The Hague, October 30, 2012 - Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen, Just as Colonel Martin said I find great inspiration in joining with those who demonstrate every time in front of American Embassy, in front of Dutch Parliament to ask attention for the fate of those living, your relatives, living in Camp Ashraf and Camp Liberty. Although we stand there every time, it is hard to understand why the Dutch press ignores the situation in Ashraf and Liberty.

Friends of a Free Iran (FoFI) on Delisting of PMOI

Brussels, October 3, 2012 - Following the removal of the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI / MEK) from the US terrorism list, on Wednesday October 3rd, the Friends of a Free Iran intergroup in the European Parliament discussed in a meeting in the European Parliament headquarters in Brussels the consequences of this delisting and next necessary steps that have to be adopted.

Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian resistance addressed this session that was attended by dozens of MEPs from all political groups and chaired by Struan Stevenson President of European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq. A panel of eminent speakers included Alejo Vidal-Quadras, European Parliament Vice President, Jim Higgins, a member of the European Parliament's Bureau, Günter Verheugen, Vice President of the European Commission (2005-2010), Nele Lijnen, Chair of Belgian Senate's Committee on Equal rights, Marian Harkin MEP, Edit Bauer MEP, Romana Jordan MEP, Filip Kaczmarek MEP; and others. Participants stressed the following points:

ANNOUNCEMENT BY ORGANIZERS: 

New York, September 26, 2012 -  Ladies and gentlemen and supporters of the resistance of Liberty, congratulations.  Congratulations to all of you who have come from near and afar, from California to Texas, from Florida to Illinois, from Mexico to New York.  Together, here outside the United Nations headquarters, we are gathering together for this magnificent victory of the Iranian Resistance.

New York, September 26, 2012 -  Hello, everybody.  Welcome.  Welcome to New York.  It's so good to see all of you here and it's so good to know that the people of Iran will be represented today, not by President Ahmadinejad, but by you, the Democratic Opposition. 

So, you may say, why are we here today?  We're here today to say that Ahmadinejad does not speak for the people of Iran, only the people of Iran will speak for themselves.  We're here today to say that while Ahmadinejad is at the UN, the people of Iran also deserve to be heard at the UN today.  And we're here today to take satisfaction in the great campaign that all of you have waged to make sure that the Democratic Opposition in Iran has a voice politically.  And today that voice is getting stronger thanks to the delisting of the MEK.

New York, September 26, 2012 -  Good morning.  Welcome to New York City, the capital of the world.  Welcome to New York City, a day on which I am quite embarrassed for my city that this animal is speaking at the United Nations, on Yom Kippur, showing the United Nations total disregard for the Israelis, for the Jewish people, for the sentiments of the people of New York, and for the sentiments of all of us that believe in civil liberties, human rights.  Time for a reality check of Ahmadinejad. 

New York, September 26, 2012 -  Thank you.   First of all, obviously the first amendment is alive and well in New York City.  Thank you all, ladies and gentlemen.   First of all, I want to say thank you to the organizers of this event for giving me the opportunity to speak after Maryam Rajavi.  This is a very difficult act to follow.  Let us once again recognize that Maryam Rajavi will be loved and admired not only in the United States, but with the Iranians and around the world. 

New York, September 26, 2012 -  I want you to know here that of all the great politicians behind me, I am the youngest and the best looking, right?  But where else can you get Newt Gingrich, Tom Ridge, John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani on the Republican side, and Bill Richardson, Patrick Kennedy, and Carolyn Maloney together.  You know why we're together, because we're for democracy in Iran, because we're for the MEK.  We are together because we support change in Iran. 

New York, September 26, 2012 -  We are here today joining Iranian American leaders in support of democracy around the world and democracy in Iran.  I am honored to join distinguished leaders, past and present, government officials like the great Governor Richardson and former Congressman, the great Mayor Giuliani, the great Congressman Kennedy, and the former speaker, Mr. Gingrich, a bipartisan effort for democracy in Iran. 

And once again, leaders of goodwill are joining in a bipartisan show of unity to denounce the presence of Iran's president, Ahmadinejad, at the United Nations.  We decry the presence of a hate monger in the international house of peace.  And I have joined with 283 members of Congress in sponsoring House Resolution 704 supporting Camp Ashraf. 

New York, September 26, 2012 -  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Well, the sun is coming out.  That is obviously a good sign.  This is a very important event here in New York.  Important to demonstrate that while the United Nations is listening across the street to Ahmadinejad, we are out here enjoying the freedom of speech that the people of Iran have so long been denied.  And I think the first place to start in considering what comes next for Iran is the importance of the removal of the MEK from the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. 

New York, September 26, 2012 - Thank you, Patrick.   As you can tell from this gathering, you have a very bipartisan base of support.  This is both a day to celebrate and a day to rededicate.  And let me start with celebration and point out the unexpected upside of the State Department having to reverse itself.  You are now one of the very few groups which can go all over the world and say you have official recognition that you are not a terrorist group.  Show them the State Department decision and, in effect, the State Department has been forced by a judge to admit that you are a group dedicated to freedom and dedicated to liberty.  And, therefore, anyone will ever again ask you, every supporter of the MEK should get a copy of the State Department's statement and carry it around and show it, and say, look, this is reality, this is what's happened. 

New York, September 26, 2012 -  My dear brothers and sisters from Iran, from Syria, from the rest of the world, thank you for coming.  Thank you for showing your solidarity together as one people with one cause looking to topple two regimes that have intertwined together, where toppling the Syrian regime or the Assad regime means toppling the whole regime of Iran. 

For over a year and a half, the Syrian people have been protesting and being killed.  Tens of thousands killed.  But it did not matter because the Syrians are very optimistic.  They are very optimistic in reaching their goal of democracy and freedom and creating a future Democratic civil pluralistic state. 

New York, September 26, 2012 -  Ladies and gentlemen, sisters and brothers, peace be upon you. As a Syrian composer and pianist, as an artist for humanity, I see in front of me a beautiful symphony of the Iranian people, of the American people, of the Syrian people, of the Russian people, of the Chinese people, all united against the murders of children.  I always discuss children because killing children is a crime against humanity.