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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1981)
daily^merald Vol. 82, No. 97 r Eugene, Oregon 97403 Tuesday, February 10, 1981 Rowdy reception greets ex-hostage Photo by Steve Dykes Ex-hostage Victor Tomesth waves copies of embassy documents some students claimed prove America was meddling in Iran’s internal politics before the Nov. 4, 1979 embassy takeover. Tomseth refuted the charges, saying the documents proved nothing. By PAUL TELLES Of the Emerald Two Eugeneans were chased from the EMU Ballroom and arrested for burning a piece of yellow cloth during an often rowdy reception for ex-hostage Victor Tomseth Monday afternoon. Police said Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigade member John Kaiser and Nancy Whitley were taken to Lane County Jail and booked on charges of first-degree arson. The two were still being held Monday night pending bail. As Tomseth walked on stage, Kaiser rushed to the front of the room holding the piece of burning cloth and shouting, "Here’s your goddamn yellow ribbon." Whitley, also known as Nancy Parker, faces an additional charge of fourth-de gree assault for allegedly attacking Eugene Police Officer Mike Whitney as he took Kaiser into custody, police said. Other people, not yet identified by police, may be arrested later for allegedly assaulting both Kaiser and Whitney, police said. Before the scuffle, Tomseth was greeted with a standing ovation, but he momentarily stepped back when Kaiser came forth with the burning cloth. However, he seemed undisturbed by the incident. ‘‘This exercise of the right of free speech and assembly serves to remind me as much as anything could that I am in the United States of America,” the former senior political officer in the Teh ran embassy said to the cheering crowd. Not all the 1,500 people who packed the Ballroom for more than an hour were glad to see Tomseth at the University. During his speech, he was frequently taunted with chants of "CIA," referring to allegations that Tomseth is a CIA agent. Tomseth repeatedly denied being a spy. “If you think the CIA ‘sucks,’ you’re not talking about me,” he told one heck ler. Making few remarks before entertain ing questions from the audience, Tom seth discussed the historical and cultural background of the Iranian revolution, the role of the United States in upholding the government of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi and the shah’s secret police, SAVAK. Noting Iran has been invaded many times, Tomseth said, "The Iranian ten dency is frequently one to look for en emies.” Because of the West’s recent invol vement in Iranian politics and economy, the United States is the most likely target for this anti-foreign feeling, which "often borders on paranoia,” Tomseth said. Thus, he said, Pres. Jimmy Carter's decision to admit the shah to the United States for medical treatment was "large ly a pretext” for taking the hostages. Despite his analysis of Iranian history, Tomseth seemed to have little sympathy for the shah’s regime. "During the two-and-a-half years I was in Iran prior to the fall of the Pahlavi regime, I was repeatedly struck by a whole variety of inequalities, repressive treatment — you name it. "It wasn’t a very happy situation,” he said. “I personally was not surprised or even opposed to what the Iranian people did to rid themselves of the Pahlavi regime.” But this didn’t justify the taking of the hostages, he added Regarding SAVAK, Tomseth said, "I would be the last person to characterize SAVAK as a social fraternity. Some of their techniques were extremely brutal.” Asked if American aid to the Pahlavi regime wasn’t used to finance SAVAK activities, Tomseth said most of the equipment sold to the shah was highly technical and unsuited to political re pression. "I know of no instance where SAVAK beat up somebody with an F-14 ” Tomseth said he doubted that the hostage-taking in Iran would provoke similar activities in the future. "What happened in Iran is likely to be a unique case" because, unlike the Iranian government, other governments proba bly won’t sanction the taking of di plomats, he said. "The consequences that have ac crued to Iran as a result of what the student militants did — and what the Iranian authorities were prepared to condone — have been so great that I doubt that any country is going to very soon emulate the Iranian example." Photos on Page 4 Activist calls abuse of hostages ‘nothing’ By HARRY ESTEVE Of th* Emerald Alleged psychological abuses of the ex-hostages are “nothing — only an illusion put in peoples’ minds," according to American Indian Movement activist Juan Reyna. Reyna told 30 people in the EMU Monday night that Native Americans are “the political prisoners. We are still restricted in the ways we act as human beings. “Talk about psychological damage to the hos tages — that is nothing compared to what American Indian prisoners are going through." Reyna, who traveled to Iran while the Americans were still hostages, met and talked with the militant Iranian students who seized the U S. embassy. “It’s hard to understand why they are called terror ists," he said. "They were very dedicated people." While they were holding the Americans captive, they were “also doing their own work and going to school,” Reyna said Reyna compared American Indian reservations to Iran during the shah’s regime. The United States has established "puppet tribal governments, the same way as they did in Iran,” he said. Also comparing U S. interests in Indian reserva tions to corporate interests in Iran before the latest revolution, Reyna said the "corporations are trying to get what little land the Indians have left and exploit them for uranium, coal and oil. ‘The most oppresssed people on the face of the world are the American citizens. They have suffered the most psychological damage because they cannot see the truth.' "Indian people have no say in the way they are governed.” According to Reyna, this kind of treatment is not limited to reservations and Iran, but is happening '“all over the Western Hemisphere. “The most oppressed people on the face of the world are the American citizens," he said. "They have suffered the most psychological damage, because they cannot see the truth. During the speech, Reyna also solicited support for Leonard Peltier, an AIM activist arrested in connection with the 1979 shooting deaths of two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Reyna said Peltier is also being “held hostage" in Marion, III., Prison. “What I heard this afternoon made me think of (Peltier),” said Reyna, referring to ex-hostage Victor Tomseth’s campus appearence. "He was first held hostage in Canada for 10 and a half months, chained to his bed and in solitary confinement the whole time. He was only allowed to go when he had to make a courtroom appearence.” The treatment he is receiving in jail is much worse than what the American hostages received in Iran, Reyna said.