[Antiracism] Fwd: Talking To and About Iran

Thu Jul 24 21:41:48 EDT 2008

To All: Below is the national statement on Iran from Brit Tzedek v'Shalom
btvshalom.org
of which our local Western Mass group is a chapter. I thought you might like
to see another center-to-left American Jewish organization's position on
Iran. This group is a 501C3 so it does not do lobbying in the same way that
the JStreet group does. Its focus is to move the mainstream Jewish community
towards a negotiated two-state solution in Israel/Palestine.  With that
focus in mind, I thought you might like to see their statement. Many of the
Brit Tzedek national leadership are on the board of JStreet so there is a
philosophical link.
Carolyn (Toll Oppenheim)

          *Talking To and About Iran*
  *Update: Over 1000 Brit Tzedek
Activists Urge Senator Obama to Make Peace a Priority*

More than 1000 people in just 3 days weighed in with Senator Barack Obama in
advance of his trip to Israel and the West Bank, urging him to demonstrate
his intent to put Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking at the top of his foreign
policy agenda.

View the letter<http://www.btvshalom.org/pressrelease/2008/Letter_to_Senator_Obama.pdf>sent
to the Obama campaign.
View the press release<http://www.btvshalom.org/pressrelease/2008/20080724pr.shtml>

*The mission of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom is to promote a negotiated two-state
resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  As part of this work, we
have at times been compelled to address regional conflicts that have a
significant impact on the Israeli-Palestinian situation, e.g. the Lebanon
War of 2006 and recent Israeli-Syrian peace overtures.*

*The implications for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of the rising threat
of Iran's nuclear program and the potential of a U.S. or Israeli attack
against Iran have compelled us to broaden our scope yet again.  At the same
time, the Bush Administration has appeared to retreat from its policy of
isolating Iran in recent
days<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/world/middleeast/18iran.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast&oref=slogin>.
*

*As such, Brit Tzedek has issued the following policy statement on Iran
including the urgent need for robust, diplomatic engagement.  Below the
statement, you will find links for further information.*

 ------------------------------

*Brit Tzedek v'Shalom Policy on Iran*
July 2008

Brit Tzedek v'Shalom recognizes the serious strategic threat posed to
American and Israeli security interests by Iran's efforts to expand its
nuclear program and by its financial and political support for Hezbollah and
Hamas.   As American Jews, we are particularly disturbed by President
Ahmadinejad's blatant anti-Semitism and his denial of the Holocaust.

We believe that the correct path to a successful outcome lies through robust
U.S. diplomatic engagement with Iran and not through diplomatic isolation or
veiled threats of military action. We call for direct, sustained, and
unconditional talks between the government of the United States and the
government of Iran in order to resolve all outstanding issues.

Together with the international community, the U.S. should pursue a
comprehensive "sticks and carrots" approach to Iran -- utilizing diplomatic
and economic incentives and sanctions together -- in order to persuade Iran
to stop its pursuit of nuclear weapons capacity and agree to meaningful
international oversight and inspection of its nuclear program.

Brit Tzedek opposes a pre-emptive strike against Iran, whether by the United
States or Israel, as well as actions and threats that bring us closer to
such a confrontation.  A military attack on Iran would put Israeli citizens
and Americans stationed in Iraq under severe threat of retaliation, result
in heavy human casualties, strengthen Iranian hardliners, seriously derail
any progress on Arab-Israeli peace talks, and plunge the Middle East into
further chaos.  In addition, most experts agree that a military strike is
unlikely to wipe out Iran's nuclear facilities and could in fact compel Iran
to increase the pace of its nuclear development.

Brit Tzedek restates its consistent call for active U.S. engagement in
resolving the Israeli-Palestinian and broader Arab-Israeli conflicts. We
strongly believe that progress on these fronts has great potential to
undermine Iran's influence and power in the region, while a military
confrontation with Iran would deal a devastating blow to the likelihood of
an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement in the near future.

------------------------------

*Additional resources on Iran:
**
Recommended articles and blogs*

Iran Open to U.S. Diplomatic Talks, Official
Says<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/world/middleeast/19iran.html>,
by Sebnew Arsu. *The New York Times*. July 19, 2008.

Iran Won't Relent on Nuclear
Program<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/middleeast/24iran.html>,
by Alan Cowell. *The New York Times*. July 24, 2008.

U.S. Presence in Iran Talks should be First Step toward Real Diplomatic
Engagement <http://peacenow.org/pr.asp?rid=&cid=5138>, Americans for Peace
Now. July 22, 2008.

America Sounds a Dovish Note as Iran and Israel Trade
Threats<http://www.forward.com/articles/13756/>,
by Nathan Guttman.  *The Jewish Daily Forward. *July 10, 2008.

The alternative to an Israeli attack on
Iran<http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0702/p09s01-coop.html>,
by Shlomo Ben-Ami and Trita Parsi. *The Christian Science Monitor*.  July 2,
2008.

Threatening Iran<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/opinion/10tue1.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin>,
by Editorial.  *The New York Times.* June 10, 2008.

A Sensible Path on
Iran<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/26/AR2008052601740.html>,
by Zbigniew Brzezinski and William Odom. *The Washington Post*. May 27,
2008.

MoJo Convo: Iran Panic? Talk About It With the
Experts<http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/06/8836_mojo-convo-iran.html>.
*Mother Jones*. June 28, 2008.

*Resources from allied organizations and campaigns:*

Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran: Resource
Page<http://newiranpolicy.org/641/index.html>(very useful!)

Americans for Peace Now: Wanted: A Smarter Policy on
Iran<http://peacenow.org/updates.asp?rid=0&cid=5093>

J Street policy page on Iran <http://jstreet.org/page/iran>

Israel Policy Forum: IPFFriday: Diplomacy as a Last
Resort?<http://ipforum.org/display.cfm?id=6&Sub=15&dis=4>

 **

**
------------------------------

 Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, The Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace
11 E. Adams Street, Suite 707
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: (312) 341-1205
Fax: (312) 341-1206
info at btvshalom.org
www.btvshalom.org

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