک روی داد، حمایت کرده است. این حمله تروریستی توسط هادی مطر که حامی رژیم جمهوری اسلامی است، صورت گرفت. بنیانگذار جمهوری اسلامی در ایران، آیت‌الله روح‌الله خمینی، در سال ۱۹۸۸ پس از انتشار کتاب «آیات شیطانی» از سلمان رشدی، فتوای قتل این نویسنده را به بهانه‌ی بی‌احترامی و توهین به اسلام صادر کرد. پژوهشکده رسانه خاورمیانه «MEMRI» مصاحبه صداوسیمای جمهوری اسلامی با کوشکی را که وی در آن از فتوای قتل رشدی دفاع و خاطرنشان می‌کند که خمینی «در آن زمان این فتوای خردمندانه را صادر کرد تا دیگر چنین اتفاقی تکرار نشود»، ترجمه کرده است. کوشکی همچنین گفت که رشدی « مرده‌ای متحرک بیش نبود». در وبسایت مؤسسه مطالعات اسلامی دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» بخشی به «واحد تهران» اختصاص داده شده است. تاریخ ثبت متن ۳ آوریل ۲۰۲۳ است. در این صفحه نوشته شده: «واحد تهران که ابتدا توسط مک‌گیل تأسیس شد، قبل از تأمین مکان مناسب و تخصیص بودجه سالانه از دانشگاه تهران، در دوره‌ای با مشکلات مالی مواجه شد… مؤسسه مطالعات اسلامی مک‌گیل به ارتباط چهل و چهار ساله آن با واحد تهران و فعالیت‌های پژوهشی آن افتخار می‌کند». اورشلیم پست از اواخر فوریه ۲۰۲۲ به منظور شفاف ساختن روابط  «مک‌گیل» و دانشگاه تهران، پرسش‌های مطبوعاتی متعددی را به دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» و موسسه مطالعات اسلامی آن ارسال کرده بود. «مک‌گیل و مؤسسه مطالعات اسلامی هر دو در یک دوره ۱۳ ماهه از پاسخگویی به پرسش‌های رسانه‌ها خودداری کردند. همچنین این دانشگاه هیچ دلیلی برای غیرفعال کردن برنامه تحقیقاتی با دانشگاه تهران ارائه نکرد. در دوره همکاری «مک‌گیل» با دانشگاه تهران، این مؤسسه آکادمیک تحت کنترل رژیم ایران به ترویج ایده نابودی اسرائیل می‌پرداخت. خبرگزاری بین‌المللی «قرآن» از کنفرانسی در دانشگاه تهران با عنوان «ظهور اسلام، نابودی اسرائیل» در سال ۲۰۰۸ نوشته است. حالا دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» در ایمیل روز چهارشنبه خود به اورشلیم پست نوشته است: «موسسه مطالعات اسلامی مک‌گیل واحد تهران بیش از پنجاه سال پیش تأسیس شد. تمرکز این موسسه بر فعالیت‌های پژوهشی با تأکید بر بازیابی و مطالعه متون تاریخی فارسی بوده و مجموعه‌ای از منابع مرجع از جمله برخی از مهم‌ترین کتب و نسخ خطی علوم مختلف اسلامی را پشتیبانی کرده است.» دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» و مؤسسه مطالعات اسلامی آن از پاسخگویی به سؤالات در مورد زمان پایان همکاری با دانشگاه تهران خودداری کرده است. در ماه مارس، نگارنده و دکتر چارلز اشر اسمال مدیر اجرایی مؤسسه مطالعات یهودستیزی و سیاست جهانی (ISGAP)، مقاله‌ای با عنوان «ارتباطات عمیق دانشگاه مک‌گیل با رژیم جنایتکار ایران» در روزنامه کانادایی «نشنال پست» منتشر کردند ولی مشخص نیست که آیا این مقاله نقشی در قطع روابط «مک‌گیل» با دانشگاه تهران داشته است یا نه. دانشگاه تهران سابقه طولانی در ترویج مرگبار یهودستیزی و همکاری با تروریست‌های تحت تعقیب ایالات متحده دارد. خبرگزاری فارس وابسته به سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی، بیانیه‌ای از اساتید بسیجی دانشگاه تهران منتشر کرده که در آن اعلام شده است آنها برای «نابودی رژیم منحوس صهیونیستی» هر کاری که ممکن است انجام خواهند داد. دولت آمریکا سپاه پاسداران انقلاب اسلامی و زیرمجموعه آن «بسیج» را به عنوان یک سازمان تروریستی خارجی طبقه‌بندی کرده است. مؤسسه مطالعات اسلامی «مک‌گیل» بین سال‌های ۲۰۰۴ تا ۲۰۱۰ از بنیاد علوی، موسسه تحت کنترل رژیم ایران مستقر در ایالات متحده، مبلغ ۲۷۰هزار دلار دریافت کرده است. دولت آمریکا ساختمان بنیاد علوی را به دلیل نقش آن در مقابله با تحریم‌های آمریکا علیه جمهوری اسلامی ضبط کرده است. بخش مطالعات اسلامی دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» در سال ۲۰۰۶ به محمدجعفر محلاتی مدرک دکترا اعطا کرد. سازمان عفو بین‌الملل محلاتی را متهم کرده است که در سال ۱۹۸۸ و در حین خدمت در مقام سفیر رژیم جمهوری اسلامی در سازمان ملل، بر جنایت علیه بشریت توسط این رژیم سرپوش گذاشته است. در سال ۱۹۸۸، حاکمان جمهوری اسلامی ۵۰۰۰ زندانی سیاسی را اعدام کردند. محلاتی با ایملیی به اورشلیم پست در سال ۲۰۲۰ ، اتهامات عفو بین‌الملل را رد کرده است. علیرضا نادر مدیر «اتحادیه ملی برای دموکراسی در ایران» (نوفدی) مستقر در ایالات متحده، به اورشلیم پستContinue reading “دانشگاه «مک‌گیل» کانادا به همکاری تحقیقاتی با دانشگاه یهودستیز در ایران پایان داد”

لادن بازرگان فعال حقوق بشر و از خانواده‌های دادخواه قربانیانی که در طول چهل و چهار سال گذشته توسط جمهوری اسلامی اعدام شدند، طی سخنرانی در وبینار «فوروم خاورمیانه» پس از شرح مفصلی از حضور لابیگران رژیم ایران از جمله در دانشگاه‌ها و مؤسسات نیکوکاری می‌گوید: «یکی از راه‌هایی که جمهوری اسلامی ایران بر دانشگاه‌ها تأثیر می‌گذارد، از طریق این بنیادهای خیریه است. آنها سخنرانی ترتیب می‌دهند، سخنرانان را دعوت می‌کنند، کتاب منتشر می‌کنند، دوره‌های کارآموزی، هدایای کاری و غیره ارائه می‌دهند. موسسات خیریه به ابزاری در دست مأموران جمهوری اسلامی ایران برای نفوذ به دانشگاه‌ها و تأثیرگذاری بر آنها تبدیل شده‌اند؛ همه اینها زیر ردای فریبکارانه‌ی دوستی و گفتگو بین ادیان و صلح انجام می‌شود…» «اگر می‌خواهید با افراطیون و اسلامگرایان مبارزه کنید، باید توجه خود را به این مراکز مذهبی و خیریه معطوف کنید. پس از اینکه اف‌بی‌آی بنیاد علوی را به دادگاه کشاند، جمهوری اسلامی ایران تمرکز خود را روی این مؤسسات خیریه کوچکتر متمرکز کرد که مانند قارچ روییدند! اکنون جمهوری اسلامی بجای اینکه برای تبلیغات خود هزینه کند، از این بنیادها برای دریافت پول‌ و کمک‌های مالی استفاده کرده و درآمدزایی هم می‌کند!» چهارشنبه ۲۳ فروردین ۱۴۰۲ برابر با ۱۲ آپریل ۲۰۲۳ در وبیناری که ۱۰ آوریل از سوی «فوروم خاورمیانه» برگزار شد، لادن بازرگان فعال حقوق بشر در سخنانی به افشای لابی‌های جمهوری اسلامی در دانشگاه‌ها، مراکز اسلامی و سازمان‌های نیکوکاری در کشورهای غربی به ویژه آمریکا پرداخت. وی پس از سخنرانی خود که در آن به شرح فعالیت‌ها و افشاگری‌های کمپین‌های مختلف دادخواهی پرداخت، به پرسش‌های برگزارکننده پاسخ گفت. ازرگان در بخشی از سخنرانی خود با اشاره به روی آمدن نظام جمهوری اسلامی در ایران گفت: «از زمانی که اسلامگرایان با انقلاب ۱۹۷۹ در ایران به قدرت رسیدند، هزاران مرد و زن جوان دستگیر، شکنجه و کشته شده‌ و یا بدون هیچگونه روند قانونی با صدور احکام ناعادلانه به حبس محکوم شده‌اند. زندانیان به عنوان شرط آزادی، باید توبه کرده و توبه‌نامه امضا می‌کردند و با انجام مصاحبه تلویزیونی و یا سخنرانی در برابر بقیه زندانیان، ابراز پشیمانی کرده و برای آزاد شدن تقاضای عفو می‌کردند.» وی سپس به قتل عام زندانیان در تابستان ۶۷ پرداخته و افزود: «با نزدیک شدن به دهمین سالگرد بنیانگذاری رژیم، هنوز هزاران نفر در سراسر ایران در زندان بودند و از تسلیم شدن به حکومت و ایدئولوژی وحشیانه آن سر باز می‌زدند. بنابراین مقامات جمهوری اسلامی تصمیم گرفتند با حذف زندانیان سیاسی یکبار برای همیشه «مشکل» را حل کنند. زندانیان را در برابر هیئت مرگ برده و آنها با تفتیش عقاید در مورد ایمان و اعتقادات و وابستگی سیاسی زندانیان در جلسات کوتاه پنج تا ده دقیقه‌ای مورد بازجویی و شکنجه قرار می‌گرفتند. هدف این بود که تا حد امکان زندانیان را از بین ببرند. زندانیانی که در این تفتیش عقاید گزینش می‌شدند به پای چوبه‌های دار برده شده و اعدام می‌شدند. پیکر آنها به وسیله‌ی کامیون‌های حمل گوشت به خارج زندان برده می‌شد تا با عجله در گورهای دستجمعی کم‌عمق و بدون علامت و نشانه در مکان‌هایی مانند گورستان خاوران دفن شوند. به خانواده‌ها هرگز محل دفن عزیزانشان اطلاع داده نشد.» این فعال حقوق بشر که برادر خود را در اعدام‌های تابستان ۶۷ از دست داده است در همین ارتباط توضیح می‌دهد: «برادرم بیژن بازرگان دانشجو بود که در تیرماه ۱۳۶۱ در سن ۲۳ سالگی دستگیر و پس از دو سال بازجویی، شکنجه و بلاتکلیفی به ده سال زندان محکوم شد. اتهام او عضویت در یک حزب چپگرا، توزیع جزوه و کمک مالی به آن گروه بود. پس از بیش از شش سال پشت میله‌های زندان، او را ناگهان اعدام کردند! پدر و مادرم در حالی از دنیا رفتند که هرگز ندانستند پسر عزیزشان در کجا دفن شده است. ما نیز هنوز نمی‌دانیم.» لادن بازرگان که به همراه شمار دیگری از خانواده‌های دادخواه مدت‌هاست برای اخراج محمدجعفر محلاتی سفیر سابق جمهوری اسلامی در سازمان ملل فعالیت می‌کند و سال‌هاست استاد «دین و صلح» در کالج اوبرلین است، در ادامه سخنان خود به نقش این سیاستمدار حکومت ایران در لاپوشانی قتل عام‌های دهه ۶۰ و سال ۶۷ می‌پردازد و می‌گوید: «در ۳۰ سال گذشته، محلاتی و سایر وابستگان رژیم ایران در دانشگاه‌های آمریکا، نسلی از شهروندان این کشور را پرورش داده‌اند که از اسلام سیاسی و ایدئولوژی عقب‌مانده جمهوری اسلامی هراسی ندارند. محلاتی منحصر به فرد نیست. حسین موسویان، ژانت آفاری، رضا اصلان، حسین مدرسی و بهروز تبریزی از دیگر اساتید به اصطلاح ایرانی هستند که مشغول شستشوی مغزی دانشجویان آمریکایی برای گسترش تبلیغات جمهوری اسلامی خارج از مرزهای ایران فعالیت می‌کنند. ما دیده‌ایم که چگونه دولت‌های دو حزب دموکرات و جمهوریخواه به اسلامگرایان اعتماد کردند و با تروریست‌های طالبان و جمهوری اسلامی ایران مذاکره کرده و به آنها اجازه دادند افغانستان و عراق را تصرف کنند و در سوریه، یمن، لبنان و سایر کشورهای خاورمیانه آشوب ایجاد کنند. برخی از مشاوران رؤسای جمهور ایالات متحده از خطرناک بودن اسلام سیاسی اطلاعی ندارند و از مقابله با آن به عنوان طاعون خودداری می‌کنند.» لادن بازرگان در ادامه افزود: «این آفت به دانشگاه‌ها محدود نمی‌شود. جمهوری اسلامی با موفقیت از موسسات نیکوکاری، مراکز اسلامی، گروه‌های ضدجنگ و حتی برخی اتاق‌های فکر برای پیشبرد برنامه‌های تبلیغاتی و ضدآمریکایی خود استفاده می‌کند. چپگرایان در ایالات متحده ساده‌لوحانه شعارهای توخالی ضدامپریالیسم و ضدسرمایه‌داری جمهوری اسلامی را باور کرده و با چنین حکومت مذهبی بدوی و غیرمتمدنی همسو شده است. برخی از چپ‌ها به دلیل دشمنی با سرمایه‌داری، عموماً صمیمیت عجیبی با رژیم‌های استبدادی مانند جمهوری اسلامی دارند و فقط به دلیل مخالفت با امپریالیسم، استبداد آنها را نادیده می‌گیرند. این چپ‌ها ظلم جمهوری اسلامی ایران به زنان و قوانین آپارتاید جنسیتی آن را به عنوان «فرهنگ ما» توجیه می‌کنند و فریادهای ما علیه جمهوری اسلامی ایران را به عنوان اسلام‌هراسی رد می‌کنند!» این فعال حقوق بشر در ادامه به پولپاشی‌های جمهوری اسلامی و خریدن برخی افراد پرداخته و می‌گوید: «یکی از پیامدهای «حکومت رانتی» این است که اگر جمهوری اسلامی نتواند کسی را با شعارهای توخالی جذب کند، مبالغ بالایی می‌پردازد و برخی را می‌خرد. حسین رونقی زندانی سیاسی چندی پیش در وال استریت ژورنال به مشکل نیابتی‌های جمهوری اسلامی در رسانه‌های آمریکا پرداخت و نوشت که انگار دو ایرانContinue reading “دست دراز جمهوری اسلامی و لابیگرانش در دانشگاه‌ها و سازمان‌های نیکوکاری آمریکا”

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL    Published: APRIL 7, 2023 06:18 Updated: APRIL 7, 2023 15:59 Tehran University is a sponsor of genocidal antisemitism targeting Israel and one of its law professors defended the regime’s fatwa to murder Salman Rushdie. The Montreal-based McGill University pulled the plug on its research program with one of the world’s leading antisemitic institutions, Tehran University, The Jerusalem Post can first reveal. “Currently, there is no active research program associated with the Tehran Branch and McGill has no formal partnership agreement with the University of Tehran,” the McGill University Media Relations Office wrote the Post by Email on Wednesday. Tehran University is a sponsor of genocidal antisemitism targeting Israel and one of its law professors defended the regime’s fatwa to murder Salman Rushdie. Iran’s regime imprisoned McGill alumnus Niloufar Bayani, a wildlife conservationist,  over five years based on trumped-up spying charges, according to Amnesty International. “No place for Zionist regime” The Iranian regime cleric Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari declared on Al-Quds Day in 2022 on the campus of Tehran University that “There won’t be any place for the Zionist regime in the world future.” Al-Quds Day is an annual regime-sponsored event across Iran that calls for the destruction of the Jewish state. The Tehran University professor, Mohammad Sadegh Koushki, endorsed the assassination of Rushdie in August 2022, following the pro-Iranian regime suspects Hadi Matar’s attempt to kill Rushdie in upstate New York. The founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, authorized the fatwa to murder Rushdie in 1988 because he said his book, “The Satanic Verses,” denigrated Islam. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated an Iranian television interview with Koushki, who defended the fatwa to kill Rushdie, noting that Khomenei “had the wisdom to issue this verdict back then, so that such a thing would never repeat itself.”  Koushki also said that Rushdie was a “dead man walking.” On McGill University’s Institute of Islamic Studies webpage, there is a section devoted to its “Tehran Branch.” The entry of the text is dated April 3, 2013. “Originally founded by McGill, the Tehran Branch faced a period of financial uncertainty before securing a suitable location and a yearly allocation from the University of Tehran… McGill’s Institute of Islamic Studies is proud of its 44-year association with the Tehran Branch and its scholarly activities, “ states the Tehran Branch webpage. The Post had sent numerous press queries to McGill University and its Institute of Islamic Studies since late February 2022 in an effort to secure transparency about relations between McGill and Tehran University. Both McGill and the Institute of Islamic Studies refused over a 13-month period to answer media queries. McGill also declined to provide a reason for why the research program with Tehran University is inactive. During the period of McGill’s partnership with Tehran University, the Iranian regime-controlled academic institution promoted the obliteration of Israel. The International Quran News Agency reported about a 2008 conference at Tehran University titled, “The Rise of Islam, Destruction of Israel.” McGill added in its Wednesday statement to the Post that “The Tehran Branch of the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill was established more than fifty years ago. It has focused on scholarly activity with an emphasis on the recovery and study of historic Persian texts and has supported a collection of reference materials, including some of the most important books and manuscripts of different Islamic Sciences.” McGill University and its Institute of Islamic Studies refused to answer multiple follow up queries as to when its partnership with Tehran University became inactive. In March, the author of this article and Dr. Charles Asher Small, executive director of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP), published an article in the Canadian broadsheet, the National Post, titled “McGill University’s deep ties with Iran’s murderous regime.” It is unclear if the March National Post article played a role in McGill’s announcement that it has severed relations with Tehran University. Tehran University has a long history of promoting lethal antisemitism and working with US-designated terrorists. The Iranian outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Fars news, published a declaration from the Basij professors at Tehran University stating that they will do everything possible to bring about the “destruction of the infamous Zionist regime.” The US government designated the IRGC, which includes its subsidiary, the Basij, as a foreign terrorist organization. McGill’s Institute of Islamic Studies received $270,000 in donations between 2004 and 2010 from the Iranian regime-controlled U.S.-based Alavi Foundation. The US government seized the building of the Alavi Foundation due to the foundation’s role in busting US sanctions against the Islamic Republic. McGill University’s Islamic Studies department awarded Mohammad Jafar Mahallati a PhD in 2006. Amnesty International accused Mahallati of covering up crimes against humanity when he was the Iranian regime’s ambassador to the UN in 1988. Iran’s rulers executed 5,000 political prisoners in 1988. In a 2020 email to the Post, Mahallati rejected the Amnesty allegations. Alireza Nader, the engagement director for the US-based National Union for a Democratic Iran (NUFDI), told the Post that “The Islamic Republic has established significant influence in Western and American academia which deserves scrutiny and investigation. The regime’s influence operations and lobbying are particularly strong in Canada and may have impacted Ottawa’s policies toward the Islamic Republic.” Canada has refused to proscribe the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization. Sheina Vojoudi, an associate fellow for the Gold Institute for International Strategy, told the Post “If, according to McGill’s Media Relations Office, there’s no formal and active cooperation between the Islamic Republic and McGill University, it should be announced publicly and it would be a right course of action because Islamic Republic universities never respect other religions and discriminate against them. And, of course, the antisemitic Al-Quds rally will never be stopped at the universities under the Islamic Republic.” She added that “There are security departments at every university in Iran which cooperate with the IRGC Intelligence and the ministry of intelligence in Iran and help them to identify the students whoContinue reading “McGill University ends research with antisemitic Iranian university”

AAIRA is concerned that Ms. Fleming’s presence at Oberlin College would lend credibility to an institution who has Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, accused of involvement in covering up and denying the 1988 Massacre of Iranian political prisoners, on its payroll. Mahallati served as Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 1987 to 1989, during which time the Iranian government executed thousands of political prisoners. Over the years, Oberlin College has honored Mahallati and misrepresented his credentials leaving out his dark past. Despite his involvement in the 1988 Massacre and his ongoing defense of the Iranian regime’s human rights abuses, Mahallati has been allowed to promote his fundamentalist views on the international stage. Ms. Fleming has been a staunch advocate for human rights and has consistently worked towards promoting diversity and inclusivity. However, by agreeing to speak at an institution that has celebrated and promoted a figure like Mahallati, she risks undermining her own principles and the important work she has done to combat intolerance and discrimination. In light of these concerns, AAIRIA respectfully requests that Ms. Fleming reconsider her decision to speak at Oberlin College. We believe it is essential to stand up against those who seek to cover up and deny human rights abuses, and we urge Ms. Fleming to stand in solidarity with the victims of the 1988 Massacre and their families.We invite Ms. Fleming to engage with us and learn more about Dr. Mahallati’s troubling history and Oberlin College’s problematic relationship with him. We believe constructive dialogue and collaboration are critical to fostering understanding and promoting positive change. About AAIRA:The Alliance Against Islamic Republic of Iran Regime Apologists (AAIRIA) is a group of former Iranian political prisoners, families of Iranian executed political prisoners and human rights activists who work for justice and accountability. We have tirelessly worked to hold Mahallati accountable for his part in the Iran Regime’s crimes against humanity. For more information, please visit https://aairia.org

اتحاد علیه لابی های رژیم جمهوری اسلامی ایران از ملیسا فلمینگ، معاون دبیرکل سازمان ملل متحد در امور ارتباطات جهانی، می خواهد تا در مورد حضور خود در کالج اوبرلین در ۱۰ آوریل ۲۰۲۳ تجدید نظر کند. اتحاد علیه لابی های رژیم جمهوری اسلامی ایران نگران است که حضور خانم فلمینگ در کالج اوبرلین, موسسه‌ای که محمدجعفر محلاتی, متهم به دست داشتن در سرپوش گذاشتن و انکار قتل عام زندانیان سیاسی ایران در تابستان سال ۱۳۶۷ را به عنوان استاد استخدام کرده، به این کالج اعتبار بخشد. محلاتی از سال ۱۳۶۶ تا ۱۳۶۸ سفیر ایران در سازمان ملل بود و در این مدت حکومت ایران هزاران زندانی سیاسی را اعدام کرد. در ۱۳ سال گذشته کالج اوبرلین برای محلاتی اعتبارخریده و گذشته تاریک او را نادیده گرفته و از دانشجویان خود پنهان کرده است. محلاتی علیرغم دست داشتن در کشتار ۱۳۶۷ و دفاع مداومش از رژیم ایران، یکی از بزرگترین ناقضان حقوق بشر در دنیا، اجازه یافته است که دیدگاه های بنیادگرایانه خود را در صحنه بین المللی ترویج کند. خانم فلمینگ از مدافعان سرسخت حقوق بشر بوده و پیوسته در جهت ارتقای آن تلاش کرده است. با این حال، با قبول سخنرانی در مؤسسه‌ای که شخصیتی مانند محلاتی را مورد تجلیل و ارتقاء قرار داده است، خانم فلمینگ اعتبار خود و کارهای مهمی که برای مبارزه با نابردباری و تبعیض انجام داده است، را به خطر انداخته است. با توجه به این نگرانی ها، اتحاد علیه لابی های رژیم جمهوری اسلامی ایران محترمانه از خانم فلمینگ درخواست می کند که در تصمیم خود برای سخنرانی در کالج اوبرلین تجدید نظر کند. ما معتقدیم که ضروری است در برابر کسانی که به دنبال سرپوش گذاشتن و انکار نقض حقوق بشر هستند بایستیم. ما از خانم فلمینگ می خواهیم که در کنار خانواده های قربانیان کشتار ۶۷ بایستد و از ایشان دعوت می کنیم تا برای اطلاعات بیشتر درباره تاریخچه هولناک محلاتی و رابطه ممشکوک کالج اوبرلین با او با ما وارد دیآلوگ بشود. ما معتقدیم گفتگو و همکاری سازنده برای تقویت تفاهم و ترویج تغییرات مثبت حیاتی است. درباره اتحاد علیه لابی های رژیم جمهوری اسلامی ایران:اتحاد علیه لابی های رژیم جمهوری اسلامی ایران گروهی از خانواده های زندانیان سیاسی اعدام شده ایرانی، زندانیان سیاسی سابق، و فعالان حقوق بشر است که برای عدالت و پاسخگویی تلاش می کنند. ما تلاش کرده ایم تا محلاتی را به خاطر نقشی که در جنایات رژیم ایران علیه بشریت داشته پاسخگو کنیم. برای اطلاعات بیشتر لطفا به سایت این گروه مراجعه کنید.

McGill must end its academic partnership with an Iranian regime-controlled university that seeks the extermination of the Jews Author of the article: Benjamin Weinthal and Charles Asher Small,  Special to National Post Published Mar 09, 2023  •  Last updated Mar 17, 2023  •  5 minute read While some academic institutions, such as the University of Freiburg in Germany, have pulled the plug on their affiliation with Iranian universities that urge the destruction of Israel, McGill University in Montreal continues to mainstream lethal antisemitism through its partnership with Tehran University. McGill University’s Institute of Islamic Studies is now in a position to deliver a crystal-clear message — that it will no longer partner with an institution controlled by a regime that arrested Bayani and actively seeks the destruction of the world’s largest Jewish community in the State of Israel — by closing its branch in Tehran. Tehran University, which is home to the Institute of Islamic Studies’ Tehran Branch, has a history of hosting speakers and hiring professors promoting the destruction of the State of Israel and other acts of violence. The Iranian cleric Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari announced on Al-Quds Day in 2022 on the campus of Tehran University that, “There won’t be any place for the Zionist regime in the world future.” Advertisement 3 STORY CONTINUES BELOW Article content Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched Al-Quds Day in 1979 as a protest against Israel’s right to exist. Al-Quds Day demonstrations blanket Iranian cities and, in a revolutionary expression of genocidal antisemitism, call for the total elimination of the Jewish state. The International Quran News Agency, a regime-controlled news website, also published a report about a 2008 conference at Tehran University titled, “The rise of Islam, Destruction of Israel.” Elsewhere, Fars News — an Iranian outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States — published a statement from the Basij professors at Tehran University stating that they will do everything possible to bring about the “destruction of the infamous Zionist regime.” The Basij is militia organization that falls the under the control of the IRGC and is responsible for crushing the current demonstrations unfolding in Iran. Tehran University is not only obsessed with promoting the demise of the Jewish state. One of its professors, Mohammad Sadegh Koushki, endorsed the assassination of the British-American author Salman Rushdie in August 2022, shortly after the pro-Iranian regime suspect Hadi Matar sought to murder Rushdie in upstate New York. Khomeini issued a fatwa to kill Rushdie in 1988 because he said his book, “The Satanic Verses,” defamed the Islamic faith. The Middle East Media Research Institute translated an Iranian television interview with Koushki, a professor in the faculty of law and political science at the University of Tehran, in which he declared that Rushdie was a “dead man walking.” Koushki went on to defend the fatwa to murder Rushdie, noting that Khomenei “had the wisdom to issue this verdict back then, so that such a thing would never repeat itself.” Canada, to its credit, has not had formal diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic since 2012, but financial and academic ties between the two countries remain. Between 2004 and 2010, McGill’s Institute of Islamic Studies received $270,000 in donations from the Iranian-controlled, U.S.-based Alavi Foundation, which is used by the regime to advance its interests in North America. McGill itself is a hotbed of pro-Iranian regime activity. In October, McGill Prof. Soroosh Shahriari tweeted in support of the Islamic Republic’s brutal crackdown on the female-led revolt against misogyny and the forced wearing of the hijab in response to the murder of Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of the state’s infamous morality police after being picked up for not wearing her hijab properly. Shahriari tweeted about how “sweet” and “heartwarming” it would be to see the demonstrators killed. The link between McGill University and the Islamic Republic was catapulted into the spotlight after family members of victims of a 1988 massacre in Iran exposed the fact that Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, a professor of religion at Oberlin College in Ohio and former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, had, according to an Amnesty International report, attempted to cover up the mass murder of an estimated 5,000 Iranian prisoners. Mahallati received a PhD in Islamic studies from McGill in 2006, which shows that the university failed to properly vet him in its admissions process. While the Amnesty report wasn’t released until 2018, Mahallati’s tirades against Israel at the UN — including his genocidal antisemitism, in which he called for a global jihad against the Jewish state and sought to negate its right to exist — have long been a matter of public record. While at the UN, Mahallati also excused his government’s violent persecution of Iran’s Baha’i religious community. A 2021 editorial in the Oberlin Review student newspaper — titled, Evidence Against Mahallati Irrefutable — took Mahallati to task for lying about his role in covering up the mass murder of Iranian citizens and for his incitement against the Baha’i community. Despite this, Oberlin College launched an investigation, which amounted to little more than a cover-up of Mahallati’s cover-up of Iran’s crimes against humanity. McGill’s Institute of Islamic Studies promotes material that mirrors the anti-Israel propaganda that Mahallati peddles. One telling example is an entry on the institute’s website congratulating an incoming student for publishing an article on the U.S.-based Mondoweiss website, which critics consider profoundly antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-Zionist. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Mondoweiss is a “vociferously anti-Israel news website” that “posted a cartoon by antisemitic cartoonist Carlos Latuff, who won second place in a 2006 Iranian contest for the ‘best’ cartoon belittling or denying the Holocaust.” Given this history, it’s little wonder that outbreaks of antisemitism have punctuated McGill campus life over the years. One example was revealed when a Jewish student leader, Jordyn Wright, accused the Student Society of McGill University of antisemitism after it tried to oust her from the student union for accepting a trip to Israel. Unfortunately, McGill’s Institute of Islamic Studies has failed to respond to our inquiries on these matters since February. McGill University should endContinue reading “Opinion: McGill University’s deep ties with Iran’s murderous regime”

Karmel Melamed Posted Mar 13, 2023 at 4: 01 PM More than 100 Iranian Americans and Jewish activists gathered on March 8 at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles for an International Women’s Day event in solidarity with the women of Iran. “The world must recognize the struggle Iranian women have taken on for their freedom and how for the first time Iranians of all backgrounds are demanding equality rights for everyone in their country,” Leibe Geft, the museum’s director, said at the event. Lisa Daftari, an Iranian American journalist, was master of ceremony at the event co-sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the nonprofit organization No to Antisemitism. She called it historic that Southern California’s Jewish and Iranian communities had come together. “There is such an outpouring of support from all people for the Iranian revolution, but the Jewish community and Iranian community have a natural allyship that has been underscored and is now coming to a crescendo after five months of protests against the regime,” Daftari, who runs a website called the Foreign Desk, told JNS. The Iranian regime has targeted both Iranians and Jews. “They understand each other and are now openly supporting each other against a common enemy,” she added. Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian ex-pat community in the world—nearly 45,000 of whom are Jews, according to some estimates. When organizers played a recording of Iranian singer and songwriter Shervin Hajipour performing his song “Baraye”—the Iranian revolution’s unofficial anthem and the winner last month of the first Grammy for Best Song for Social Change—via video feed, many attendees wiped away tears as they sang along. Attendees also saw a video social-media post from January featuring some 50 popular entertainers, including Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Samuel L. Jackson and Bryan Cranston held signs with the hashtag “Stop executions in Iran.” Iranian-American artists Nicole Najafi, Ana Lily Amirpour and Mozhan Marnò created the video, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And in a live video, Daftari interviewed Iranian American activist Mariam Memarsadeghi and Iranian American CNN news editor Artemis Moshtaghian at the Los Angeles event. The Biden administration has disappointed many Iranian Americans with its Iranian policy, which they find weak in addressing the Iranian regime’s human-rights abuses, according to Memarsadeghi, founder of the Cyrus Forum. By keeping negotiation doors open, the Biden administration is allowing the Iranian regime to blackmail Washington, Memarsadeghi said in a live video feed during the event. “Our community wants to see a clear break from their current policy of appeasement of the regime, and it seems as if the Biden administration has not done that,” she said. And in recent months, Iranian American journalists and activists have had difficulty persuading U.S. news outlets to continue to cover the regime’s harsh crackdowns on protesters in Iran. “It’s been a struggle to get Western news media to cover the freedom movement in Iran, but I think now we have been doing a better job to get the information out there,” she said. After Iran’s “morality police” arrested and beat a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in Tehran last September for not covering her head, protesters have taken to the streets in many Iranian cities. As the protests have increased, security forces have beaten, arrested and shot many protesters, including killing more than 500—60 of them minors—according to the nonprofit Human Rights Activists News Agency. Lawdan Bazargan, an Iranian American activist who spoke from Washington, D.C., via live feed at the event, addressed the efforts of her organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, to lobby Oberlin College to fire Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, from his religion professorship. She cited Mahallati’s alleged role in covering up the Iranian regime’s massacre of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988. In a Feb. 6 report, Amnesty International cited Mahallati’s participation in covering up “facts and whereabouts of thousands of political dissidents they extrajudicially killed in the 1980s and dumped in unmarked graves.” “What is truly outrageous is that after this report came out, the administration at Oberlin College still didn’t fire Mahallati but continues to pay him by giving him office work,” Bazargan told JNS. Oberlin and Mahallati did not return calls and emails from JNS. ‘We will always be grateful for their help’ Another event speaker was Gazelle Sharmahd, a Los Angeles-based activist and daughter of Iranian German journalist Jamshid Sharmahd, kidnapped by the Iranian regime in July 2020 from his Dubai hotel. In February, it sentenced him to death for terrorism. Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, has said the arrest occurred under “highly questionable circumstances,” and Sharmahd “never had even the semblance of a fair trial.” Sharmahd told JNS she did not attend in person at the Museum of Tolerance out of fear for her security. She praised the museum and Jewish organizations for informing U.S. and European officials about her father’s plight. “Members of the Jewish community were the first to help us because they realized the evil nature of the Iranian regime’s dictatorship since they have experienced the trauma of terror from this regime firsthand,” said Sharmahd. “We will always be grateful for their help to save my father’s life.” Iranian Americans who attended the event were inspired by brief comments from Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, directing them to petition the U.S. government to place greater economic and political pressure on Iran’s Islamic regime. “Rabbi Cooper’s speech was a strong voice of hope demanding justice and freedom in Iran,” said Arshia Sajedi, an Iranian American activist in Los Angeles. “His message was one I so desperately needed to hear, as many of our human rights political leaders still refuse to publicly state their full support for regime change in Iran.” Bijan Khalili, a founder of No to Antisemitism, told JNS that some non-Jewish Iranians have hesitated to participate in Iran-focused events at Jewish organizations, for fear of being labeled Zionist spies or collaborators by the Iranian regime. “This taboo is slowly dyingContinue reading “Iranian Americans and Jews have ‘natural allyship,’ can work more closely, LA event suggests”

Karmel Melamed Posted Mar 13, 2023 at 4: 01 PM More than 100 Iranian Americans and Jewish activists gathered on March 8 at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles for an International Women’s Day event in solidarity with the women of Iran. “The world must recognize the struggle Iranian women have taken on for their freedom and how for the first time Iranians of all backgrounds are demanding equality rights for everyone in their country,” Leibe Geft, the museum’s director, said at the event. Lisa Daftari, an Iranian American journalist, was master of ceremony at the event co-sponsored by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the nonprofit organization No to Antisemitism. She called it historic that Southern California’s Jewish and Iranian communities had come together. “There is such an outpouring of support from all people for the Iranian revolution, but the Jewish community and Iranian community have a natural allyship that has been underscored and is now coming to a crescendo after five months of protests against the regime,” Daftari, who runs a website called the Foreign Desk, told JNS. The Iranian regime has targeted both Iranians and Jews. “They understand each other and are now openly supporting each other against a common enemy,” she added. Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian ex-pat community in the world—nearly 45,000 of whom are Jews, according to some estimates. When organizers played a recording of Iranian singer and songwriter Shervin Hajipour performing his song “Baraye”—the Iranian revolution’s unofficial anthem and the winner last month of the first Grammy for Best Song for Social Change—via video feed, many attendees wiped away tears as they sang along. Attendees also saw a video social-media post from January featuring some 50 popular entertainers, including Cate Blanchett, Jason Momoa, Samuel L. Jackson and Bryan Cranston held signs with the hashtag “Stop executions in Iran.” Iranian-American artists Nicole Najafi, Ana Lily Amirpour and Mozhan Marnò created the video, according to the Hollywood Reporter. And in a live video, Daftari interviewed Iranian American activist Mariam Memarsadeghi and Iranian American CNN news editor Artemis Moshtaghian at the Los Angeles event. The Biden administration has disappointed many Iranian Americans with its Iranian policy, which they find weak in addressing the Iranian regime’s human-rights abuses, according to Memarsadeghi, founder of the Cyrus Forum. By keeping negotiation doors open, the Biden administration is allowing the Iranian regime to blackmail Washington, Memarsadeghi said in a live video feed during the event. “Our community wants to see a clear break from their current policy of appeasement of the regime, and it seems as if the Biden administration has not done that,” she said. And in recent months, Iranian American journalists and activists have had difficulty persuading U.S. news outlets to continue to cover the regime’s harsh crackdowns on protesters in Iran. “It’s been a struggle to get Western news media to cover the freedom movement in Iran, but I think now we have been doing a better job to get the information out there,” she said. After Iran’s “morality police” arrested and beat a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in Tehran last September for not covering her head, protesters have taken to the streets in many Iranian cities. As the protests have increased, security forces have beaten, arrested and shot many protesters, including killing more than 500—60 of them minors—according to the nonprofit Human Rights Activists News Agency. Lawdan Bazargan, an Iranian American activist who spoke from Washington, D.C., via live feed at the event, addressed the efforts of her organization, Alliance Against Islamic Regime of Iran Apologists, to lobby Oberlin College to fire Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, former Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, from his religion professorship. She cited Mahallati’s alleged role in covering up the Iranian regime’s massacre of at least 5,000 Iranian dissidents in 1988. In a Feb. 6 report, Amnesty International cited Mahallati’s participation in covering up “facts and whereabouts of thousands of political dissidents they extrajudicially killed in the 1980s and dumped in unmarked graves.” “What is truly outrageous is that after this report came out, the administration at Oberlin College still didn’t fire Mahallati but continues to pay him by giving him office work,” Bazargan told JNS. Oberlin and Mahallati did not return calls and emails from JNS. ‘We will always be grateful for their help’ Another event speaker was Gazelle Sharmahd, a Los Angeles-based activist and daughter of Iranian German journalist Jamshid Sharmahd, kidnapped by the Iranian regime in July 2020 from his Dubai hotel. In February, it sentenced him to death for terrorism. Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, has said the arrest occurred under “highly questionable circumstances,” and Sharmahd “never had even the semblance of a fair trial.” Sharmahd told JNS she did not attend in person at the Museum of Tolerance out of fear for her security. She praised the museum and Jewish organizations for informing U.S. and European officials about her father’s plight. “Members of the Jewish community were the first to help us because they realized the evil nature of the Iranian regime’s dictatorship since they have experienced the trauma of terror from this regime firsthand,” said Sharmahd. “We will always be grateful for their help to save my father’s life.” Iranian Americans who attended the event were inspired by brief comments from Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean and director of global social action at the Simon Wiesenthal Center, directing them to petition the U.S. government to place greater economic and political pressure on Iran’s Islamic regime. “Rabbi Cooper’s speech was a strong voice of hope demanding justice and freedom in Iran,” said Arshia Sajedi, an Iranian American activist in Los Angeles. “His message was one I so desperately needed to hear, as many of our human rights political leaders still refuse to publicly state their full support for regime change in Iran.” Bijan Khalili, a founder of No to Antisemitism, told JNS that some non-Jewish Iranians have hesitated to participate in Iran-focused events at Jewish organizations, for fear of being labeled Zionist spies or collaborators by the Iranian regime. “This taboo is slowlyContinue reading “Iranian Americans and Jews have ‘natural allyship,’ can work more closely, LA event suggests”

Dr. Fatemeh Pishdadian Dr. Frieda Fuchs Dr. Hamid Charkhkar February 24, 2023 On Dec. 12, 2022, President Carmen Twillie Ambar received a letter from three prominent Iranian-born human rights advocates: Nobel Peace Prize laureate and lawyer Dr. Shirin Ebadi; acclaimed author of the international bestseller Reading Lolita in Tehran Dr. Azar Nafisi; and historian and co-founder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran, located in Washington, D.C., Dr. Ladan Boroumand. In their letter, Ebadi, Nafisi, and Boroumand call upon President Ambar to conduct a new investigation of Professor of Religion Mohammad Jafar Mahallati with respect to his role in covering up Iran’s 1988 prison massacres. The 1988 prison massacres refer to a crime against humanity that took place during Mahallati’s tenure as Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations from 1987–1989, when several thousand leftist political prisoners were summarily executed on orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. In 2020, the families of the prison massacre victims organized a campaign to revoke Professor Mahallati’s tenure on the grounds that his deliberate obfuscation of the massacres and lack of contrition made him morally unfit to be a professor at Oberlin. Faced with intense media scrutiny, Oberlin College initiated an internal investigation into the allegations and released a fact sheet summarizing its findings on Oct. 28, 2021. The report claimed that the institution had engaged a law firm to investigate the allegations and had conducted several clarifying conversations with Professor Mahallati. The report took at face value that Mahallati’s residence in New York meant that he was not aware of the prison massacres, even though it is well known that he was receiving alarming reports about mass atrocities from Amnesty International and credible news sources at the time. Additionally, protesters staged demonstrations in 1988 outside the U.N. Headquarters where Mahallati’s office was located. The report went on to highlight Mahallati’s constructive role in ending the Iran Iraq War and depicted him as an exemplary professor devoted to humanitarian causes. The College report’s conclusions contradict the 2018 Amnesty International Report — “Iran: Blood-soaked Secrets” — as well as the earlier 2011 report by internationally renowned human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson — “The Massacre of Political Prisoners in Iran, 1988”. Ebadi, Nafisi, and Boroumand claim that the “secretive” manner in which Oberlin College conducted its review and the report’s “bizarre findings” motivated them to write the letter. The authors underscore that the College did not explain how it came to the conclusions published in the report, ignored evidence from human rights experts, and refused to engage in dialogue with the victims’ relatives. As a result, the authors conclude, the College’s handling of the affair represents “an exercise in whitewashing a controversy rather than an attempt to arrive at the truth.” In concluding their letter, the authors call on President Ambar to allow a neutral “third party to conduct a transparent investigation of the allegations against Mahallati.” Ebadi, Nafisi, and Boroumand have confirmed that they have not received a response from the College to date. Quite apart from the high public profile of these human rights advocates, their letter comes at a critical juncture in Iranian history. Iranian women and their male supporters have launched nationwide protests designed to dismantle repressive gender laws imposed by the clerical regime. The Iranian regime’s response has been vicious: according to the Human Rights Activist News Agency, as of Jan. 29, 527 protesters were killed — 71 of them minors — and nearly 20,000 were arrested. The presidents of major academic institutions, including Case Western Reserve University, have issued statements publicly affirming their support for the Iranian community, whereas President Ambar and Oberlin College remain silent. Let us make this outrageous hypocrisy patently obvious: The institution that is justly proud of its role as a historic pioneer in women’s education and women’s rights refuses to condemn a religious autocracy that is killing women who wish to discard the veil, wear jeans, or dance in public with their friends. As for Professor Mahallati, to the best of our knowledge, he has never shown any contrition about the 1988 massacres. While in his courses and public events Professor Mahallati professes values of peace and friendship in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela — in 2016 he organized an online Peace Posters Dialogue Project at the Mary Church Terrell Main Library to which Iranian art students from his hometown of Shiraz contributed — he remains silent about the current violations of civil rights and women’s rights in Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has a long history of demonizing its victims and opponents as imperialist warmongers — an umbrella slogan that seeks to discredit regime critics of very different political persuasions, but one that is very difficult to apply to the leftist revolutionaries and others, like members of the minority Baha’i faith and Kurdish rebels, whom the regime brutally executed after holding them captive for years beforehand. Oberlin College should not be complicit with this strategy of discreditation. We demand that President Ambar respond to the request of prominent human rights activists and conduct a more transparent investigation of Mahallati’s role in covering up the 1988 massacres. The College should also consider Amnesty International’s most recent report, published Feb. 6, 2023, which provides a more thorough account of the role of Iranian diplomats, including Professor Mahallati, in deliberately deceiving international public opinion. Rather than summarily dismissing the victims’ claims, the College should follow standard academic and ethical practice, consider the evidence provided in all the above-mentioned human rights reports, and conduct its investigation in a transparent and public manner. Please Click Here for the article.