Mujahedin Khalq; A proxy force

Indecent Visions-Zucker,Horowitz and MKO Communist Terrorists

Professor Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker, David Horowitz, and the Pol Pot of Iran Communist Terrorists

“I make no apologies for my present position. My values have not changed, but my sense of what supports them and makes them possible has. It was what I thought was the humanity of the Marxist idea that made me what I was; it is the inhumanity of what I have seen to be the Marxist reality that has made me what I am.” –David Horowitz, Left Illusions: An Intellectual Odyssey

With some exceptions, David Horowtiz’s FrontPage Magazine continues to promote the Iranian Communist MEK (MKO, PMOI, NCRI, Rajavi Cult, or Pol Pot of Iran) terrorists. On August 1, 2007, FrontPage Magazine published “Hat in Hand” by Professor Rabbi Daniel M. Zucker, a supporter of the Rajavi Cult, who concluded after promoting a terrorist organization on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations: “With a track record of twenty-eight years of lies, deceit, obfuscation and terror, the Iranian regime’s modus operandi should be clear to all with decent vision. For those still failing to see it, my glasses are available for the asking.”

Even the New York Times, with its long history of promoting communists, reported:

“This past winter in Iran, when such a popular outburst among students and others was still just a dream, if you mentioned the Mujahedeen, those who knew and remembered the group laughed at the notion of it spearheading a democracy movement. Instead, they said, the Rajavis, given the chance, would have been the Pol Pot of Iran. The Pentagon has seen the fatal flaw of hitching itself to volatile groups like the Islamists who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan and, more recently, the Iraqi exile groups who had no popular base at home. It seems dangerously myopic that the U.S. is even considering resurrecting the Rajavis and their army of Stepford wives.”

 

–Elizabeth Rubin, “The Cult of Rajavi”, New York Times Magazine, July 13, 2003

 

http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=801

 

FrontPage Magazine has posted some articles critical of the Rajavi Cult, including Michael Rubin’s”Monsters of the Left: The Mujahedin al-Khalq, January 13, 2006.

After FrontPage Magazine added the MEK to its monsters of the left list, FrontPage Magazine has been promoting the MEK with articles (not comments) by MEK supporters, such as: Ali Safavi’s  “Missing the Mark on Iran”, FrontPage Magazine, January 27, 2006.

 

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The cult of Rajavi

Morphology of Terrorism, Cult, and Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (part 5)

 The translated text of Dr. Massoudinia’s speech made at the Symposium of the Link between Cults and Terrorism held in Isfahan.

5. Control of Relations within MKO: a Review of Banisader’s ‘Memories of an Iranian Rebel’

The book “memories of an Iranian Rebel” written by Mas’ud Banisadr, is one of the significant documents in inter-organizational relations of MKO. As it was pointed out, the third index of cults is brainwashing and mental control of cultists. This book is an amazing document in this regard. The final section of the present article is a review of this book in order to actualize professional indices of relations of MKO. Psychological strategies used for justifying people such as the length of organizational sessions, debriefing strategies and mental control, duality of extra and intra relations, humiliating members, cutting emotional relations with relatives, determining the relation of members with others, and their family in particular!

Internal controlling system of MKO in contrast with traditional cultist system focuses on some complex and unbelievable dimensions. Traditional system controlled members mentally using middle ages strategies. Classic cultist strategies exert security control directly toward the extent of inclination and submission of members. MKO make use of modern sciences for controlling members and even the slightest degree of members’ disobedience. Mas’ud Banisadr quotes an instance of behavior of MKO leader (Rajavi) with executive members, i.e. the highest inter-organizational assembly. This case reveals some points about the nature of such relations. He writes:

In an assembly of executive officials, Rajavi said: ‘Doctor told me that your urine is foamy, while it is not so in ordinary members’. We were shocked. He added: ‘Do not look at me as such. It seems that you do not understand what I say. It means that you cannot control your sexual tendencies yet and seminal fluid results in your urine be foamy while other members have not such a problem.’ Then a number of members started to confirm his comments and even one of them said: ‘We are not executive officials, we are heys (a word said to donkeys while carrying load). Then they all imitated him saying the word hey. (57)

Comparing sexual relations of ideological revolution of MKO with historical cases such as exoteric sect of Isma’ili under the leadership of Hassan Sabbah which emasculated members shows that the former results in more severe mental consequences. Emasculation of exoteric members has been physical while that of MKO id psychological and life-long and makes members subject to public scandal. In addition, such a process is a kind of mental emasculation. Those involved in such process, prefer methods used by Hassan Sabbah. Banisadr says:

I can not accept that physical emasculation is more difficult. It consists of a surgery with a period of convalescence while mental emasculation involves severe life-long pain. (58)

Debriefing strategies in MKO are a mixture of traditional, modern and even religious methods in middle ages and contemporary period. One of such controlling strategies of preventing any disobedience is the principle of confession. It forces members to confess to all their internal conflicts, whether mental, emotional, or sexual.

In this process, the member has to explain all his past and present events openly.

What follow is the comments of Banisadr of his memory in childhood. He has to explain it publicly to prove his capacity for transferring to the next stage of ideological revolution.

My most annoying memory is a sexual rape which happened in my childhood. I had never spoken about it .In fact I had forgotten it. But there I had to explain it. It was very difficult for me to speak about it since in Iranian culture and even in the world it is a kind of disgrace and shame. (59)

Another principle of ideological revolution is called ‘cutting all past attachments’. In this phase, members have to cut all their emotional relations of the past and form new ones based on new criteria. So they have to sacrifice all their emotions and even kill their relatives. Banisadr describes this phase of ideological revolution as follows:

The session was titled ‘cutting all past attachments’. A man had to leave his girlfriend to pass this phase. He told me crying that he loved her so much but could not marry her because of his beliefs. Another member had to leave his brother who was a council employee and even had to promise that he would kill him if necessary. (60)

Passing this phase required the destruction of whatever belonged to the past. Maybe the most difficult phase of this process for me was burning all my family photos. The members had to not only forget their past but also deny all their relations. Banisadr this process as follows:

I cut all my family photos into pieces since I had to deny all my relatives and even my parents. Maybe my father is responsible for my bourgeois tendencies and I have inherited my calm nature from my mother. Ann (my wife) asked me crying not to do so because they were not just mine. But I had to do so. After that I was welcomed to the organization. (61)

The points of similarity between these comments and studies about cultist relations which cut members from their past is amazing. It is even more interesting that such an action is considered as a holy one. Such a strategy considers cutting emotional relations as a religious action. Singer refers to this point in his cultist studies:

As part of the process of inducing guilt, all the recruit’s former personal connections are deemed satanic or evil by the cult and are shown to be "against the chosen way. Since nonbelievers are bad, all relations with parents, friends, and other nonmembers are supposed to be halted. Any weakness in this area is considered bad. The consequent impact is that recruits feel deep guilt about their pasts. Besides having their families and personal relationships condemned, recruits are also led to believe that they themselves were "bad people" before joining the group. (62)

Singer refers to a case in which MKO prevented a woman to meet her brother. How can we justify such an action? And why such an ordinary meeting is considered so significant? Singer answers as follows:

In another example, a woman’s brother, who lived out of town, came to the cult house to visit her while she was working her shift in the cult-run factory. For this reason she missed seeing him, but cult officials told her, "See, the Divine Plan willed it that you must not see your brother. (63)

Singer describes psychological aspects of such a process as follows:

Brainwashing is not experienced as a fever or a pain might be; it is an invisible social adaptation. When you are the subject of it, you are unaware of the running procedures and, moreover, the changes that form inside you. (64)

Members are convinced that they can not live without cultist relations and without which they would be subject to banality, passivity, etc. Singer describes this aspect of cultist relations as follows:

The recruits are also imbrued that if they leave, they will be damned or they themselves will die a pitiful death or become losers or lost souls. In this way, anxiety is heaped upon the guilt. Just as the initial love bombing awakened feelings of warmth, acceptance, and worthiness, now group condemnation leaves recruits full of self-doubt, guilt, and anxiety. Through this kind of manipulation, they are convinced that they can be saved only if they stay within the group. (65)

The mechanisms of cults make members believe in leadership to the point that they even kneel down to the leader and pronounce the articles of faith. Hossein Abrishamchi writes to Rajavi:

I wish to come to you, who are the leader of this great revolution, and kneel down and profess my devotion …. (66)

Abu-al-Ghasem Rezaei, another member of MKO asks Rajavi to intercede on his behalf in the hereafter. (67)

Mas’ud Banisadr refers to the long time of sessions during the ideological revolution and points out its mental consequences. He says that some sessions lasted three days. He says:

This session (with Abrishamchi) took three days and nobody slept. (68)

Banisadr describes the reaction of one of members who wanted to resist against the revolution as follows:

Suddenly, one of officials called Behnam knocked his head to the wall so strongly that it bled. (69)

Terrorism is a threat against security and peace. It exploits people in organizational relations. The findings of recent studies show that as technology and science develop, the strategies used for the exploitation of members in terrorist groups and cults get more complex. MKO is one of such cases. The disaster caused by the group in contemporary world is unprecedented in terms of the extent of the aggression imposed on citizens. Global consensus and unbiased judgment is the best way of controlling such a phenomenon. Western countries should not repeat their mistakes concerning Al-Qaede in the case of MKO. Such organizations do not regard terror and aggression as an instrument but as a worldview. Rajavi says: “viper does not give birth to dove". This is his most truthful comment. As such, terrorism would never give birth to democracy and freedom. According to Oscar Wild, it is too difficult to shake hands with blood-stained hands even in exchange for freedom.

Endnotes

57. Banisadr, Mas’ud,. Memories of an Iranian Rebel, 2005, Khavaran Publication.

58. ibid.

59. ibid.

60. ibid.

61. ibid.

62. Singer, Margaret Thaler. Cults in our midst, 118.

63. ibid.

64. ibid, 61.

65. ibid, 119.

66. Mojahed journal. No.247. p.27.

67. ibid.

68. Banisadr, Mas’ud; Memories of an Iranian Rebel, 2005.

69. ibid

Nejat Association May 2007

Translated by mojahedin.ws

July, 2007

 

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Human Rights Abuse in the MEK

Abuse of Children and MKO’s Least Achievement

In her speech made on 30 June in Paris, Maryam Rajavi, Mojahedin’s cult she-guru, announced her group’s readiness to look after of 1,000 Iraqi orphans. The unexpected demand might be considered a humanitarian move unless you are familiar with MKO’s terrorist and cult nature. But those familiar with the group’s internal relation presuppose differently. Before going any further, it seems essential to reconsider the following issues:

*. Surveying the issue of family in Mojahedin’s organizational relations from the beginning until the ideological revolution.

*. Surveying condition of children in Mojahedin’s organizational relations from the beginning until the ideological revolution

 

It is not wrong to say that the family has been an issue of dispute in MKO that has challenged it from its very beginning. For Mojahedin, the legitimacy of any phenomenon is appraised according to its degree of accordance with the ideological and political ends of the organization. Since the family in itself necessitates certain responsibilities, then, any enforced responsibility out of the organizational command is deemed to be an impending element. In the history of the organization, we encounter countless instances of forced organizational marriage and divorce and in many cases, the group plotted tricks to debilitate the emotional attachments between the couples that resulted in divorce.

Unlike what is sought in conventional marriages, Mojahedin’s organizational marriages were prudent policies for the accomplishment of political objectives. In fact, none of these marriages rested on love and emotional infrastructure and the leaders weighed it as an appropriate means to gratify sexual needs of the members to expedite the fulfilment of the organization’s policies. Consequently, unbidden fruits of these marriages, namely the children, will have no better destiny than their parents.

Thus, looking at family and children as instruments to achieve power and political goals, MKO leader’s shedding crocodile tears for Iraqi children is supposed to be a bid to attain certain interests. Here are suppositions that prove Maryam Rajavi’s demand is a suspicious political tactic rather than a humanitarian move.

At the present, MKO has an unstable and unbearable position in Iraq. The Iraqi government is determined to expel the group as a terrorist group that is conspiring with insurgent dissidents against the Iraqi legal government. To frustrate terrorists’ plots, the Iraqi police are debarring Iraqis from visiting Camp Ashraf known as the den of conspiracy. Maryam Rajavi’s suggestion at such a critical juncture is a countermeasure tactic. In case the international humanitarian organizations welcome the offer for the wellbeing of the innocent children, and if we are cautiously optimistic of a good-will-prone offer, MKO’s expulsion from Iraq will be postponed.

MKO continue to maintain on the State Department and the EU terror list that has greatly undermined MKO’s political manoeuvre and has jammed it in a political cul-de-sac. In fact, it is big strategic failure for MKO that advertise to pose as an alternative for Iranian regime. Maryam Rajavi’s offer, supported by the group’s advocates that lobby Western parliaments, contributes to augment propagandistic pressures in an attempt to remove the terrorist label.

The Human Rights Watch report concerning human rights abuse within MKO and the group’s cult-like practices against the insiders is pressing the group to provide justifiable reasons for the insider and outsider critics. Maryam Rajavi’s offer is a futile struggle that implicitly challenges the HRW’s report and rebuts the critics.

The US State Department’s released list of designated terrorist organizations on April 30 highlighted unprecedented facts about MKO and announced that “In addition to its terrorist credentials, the MEK has also displayed cult-like characteristics”. It also asserted that MKO’s members are required to undertake a vow of "eternal divorce" and that children are reportedly separated from parents at a young age. MKO has so far dodged explaining away such allegations and Maryam Rajavi’s publicized proposal, if gains public acclaim, might partly challenge the accusations.

Maryam Rajavi’s offer that justifiably depicts the painful plight of Iraqi children draws support of many human rights activists to welcome the seemingly humanitarian move. It would be relatively a success for the group both in political stage and fundraising activities. Exploiting children for fundraising has its own long history in MKO. After separating children from their parents, these innocent children were sent to Western countries to take part in the street fund-raising activities under false pretences of being homeless Iranian children whose parents were executed by Iranian regime. For years Mojahedin were active in illegal fundraising activities through charities like Iran Aid in England; the funds were then spent in purchase of the arms. Possibly, the group seeks to establish a similar Iraq Aid charity in Iraq to cover the expenses of its terrorist and cult activities.

The ex-members’ increased counter-MKO activities to bring further secrets of manipulating cult-like techniques of the group into light has much frustrated the organization. The group’s manner of confronting the dissidents is typically violent. In his recent message issued from his hideout, Massoud Rajavi plainly threatened the dissidents and critics of the group. The harsh reaction provides cult-proven and undemocratic attitudes of MKO. Any positive reaction to Maryam Rajavi’s offer questions the accuracy of the ex-members’ disclosures and decreases the consequent psychological pressures exerted on MKO.

Inactivity and passiveness are dominating Camp Ashraf as a result of great disappointment of an uncertain destiny in Iraq. It has debilitated the morale of the forces in Camp Asharf to a great extent especially following the redesignation of the group as a terrorist group that works an inevitable impediment to seek asylum in any country. If Maryam Rajavi’s suggestion catches a global attention, it will give the forces encouragement of reconsidering their detachment and leave of Camp Ashraf.

The ex-member activists in European countries and especially in Iran centralized under Nejat Assossiation, established by the ex-members and the families of the members still held in MKO, is a big challenge for the group. The emotional impact of the families on the members who have been deprived of all emotional relations are inevitable. The families visit and contact with members in Camp Ashraf has jeopardised the group’s security and contribute to unveil what the organization prefers to remain concealed.

Thus, the real intention of MKO terrorist cult weighs on a globally acclaimed humanitarian move and proposal. That is enough to see children being victimized in a cult that respects not the least for their rights. Ideologically controlled context of MKO hardly leaves a suitable room for children to grow up and, frankly speaking, MKO lacks any standard concerning children, their rights, and even how to take care of them in the same way as the world outside. The process of mutation in Mojahedin cult is extraordinary; a lamb entering the cult comes out as a tiger.

Bahar Irani – Mojahedin.ws – August 5, 2007

   

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Iran

Iran condemned British overt support for a Proscribed terrorist group, Mojahedin Khalq Cult

MKO terrorism never be purged by new acronyms, UK weekly told

The Iranian Embassy in London has condemned attempts by some British newspapers and MPs to deproscribe the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MKO or PMOI) as an international terrorist organization.

"Surely use of different, new acronyms such as PMOI, NCRI, etc. can never purge the organisation’s long record of criminal activities," the embassy said.

No re-labeling can "put a shine on a body recognized internationally as a terrorist organisation, or in any way justify their terrorist cause," it said in a letter to the Sunday Telegraph.

The letter referred to an article in the weekly’s previous addition on July 29, in which it said that the writer, Christopher Booker, had one clear obligation "to whitewash the background of a cult whose cruelty and hypocrisy are evident to concerned authorities and international bodies."

"It is not a baffling scandal of contemporary politics as the writer says, to categorize PMOI in the UK terror list, the irony is rather the way some former officials as well as MPs are trying to appease Saddam Hussein’s ex-accomplices," the letter also received by IRNA read.

The embassy reminded the paper that the terrorist group "actively took part in slaughtering Iraqi civilians in order to receive the support of the Iraq doomed dictator."

"The bewilderment becomes even greater to see efforts by some lawmakers to help a cult which is proscribed even by some western governments for their atrocities towards Iranians, Kurds and Arabs," it said.

Last year, the embassy castigated the paper for reporting unsubstantiated allegations orchestrated by the MKO to distract attention from the catastrophic situation in Iraq.

In 2005, its sister paper, the Daily Telegraph went as far as calling in its editorial for support for the MKO terrorist group based in Iraq to overthrow Iran’s elected government.

————–

Notes:

Mr. Booker’s article has been translated in to Farsi and posted in Mojahedin Khalq Organisation web sites (on the list of Terrorist organisation in USA, EU, Canada and United Kingdam!!) shortly before the publication of this article in Telegraph!! (Iran Interlink)

Link to: State Department’s Report on Mojahedin Khalq Orgainsation, Rajavi cult headed by Massoud Rajavi and Maryam Rajavi (2007)

http://www.iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=2309

Link to Mr. Booker article in Telegraph.co.uk.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/07/29/nbook129.xml

Related material:

http://iran-interlink.org/?mod=view&id=2892

Response to Christopher Booker

(Farsi translation of Mr. Booker’s article was posted in Terrorist websites before coming out in Telegraph!!)

Mojahedin Khalq Organisation Logo

Ahmad Baaraan, Paris, July 29, 2007

Your Sunday Telegraph article of July 29 titled “EU flouts its own highest court…” has some serious flaws that deserve your attention. I have known MEK (PMOI, NCRI, MKO, …) for more than 25 years up-close and personal. I have also studied the group in my role as a researcher. Therefore, I see myself qualified to comment about it. Quite frankly, your article is just an echo of the PMOI’s own propaganda filled with false and misleading information.

The enlistment of the group in the EU’s terror list is based on the group’s own behavior which is nothing short of a personality cult revolving around its leader, Massoud Rajavi, with a history of violence and a philosophy based on hatred. The group has also been enlisted by the US Government as an FTO (Foreign Terrorist Organization) which was later upheld in court. In concurring with the Court of Appeals for the District of Colombia, Judge Harry T. Edwards notes: “…the public, unclassified administrative record, including petitioner’s own submission to the Secretary, contains more than enough evidence to support the determination that petitioner (PMOI) engages in terrorist activity.” (1)

The December ruling by the EU Court you have referred in your article did not favor de-listing the group. To the contrary, it clearly dismissed the action sought by the PMOI to annul the EU Common Position 2005/936/CFSP- the updated terror list that included the PMOI. It did however order to unfreeze the group’s assets due to lack of proper procedure for such freezing. Therefore, your assertion that the British Government is flouting its own court is not accurate. This ruling is readily available in 16 different languages on the Court’s own official web site. (2) PMOI and its paid politician supporters have misled many about this, relying on that most would not read the actual ruling. I challenged the PMOI to translate the entire ruling (not just the select parts) in Farsi (Persian), and to post the translation on the Internet. They have refused to do so, and will continue such. More than 7 months after the ruling, only the favorable part of the ruling has been published on the group’s Internet site.

Your article also refers to NCRI as a coalition of which PMOI is a member. This is simply not true. Not only people familiar with the group know that NCRI is just a decoy for PMOI; the United States Court of Appeals in Washington DC ruled the following:

After an extensive investigation of MEK and NCRI, the FBI reported to the State Department that “it is the unanimous view of the FBI personnel who are involved in and familiar with the FBI’s investigation of the [MEK]that NCRI is not a separate organization, but is instead, and has been, an integral part of the MEK at all relevant times. Contrary to NCRI’s portrayal of itself as an umbrella organization, of which the MEK was just one member, the FBI concluded that is NCRI that is “the political branch” of the MEK.”(3)

While I truly sympathise with the victims of the brutal Mullah ruling my country, Iran, I caution you not to drift into the PMOI’s propaganda traps by echoing their statistics about the number of people attendant their gatherings, people executed in Iran, and the number of supporters of the group in Iran.

Regards

Ahmad Baaraan

Paris

ABaaraan@yahoo.fr

(1) http://uniset.ca/other/cs5/327F3d1238.html

(2) http://curia.europa.eu (case number T-228/02)

(3) 362 U.S. App. D.C. 143; 373 F.3d 152; 2004

 

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Terrorist groups and the MEK

Mojahedin Khalq, Al Qaeda joint attack in Iraqi Kurdistan

MKO, al-Qaeda joint attack in Iraq

Tue, 07 Aug 2007

Source: Chavdir

Members of al-Qaeda and the terrorist group Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) have launched an attack on the Vajiheh district, northern Iraq.

A website affiliated to Iraq’s Patriotic Union of Kurdistan reported that four people have been killed and some others injured in the attack.

MKO and al-Qaeda members used rockets and small arms to attack the district.

They were forced to withdraw from the region after military intervention by the Iraqi Army.

 

Press TV, August 07, 2007

http://www.presstv.ir/Detail.aspx?id=18697&sectionid=351020201

 

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Mujahedin Khalq as an Opposition Group

U.S.’s Policies Increase Regional Insecurity

Dr. Kazem Habib, Iraqi prominent expert and researcher, has referred to the issue of MKO and how it’s being used as a tool by the U.S., saying:”It seems that Americans are moving according to international and regional strategies, security, military and political tactics, as well as economical interests under the shade of globalization and along the guidelines of NeoCons.”

Speaking in a conference, held by Institute for Coordination of Iraqi Democratic movement, on”how to escape Iraq’s disasters”, Kazem Habib said:”The U.S. is undoubtedly trying to play an active role in disrupting Iran’s political situation and in this regard uses the MKO as a tool. Therefore, it has indirectly linked Baathists and the MKO in order to create problems for Iran and at the same time serve as leverage against the Iraqi government. So, the security wouldn’t be established in Iraq unless the U.S. left the idea of using Iraqi soil for challenging Iranians.”

“Unfortunately, Americans consider only their own interests and this makes the situation more complex. This is the same policy Israel adopts to put pressure on Arab countries,”he added.

Al-Jeiran newspaper –  2007/08/05

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Nejat Publications

Pars Brief – Issue No.35

1.    Four more defectors of Rajavis’ Cult repatriated

2.    Interpol hunting for MKO leaders

3.    East French Rail Lines in Terror Alert with Four MKO Members Sought

4.    Iran condemned British overt support for a Proscribed terrorist group, Mojahedin Khalq Cult

5.    I am Raymond Tanter’s wife and I would like to make a statement

6.    Response to Christopher Booker

7.    UN and Iraq Cooperate to Expel the MKO

8.    Tancredo supporting Mujahedin -e Khalq terrorists

 
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.35
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.35

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The cult of Rajavi

Morphology of Terrorism, Cult, and Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (part 3)

Comparing cult characteristics with different phases of formation of ideological revolution in MKO proves that it is a cult

The translated text of Dr. Massoudinia’s speech made at the Symposium of the Link between Cults and Terrorism held in Isfahan.

3. Cult and Cult-like relations

Nowadays, there are at least two organization accused of being terrorist and cultist, namely Al-Qa’ede and MKO. In 1997, U.S. foreign ministry introduced MKO as a sect following cultist doctrine. The US State Department’s report refers to the terrorist nature of MKO and their cultist doctrine:

Rajavi, who heads the Mojahedin’s political and military wings, has fostered a cult of personality around himself. These characteristics have alienated most Iranian expatriates, who assert they do not want to replace one objectionable regime for another. (24)

These comments imply that such a cultist approach has been intensified after the so-called ideological revolution of MKO under the leadership of Mas’ud Rajavi:

The internal organizational structure of the Mojahedin has varied little throughout the group’s history. Importantly, the autocratic decision-making style of the leadership and the cult-like behavior of its members — two defining patterns of the organization’s operations — have combined to deny the Mojahedin the support of most Iranians (25)

In this regard, Eerevand Abrahamian writes:

Mujahedin-e-Khalq has a strict hierarchical system based on the commands issued from the top. The main duty of members is blind obedience. (26)

It has to be taken into consideration that the structural relations of political parties and democratic organizations is based on eliminating any kind of political and ideological ambiguity not to order blind obedience. In such groups, criticism is the absolute right of every member and the leader should eliminate all members’ ambiguities and doubts. However, in MKO even asking questions equals disobedience and is regarded as sinful. Its basic principle is “no thinking”. After the so-called ideological revolution in MKO, the Human Rights Watch issued a report and accused MKO of violating human rights and following trends of a cult. He refers to the internal ideological revolution of MKO and says:

The MKO’s leadership consists of the husband and wife team of Masoud and Maryam Rajavi. Their marriage in 1985 was hailed by the organization as the beginning of a permanent “ideological revolution.” Various phases of this “revolution” include: divorce by decree of married couples, regular writings of self-criticism reports, renunciation of sexuality, and absolute mental and physical dedication to the leadership. The level of devotion expected of members was in stark display in 2003 when the French police arrested Maryam Rajavi in Paris. In protest, ten MKO members and sympathizers set themselves on fire in various European cities; two of them subsequently died. (27)

A number of former members of MKO have predicted the shift of the group to a cult in 1970s. A good example may be the separation of three high-ranking officials from the organization, namely Reza Ra’eisi, Hamid Nuhi and Hossein Rafi’i in 1976. They have expressed the factors resulting in their separation from the MKO in a book titled “the Process of Separation”, saying:

As a result of the probable failure of Liberal party in the future, Mujahedin-e-Khalq may become a religious cult. (28)

Another former member of MKO believes that the shift of MKO to a cult is not an immediate process but has a historical background. He rejects the claim of organization as being a democratic one. He refers to the fact that if there was a democratic leadership in MKO, their ideological disintegration in 1975 did not occur. He says:

Disintegration of organization in 1975 and its splitting into a Marxist and a religious sect reveals that the leadership has never been a democratic one. (29)

Mas’ud Jabani, a former member, reports that Rajavi in 1985 asked the information office of the organization to conduct a research on cults which was justified it as follows:

Imperialists, through religious sects, are busy doing something. We want to know what they are doing. (30)

Despite such claims, we will review the modern and traditional indices of cultist organizations. Comparing such indices with the present doctrine of MKO would reveal its cultist nature. According to Singer, the author of the book “Cults in our Midst”, cults are a center for recruiting members rather than an organization with predetermined titles and goals. He defines cultist relations as follows:

Cultist relation means a relation through which one person consciously forces others to be dependent on him in making all his decisions. The followers are convinced that the leader has a special faculty, genius, and knowledge. (31)

In other words, cult is a process used to convince a person or develop an idea quantitatively or qualitatively regarding political, religious, ideological, military, economical, mental or other objectives. Singer concludes his studies concerning cult structure in three parts:

1. A self-appointed and life-long leader of a spiritual role. He is to be praised but not criticized and all members are linked to him mentally and ideologically.

2. A top-down organizational structure of totalitarian pyramid with the leader on top.

3. Mental reforming (brainwashing) and pushing members to extremism and absolute submission. (32)

Similar studies show that the role of the leader is highly determining in two-fold axes. In addition, a number of former members thus analyze the indices of cultist leadership:

Authoritative leadership is the main characteristic of a cult leader. Many former members of cults expounding on the characteristics of the leader say that he is the absolute authority, 2. has a doubtful character, 3. demands absolute confidence, 4.claims to have a direct connection to God, 5. Indulges in sexual abuse, 6. poses ambitious claims, 7.demands monetary support, 8.claims that evil forces are to deceive members. (33)

Another resource describes the characteristics of deviated cults as such:

Having a pyramidal structure and a leader on top, 2.charismatic leader(claiming that he is the agent of God and can interpret divine resources, 3.deceptive strategies for recruiting members and collecting money, 4.mental and physical isolation, 5.using mental controlling strategies.(34)

There is a question that is the degree of danger identical in all the cults? To determine how dangerous a cult might be, “the Advanced Bonewits’ Cult Danger Evaluation Frame” can be a good help. The frame refers to the factors as:

1- INTERNAL CONTROL: Amount of internal political power exercised by leader(s) over members.

2- WISDOM CLAIMED by leader(s); amount of infallibility declared or implied about decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations.

3- WISDOM CREDITED to leader(s) by members; amount of trust in decisions or doctrinal/scriptural interpretations made by leader(s).

4- DOGMA: Rigidity of reality concepts taught; amount of doctrinal inflexibility or "fundamentalism."

5- RECRUITING: Emphasis put on attracting new members; amount of proselytizing.

6- FRONT GROUPS: Number of subsidiary groups using different names from that of main group

7- WEALTH: Amount of money and/or property desired or obtained by group; emphasis on members’ donations; economic lifestyle of leader(s) compared to ordinary members.

8- POLITICAL POWER: Amount of external political influence desired or obtained; emphasis on directing members’ secular votes.

9- SEXUAL MANIPULATION: of members by leader(s); amount of control exercised over sexuality of members; advancement dependent upon sexual favors or specific lifestyle.

10- CENSORSHIP: Amount of control over members’ access to outside opinions on group, its doctrines or leader(s).

11- DROPOUT CONTROL: Intensity of efforts directed at preventing or returning dropouts.

12- VIOLENCE: amount of approval when used by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s).

13- PARANOIA: amount of fear concerning real or imagined enemies; perceived power of opponents; prevalence of conspiracy theories.

14- GRIMNESS: Amount of disapproval concerning jokes about the group, its doctrines or its leader(s).

15- SURRENDER OF WILL: Amount of emphasis on members not having to be responsible for personal decisions; degree of individual disempowerment created by the group, its doctrines or its leader(s).

16- HYPOCRISY: amount of approval for other actions (not included above) which the group officially considers immoral or unethical, when done by or for the group, its doctrines or leader(s); willingness to violate group’s declared principles for political, psychological, economic, or other gain. (35)

Bonewits draws a linear graph, numbering 1 to 10 to mark 16-fold characteristics of cults. According to him, resultant grade shows the extent of danger of a cult. It can also be used as a means for revealing the cultist nature of MKO and their danger. Comparing the studies done by Bonewits and Singer reveals the following points in common about a cult leader:

– A life long, self-appointed leader

– Pyramidal structure of organization.

– Brainwashing strategies for recruiting members, controlling and exploiting them.

After the ideological revolution of MKO in 1985, these points were taken into consideration as prerequisites for being a member of the organization. However, they have been implied in the morphological structure of MKO before it since at first it was not possible to express such conditions openly. Many of characteristics mentioned by Bonewits have been the most self evident principles of the formation of organization from the beginning. Comparing such characteristics with different phases of formation of ideological revolution in the organization proves that MKO is a cult.

Endnotes

24. The State Department Report on MKO. (1997).

25. ibid.

26. Abrahamian, Ervand; The Iranian Mojahedin,Yale University Press, 1989.

27. The Human Rights Watch Report; No Exit, (2005).

28. Raeis Tusi, Reza. The Process of Separation. Samadie Publication.

29. Rastgu, Mohammad Ali. MKO in the Mirror of the History. (2005).Islamic Revolution Centre Publication.

30. Jabani, Mas’ud. Psychology of Aggression and Terror.

31. Singer, Margaret Thaler. Cults in our midst.

32. ibid.

33. www.Phact.Org

34. www. refocus.org.

35. www.GED.Net/bonewits/ABCDEF.Html

Nejat Association May 2007

Translated by mojahedin.ws

July, 2007

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The Ideology of the MEK

The Shaped Destiny of Children in the Ideological Revolution (10)

Coming to pass MKO-run media bureaus in the Europe and also among the member residents of Camp Ashraf we encounter young people that hardly you can see any relative correspondence between their age and the atmosphere wherein they are exhausting their juvenile vigorousness. These youths, who can be well denominated as the fourth generation of Mojahedin, represent the same enthusiast and decisiveness of their previous generation. Furthermore, their amazing authority over organizational doctrines and teachings is in no way a deniable fact nor a media display to attract attentions. Many may ask, then, who are they and how they have been so experienced, being so young, in organizational, political and ideological issues.

In the history of political movements, Mojahedin are believed to be the sole organization that the impact of their activities has imposed heavy costs on whoever is in the reach of its surroundings. In the same way, the tragic destiny of children in MKO, before and after the ideological revolution, has not been investigated sufficiently. Political, fundraising as well as emotional exploitation of children by Mojahedin is one of the cases reported by many former MKO members as instances of human rights abuses in MKO.

The general consensus of opinion is that children should enjoy complete immunity from any form of manipulation and abuse. Human rights institutions and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights have repeatedly confirmed that children are entitled to special care and assistance and that especial measures have to be taken to protect children from all forms of physical and mental abuse, maltreatment and exploitation.

After the ideological revolution, Mojahedin concluded to separate children from their parents in an attempt to destabilize the foundation of family which the group believed to be a strategic impediment. The U.S first invasion to Iraq was a good alibi to accomplish the goal. The evacuation of children to other countries under the pretext of providing safety and security for them not only guarantied the accomplishment of the ideological objective but also paved the way to upbring and discipline the organization’s future combat force. Now, after two decades, the various dimensions of such an action have been fully revealed. Mojahedin’s attempt to undertake the guardianship of the children whose parents have separated from the organization signifies Mojahedin’s exploitative nature concerning the children. A number of former members of MKO have elaborated on the various dimensions of the group’s inhuman practices. Ann Singleton in her “Saddam’s private army” well refers to the process of separating babies from their parents as part of speeding up the application of the Internal Revolution:

More cynically still, Rajavi used the Gulf War as a pretext to have all the children removed from the bases in Iraq. The children had acted as a brake on the application of the Internal Revolution. Whilst the children were around, it provided an excuse for spouses to meet up in a family context. There was the possibility for ‘divorced’ couples to continue a covert relationship. Rajavi wanted the total devotion of everyone with no rivals. For him, the children represented his most dangerous rivals for their parents’ affections and loyalties. So on the pretext of having them evacuated to safety during the allied bombing, he had children even as young as two months old, sent abroad where they were adopted by Iranian families or kept in dormitories. (1)

However, that is not the full dimension of the oppression suffered by children at the hands of Mojahedin. The potential and practical European laws and regulations concerning the children granted Mojahedin an opportunity to exploit the European governments as well as citizens. The Europe provided MKO the best milieu to educate children for its cult-like purposes. But under drastic measures and vigilance of related state-run institutions the real intention of MKO is exposed for the public:

In Germany, the government uncovered the Mojahedin’s financial activities. After a two year investigation, the German High Court on 21st December 2001 closed the Mojahedin ‘shop’ – twenty-five houses and bases – after evidence was found of misuse of Social Security and fraud. Disturbingly, the Mojahedin had used the members’ children who had been evacuated during the Gulf War of 1991. These children, whilst they lived in the Mojahedin’s bases in Germany, were required to undertake work in the base and take part in fund-raising activities, collecting money in the street. At the same time, the Mojahedin were abusing every possible avenue of Social Security in Germany in order to claim benefits for these children. Documents in Germany showed that ten to twelve million Marks had been used by the Mojahedin to buy weapons. Considering that a Social Security claim of 130 – 260 Marks could be made per child per day, this is a conservative figure of the amount that the Mojahedin collected on account of these children. (2)

Further appalling aspects of MKO’s abuse of children include application of brainwashing techniques to indoctrinate them with subversive organizational ideologies to be later recruited into NLA based in Camp Ashraf. The two instances of self-immolation by Neda Hassani in England and Yaser Mohammadi in Camp Ashraf can be mentioned as explicit consequences of children trained according to mentioned techniques. The low age of these two young victims confirms the terrible process the children have gone through in the European and Iraqi camps. Of course, any raised objection was neutralized by a variety of tricks. According to Ann Singleton, Mojahedin shaped the destiny of these young victims by means of preplanned ideological, political, military, as well as terrorist schemes:

Some of the older children soon returned to Iraq and though still under-age, became members of the NLA. They were expected to ‘reject’ their parents as part of the new ideology. In other cases, a parent bravely refused to be separated and decided to accompany their children abroad. As usual, although the Mojahedin denounced these people as defectors, as weak and useless people, they did all they could to keep hold of them and have them work in their bases in the West. In all, the losses were few and Rajavi consolidated his hold over the members’ minds, hearts and lives. (3)

Bijan Niyabati, a left activist of NCRI, has made open confessions regarding emotional and organizational misuse of children within MKO. He has elaborated on such events far beyond what other former MKO members have stated. He confesses openly that Mojahedin indoctrinate children in such a way to make them highly vengeful and aggressive. He also maintains that these innocent children are implanted by ideological relations and principles of their adoptive parents:

On the other hand, there are innocent children whose only sins are to be born in a family engaged in revolutionary struggle without considering the children’s opinion for the sacrifice of majority. Hundreds of such children have to undergo an awful fate. You have to be yourself a child and have experienced such a destiny to develop a full comprehension of such a human tragedy. You have to have been separated from your mother and have been raised by a foster mother to feel the pain of worry and rage suffered by these children. Then you can make a dagger of your tears and sigh and a bullet of your wrath to hit the heart and head of the agents who are responsible for all these human tragedies. So you may have no doubt for unquestionable necessity of overthrowing the regime of whip and gallows. (4)

He acknowledges the fact that the process of separating children from their parents, at the command of the leader of MKO, aims at making children bear the grudge against MKO enemies; a fact referred to by many former MKO members as the most anti-human aspect of ideological revolution. Mojahedin, however, deny the accusation. According to Niyabati, the innocent children are inspired with violence and trained where to surface it while they do not know why they have to do so. The statements made by Niyabati surfaces the hidden dimensions of the awful process taking place inside MKO and they are even more telling than what other MKO’s ex-members expose. He refers to the hegemony and cultist relations onto which children are exposed and these statements work as verified evidences for any international human activist and organization, evidences which unveil the truth about the abuse and exploitation of defenseless children by Mojahedin-e Khalq.

 

References

 

1. Singleton, Ann; “Saddam’s private army”, Iran-Interlink.

2. Ibid

3. Ibid

4. Niyabati, Bijan; A different look at the ideological revolution within MKO, Khavaran Publication, p.100.

 

Bahar Irani – Mojahedin.ws – August , 2007

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