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.