++ Two series of Camp Liberty residents were transferred to UN accommodation in Tirana, Albania in previous weeks, (118 on the first flight and 115 on the second). Massoud Rajavi tried to prevent their names being made public, and even internal critics complained this was unfair to their families. These names have now been published and are available online. During this week many people contacted Iran Interlink to ask for help in connecting with their loved ones in Albania. Many families have blogged congratulations to the Camp Liberty residents who are now free. Rajavi is still trying to delay these contacts. This week he published statement after statement in what he calls “Google wars”, under the name of the NCRI. He attacks ex members and human rights activists for ‘concocted crimes’ like being “agents of Iran’s intelligence ministry”, etc. In one page of nonsense, Rajavi accused Ebrahim Khodabandeh of Sahar Family Foundation (Iraq) of bringing the families to Iraq to “torture” the residents by coming to the camp gates. Sahar published an open letter [also in English] appealing to the Prime Minister of Iraq to give greater help to the families because Rajavi’s reaction is a strong indication there is now even greater pressure on the residents of Camp Liberty.
++ A similar campaign was launched against ex-member Mr Ehsan Bidi in Tirana as he is very vocal about the MEK’s nefarious activities in Albania. Bidi is one of those who were instrumental in ensuring the names of the recent arrivals were made available for their families. Bidi simply published Rajavi’s rant against him on his Facebook with No Comment. Other ex-members and families have written to criticise Rajavi for his attack on Bidi. Many link the attack on Ebrahim Khodabandeh and Sahar which shows Rajavi’s fear of the gate of Camp Liberty being opened, with the attack on Ehsan Bidi and the fear that the new residents will speak out against him. Rajavi’s fear has caused him to re-awaken the cult phobia for the residents – calling his critics ‘agents of the regime’. But this is ridiculed as ‘too little, too late’.
++ Three parts of a series of interviews conducted by Sahar Family Foundation with Mitra Yousefi and Batoul Soltani have been published. They talk as experts specifically about what is going on inside Massoud Rajavi’s head. The series is ongoing.
In English:
++ Mazda Parsi in Nejat Bloggers notes the fifteenth anniversary of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25th. Parsi describes the abuses and violence used by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi against the women members, including: “forced marriage, forced divorce, mandatory celibacy, forced sterilization, sexual slavery and forced labor.”
Citing the testimony of Nasrin Ebrahimi, Batoul Soltani and Zahra Mir Baqeri, the article says, “Violence against women which is carried out in the MKO is covered under the guise of feminism. Women in the MKO are called “heroines” and “examples of progressive women” but in reality, they are taken as hostages in a modern slavery system.”
“The most detailed report on VAW committed in the MKO, “Comrades in Arms” was broadcast by Press TV. The documentary discloses how harshly Massoud Rajavi abuses women who were “Looking for a brighter future” so that they “ended up in Camp Ashraf, where a fate worse than death awaited them.””
++ In an interesting analytical article, Ehsan Roshanzamir, of Iranian Pen Club (Ghalam), warns that the MEK is just another ISIS. Rajavi has not learned from all his past failures, be they ideological, strategic or political, and insists on re-awakening the terrorist threats which he had pretended to put aside for pragmatic reasons for the past ten years. Roshanzamir describes Rajavi as “insane” since he is not only threatening Iran, but also America and the UN as well.
++ Press TV reports “Israel is training members of the anti-Iran terrorist Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO) in Jordan along the border with Saudi Arabia in order to carry out acts of terror inside Iran and neighboring Iraq. According to sources, who declined to be named, the MKO terrorists are undergoing training on how to conduct terrorist operations in Iran and Iraq and receiving technical as well as information technology (IT) training from Israeli agents. This is the first time it is revealed that anti-Iran MKO terrorists are being trained in Jordan along the border with Saudi Arabia.”
++ Ben Allinson-Davies of Unfettered Freedom For All! [An anti-Assad website], writes two very informative analytical articles about the MEK. One is about the MEK’s cyber activities. Another is an article explaining why the Syrian opposition would be wrong to embrace the MEK.
December 05, 2014
