The Washington Score News, September 24, 2009
Hundreds of human rights activists and protesters rallied in front of the United Nations yesterday to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s arrival at the 64th session of the U.N. General Assembly.

’We are here to protest the unjust treatment he is giving to the people of Iran,’ said Tara Alagheband, a student protester from Vancouver. ’We are here to say that we are not silent.’
Alagheband came to New York with United 4 Iran, a nonpartisan organization working for human and civil rights in Iran. She, along with many others, wore green in protest of the arrival of Ahmadinejad.
But Zachary Lockman, an NYU professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, acknowledged that not allowing Ahmadinejad to enter the country is implausible.
’It’s not really possible to bar anyone or stop anyone from coming,’ Lockman said. ’At the same time people should go out there and express their views.’
Bijan Sharifi, a supporter of the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, stood in Washington Square Park in the days before Ahmadinejad’s arrival to recruit students for yesterday’s rally.
’These protests have made a big difference,’ Sharifi said. ’The regime is at its lowest point. It cannot control the people, and it will hopefully soon come to an end. This fundamentalist regime will crumble if the people can do more about it and stop being scared.’
Sharifi, an 18-year-old student who lives in London, helps collect funds and recruit members for PMOI.
’We are the biggest organization in opposition to the government and have been around for decades and, hence, it is easy for us to gather supporters,’ Sharifi said. ’Our biggest protests are in New York City every time Ahmadinejad comes here for a U.N. meeting.’
LSP freshman Kritika Jinagouda was not expecting such a large crowd at the protest.
’I was surprised at how many people came from so far away just to be there and show their support for their home country, even though they don’t really live there and have to go through the suffering,’ she said.