RNA – In a Rasa News exclusive interview with Caleb Maupin, the American political activist said “There is a lot of pressure put on people in the west not to engage with countries and ideologies declared by our elected officials to be “terrorist” or “anti-American” adding that Gareth Porter may be “reacting to the many attacks levelled against him for attending the [New Horizon] conference.”
Originally from Ohio, Caleb Maupin is a journalist and political analyst who resides in New York City. He studied political science at Baldwin-Wallace College. In addition to his journalism, analysis, and commentary, he has also engaged in political activism. He is a member of Workers World Party and Fight Imperialism – Stand Together (FIST). He also is a youth organizer for the International Action Center and was involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement from its planning stages in August of 2011.
The full text of the exclusive interview with Caleb Maupin is as follows:
Q: Gareth Porter regretted in his interview with BuzzFeed for participating in the New Horizon conference saying the views were so radical and extreme? What’s your take on that?
A: There is a lot of pressure put on people in the west not to engage with countries and ideologies declared by our elected officials to be “terrorist” or “anti-American.”
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a country that the leaders of the United States very much don’t want people to visit.
Gareth Porter may be reacting to the many attacks levelled against him for attending the conference.
I personally don’t regret going to the conference at all. I wanted to see Iran. I wanted to hear what Iranians have to say.
I did not agree with everything I heard, from the Iranians, or from the other guests. I am sure that there were Iranians and other guests who disagreed with me. That’s ok. Debate and discussion are necessary for social progress.
It is very interesting that Kevin Barret lost his job for his views in the United States, but in Iran, he was allowed to freely present and discuss them.
In the United States many people are considered “radical” and “extreme.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who is now commemorated with a National Holiday in the United States was once considered a dangerous radical. Those who wanted women to have the right to vote in the United States were labelled extremists at one time.
My entire political life involves surrounding myself with people who are called “extremist” and “radical”, and I had no problem meeting with such forces in Tehran or anywhere else.
I’m not worried about whether the Zionists, who cheer as their government murders Palestinian children, approve of what conference I go to, or who I shook hands with.
I’m concerned about creating peace in the world, and stopping the crimes my own government is carrying out and contributing to.
Unlike most people in the USA, I know the history of my country. I know my government supported the Shah, as he was torturing and murdering Iranians. I know that my government funded Saddam Hussein to wage a murderous war against the Islamic Republic. I know that my government is currently working with the Mujahedeen E-Khalq (People’s Army of Hypocrites), a group of violent terrorists that have killed thousands of Iranians.
The comfortable lifestyle that so many people in the United States have enjoyed in the last few decades was purchased with blood. Our government has killed literally millions of people, and bribed us into silence by providing us a higher standard of living.
As someone from the United States, to be invited to the Islamic Republic of Iran was extremely humbling. I did not come to the conference because I agreed with every other guest. I came because I want to join with people around the world to oppose the crimes of Wall Street and Washington DC.
I have a moral obligation to join forces with all different sections of the global movement against imperialism and Zionism. The Islamic Republic of Iran, the Palestinian resistance forces, are all important parts of that struggle.
Zionists have a habit labelling anyone who dares condemn their crimes as “anti-Semitic” and to invoke Nazism. This is really tragic. They are transforming the deeply tragic events of the 20th century into something that can be used to make a cheap political point.
I thought the most interesting part of the conference was the discussion of Islamic economics. I learned that Islam views Usury, or Ribald, as a crime against God. I also learned that Muslims feel that capitalism and markets are necessary, they should be controlled and not allowed to run rampant.
I picked up many books on Islamic economics as well as the writings of Imam Khomeini. I want to learn more about the different perspectives in fighting the small class of billionaire bankers in Wall Street, London, and Tel Aviv, who control the control the world.
The perspective of Iranians may be different from my own, or from other forces fighting for freedom and independence around the world, but that’s OK. All sections of the global anti-imperialist movement needed to be studied. The Iranian revolution shook the world. My parents remember it like it was yesterday. Everyone was watching as the Shah was toppled and the imperialists were pushed back.
Events like this must be studied. They have lessons for all of us who are fighting for justice, no matter what our perspective or approach is.
Q: How do you evaluate the views of the participants?
A: The participants were from a broad range of political perspectives.
Medea Benjamin is a pacifist who works closely with the Democratic Party. Art Olivier is a Libertarian.
Dr. Randy Short is religious Black Nationalist.
Dr. Eric Walberg is Post-Modernist who is heavily influenced by various anti-capitalist theories.
European Nationalists and Euro-sceptics were present.
Leaders of the Muslim communities from Europe and the United States were present.
Personally, I am well known for being revolutionary Marxist-Leninist.
I don’t think any of the guests were identical in their perspectives.
Some of the guests, especially those from Europe, had views that I especially disagree with. But, this was not my conference, this conference was organized by Iranians. Iranians have the right to invite whoever they chose to their conference, and as someone in the USA, a country that has killed so many Iranians, I don’t think it’s my job to tell them what to do, or who they want to associate with.
Much of the so-called “left” in the United States, especially the Trotskyites who dominate activism on the college campuses, share the Zionist and Imperialist view of Iran. These forces celebrated the “Green Movement” as if were some kind of glorious workers revolution. Anyone could see that this wasn’t a “revolution”, but an attempt by the US and British Imperialists to destabilize Iran. The rallies were being promoted on BBC Persian. US media outlets which demonizes and mock protesters in the US, was cheering for them. The Republicans now attack Obama, claiming he did not support these “Green” activists enough.
The so-called “Left” in the west is dominated by cowards. These are people who say they are against imperialism and Zionism, but then do everything they can demonize and attack the actual forces of resistance. They think they gain credibility in the eyes of the US public by dissociating themselves from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, or any other force that is actively fighting the imperialists. They claim they are neutral in the real global conflict between the imperialists and those who oppose them. Instead of supporting the actual forces of resistance, they hold up some ideal Utopian vision as the “third way.”
Just like there was no “third way” between Lincoln and the slaveholders during the US civil war, there is no “third way” in global politics now. There is Wall Street, London, and Tel Aviv, and there is the emerging forces of resistance which are growing stronger each day. The so-called left in the United States needs to put down their stack of obscure academic books and answer the most important question of this historical epoch: “Which side are you on?”
In addition to the cowardice of certain forces, there are other problems. NGOs and Non-Profits, funded by Zionists like George Soros and the Ford Foundation, dominate much of the activism in the US. They have a poisonous influence on people who claim to advocate social justice.
With such forces dominating the so-called “Left”, I’m not surprised that Iran is finding allies elsewhere in US politics.
It’s important to be clear that this was not a “Holocaust Denial Conference.” The history of the 20th Century was barely mentioned. This was a conference about opposing the lies of the imperialists and Zionists in the current period.
I did not hear any denial of the deaths of the millions of Jews at hands of Nazis during the Second World War. Some spoke of the “mythology of the holocaust”, but they referred to the mythology that the crimes of Hitler somehow justify the crimes of Netanyahu. Many spoke of how the entire history of the Second World War has been carefully crafted by Zionists, to serve their false historical narrative of “land without a people, for a people without a land” and a “necessary refuge for the chosen people.”
Most people in the USA are unaware of the fact that Zionists openly collaborated with Adolph Hitler. Many Zionists openly praised Hitler, thinking he would help their efforts to establish Israel. It was not until the Holocaust that Zionism had control of the world Jewish community. Until the Second World War, the majority of Jews were Socialists, Communists, and Anarchists, who did not believe in a “Jewish State.”
Zionism was funded and promoted by the same group of bankers in Britain, who also supported and funded Adolf Hitler.
These facts have been erased from history. Instead we get the cheap propaganda of hollywood World War Two movies.
Every time the US wants to invade a country, they compare its leader to Hitler. They talk of “humanitarian intervention” as if the US landed in Normandy out of the self-less desire to rescue those in the concentration camps. This whole narrative, which ignores so many historical facts is the true “mythology of the Holocaust.”
Q: You said you’ve been interrogated after returning home at the airport. Would you elaborate more on what happened there?
A: When I went to US customs at John F. Kennedy Airport, they asked me the standard questions for re-entering the US. They then told me I had to go to the back room for “further questioning.”
I told them I wanted to have lawyer present, and they told me “You do not have the right to a lawyer.”
I was taken to the back room, and they took everything out of my bags. They photocopied the covers of all the books. They photocopied my name badge from the conference. They asked me questions about my career as journalists, who I work with, if I had written any books, etc. They asked me if I had any friends in Iran. They asked me how been invited and how my visa had been approved.
I refused to answer their questions. They took my computer and cell phone and wrote down notes and information about them. They handed me information about how they could seize them. They then made a few phone calls, and determined that I could keep them.
They were visibly angry with me for going to Iran. The man who searched my bags said “Judging from where you’ve been, you shouldn’t be surprised that we are going to ask you a few questions.”
The implication was that somehow Iran is a “terrorist country”, and just visiting it makes you a suspected terrorist. This is the same implication that has been made by US media.
This is routinely done to people who visit Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and Iran. The intention is to intimidate people, and discourage them from visiting these countries, in order to prevent tourism or even dialogue. They want all the information and discourse about Iran in the US to from the perspective of Zionists.
From what I have learned sense my interrogation, I received extremely mild treatment. Cyrus McGoldrick, who is a Muslim youth leader who attended the conference, got treated far worse than I did.
People like the Venceremos Brigade, which openly violates the US Travel ban to Cuba each year as an act of civil disobedience should be celebrated as heroes. If the US government begins a policy of trying to prevent people from going somewhere, we should all immediately go there. It shows there is some truth there that they do not want us to be aware of. It shows that something about that the country is key to understanding what is wrong with the world, and how we can effectively struggle to change it.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your trip to Iran. How was the conference?
A: Before I boarded my flight from New York, officials from Department of Homeland Security were standing at the airport gate. They asked every person for their final destination. When I said “Iran”, they told me to step aside. They demanded to know the purpose of my trip. I said “I’m going for a conference.” They wrote this down, and then let me get on the plane.
I arrived in Tehran a few days early. This gave me the opportunity to explore the city a little bit. I walked through Laleh Park. I was able to speak to a number of Iranian students. They told me the Islamic Republic provides free education. I told them about how in the United States, young people often spend decades in debt, paying off their education.
The city seemed like a very peaceful place. I saw the many monuments to the martyrs of the Iraq-Iran War, and heard many people reflect on this horrendous war that is fresh in their memory. However, when people spoke they were not filled with rage. They clearly loved their country and their revolution, but their pride did not translate to hate or bloodlust. It was very different from the “patriotism” of right-wingers in the United States, or Hollywood war movies.
I saw a monument to an Islamic woman in Germany who was murdered for wearing her Hijab, and that was very moving to see.
I’m an Irish-American, and when I was a child my grandmother sang me the songs of the Irish Republican Army that she had learned as a child. When I learned that in Tehran there is a street named for Bobby Sands, one of the great martyrs for the freedom of the Irish people, I was very moved.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is a beautiful thing. It is a stronghold of resistance to imperialism and Zionism. It is territory that is not within the dominion of the forces of evil. I’m glad I saw it first-hand. I intend to return.
P111/108