On May 31, 2011 a meeting was held at the Nejat Society office in Arak, Markazi Province, Iran.
The meeting was held by the presence of families of present members trapped inside the MKO cult in Iraq. During the meeting the families whose children are kept captive at Ashraf Camp discussed the ways to release their beloved ones. The families affirmed their active role to release their children and family members.
Two former members of the cult of Rajavi (Mujahedin Khalq Organization) who have recently escaped Camp Ashraf were welcomed at Nejat Society Mazandaran Branch on Tuesday, September 20th. Mr. Mohammad Reza Goli Eskardi and Mr. Ein allah shabani met their families at Nejat office where some other families of MKO captives were present, they wished the release of their loved ones held in the Camp under the rule of Rajavi’s dictatorship.
 | Mr. Mohammad Reza Goli Eskardi and Mr. Ein allah shabani ,who have recently escaped Camp Ashraf were welcomed at Nejat Society Mazandaran Branch on Tuesday, September 20th. |
Families of the two MKO defectors were really moved by visiting their loved ones after years of separation. Mr. Shaabani and Mr. Eskardi also expressed their pleasure for their return to their families reminding others that their loved children in Camp Ashraf seriously need their support and help in order that they can release themselves from Ashraf “prison”.
They also briefly described the horrible situation and mental pressure their ex-comrades at Camp Ashraf were trapped in. The two defectors requested the families of Nejat to make efforts to help release their loved ones before the deadline Iraqi authorities have assigned for MKO departure.
Appreciating the cooperation of Nejat Society and families, they expressed their readiness to help with salvation of their former friends held as hostages in MKO.
Accompanied by their families, they went home at the end of the meeting.
Nejat Society, Mazandaran Branch
To view more photos click here
Two former members of the cult of Rajavi (Mujahedin Khalq Organization) who have recently escaped Camp Ashraf were welcomed at Nejat Society Mazandaran Branch on Tuesday, September 20th. Mr. Mohammad Reza Goli Eskardi and Mr. Ein allah shabani met their families at Nejat office where some other families of MKO captives were present, they wished the release of their loved ones held in the Camp under the rule of Rajavi’s dictatorship.
Families of the two MKO defectors were really moved by visiting their loved ones after years of separation. Mr. Shaabani and Mr. Eskardi also expressed their pleasure for their return to their families reminding others that their loved children in Camp Ashraf seriously need their support and help in order that they can release themselves from Ashraf “prison”.
They also briefly described the horrible situation and mental pressure their ex-comrades at Camp Ashraf were trapped in. The two defectors requested the families of Nejat to make efforts to help release their loved ones before the deadline Iraqi authorities have assigned for MKO departure.
Appreciating the cooperation of Nejat Society and families, they expressed their readiness to help with salvation of their former friends held as hostages in MKO.
Accompanied by their families, they went home at the end of the meeting.
On Monday September19, Mr. Darius Balafkandeh joined his family, Nejat Society, Gilan branch reported. Mr. Balafkandeh was warmly welcomed by his family who were awaiting his return for years.
Embraced by his mother, he said with watery eyes:
“The MKO is nothing but a liar. Since the moment I decided to flee the strictly controlled system of Rajavi, I tried to reach Iraqi forces protecting Camp Ashraf with great difficultly. I was welcomed by families picketing in front of camp Ashraf. I have to say bravely that when I faced Iranian officials at the Embassy in Iraq, I was surprised to see their humanly kind treatment toward me. I found out that I had been influenced by Rajavi’s indoctrination and forced presence in the group. I had only heard lies during those years. I am really embarrassed now.”
Darius’s mother was really moved by visiting her son after many years of waiting. She was crying kissing and hugging her son. She was thankful to the God for she could see her beloved son before her death. She hoped that other families could be able to see the return of their loved children to home and motherland.
On Monday September19, Mr. Darius Balafkandeh joined his family, Nejat Society, Gilan branch reported. Mr. Balafkandeh was warmly welcomed by his family who were awaiting his return for years.
Embraced by his mother, he said with watery eyes:
“The MKO is nothing but a liar. Since the moment I decided to flee the strictly controlled system of Rajavi, I tried to reach Iraqi forces protecting Camp Ashraf with great difficultly. I was welcomed by families picketing in front of camp Ashraf. I have to say bravely that when I faced Iranian officials at the Embassy in Iraq, I was surprised to see their humanly kind treatment toward me. I found out that I had been influenced by Rajavi’s indoctrination and forced presence in the group. I had only heard lies during those years. I am really embarrassed now.”
Darius’s mother was really moved by visiting her son after many years of waiting. She was crying kissing and hugging her son. She was thankful to the God for she could see her beloved son before her death. She hoped that other families could be able to see the return of their loved children to home and motherland.
Nejat Society also hopes the release of others held imprisoned at Camp Ashraf.
To view more photos click here
Three Aashraf residents who were held in the camp as hostages against their will could manage to escape the cult of Rajavi on Saturday September 17th, according to Nejat Society.
The three defectors joined Iraqi forces after their release from the camp.
Further information about the newly defected members will be published soon.
1. Iraq orders MKO terrorist group to return occupied land
2. From U.S. Silent on Raids against PJAK to aggressive lobbying for MKO
3. Inside Mujahidin-e Khalq’s Massive Lobbying Push
4. An Iranian Cult and Its American Friends
5. Mujahedin Khalq Machine vs. the Iranian-American Community
6. Why Are Prominent Americans Lobbying for an MKO Terrorist Group?
7. Attendees Bused Into MEK Rally, Some of Whom ‘Don’t Really Understand What The MEK Is’
8. The Lobbying that Shouldn’t be Happening
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.61
Download Pars Brief – Issue No.61
1. Don’t be fooled: MEK is a terrorist group 
2. Mojahedin-e Khalq after 46 years
3. Baghdad conference discusses legality of Mojahedin Khalq presence
4. MKO’s big-money push to get off US terrorist list
5. Iraq to resolve the Camp Ashraf file by end of the year
6. MKO must leave Iraq by 2012: senior Iraqi cleric
On Friday, August 26th, 2011, the streets surrounding the US State Department featured a motley crowd of protesters wearing yellow hats and t-shirts, chanting slogans, and pleading for the removal of Mujahedin Khalq (MKO/MEK) from the State Department’s list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The crowd was mixed in race, and top-heavy with African Americans. An unusually large number of the protesters had scruffy hair and tattered clothes. And surprisingly, only a small number were actually Iranian-Americans. As the crowd was addressed by US politicians who supported the group’s cause, oddly, many in the crowd were not aware of what exactly it was they were protesting—this is because the majority of protesters did not really *have* a cause. They were merely following the assignment of the organizers, who paid them, fed them, and lodged them so they would commit to demonstrate that day. Protestors at the scene told one reporter that the Mujahedin Khalq organizers had told them that there were at least two thousand demonstrators present that day, but the estimate seemed high. [1]
The MKO is a terrorist group and has been blacklisted by the Department of State since the list was first created in 1997. Since then the MKO has persisted with a campaign to get itself removed from that list. And this time they have stooped to new lows: hiring the needy and desperate to do their dirty work, enlisting what seems like a busload of homeless to turn out in grand numbers for a spurious representation of support. It was purely a show of spectacular exploitation—the latest and greatest example of the MKO’s multi-million dollar effort to build support among Washington political elite, according to *The Cable*. [2] And if the false demonstration wasn’t bad enough, it has been reported in *The Christian Science Monitor* and *The Huffington Post* that many of the so-called MKO advocates had been paid large amounts of speaking fees. [3][4] According to Zaid Jilani of *thinkprogress.org* the rally included well-paid speakers and also paid demonstrators “who, it is probable fair to say, know even less about the MEK than the big-money speakers” and “were bused in from as far as New York city.” [5]
The group’s purchased advocacy was also confirmed by *Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, The National Interest, and The Cable*.
Golnaz Esfandiari and Hossein Aryan of *Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty*report that “rally participants also included a number of non-Iranian-Americans. Several of them told Esfandiari and Aryan that they had little or no knowledge about the MKO.” One African-American who was asked whether he and his female companion received money to attend the rally—his companion admitted they had, but then retracted her statement at the man’s behest. [6]
Many non-Iranian rally attendees claimed that they were there in the name of Iranian human rights but were actually confused by the term MEK. Zaid Jilani writes that “of this group [of demonstrators], few seemed to have many details about the MEK, and instead pledged vague notions of support for human rights and democracy, often even getting the name of the MEK wrong.” [7] He revealed that in fact “some of the attendees had been bused and flown in at no personal cost, receiving transportation and in some cases lodging and meals.” [8]
Paul R. Pillar of *The National Interest* writes that one of the participants, a 23-year-old man from Staten Island named Melvin Santiago, said he learned about the demonstration from a friend who in turn got word of it through a flyer distributed in front of a church where the friend said that Santiago “usually goes for the food pantry”. [9]
Another attendee told Zaid Jilani that he supported human rights in Iran and he was informed about the rally at his church and admitted, “to be honest, I don’t really understand what the MEK is.” [10]
It is this latest rally that one can see the effort that the MKO has put in to changing their public persona as they push for being de-listed. According to a RAND report, the MKO are “skilled manipulators of public opinion.” [11] Paul R. Pillar, a professor, and a retired person who served over two decades in the US Intelligence Community asserts that “those who have sold their advocacy for big bucks deserve shame; those who have done so for a meal or two may be deserve our pity.” [12] What is truly appalling is that the MKO is actually a cult who abuses its own members, and now they are exploiting the public—a public who seems to have a weak moral code. Group supporters need to come forward and admit what’s going on, and the general public needs to question more deeply the legitimacy of this atrocious group, and especially those who are paid speaking fees to help the MKO.
The US needs to be aware of that the MKO’s past is beset with crimes and bloodshed. They not only have a history of terrorism against Iran, but against the US and its allies—in fact in the 1970’s, the MKO murdered several US citizens. The MKO has little support in the West, but in effect no viable support inside Iran (because they are a cult, but mostly due to their treasonous relations with Saddam Hussein). In short, US citizens, like Iranian citizens, should not trust the MKO. Pillar suggests that Hillary Clinton “should pay no heed to what Melvin Santiago and the other hungry homeless outside her office window are saying, or to what the high-paid hired guns are saying, about the MEK. Nor does she need to pay any attention to what people like me are saying about the group. She should keep the windows closed and just pay attention to the terms of the law and to what officials in the departments and agencies involved say about whether the terms of the law still apply in this case”.[13]
By Mazda Parsi
References:
[1]Jilani, Zaid, Attendees bused into MEK Rally, Some of Whom Don’t Really
Understand What the MEK Is, ThinkProgress, August 26,2011
[2]Rogin, Josh, MEK rally planned for Friday at the State Department, the Cable/ Foreign Policy, August 25, 2011
[3]Peterson, Scott ,Iranian group’s big-money push to get off US terrorist list, The Christian Science Monitor, August 8, 2011
[4]Wilkie, Christina, Mujahideen-e Khalq: Former U.S. Officials Make Millions Advocating For Terrorist Organization,The Huffingtonpost, August 9,2011
[5] Jilani, Zaid, Attendees bused into MEK Rally, Some of Whom Don’t Really
Understand What the MEK Is, ThinkProgress, August 26,2011
[6]Esfandiari, Golnaz, &Aryan, Hossein, MKO Supporters Rally To Call For
U.S. Delisting, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, August 26, 2011
[7] Jilani, Zaid, Attendees bused into MEK Rally, Some of Whom Don’t Really Understand What the MEK Is, ThinkProgress, August 26, 2011
[8]ibid
[9]R. Pillar, Paul, The Lobbying that Shouldn’t be Happening, The National Interest, august 27,2011
[10]Jilani, Zaid, Attendees bused into MEK Rally, Some of Whom Don’t Really Understand What the MEK Is, ThinkProgress, August 26,2011
[11]Goulka, Jeremiah &Hansell, Lydia &Wilke, Elizabeth &Larson, Judith, The Mujahedin-e Khalq in Iraq; A Policy Conundrum, RAND Corporation, August 2009.
[12] R. Pillar, Paul, The Lobbying that Shouldn’t be Happening, The National Interest, August 27,2011
[13]ibid
The yellow flags of well-funded Mujahedin Khalq’s supporters will be fluttered in front of the State 
Department on Friday August 26th following the calls the group has made for several weeks and the dollars it has spent for its usually artificially magnified demonstrations. The agenda is to call the DOS to delist MKO which has been on the list since its creation in 1997. The gathering will be surely accompanied by speakers whose pockets are filled with the MKO dollars. The coincidence is that it is the International Quds Day ; an annual event on the last Friday of Ramadan in which people rally to express solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposing Zionism .
If these efforts made by the MKO and propaganda campaign and its lobby in the US administration end with its being delisted, it will be a remarkable transformation; MKO was a terrorist Marxist cult with the blood of Americans on its hands, it turns into a friend, an ally for the US in its animosities against Iranian government, big change.
Elizabeth Rubin, a contributor to the New York Times Magazine who visited the MKO’s Camp Ashraf in 2003, believes that American supporters of the group are two groups.” in fact, an unlikely chorus of the group’s backers – some of whom have received speaking fees, others of whom are inspired by their conviction that the Iranian government must fall at any cost,” she writes in her new article.[1] as a person who has been eye witness of what is really going inside the MKO, Rubin describes her experiences of visiting an authoritarian cult closely, warning the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.”Mrs. Clinton should ignore their P.R. campaign,”she states.[2]
Removing the MKO from the list will not make it a good, reliable friend. Reza Nasri of Iranian.com asserts that as a “radical” group, MKO’s “fanatical ideology, pugnacious discourse, undemocratic structure, leadership mission and agenda”, signify it as a terrorist designated organization. Nasri uses a very dramatic simily to explain the unchangeable nature of Mujahedin. He writes, “a mere change of designation is as absurd as removing a snake from the list of reptiles and expecting it to act as peaceful dove.”[3]
The message that delisting the MKO will send to the public is on the one hand, the fact that you can buy everything in the US. You are able to consider a group a friend or a freedom fighter or a pro-democratic movement rather a terrorist communist cult, just if you are well paid by the group. On the other hand, removing the MKO from the list opens the door for other terrorist group’s lobbying efforts in the US government. ”just imagine what sort of message such laxity could send to both the defenders and violators of international criminal law,” Reza Nasri concludes.
Another side of MKO demonstration
As I mentioned Friday is also the day of Quds annual rally – a day of protest against illegal occupation of Palestinian land and the city of Quds (Jerusalem) by Israel. As the new patron of Mujahedin Khalq the Israel lobby has employed the MKO agents to bring over 5000 people to a counter rally against the Quds rally, according to Iran-Interlink.
An insider of the National Council of Resistance has told Iran-Interlink that some operatives of the group have already arrived in Washington to prepare the ground for the arrival of the other thousands.[4] the MKO’s gathering on Friday will serve the needs of their new Zionist friends besides what it will bring to their own agenda.
The history never forgets that the Mujahedin Khalq Organization started its struggle as an anti-Zionist, anti-Imperialist movement. Its operatives received military training in PLO camps and Israelis interests, were among their first targets of assassination and bombing during the 1970’s.
You may feel dizzy. No surprise. The history of the MKO is overflowed with controversies.
By Mazda Parsi
References:
[1] Rubin, Elizabeth, nytimes , An Iranian Cult and Its American Friends, August 14, 2011
[2] ibid
[3] Nasri, Reza, iranian.com, Radical by Nature – The MEK will never become a moderate political force, August 20,2011
[4] Iran-Interlink, Growing International support for Palestinians prompts desperate measures from Israeli lobby – Mojahedin Khalq (MEK) mercenaries used to counter pro-Palestinian rally in America, August 18,2011
