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Tell Your Rep. to Seize Diplomacy Opportunity with Iran! Click here to ask your Representative to support diplomacy with Iran! On June 14, millions of Iranians cast their ballot for Hassan Rouhani with a resounding 51 percent of the vote in the first round of elections. Rouhani campaigned on the view that obtaining a nuclear weapon would run counter to Iran's strategic interests and has been critical of the nuclear "extremism" of outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A bipartisan pair of representatives is calling for the United States to seize the opportunity presented by Iran's presidential election results to advance a diplomatic solution over Iran's nuclear program. Reps. David Price (NC) and Charles Dent (PA) have teamed up to lead this pro-diplomacy letter, urging President Obama to "pursue the potential opportunity presented by Iran's recent presidential election by reinvigorating U.S. efforts to secure a negotiated agreement." Never before has a bipartisan pair of representatives weighed in to express such strong support for robust diplomacy with Iran at such a crucial time. This effort is a unique chance for citizen advocates everywhere to ensure that U.S. policymakers don't miss a rare opportunity to end the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. Click here to send a message to your Representative today! General Assembly Guidance: The 220th General Assembly (2012) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved the following: Acknowledge the church’s support of a peaceful, diplomatic means to resolve the tensions developing as a result of Iran’s nuclear program between the United States, Iran, European Union nations, Iran’s Arab neighbors, and Israel, and affirm that the provisions of the Treaty on the Non Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Act should apply to all nations in the region without double standards. Call for the direct, unconditional negotiations between the United States and Iran with the goal of finding and implementing a peaceful resolution and affirm the longer term goal of reestablishing diplomatic relations. Oppose preemptive military action by any nation against Iran and by Iran against any nation. Call for a renewed effort at all levels people-to-people, interfaith groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and government—to help the United States and Iran eliminate the tensions thathave existed between our two nations and to unite the people of the United States and Iran in efforts for their common good. Encourage members, councils, and appropriate offices of the General Assembly Mission Council/Presbyterian Mission Agency to support measures both to prevent war and to open channels for citizen diplomacy, cultural exchange, and rebuilding long-valued relationships with the church in Iran in a new context. |
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iran. Show all posts
Wednesday, 10 July 2013
Tuesday, 13 March 2012
Iran Bombing Threat: Creating a Mindset that Leads to War
By Chris Iosso, an editorial
published by Unbound: An Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice
The first thing one encounters in discussing the war drumbeat targeting Iran is the one-sidedness of the debate. Glenn Greenwald of Salon gives a quick summary on this point, and James Wall, former Christian Century editor, describes the same reality. This suggests that the talk of war with Iran, though helpfully called, “loose talk,” by President Obama in his Sunday, March 4, speech to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is actually quite deliberate and orchestrated talk designed to create a mindset favoring war. And even if this talk is a repeated strategy to distract the U.S. public from continued settlements or other Israeli political objectives, it continues to militarize U.S. foreign policy and affects our relations not just with Iran, but with the larger community of nations. In practical terms, it keeps us from building stronger alliances to deal with the crisis in Syria (for example) and revives a unilateralist mindset that disregards international law. (continue reading on Unbound)
Banner photo by “jonasjonas,” the chess of calculated rhetoric
The first thing one encounters in discussing the war drumbeat targeting Iran is the one-sidedness of the debate. Glenn Greenwald of Salon gives a quick summary on this point, and James Wall, former Christian Century editor, describes the same reality. This suggests that the talk of war with Iran, though helpfully called, “loose talk,” by President Obama in his Sunday, March 4, speech to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), is actually quite deliberate and orchestrated talk designed to create a mindset favoring war. And even if this talk is a repeated strategy to distract the U.S. public from continued settlements or other Israeli political objectives, it continues to militarize U.S. foreign policy and affects our relations not just with Iran, but with the larger community of nations. In practical terms, it keeps us from building stronger alliances to deal with the crisis in Syria (for example) and revives a unilateralist mindset that disregards international law. (continue reading on Unbound)
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