January 22, 2020

IRAN: Iranian Chess Arbiter Shohreh Bayat Won’t Return To Iran Her Home Country After Photos Of Her Not Wearing A Hijab (Head Covering) Were Circulated. She Fears For Her Life And Her Family.

BBC News
written by Sarah Rainsford
Wednesday January 15, 2020

For 32-year-old Iranian Shohreh Bayat, the Women's World Chess Championship was meant to be a career highlight.

It is her first time as the event's chief arbiter - a senior role.

But that achievement has been clouded by controversy after the circulation of a photograph taken at game in Shanghai that appears to show Ms Bayat without a headscarf, as her country mandates.

She now feels unsafe to return to Iran, where women can be arrested for violating strict Islamic dress code.

"I turned on my mobile and saw that my picture was everywhere [in Iranian media]. They were claiming I was not wearing a headscarf and that I wanted to protest against the hijab," Ms Bayat told the BBC.

She says she was, in fact, covering her head as she always has at international tournaments, despite disagreeing with the rule.

'Women should have right to choose'
"It's against my beliefs. People should have the right to choose the way they want to dress, it should not be forced," she explained, speaking from Vladivostok in eastern Russia, where she is now refereeing the second leg of the World Championship.

"I was tolerating it because I live in Iran. I had no other choice."

But this time Ms Bayat has run into serious problems.

The photographs circulating online and being discussed by Iran's state media show Ms Bayat's scarf apparently draped over her shoulders and not over her hair. In other pictures from the same day, her head is clearly - albeit loosely - covered.

Ms Bayat says Iran's chess federation instructed her to "write something" in response to the fuss, which she took to mean an apology and a defence of Iran's dress code.

She refused.

So now she says it's too risky to return to her family.

"There are many people in prison in Iran because of the headscarf. It's a very serious issue. Maybe they'd want to make an example of me," she explains, adding that she had "totally panicked" when she saw the reaction online.

The International Chess Federation (Fide), has not commented officially on the situation, as Ms Bayat has not broken any of its rules. But English grandmaster and now Fide Vice-President Nigel Short did tweet a photo praising the chief arbiter.

Ms Bayat says she asked Iran's chess federation to write a letter guaranteeing her safety on her return, but they declined. She believes that they are under pressure, from higher up.

'My achievements have been overlooked'

Ms Bayat is angry that the argument over how she dresses has overshadowed her achievements in chess, where she's one of only a few top level women arbiters in the world - and the only one at all in Asia.

"I can't think of any Iranian women who have worked at such a high-level tournament. But the only thing that matters for them is my hijab, not my qualification. That really bothers me," Ms Bayat says.

Her own case comes soon after Iran's first female Olympic medal-winner apparently defected. Kimia Alizadeh later posted on Instagram that she had left Iran partly because she was fed up with its mandatory dress code.

"I think people are under too much pressure, especially athletes," Ms Bayat says, adding: "This pressure to be something that you are not."

She had felt that herself, even before the main controversy erupted: she had sent a photograph for Iran's chess federation website, only to have it request another because the hijab on the image Ms Bayat had chosen was not "good enough".

For now, Ms Bayat is focusing on the job in hand: refereeing in Vladivostok as China's Ju Wenjun defends her title from Russian challenger Alexandra Gorychkina.

She's not yet sure of her own next move.

But as she cannot return to Iran, she has concluded that she has nothing more to lose and has removed her hijab altogether.

"This is a very hard decision. I feel so sad because I'm going to miss my family," she confesses, though she said taking off her scarf meant she could "be myself".

"If I had a choice to go back to Iran, of course I would love to," Ms Bayat says. "But I don't know what would happen to me."
👇 A MUST READ THREAD IN TWEET BELOW 👇
I'll share a few pieces from this thread written by a Communist

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 9:21 PM 0 comments

IRAN: Iran's Sole Female Olympic Medalist Says She's Defected. ESCAPED HER COUNTRY, Islamic Republic of Iran. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran who they have been playing with for years."

CNN World News
written by Vasco Cotovio, CNN
Sunday January 12, 2020

Iran's sole female Olympic medalist, Kimia Alizadeh, has announced that she's permanently left her country for Europe.

"Let me start with a greeting, a farewell or condolences," the 21-year-old wrote in an Instagram post explaining why she was defecting. "I am one of the millions of oppressed women in Iran who they have been playing with for years."

Alizadeh became the first Iranian woman to win an Olympic medal after claiming bronze in the 57kg category of Taekwondo at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Affectionately known in Iran as "The Tsunami," Alizadeh announced she was leaving her birth country amid searing criticism of the regime in Tehran.

"They took me wherever they wanted. I wore whatever they said. Every sentence they ordered me to say, I repeated. Whenever they saw fit, they exploited me," she wrote, adding that credit for her success always went to those in charge.

"I wasn't important to them. None of us mattered to them, we were tools," Alizadeh added, explaining that while the regime celebrated her medals, it criticized the sport she had chosen: "The virtue of a woman is not to stretch her legs!"

Reports of her defection first surfaced Thursday, with some Iranians suggesting she had left for the Netherlands. It was unclear from her post what country Alizadeh had gone to.

On Friday the head of Iran's Taekwondo Federation, Seyed Mohammad Pouladgar, claimed Alizadeh had assured both her father and her coach that she was traveling as part of her vacation, a trip he claimed was paid for by the Iranian government. He dismissed the reports of Alizadeh's defection as politically motivated rumors amplified by the foreign media.

Alizadeh confirmed the rumors Saturday, saying she "didn't want to sit at the table of hypocrisy, lies, injustice and flattery" and that she did not want to be complicit with the regime's "corruption and lies."

"My troubled spirit does not fit with your dirty economic ties and tight political lobbies. I wish for nothing else than for Taekwondo, safety and for a happy and healthy life, she said adding that she was not invited to go to Europe.

She said the decision was harder than winning Olympic gold. "I remain a daughter of Iran wherever I am," she said.

Her defection came amid anti-government protests in cities across Iran Saturday and international pressure after Iran admitted it had accidentally shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner, killing all 176 people aboard.

Canada, Sweden and other countries whose citizens died on the plane have increased demands on Tehran to deliver a complete and transparent investigation against the backdrop of fresh US sanctions on Iran and a dangerous escalation with Washington.

"Iran will continue to lose more strong women unless it learns to empower and support them," said US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus about Alizadeh's defection.

👇 IN OTHER RELATED NEWS 👇
👇 I'm throwing this in just because... 👇
UN Watch
written by Staff
Thursday March 14, 2019

The United Nations announced on March 13 that Iran will get a seat on the U.N. women’s rights committee which judges complaints alleging violations of women’s rights.

The appointment of Iran, a regime that tortures women’s rights defenders, and which arrests women who fail to comply with its misogynystic forced hijab law, was gaveled by Ireland’s Geraldine Byrne Nason, Chair of the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

Ireland came under heavy criticism from members of its parliament in 2017 for voting to elect Saudi Arabia to the commission.

According to the UN, as a member of UN Women’s Working Group on Communications, Iran will be expected to judge the following categories of allegations of women’s rights violations from women in countries around the world:
  • Arbitrary arrests of women
  • Deaths and torture of women in custody
  • Forced disappearances or abductions of women
  • Discriminatory application of punishments in law based on sex, including corporal and capital punishment
  • Violation of the rights of women human rights defenders to freedom of expression and assembly
  • Threats or pressure exerted on women not to complain or to withdraw complaints
  • Impunity for violations of the human rights of women
  • Stereotypical attitudes towards the role and responsibilities of women
  • Domestic violence
  • Forced marriage and marital rape
  • Virginity testing
  • Contemporary forms of slavery, including trafficking in women and girls
  • Sexual harassment of women in the workplace
  • Unfair employment practices based on sex, including unequal pay
  • Lack of due diligence by States to adequately investigate, prosecute and punish perpetrators of violence against women
  • Discrimination against women under immigration and nationality laws
  • Violations of the rights of women to own and inherit property
  • Discrimination against women in accessing international humanitarian aid
  • Forcible evictions of women in conflict situations

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 9:08 PM 0 comments

USA: Democrats In The House Of Representatives Blocked A Resolution To Condemn Islamic Republic Of Iran For Killing 1,500 Iranian Protesters And 176 Civilians On Board The Plane They Shot Down.

The Daily Wire
written by Ryan Saavedra
Tuesday January 14, 2020

House Democrats blocked a resolution on Tuesday that expressed support for oppressed Iranian protesters and condemned Iran for shooting down a Ukrainian passenger plane last week that killed 176 people.

“Consideration and a vote on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s resolution was blocked … by a vote of 226-191,” The Daily Caller reported. “The resolution would have condemned the Government of Iran for killing 1,500 Iranian citizens who were protesting their government, as well as condemned the Government of Iran for shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, killing 176 people.”

“What a disappointment —Democrats just blocked a vote on a resolution supporting the Iranian protestors,” House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted. “This is not the time for partisan politics. This should be a time for the US Congress to speak with one voice to condemn an Iranian regime that kills its own people.”
Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) tweeted: “Why in the world are @HouseDemocrats blocking the @GOPLeader ‘s resolution condemning this Iranian regime for obvious human rights violations? This isn’t complicated. Let’s stand up for the same basic right to free speech in Iran that we have here and vote on this resolution.”
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) told Fox News: “It is a resolution, telling the Iranian people and the protesters in #Iran that we support them, that the American people have their back and as the President of the United States pointed out, warn the regime not to kill these protesters and time and time again they turn the internet off and they kill these protesters. They are standing up for freedom and democracy and we have to stand up for that as a principle anytime we can. Unfortunately, Kevin and I tried to get this to have consideration on the floor just about an hour ago and Democrats shot it down, they would not allow a vote on this resolution.”
The resolution that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy introduced, which Democrats blocked, stated:

Condemning the actions of the Government of Iran and supporting the protestors in Iran, their demands for accountability, and their desire for the Government of Iran to respect freedom and human rights.

Whereas in November 2019, according to Iranian interior ministry officials who provided details to Reuters, Iranian security forces killed approximately 1,500 demonstrators when they rose up across the country in protest;

Whereas, on January 8, 2020, the Government of Iran shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752, lied about its responsibility, and then admitted to mistakenly shooting the airliner down, killing all 176 people on board;

Whereas the aircraft was carrying 167 passengers and nine crewmembers;

Whereas passengers were citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Great Britain, Germany and Sweden, at least 16 were children under the age of 10, and 13 were students and alumni of Sharif University of Technology in Tehran;

Whereas Iran’s state news agency initially reported the crash resulted from an engine fire caused by a technical fault;

Whereas Iranian officials repeatedly denied that the flight was shot down by its armed forces;

Whereas, on January 11, 2020, three days after the downing of the flight, the Government of Iran admitted that its armed forces unintentionally shot down the airliner;

Whereas, on January 11, 2020, the Government of Iran arrested the British Ambassador to Iran, in violation of the Vienna Convention, after he attended a vigil for the victims of the downed flight, and he was released hours later;

Whereas, on January 11, 2020, protestors gathered across Iran to denounce what they called lying and incompetence by the country’s leadership;

Whereas at Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran, protestors tore down posters of Maj. Gen. Qassem Solemaini;

Whereas, on January 13, 2020, video from inside Iran showed protestors chanting slogans including “Clerics get lost!”;

Whereas video appears to show Iranian security forces firing live ammunition at protestors and a woman being carried away leaving a trail of blood on the ground as people shout that she has been shot; and

Whereas the President expressed support for “the brave, long-suffering people of Iran” and called on the Iranian Government to allow human rights groups to monitor the protests and not to use force on the protestors: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the House of Representatives—

(1) condemns the Government of Iran for killing approximately 1,500 Iranian citizens who were protesting their government;

(2) condemns the Government of Iran for shooting down Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752;

(3) condemns the Government of Iran for repeatedly lying to its people and to the world about its responsibility for the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752;

(4) calls on the Government of Iran to—

(A) refrain from the use of violence; and

(B) protect the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful assembly; and

(5) supports the protestors in Iran, their demands for accountability, and their desire for the Government of Iran to respect freedom and human rights.

NPR published April 7, 2015: Obama on Iran Deal: A House Under Contract, Awaiting “Appraisal,” “Inspector”. Read NPR interview FULL TRANSCRIPT.

President Obama admitted in an interview Tuesday that any nuclear deal worked out between his administration and Iran won't prevent the Iranians from developing a nuclear weapon once it expires.

In the interview with NPR, Obama said it's his hope that Iran will have changed by then. But the president defended the framework hammered out last week in negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland, as the best way of keeping Iran in check if it doesn't change.

"Currently, the breakout times are only about two to three months by our intelligence estimates. So essentially, we're purchasing for 13, 14, 15 years assurances that the breakout is at least a year ... that — that if they decided to break the deal, kick out all the inspectors, break the seals and go for a bomb, we'd have over a year to respond. And we have those assurances for at least well over a decade," Obama said.

"And then in years 13 and 14, it is possible that those breakout times would have been much shorter, but at that point we have much better ideas about what it is that their program involves. We have much more insight into their capabilities. And the option of a future president to take action if in fact they try to obtain a nuclear weapon is undiminished."

CBS News published Oct 20, 2011: Speaking between network interviews, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton jokes with reporter on early, unconfirmed reports that deposed Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi had been killed. Clinton LAUGHS about Qaddafi: We came, we saw, he died.
In a speech to the nation on March 28, 2011, President Barack Obama explained his decision to order military strikes in Libya -- without congressional authorization -- to stop dictator Moammar Gaddafi from killing his own people.

At the time, Gaddafi had not been ousted, but President Obama made it clear the regime change was the ultimate goal: "Of course, there is no question that Libya -– and the world –- would be better off with Qaddafi out of power," Obama said. Watch FULL VIDEO HERE.
Reuters News
written by Matt Spetalnick, Laura MacInnis
October 20, 2011

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama hailed Muammar Gaddafi’s death on Thursday as a warning to authoritarian leaders across the Middle East that iron-fisted rule “inevitably comes to an end,” and as vindication for his cautious strategy toward Libya.

Obama joined U.S. politicians and ordinary Americans in welcoming the demise of Gaddafi, who was for decades regarded as a nemesis of American presidents, and also claimed some of the credit for the Libyan strongman’s downfall.

Obama made clear he considered Gaddafi’s death a validation of his “leading from behind” strategy that had drawn criticism at home for casting the United States in a support role in the NATO air assault in Libya. Some of his Republican foes see it as an “Obama doctrine” that abdicates U.S. global leadership.

A NATO official said an unmanned U.S. aircraft took part in strikes on Thursday in Libya, but it was unclear whether U.S. or French airpower struck Gaddafi’s convoy believed to have been carrying him near his hometown of Sirte.

The United States had led the initial air strikes on Gaddafi’s forces but quickly handed the lead over to NATO, while taking a back seat to Britain and France.

Gaddafi’s death is unlikely to give Obama any lasting help in a 2012 presidential election expected to be decided by the state of the stumbling economy and stagnant job market. The raid he ordered in May that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden gave him only a short-lived boost in the polls.

Obama also touted Gaddafi’s death as a stark message to other authoritarian rulers in the Middle East where revolts upended longtime leaders in Egypt and Tunisia this year.

Obama has also condemned Iran’s human rights record and is seeking further sanctions against Tehran over an alleged foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington.
RedState.com
written by Staff
Tuesday January 14, 2020

But it’s totally off limits to joke that Democrats are sympathetic to the Iranian regime you guys. Don’t you dare post any memes with Pelosi or Schumer insinuating such.

With thousands risking their lives in Iran to push back on the oppressive Islamist government that rules over them, you’d think the one thing Republicans and Democrats could agree on is supporting them in our rhetoric. No one is even talking about going to war, arming them, or doing anything other that saying “this is right, and this is wrong.”

But nope, Democrats blocked a resolution today that would have shown U.S. support for the protestors.

Worse, Democrats blocked even allowing a vote on the measure because they are too cowardly to actually go on record on the issue.

And just in case someone might think McCarthy had put some partisan poison pills in the resolution that made it impossible for Democrats to support, that’s another nope.

There was simply no excuse for Democrats not to allow a vote on McCarthy’s resolution unless they simply felt it was too harsh, which would pointedly show them to be sympathizing with the Mullahs. Enough obfuscating about the realities. Pelosi was just calling Mitch McConnell a Russian agent yesterday, so she’s owed no deference for her own actions.

I’m sure Democrats will try to save face with a watered down resolution of their own, but this was just despicable on their part. People are dying as we speak. This isn’t a time to delay a vote in order to play politics, but that’s exactly what they’ve decided to do. It shows exactly where their priorities lie.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 7:28 PM 0 comments

USA: Bernie Sanders Field Organizer “I’m An Anarcho-Communist. We Don't Want To F**king Have To Like, Eliminate People. If People Are Going To Try And Fight Back Against The Revolution."


Project Veritas Action published Jan 14, 2020:

• Kyle Jurek, Iowa Field Organizer, Sanders Campaign: “I’m Ready to Throw Down Now…The Billionaire Class. The F***ing Media, Pundits. Walk into MSNBC Studios, Drag Those M*****F***ers Out by Their Hair and Light Them on Fire in the Streets.”
• Kyle Jurek Suggests That Liberal Democrats Should be Placed in Gulags or be Put to Death: “Liberals Get the F***ing Wall First.”
• Jurek: “Well, I’ll Tell You What in Cuba, What did They do to Reactionaries? You Want to Fight Against the Revolution, You’re Going to Die for it, M*****F***er.”
• Jurek Affirms That “Free Speech Has Repercussions…There Are Consequences for Your F***ing Actions…You Should Expect a Violent Reaction. And You Deserve a Violent Reaction.”
• Jurek Lambasts Elizabeth Warren, Suggests That Warren Does Not Deserve Support Solely Due to Being a Woman.
• Jurek: “Like F**k if We Can Beat Donald Trump, as Long as We Nominated a Woman. Like F***ing Idiot. Like What the F**k? The World is on Fire. This is an Emergency Situation, and You’re Hung Up on Vaginas.”

Project Veritas Action published Jan 15, 2020:

• Kyle Jurek, Iowa Field Organizer, Sanders Campaign, Says That Stalin Had a Legitimate Reason to Use Gulags, Claiming Gulags Were “Better Than What the CIA Has Told Us They Were.”
• Jurek Claims That “...Our Prisons, in the United States Right Now, Are Far Worse. Far Worse Than Anything That They Experienced in a F***ing Gulag. Like People Get Raped. People Get F***ing, Work Twelve Hours a Day. People Have to go Fight Fires in California for a Dollar. You Know What I Mean? That’s F***ed up. That’s Super F***ed Up. Soviet Union Didn’t do That S**t.”
• Believes That Americans Opposed to Socialism Must be Re-Educated.
• Jurek: “Like and No Matter What Country and What Laws Were, That Exist, They’re Irrelevant to, There Are Things Greater Than Those Systems, Right? There Are Things That Are More Important Than the Rule of Law in the United States, When it Comes Down to the Existence of the Human Race.”
• Admits to Participating in Antifa Events, Reveals That “A Lot of Them Are Probably on the Bernie Campaign.”

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 6:57 PM 0 comments

USA: Bernie Sanders WEALTHY ELITE Staffer Was Caught Calling For A Violent Communist Revolution And Prison Camps. We Want To "Guillotine The Rich And Send Republicans To Re-Education Camps"


Project Veritas Action published Jan 21, 2020:

• Martin Weissgerber, South Carolina Field Organizer, Sanders Campaign: “Leave it to the Soviets to Make the Most Badass F***ing, Most Effective Gun in the World…AK (47)…The Destroyer of Imperialism and Colonialization…That’s Why I Want to Get it (AK-47) Tattooed on Me.”
• Martin Weissgerber: “I’ll Straight Up Get Armed, I Want to Learn How to Shoot, and Go Train. I’m Ready for the F***ing Revolution…I’m Telling You. Guillotine the Rich.”
• Weissgerber: “Let’s Force Them (Billionaires) to Build Roads…Rebuild Our Roads, Rebuild Our Dams, Rebuild Our Bridges. Let’s Force Them…”
• Weissgerber: “What Will Help is When We Send All the Republicans to the Re-Education Camps.”
• Weissgerber: “So, do We Just Cease - do We Just Dissolve the Senate, House of Representatives, the Judicial Branch, and Have Something Bernie Sanders and a Cabinet of People, Make All Decisions for the Climate? I Mean, I’m Serious.”
• Weissgerber: “The Soviet Union Was Not Horrible…I Mean, for Women’s Rights the Soviet Union - I Think - the Most Progressive Place to Date in the World.”
• Weissgerber Reveals That His Father is a Belgian Marxist Who Participated in the May 1968 Civil Unrest in Paris, France.
• Weissgerber Says That His Mother is “Really Left as Well, but She Can’t Make Her Views Known Because She Works for WBUR, which is NPR…”
The Post Millenial
written by Andy Ngo
Tuesday January 21, 2020

On Tuesday morning, Project Veritas exposed Martin Weissgerber, a second Bernie Sanders field organizer who has been recorded calling for extremist left-wing violence and a communist revolution.

Martin Weissgerber was recorded in the sting drinking craft beer and saying, “I’ll straight up get armed … I’m ready for the f—ing revolution.”

He proudly proclaimed his support for violent class warfare and said, “what will help is when we send all of the Republicans to the re-education camps.” He praised gulags and said that the “Soviet Union was one of the most progressive places” in history for women’s rights.

The Post Millennial has independently verified that Weissgerber has expressed disdain for police officers, Israel, women, and more on social media—all the while enjoying an opulent lifestyle where he sips champagne, goes sailing and holidaying in Europe.

The former Boston University student has a social media rife with disturbing statements praising Marxism and antifa. He retweeted a post last week critical of Project Veritas’ sting on his colleague Kyle Jurek, an Iowa Sanders field organizer.

In addition to his work on the Sanders campaign, Weissgerber also has a fledgling career as a Soundcloud rapper, under the name King Manic.

This is the second Sanders staffer exposed by Project Veritas in their “#Expose2020” project. Last week, video showed Kyle Jurek similarly speaking favourably of Soviet gulags and urging similar punishments in the U.S. for counter-revolutionaries. He also expressed support for antifa extremism and advocated for political violence on the street. The Sanders campaign has not responded to the videos.

Posted by Princess Mononoke at 4:57 PM 0 comments

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