Protest in Tehrangeles
By: Shawn Sedaghat |
Tehrangeles is finally becoming
a hotbed of anti-revolutionary activity. Iranians who poured into
Los Angeles in the hundreds of thousand after the Islamic Revolution
of Iran in the early eighties were always opposed to the rule of the
clerics in their homeland but acting vigorously on their frustration
has been a long time in the coming. For the past quarter of a century
Tehrangelinos, as they are mockingly known to their compatriots elsewhere,
were tepid about taking part in the internal politics of Iran.
Some among them attributed this to the difficulty of the immigration
experience and the uncertainties of life in a new country. Others
thought it took a while to learn the ropes of how to operate at the
grass roots level and use the political process of the host country.
Now, most are newly minted U.S. citizens, and use the American system
to their advantage and feel increasingly empowered in changing the
faith of those Iranians who have been grappling with the Islamic government
in the old country. Satellite stations that broadcast anti-government
programs dot the San Fernando Valley and are instrumental, if not
outright responsible, for orchestrating unrest in Iran. Their programming,
which called for an overthrow of the government on a daily basis was
recently jammed by, what the State Department calls, a transmission
near Havana, Cuba. In Iran, where free communications are difficult
and dangerous, these television stations have been playing a vital
role in keeping the restless population informed and on the government's
case. For Tehrangelinos, when Hashemi Rafsanjani took over the presidency
in Iran, his efforts to introduce a kinder and gentler Iran meant
they could go back to Iran and visit family and friends. |
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Their hard earned dollars were so favorably
exchanged with the feeble local currency that they could spend like
a king while in Iran, only leading to more frequent trips and the
seduction of returning for good. The election of Khatami brought more
personal freedoms relative to the suffocating restrictions of early
revolutionary days. This only added to the lure of Iran as a travel
destination and more apathy among the expatriates when it came to
the regime's apparent human rights violations.
Well those days seem to be over, at least for now. The Khatami governance
has been a dismal failure for those seeking fundamental changes in
Iran, and President Bush's rhetoric of "Axis of Evil" has
awakened a sense of imminence in those who long for a free homeland.
The Iranian expatriates who were fractious and unorganized seem to
be gathering around one battle cry. Whether they are supporters of
Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last Shah of Iran, in favor of a free
republic, or another political persuasion, they want a referendum
and they want it now.
To some, when Iran interrupted the satellite transmissions through
its ally and client Cuba, this was an undeniable sign that what Tehrangelinos
did, mattered. In a sense the Mullahs have flinched and if the current
street talk among the Iranians living in L.A. is any indication this
has only made their resolve stronger. Success begets success. |
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