Off-camera at the Khatami visit
By
The Bridge
The pro-Israel crowd protested the former Iranian president in Cambridge yesterday by holding up posters depicting the burning twin towers of 9/11/2001. The point was obviously to associate the man with the event.
Mohammad Khatami was indeed president of Iran five years ago, but his regime had no more to do with the momentous events of that day than had Sadaam Hussein.
However, both Iraq and Iran are predominantly Muslim countries, and rich in oil. Osame Bin Laden is also Muslim, from an oil-rich country. What worries some, and excites others, is that could be pretext enough for military action. President Mohammad Khatami's remarks at Harvard's were largely repetitions of what he already said earlier in the week in Washington and New York.
The pro-Israel crowd of around 200 outside was nothing new, either. This protest was cosponsored by the Boston area's biggest Zionist group, the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), and Harvard's young dupoloy clubs, the Republicans and Democrats. Between 3:00 and 6:00, while Khatami was speaking and the Zionists were protesting, there were lots of television crews to report all of the above to us.
There were no cameras present at around 11:30 that morning at the nearby Charles Hotel, when a small fleet of tint-windowed black armored limousines pulled up. A platoon of Men In Black hopped out with submachine guns at the ready. Secret Service. They must have stayed in town from Cheney's Saturday fundraiser in Boston.
The agents took up positions around the hotel and pointed their weapons in the direction of the shoppers at the Sunday farmers' market. They then ushered Khatami swiftly into the hotel. Probably the same secure suite occupied by that Saudi princess and her retinue for several years in the 1980s. The Bush Administration clearly decided to facilitate Mr Khatami's trip the the U.S. The question of course, is why. No one in the crowd seemed to have any real idea. The point most often seen and heard JCRC crowd's main point was that Iran had to be stopped by any means necessary from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Little noticed among the crowd of protestors was a quiet group of around forty men and women who appeared to be Muslims. They carried no signs were not eager to talk. An Iranian man watching from across the street said they were with the People's Mujihadeen.
In the 1980s, women of the Mujihadeen were a familiar sight in Harvard Square, where they displayed anti-Khomeini posters and collected money. They were allowed to maintain an armed base in Iraq by Saadam Hussein, and the U.S. occupation regime still allows them to do so.
A smaller number of people were there to protest preparations by the U.S. and Israel to attack Iran militarily. Their largest banner read, "No more wars for Empire, Oil and Israel." They were repeatedly cursed and threatened by the pro-Israel crowd. "You need a bullet in your head," said one. A young man with a T-shirt saying "Republican Club," said he was for "a revolution" to "get rid of" people who supported "Islamo-fascists" like Khatami.
