When I heard about the protests planned against Khatami’s speech at Harvard, I knew just the guy to contact. I emailed Jesse Sage over at HAMSA and he filled me in on all the information. Khatami was to speak at 4:00 p.m. so the protests would start around three.
We arrived in Harvard Square outside of the Kennedy School of Government just before then, and people were already gathering by the dozens. It wasn’t just the people I knew from HAMSA and the Iran Freedom Concert Coalition, either. There were many, from pro-Israel Jews to Americans concerned about our security to student activists to pro-democracy Persians and Arabs.
The hoisted banners and posters proclaiming “Hold Khatami Accountable!” and “Iran Supports Terror!” And even more than that. The creativity was impressive. This is America, after all, where people will not be beaten, jailed, and tortured just for demonstrating and speaking one’s mind. One guy even had a poster with one of the Danish cartoons on it, proclaiming, “Hey Harvard, this is what freedom of speech looks like.”
From the beginning, I noticed that there were two sides to this protest. The first is outrage that Khatami is in the United States and speaking about tolerance and a dialogue of civilizations when there is no dialogue of any kind within his own civilization. The other is that Harvard is giving him the venue to do so. That’s why mixed in with all of the aforementioned slogans, you will see things like “Harvard — Useful Idiot” in there as well.
Across the street from Kennedy School of Government, where protestors are beginning to gather. Click to enlarge.
Various groups of protestors, all with different signs. Click to enlarge.
The protest was really drawing attention, and within fifteen minutes or so the crowd really began to swell. People along the outside rim checked out the signs while dozens more joined in with their own. The entire area was just filling up with so many people, a politically charged people, and police were stationed all around to control traffic as well as the crowd.
Protest babe in training. Click to enlarge.
I found my friend Emmanuel Benahmou (also from HAMSA), who was along the outside of the protest with several Harvard students who came out to demonstrate as well. He was impressed with the crowd of people that were arriving and noted to me how amazing it was that such a thing was organized between so many different groups in only a few days’ time. There would be a couple of human rights activists from Iran speaking soon as well, so that people could become educated just as to how bad the mullah regime still was under Khatami.
Manny, in the middle, with the “Khatami’s Iran” poster. Click to enlarge.
It was a shame that we couldn’t get in to hear Khatami speak, and possibly ask questions. Tickets were required. But Manny said he might be able to get us some so in the meantime I walked around talking to people.
Now, in a protest that can cause a lot of controversy, there is always bound to be a party-pooper or two.
No comment. Click to enlarge.
Nobody really noticed this guy at first, but he became the scene of a verbal brawl that lasted for a while. One man confronted him about his views upfront, leading to an ideological clash that ended with a police officer between the two.
“You and me. You hate Israel? Fight me,” said the man. “Please, fight me, hit me, you wanna do it, do it. Go ahead, you hate Israel, you hate me. I am Israel. Hate me, hit me.
The counter-protestor backed away and asked a policeman to “protect me from this crazy person.” So the cop stood between the two and after awhile the crowd went back to protesting.
(You can view the video of this confrontation by clicking here)
All in all such minor confrontations were taking people’s eyes and ears off the main point, so it was a good thing that HAMSA’s presenters were gearing up to speak soon. I hussled my way back over to Manny, just as a crowd was beginning to encircle them.
The first to speak was Lily Mazahery, a prominent human rights activist and lawyer down in Washington, D.C. who has launched many campaigns against the torture, public executions, and death by stoning in today’s Iran. It was an incredible and informative speech, with people clapping and cheering at the end. Definitely worth a watch.
(You can view the video of her speaking by clicking here.
Lily Mazahery before speaking. Click to enlarge.
Next up was Ala Khaki, an activist who began as a student dissenter under the Shah regime and continues to do activism on behalf of student who live under the Islamic regime. This is a guy whose moral compass isn’t whacked out. He knows evil when he sees it and that is why he continues his work to this day. Another great speech, accompanied by a great (and graphic) poem. He ended with much clapping and cheers. Another speech worth watching.
(You can view the video of him speaking by clicking here.
The crowd at this point was huge. I looked around during all of the speeched and these Iranian freedom fighters had captured the minds of all present. Me and my girlfriend were discussing later on how many we thought were there at any given moment, and I think it must have been anywhere from 150-200 people in that tiny area. Usually it’s pretty hard to tell, and I tend to round down, but given how packed everyone was it was definitely higher than the several dozen present when we first arrived.
I tried to get a good shot of how large the crowd was as best I could, but even these photos don’t capture half the people. Click to enlarge.
Lastly, a local radio host named Michael Graham (who has come under a lot of fire recently), jumped up and began talking to the crowd. He was a charismatic speaker, getting applause and cheers from everyone. He told everyone that he had a question for Khatami.
“How many Jews does this government have to kill, how many people does it have to murder, how much terrorism does it have to sponsor before you decide that they have crossed your moral threshold?” was what he eventually identified as his question. He then led the entire crowd into chanting “Shame on Harvard!” Everyone got really into it. All I can say is that Harvard has gotten on the bad side of a lot of people because of this.
Just as the crowd was doing this, Khatami arrived, accompanied by a police escort, and he was driven into the building without appearance. People booed loud. The energy of the crowd was wild, with everyone surging toward the escort. The police had to stand guard, otherwise I have no doubt in my mind that a known terrorist would have died today.
(You can view the video of him speaking by clicking here.
Manny had been able to score me a ticket to see Khatami speak, however, there was a deadline for entry and it was 15 minutes too late. The police wouldn’t let me in. It was unfortunate, because I am afraid that without me in there he was getting too warm a reception. Someone had to yell “you suck,” you know? But I really have to thank Manny for trying.
Overall, the protest was a great success. The combination of energy and activism was both an adrenaline rush as well as a sparkle of hope for the future. People like Khatami should be held accountable for their actions and there is no better way of doing that then letting him see how many people are angry about it.
PS: If anyone has a web server to host backup files of the videos on, please contact me at robertmayer É gmail. com. Chances are the server is going to flat out die from all the downloading.
All pictures copyright Robert Mayer.
Teresa Hummel was also there.