++ This week, Sahar Family Foundation has reported on yet another internal message from Massoud Rajavi to the residents of Camp Liberty and other MEK members, clearly stating that “I am not responsible for the overthrow of the Iranian regime, and as an ideological leader I am only responsible for your sins and your next life”. This has prompted many questions in Farsi sites, particularly ‘why did so many people get killed and why has three decades of war ended in this?’ The other issue raised is about the mental state of Massoud Rajavi himself; has he given up, is he engineering an exit, is he just mad?
++ This week Maryam Rajavi travelled to Geneva, as a publicity stunt, where she talked about everything under the sun, posing simultaneously as both a humanitarian personality and the leader of an opposition group. This prompted many victims of the MEK to write against what she said, naming her as ‘at the top of the list of human rights abusers and war criminals in the world’. On the political side she became a laughing stock because she claimed to have been instrumental in the “overthrow” of Nouri al-Maliki. Rajavi claimed that the Iraqis only achieved his overthrow by getting closer to the MEK ideology and understanding more what Massoud Rajavi is about. Massoud Khodabandeh commented on his Facebook : ‘Firstly, Maryam Rajavi apparently doesn’t know that Prime Ministers – especially those who have served twice – can be changed; unlike her own pseudo- presidency. Secondly, I don’t give it more than a month before she starts to claim that the new Prime Minister of Iraq is “an agent of the Iranian regime”, alongside UNAMI, UNHCR, ICRC, etc.’ Rajavi’s claim was so ridiculous that even many MEK supporters have been questioning the sanity of their leader. Al-Abadi is from the Badr faction and is much more hardline against Saddamists and the MEK, and has been at the forefront of efforts to get rid of them. An al-Dawa Party spokesman today said that al-Abadi is “determined to work toward the expulsion of the terrorist MEK from Iraq”.
++ This week the Iran Ghalam (Pen) website in Germany was hacked; the usual thing that Rajavi does when she runs out of other projects to spend Israel’s money; such as fancy clothes, plastic surgery and trips. Iran Ghalam sorted out the site and issued a short note to Rajavi titled ‘the disgusting face of terrorism’. The note reminds us of all Rajavi’s war crimes and crimes against humanity – including the recent support for ISIS and Jaish al-Adl, up to petty crimes like hacking sites. Iran Ghalam says that “by separating from this group we are vaccinated from hate and hatred, and if this is supposed to make us hate you, be assured, it doesn’t; we are neither provoked nor intimidated. The face of it is disgusting but we will calmly continue to educate and inform.”
++ Mojtabah Rashidi in Paris has reacted to Maryam Rajavi’s visit to Geneva. He reminds her of the hundreds of allegations of abuse from inside her organisation. He challenges Rajavi to answer just one question from the many hundreds which have been asked by hundreds of people, including insider Iraj Mesdaghi. “You don’t even dare answer one question”, says Rashidi. “To me, as someone who knows you, this sudden presentation of yourself as a humanitarian person is not a bold, but is rather a defensive action aimed at whitewashing the evidence that has come out against you.”
++ Irandidban published article about the MEK in Iraq saying, “you [Massoud Rajavi] announce things to people in Camp Liberty who are under your control and can’t even question it. It is clear that the MEK knows their problem has got worse now that al-Maliki has gone and al-Abadi from the Badr faction has arrived. The MEK hope has been to get support from the Pentagon and others to keep them in Iraq because they are collapsing, or to be given a place to be allowed to continue the cult culture, but now with the new PM that hope has disappeared as well.”
In English:
++ Daniel Larson in The American Conservative, tears apart those Americans who ‘shill’ for the MEK, stating that “Despite being a bizarre authoritarian cult with Marxist and quasi-Islamist views, it now pretends to be exactly what Westerners want an Iranian exile group to be. It doesn’t matter to the MEK’s American fans that it is lying about its political views, and they are obviously not worried about reciting those lies for Western audiences. Indeed, it has so completely hoodwinked them that they think it should be rewarded with American support.” He concludes: “Naturally, any exile group would like foreign governments to believe that it is the “main opposition” to the regime in its home country, but in order for this deception to work the foreigners have to be thoroughly oblivious and/or indifferent to the internal political realities of the country in question. If there is ever to be a “viable alternative” to the current Iranian regime, it will come from inside Iran and won’t have anything to do with a group that is best-known for its service to one of Iran’s worst enemies during the Iran-Iraq war. The shilling for this group by many prominent American former officials and politicians is one of the more disgraceful displays of the last decade, and as long as it continues it should be held up for derision.”
++ Ekatarina Kudashkina writes for Rianovosti, “We’re continuing to explore the US-led Global War on terror and try to understand why it has actually resulted in an increased terrorist threat around the globe.” Citing the MEK as one example of many, the article challenges the notion of America’s war on terrorism, asking has this “actually reduced the level of terrorism or has it increased the hatred and the radicalization of various groups or any of the individuals around the world…?”
++ Press TV produced an excellent documentary on sexual abuse inside the Mojahedin Khalq. ‘Comrades in Arms, Cases of sexual abuse by MEK Leader Massoud Rajavi in Camp Ashraf’
Synopsis:
People’s Mujahedin of Iran or the MEK is a terror entity responsible for thousands of civilian death in post revolution Iran. See how this group has been more of a dark CULT fraught with corruption and harassment. Comrades in Arms unfolds the story of those women who fell for the deceptive slogans of the MEK. Looking for a brighter future these women ended up in Camp Ashraf, where a fate worse than death awaited them. Masoud Rajavi, the leader of the organization had come up with a new idea about marital life; it was detrimental to the future of the organization. For him, marital love was a shackle that could impede the progress of his plan.
Therefore, Rajavi called for a compulsory divorce according to which all MEK members had to get divorced. But that was not the end of the story. While he forbade his men from having sexual relations with their wives, he decided to take their place. As a result, he turned Camp Ashraf into a big harem where he could have his female comrades in arms night and day. Risking their lives, however, some of the sexual victims managed to escape from the camp to show the true colors of Rajavi, once their spiritual leader and now the most lecherous man in the world they know.
++ Mazda Parsi writing for Nejat Bloggers revisits the Villepinte show in June, asking whether the short term gains of the paid speakers will outweigh the long term detriment to them. Pointing out that the gathering of Iranians consisted of all non-Iranians, Parsi questions “why this large number of non-Iranians – especially Americans – who speak in favor of the MKO despite the numerous reports and documents that confirm cult-like undemocratic substance of the group?” The various answers given by these speakers are strangely more damning than supportive of the MEK as they depict the MEK as a mercenary force to be used for American interests.
++ The UNHCR published a report ‘Update No. 11 – Conflict in Iraq continues to affect residents of the Hurriya Temporary Transit Location’. Anne Khodabandeh wrote in her Facebook, “This is an important document issued by the UNHCR concerning the plight of individuals held hostage by the Rajavi cult (Mojahedin Khalq) in Iraq. The current figure of 2,700 differs from the 3,280 who were transferred from Camp Ashraf to Camp Liberty in 2012. It would be helpful if the UNHCR would give a break down as to where the 580 ‘missing’ people are. Who has died, who has escaped and who has been moved to third countries.”
++ A report in Arabic today, translated by Iran-Interlink says, “A member of the political bureau of the Islamic Al- Dawa Party, Salah Abdul Razzaq, said today that Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi, is determined to work toward the expulsion of the terrorist MEK from Iraq. Salah Abdul Razzaq, the former governor of the province of Baghdad, stressed that the Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi would work to end the presence of the terrorist MEK in Iraq. Abdul Razzaq said that international bodies will work seriously with the new government to expel the MEK terrorist members and prosecute the criminal elements and restore the rights of the oppressed Iraqis.”
15 August 2014
