[Antiracism] [Solidarity Calendar] Iran Reality Check 6/19, 26, 27

[WMass Jobs With Justice]

PRESS RELEASE

FROM : SAGE and Pioneer Valley Coalition to Prevent War on Iran
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: American Friends Service Committee
413-584-8975 or afsc at crocker.com 

“Activist Gives an Inside Look at Iran”

On Thursday evening, June 19 and Thursday and Friday evenings June 26th and
27th long-time peace activist, attorney and co-founder of Swing the Vote
Rudy Perkins will present a slide show and talk about his recent two week
interfaith “citizen diplomacy” delegation to Iran. The tour is co-sponsored
by grassroots community groups SAGE, the Pioneer Valley Coalition to Prevent
War on Iran and Swing the Vote.

The Thursday, June 19 event will be held from 6:30-7:45 at the Green Fields
Market, 144 Main Street, Greenfield. On Thursday, June 26 Mr. Perkins will
speak at 7 PM in Grace Episcopal Church Parish Hall on Spring Street,
Amherst. The Northampton venue is Friday, June 27 at 7 PM in Lyman Hall,
First Churches, Main Street. All events are free, open to the public and
handicap accessible.

The delegation was organized by the interfaith organization Fellowship of
Reconciliation and was headed by a member of the Fellowship and Rabbi Lynn
Gottleib.  They visited the cities of Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz, and Qom. With
the group, Mr. Perkins met with Iran’s former deputy foreign minister, the
current and the incoming Jewish members of the Iranian parliament and other
Jewish leaders in Iran, leaders of the Armenian Christian community there,
the head of the Center for Inter-religious Dialogue in Tehran, and
department heads at the Center for Religious Studies in Qom. 
Mr. Perkins suggests, “The fact such high-ranking Iranians would meet with
ordinary Americans shows how important these citizen delegations are and
that Iranians are eager for dialogue.”  He criticizes the Bush
administration for resisting calls for greater dialogue between the U.S. and
Iran.  

The presentation on June 19, 26 and 27 will include a brief history of
U.S.-Iranian relations, and will discuss some of the issues which have
caused tension between the U.S. and Iranian governments, and what can be
done to improve relations between our two countries and prevent a widening
of the war in the Persian Gulf. 

Perkins laments what he calls “the drumbeat for war against Iran,” that he
claims is “growing dangerously loud” in Washington.  He hopes that direct
conversations between Americans and Iranians might help reduce this “war
fever.” “The American people do not favor our government launching another
ill-conceived war in the Persian Gulf.  If we have to try to open a dialogue
between our countries ourselves to help stop that war, then that is what
we’ll have to do.”

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