Demonstration, Los Angeles style
"What do we want? Freedom! When do we want it?
After I fix my hair!"
By Katayoon Hadizadeh
July 11, 2003
The Iranian
July 8, 5:00-7:00 PM
Santa Monica Federal Building
I arrived for the July 9th anniversary
demonstration shortly after 5. The number of people shocked me. There were
about 10,000 people. Perhaps more. They seemed well-organized. Most held
similar placards and posters with the same slogans >>> See photos
To my disappointment there were a lot of
pictures of the former Shah's son, Reza Pahlavi. No offence, but the
demonstration was supposed to be in support of Iranian university students,
rather than any particular person or political group.
They had even hired a small plane pulling a
banner that read: "Reza Pahlavi for a Free Iran". Every time, it went
by people would jump and wave their hands. Their enthusiasm made you think
perhaps Reza Pahlavi himself was in the plane!
Police had closed Wilshire Blvd. from the
405 Freeway entrance up to the end of Westwood, near the UCLA campus. That was
no easy job. It was the most crowded time of the day and that area is a busy
location. People marched from the Federal Building to the middle of Westwood
and back.
Some of the slogans:
-- "United Nations, pay more
attention!"
-- "What do we want? Freedom! When do we want it? Now!"
-- "Down with Islamic Republic of Iran!"
-- "Daneshjoo, Daneshjoo, hemaayatat mikonim!" (Students we support
you!)
-- "Daneshjoo, Daneshjoo, raahat edaame daard!" (Students we will
continue your path!)
Most were dressed up. They wore
stiletto-heal shoes and made sure their hair looked perfect. White Luis Vuitton
bags and fake eyeglasses caught the eye every 5 minutes. After all,
demonstrating is a social activity and what better place to meet cool Persian
guys and girls?
Participants in the demonstration fell into
two categories. One were the older generation who left Iran around the
revolution. It was obvious that they have fond memories of the good old days
and would long to visit their home and family, provided there is respect for
human rights. The second group are the younger generation born and raised
outside Iran who may not have even visited the country.
There weren't many people like me in the
march; people who spent a good part of their life in Iran and then came to the
US in recent years. The demonstration was near the UCLA campus, but there were
only a small number of student participants. The presence of this significant
group was missed, especially when you consider that the event was to support
students in Iran.
The only reason I can think of for this
absence is that certain Iranian-Americans in Los Angeles are turn-offs. We feel
ridiculous seeing our compatriots spending hours dressing up for a political
demonstration. In such a crowd, support for students in Iran becomes secondary
to rallying cries for Reza Pahlavi.
There are cultural elements in such actions
that I do not understand; I am not a sociologist. But I thought about what I've
seen back in Iran and compared it to what I saw in the Los Angeles rally. Then
I realized it was not all that shocking.
Consumption of cosmetics in Iran is
significantly higher than other countries. Before I moved to the US, I thought
maybe people are overdoing it with cosmetics because of oppression; or because
women are deprived of the right to show their natural hair, and therefore they
took refuge in cosmetics to regain part of that lost self-esteem. Now I think
it might be a trend inherited from our ancestors. With so many live examples in
this town, can you prove otherwise? >>> See photos
*With especial thanks to
Jahanshah Javid for some good changes!J
** I would like to share
some of the thoughts I received in my mailbox. 99.99% of them supported my idea
and I kind of felt relieved that I am not alone in the way I felt. Here are
some of them:
“Good
going. I liked your piece about the demonstrations in LA: it was crisp, to the
point. As for the dress-up and use of cosmetics mentioned in your piece -- it
is all an apt metaphor for so much that we like to cover up, which
honestly are imperfections in our own twisted minds.”
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“Just
finished reading your piece in the Iranian. I wanted to be at Wilshire
and Westwood as much as any one else, but... excuses, excuses excuses.
The same famous Iranian ones, "work", "kids",
"......", pick one. My excuses were so stronger than my
ambition to be there. I missed it and I am not proud of it. I,
however, listened to it on the radio on my drive from San Diego to my home in
Southern Orange Co. I noticed, especially, when someone, an entertainer,
said on the radio that there was a plain pulling a banner that read, "Reza
Pahlavi for a Free Iran". At that moment I thought, "which
Reza?"
There
was a joke, in Iran, when I was growing up. It started by saying that the
Shah had gone to Mashad to Imam Reza's Haram. He puts his head on the
chain linked, golden cover of his tomb and says, "I'm Reza, you're Reza,
my Dad was Reza, my son is Reza, gooreh pedareh 36 million NA REZA".
Funny joke, but much truth to that.
So,
which Reza is for free Iran? This one, who at the age of 18 said nothing
to his father for killing his class mates and/or imprisoning them? His
Dad, Reza, who for 35 years held a strong hold on his people and let no one
speak a word of their mind? Or his grandfather, Reza Shah, who was one of
the most brutal leaders of Iran?
Which
one of these guys were for free Iran? Does he know what free Iran mean?
I
hold him very responsible for what was happening in Iran. At his age he
should have known better, his classmates and many kids of his age knew what was
going on in Iran. His house, Kakhe Saad Abad, was only a few miles away
from Evin Prison. On a quite night if he would have left his window open
and listened carefully, he would have heard the cries of those young kids being
tortured by his father's followers.
After
he came to US with a good chunk of the Iranian money, he could have set up
organizations to support the Iranians here. Most of his father's elite
guards are driving taxis in the DC area and are still faithful to his
father. Many of the top soldiers in his father's army had to escape Iran
and live in sad conditions in US for years.
He
could have set up scholarships for Iranian students here, hell he could have
built universities with that money. He could have set up support groups
for those coming here with no money and wanting to build a new life. What
did the future king of Iran do? He went and hid in the hills of Virginia,
near DC, close to his Dady's former bosses, the CIA.
He has never shown any back bone or interest in Iran
or the Iranians. I hope he chokes on the money.”
“ We
had a demostration here in sweden as well. the whole thing started 1
pm. The first group was "mojhadein khalgh" and the slogans were
of course "mojahedin iran hameye daneshjooyan. maryam maryam hameye
daneshjooyan". They left after 2 h so the next group could
take over which was "hezbe chap" and after them
"saltanadtalaban" took over. They were all shouting "pahlavi
pahlavi hameye daneshjooyan" and they were all holding up pictures of reza
pahlavi.
Some
persian girls were wearing short skirts which was made of iraninan flag
(colors) and they had shir va khorshid back on their buttocks. the
ppl who orginazed the saltanadtalaban demonstration had also blown up like 600
ballongs so that it would look good and all their kids had t-shirts with the
flag on it and Pictures of Reza pahlavi.
I work
for the swedish radio as reporter and i didn't really know what
to tell my colleagues. it was just more then i expected. very
cheerful with all those ballons and cute baby shirts, of course.
I also got back from iran 2 weeks ago after being there for 3 weeks. I interviewd couple of students who were participating in the demostrations. Nobody know reza phalavi as politician altough they seem to like his ideas . Everybody knows him as son of the shah so therefore nobody can understand that he's real. Nobody belives in monarchy and nobody wants another king. The name "Pahlavi" doesn't sound too good over there. They say that iran is the way it is because of the shah and their only hero seem to be Mossadegh. They also criticize these satellite channels. They would love to see mr ziya in amirabad by the dorms once in a while. “
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“
First off, and foremost.. Bravo on what you wrote. As one of the young students
who was there, shouting "What do we want? Freedom! When do we want it? Now
! " . Not only did you completely and perfectly express my views on the
situation with the reza pahlavi banners & pictures. You also put your thumb
on the situation with Iranian youth living in America today. Even though I was
there, as a part of the National Union of Democracy for Iran. Who many of us,
spent the night there the day before the protest. It's heart breaking to leave
a demonstration like that, and see a bunch of Iranian kids & In n' Out near
UCLA looking at you like your the ghost of Christmas past. God forbid, we're
just wearing T-shirts & jeans. Which the shirt said "national union
for democracy in Iran" on the front and "national referendum in
Iran" on the back. This makes me reflect on a few interviews we did with a
video camera. Asking Iranian youth if they would like to tape messages to the
students of Iran (of course giving the option of not showing their face). Many
replied, "No, why should I?" , " I don't have time "
(sitting there talking amongst their friend 3 hr. later) , " I have
nothing to say" ... and so on. I came to the conclusion, how selfish the
youth here is compared to the youth in Iran. So selfish it seems they do not
deserve democracy. Yet we all know, our dear youth in Iran, more than anyone
prove what true virtue is. Truly what a beautiful day it would be, when the
people here come to that conclusion.
Yours Truly,
A youth Born Outside of Iran,
but whose heart remains there”
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“I wanted to thank you for your article on iranian.com,and let you know that you’re not alone. I was also under the impression that they were going to support Iranian students and their pro-democracy movement, but it seemed to me that Iranian students in prison had to take the back seat to Reza. I remember the trial of Hosein Tehrani the notorious jailor/torturer of Evin before revolution. As a child I couldn’t understand how a human being turns out to be like him or what he had done to political prisoners many of them college student! It’s really outrageous to see pictures of son of Tehrani’s former employer in a demonstration in support of Iranian students. Who is going to stop him if he decides to follow the food steps of his fathers in future? Why should we exchange one dictator with another? Those of us who have lived in Iran after revolution know what a challenge it is to fight for democracy, and it’s a pity to see some people living in LA making it even harder. I wish the Iranian students here in US were organized enough to be able to let their voice heard and be able to stand out in these demonstrations.”
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“Could
not agree more with you and that is why I was not there.I learned my lesson
many years ago when I went to protest in front of the French embassy the
killing of Shahpour Bakhtiar,etc.....
These people might have good intentions but they are there just to show off and
mainly have a good time. In Iran they had "rozeh",here they have
Tazahorat.
If anything must happen in Iran. It will happen from within. If anybody wants
to do something they have to take the real risk and go back to Iran.
I admire you for being there, but know that you are too good to be around these
losers and their pictures of the next idol :-)”
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“As someone who's lived in Iran I have to fully agree with you, I talk to these people and I wonder sometimes what Iran they are talking about. For most of them the only thing they know about Iran comes from parents and who left more than 20 years ago while Iran is constantly changing from year to year. I sometimes wonder if they realize how little support the Shah or the MKO actually have inside Iran.Anyways thanks for writing an article that expressed exactly what I felt about our Iranian community in CA.”