 |
|
Add to My Group
|
November 23, 2008 at 02:55:47
Promoted to Headline (H2) on 11/23/08: by Linda Milazzo Page 1 of 2 page(s) |
|
 
|
3
3
2
In that historic citizen diplomacy gathering, Iranian President Ahmadinejad met with approximately 120 representatives from American peace and social justice organizations, where over the course of two hours, he took unfiltered questions from the groups. The question from the women of Codepink, who travel extensively on missions of peace, addressed why the organization's founders were repeatedly denied visas to Iran. Ahmadinejad promised to remedy the situation and provide the women their visas. Thanks to the efforts of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, working in consort with the government of Iran, visas to Iran were issued on Monday to Benjamin, Evans and Wright. Seventy-two hours later, these intrepid citizen diplomats were packed and on their way.
I caught up with Evans yesterday on her stop-over in Frankfurt and asked her to explain the intent of her mission. She replied: "We're traveling to Iran to strengthen our connections with as many groups as possible in the areas of government, culture, education, women and, of course, peace. We've come to deepen our work as citizen diplomats to model the type of diplomacy we HOPE to see from our new government."
With the Bush administration's unrepentant militarism over the past eight years, preferring destruction over discussion and war over words, and with Bush refusing to meet with his contrived opponents unless antagonistic preconditions were met, it's fallen upon citizen diplomats to pursue and model the adult diplomacy this nation needs. Thus Evans, Benjamin and Wright, who understand that peace is achievable, that ALL war is failure, and the salvation of the planet is at stake, valiantly took on the task.
For the past three years, Medea Benjamin, author and internationally recognized human rights advocate with Masters Degrees in Economics and Public Health, has been denied travel to Iran - even though Global Exchange, the San Francisco-based global justice organization she founded with husband, Dr. Kevin Danaher, has sent groups to Iran every year. Still, Benjamin was never deterred in her efforts to visit Iran or in her desire to model the diplomacy needed to promote understanding. With the Bush administration soon to exit and the Obama administration coming in, Benjamin has new hope for more conciliatory relations between the United States and other nations. When I asked Benjamin about the purpose of this mission, she wrote the following from Iran: We hope the Obama administration will begin direct talks with Iran - without preconditions. On this visit to Iran, we are modeling the policy we would like to see. We're meeting with pro- and anti-government groups. With religious and secular people. With environmentalists, women's groups -- a wide swath of the Iranian people. We hope to take their messages back to the US, and find creative ways to expand people-to-people ties. Our motto is "Let's talk!" which has tremendous resonance among Iranians, who are all anxious to promote dialogue and avoid war.
Indeed, CODEPINK's current campaign, directed at President-elect Obama, is simply called, "Let's talk!" It's a wide-ranging invitation to the incoming President to be ALL-communicative and ALL-inclusive. It calls upon Mr. Obama to be the great communicator he's capable of being and to use his formidable skills to dialogue with ALL the world's leaders, absent the egocentric preconditions of his predecessor. "Let's talk!" is similarly a resounding invitation to the President-elect to meet with the individual members of peace and social justice organizations who worked so hard to elect him. It calls upon Mr. Obama to show these American patriots, who like him, opposed the Iraq war from the start, the same respect they were shown by the President of Iran who gave them his time and took their unfiltered questions. "Let's talk!" invites Mr. Obama to be The People's President and take the opposite tack of his predecessor who not only refused to meet with anti-war patriots, but scorned their love of country.
It IS, after all, love of country, and love of humanity, that embolden organizations like CODEPINK and individuals like Medea Benjamin, Jodie Evans and Ann Wright, to travel thousands of miles to Iran to speak on behalf of peace. Undeniably, idle time and lack of commitment ensure less complicated lives. But these heroes amongst us are committed to changing a world at war to a world at peace. It's about stopping the next war now!!
Today from Iran where these peace makers traveled, I received this informal message from Evans who was clearly captivated by her day. Consider that this message is from a woman who's been to over 80 countries; to every continent on the globe; who served in the cabinet of the Governor of the largest state in the union; who ran two Presidential campaigns; and who sits on more Boards than any person I know. This is the exhilaration she felt after her day as a citizen diplomat, modeling communication, understanding and compassion. You know - just being an American intent on keeping peace:
We are just back from a fantastic day. Memories of our first days in Iraq almost 6 years ago strike us as we walk the streets, enter buildings and Medea and I share a tiny room with twin beds. But no call to prayer at 4 in the morning outside our window like there was in Iraq.
I came down from the bedroom this morning for breakfast and we were swept away and now just returning at 10pm. It began when Rostam Pourzal arrived to ask what we wanted from our trip. Immediately he was on the phone with friends. Habib Ahmadzadeh soon arrived - a filmmaker who tells the story of war.
Habib told us we take too literally the words, "Death to America" or "Death to Israel." They're meant to describe the policies of the US government or the Israeli government which seem very much like apartheid in South Africa. He said that the majority of Iranians are anti-war. He repeated what I've heard so often from Iranians: "We aren't warlike. We don't invade people. We only defend ourselves."
Habib talked about his mother's heartache for the American soldiers who died in Iraq. She lost a son in the war and can feel the grief of those mothers. We asked him about President-elect Obama and he responded: "He is a walnut inside a shell and unknown. Hopefully history has taught us how little an individual can do. We need to learn how to rely on ourselves."
Medea asked Habib about Afghanistan, and told him that Dobson [James Dobson, Focus On The Family] said Iran was funding the Taliban. Both Habib and Rostam laughed and said, "Taliban worse enemy of Iran... " We went to his offices and watched a powerful film, The Night Bus, about the cost of war on everyone, It takes place during the Iran/Iraq war. I was in tears almost throughout. It unflinchingly exposes the costs of war to heart, mind, spirit and soul...nothing heroic or beautiful about war. He says there is a movement in Iran to turn weapons into pens, or ways to communicate. That is why he makes films...
He was in the military for many years and suffers from wounds of chemical weapons until today, so he also works with a group against the use of chemical weapons and the support of those who are suffering from their effects. What a big hearted wise man. In his attempts to show us his films there were technical difficulties and he laughed that Americans thought Iranians could have nuclear weapons. They can't even get high speed internet or get video equipment that works.
At 7pm we were off to a beautifully manicured park, full of women and college age students with a café called The House Of The Artists. The café was rich with conversation and everyone looked as if they were a poet or an artist. A nuclear engineer came over to find out who we were, exclaiming that he was educated at Cal State LA. I asked him how close they were to a bomb. He laughed. Said it would be a very long time.
Soon our table was full of amazing women. Women who work for peace. Most were about our age, had grown children, and had suffered in some way for being outspoken - but were still fearless. Their faces were full of joy and life and the conversation was at a pitch for hours. We began to work on our project of asking Iranians what they would like to tell new President Obama. The filmmaker Rakhashan Bani-Etemad sat in the garden with Medea for about 15 minutes of filming with the camera in the hands of Habib. The generosity of everyone is overwhelming, their time, their stories, their passion....we can't even pay for a meal.
Tonight the students from Miles for Peace who bicycled across the US came at about 11:00 to beg Medea for time to take her to see their Iran. They also told us about their plans for a friend to swim the Persian Gulf for peace, and an agreement they have for the US soccer team to play the Iranian soccer team in April and then 50 Iranian/Americans to come to Iran and bicycle across Iran as they had done across the US.
1 | 2
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
 Contact Author |
Contact Editor |
 View Authors' Articles |
|
|
|
|
| 12 comments |
|
I know that you'll hate to hear this, but . . .
. . . Barack Obama is not the President of the United States; George Bush is. These ladies might mean well, but they have no authority at all to negotiate for the United States of America. Y'all got your wish: Barack Hussein Obama was elected to be our next president. Why don't you wait for him to be inaugurated and set his own foreign policy, rather than trying to undercut him before he even takes office? by Dana Pico (9 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 194 comments [3 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 8:39:43 AM  (0+)
|
|
Reply: That's mighty dumb, Dana.
I'm presently working on putting up here at OEN an article-interview with a poet, radical, internationalist who's leaving these United States to pursue common causes abroad. Personally, I think the many more of us who can't afford to travel and think continuing to press for Impeachment of Bush, NOW! are doing just as substantial work. And to revive a slogan from the 1960's: Let there be two, three, many Vietnams! Or were you even alive in the 1960's? by GLloyd Rowsey (104 articles, 65 quicklinks, 60 diaries, 828 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 8:46:24 AM (0+)
|
|
Reply: the 60s
The 60s was and is the worst thing that has ever happened to the United States,thank God it will be over soon. by thom brown (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Monday, Nov 24, 2008 at 12:57:23 AM (0+)
|
|
Reply: Negotiation??
The article I read didn't say anything about anybody going there to 'negotiate' on behalf of the "president", or even America. It seemed to say that thoughtful human beings were visiting in an effort to 'communicate' and understand the people of Iran from their own point of view. The jest of the article I read seemed to offer hope in that the people of Iran are actually good and decent and do not want to wage war. Isn't that a good thing? You Bush supporters still have no vision of a world in peace, do you? Incidentally, Bush stole both the 2000 election as well as in 2004. He was not elected by the American people as Obama was. So your assertion that he is "still the president" is NOT a universal opinion. by michal54 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 22 comments) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 11:50:08 AM (0+)
|
|
Reply: of course he did
Of course Bush stole both elections. How could anyone think otherwise. Nobody else is as smart as Bush, nobody else has been able to "steal" the US Presidency. He must be VERY intelligent to steal, not just one, but TWO elections to the President of the Untied States. He accomplished what NOBODY else in history has been able to do. What a Thief. There certainly are some stupid, stupid people. by sbaker (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 147 comments) on Monday, Nov 24, 2008 at 9:58:01 AM (0+)
|
|
Don't think I'm Just Tooting my own Horn, Okay?
I'm very proud of a trip I took with Reality Tours, about which I wrote at OEN - here to be specific. I kept the purpose of my trip secret from R.T. of course, and after returning to the U.S. contacted Reality Tours. Shortly after that, Medea met me at an Embarcadero Center Coffeeshop in San Francisco, and we had a nice talk about her Cuba visits. And my Cuba visit. In 1998. by GLloyd Rowsey (104 articles, 65 quicklinks, 60 diaries, 828 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 8:59:46 AM (0+)
|
|
I'm NOT tooting it, All right?
Evidently, my modem momentarily failed and the last part of my URL got truncated the here I first posted. Here, let me post the here again. It's about my trip to Cuba in 1998. by GLloyd Rowsey (104 articles, 65 quicklinks, 60 diaries, 828 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 9:13:01 AM (0+)
|
|
giving Peace a chance.
I saw Mister Ahmadinejad on Cspan over 3 yrs ago speak on Washington Journal. He had said that statement about Israel and the map (;]), and he said it was all in jest. He assured the listeners that the media had taken it too far. He was believable. His demeanor seemed very sincere. I had absolutely no reason not to believe him. However, OUR news media swarmed on it and boy, did they blast Ahmadinejad. One thing ya'll are forgetting. Hillary said she would "obliterate Iran" and she seemed anxious in her demeanor to do such. Is she not going to be Obama's CHOICE for Sec Of State? Hill's PNAC status calls for the EMPIRE to progress...the Military Industrialized Complex = full speed ahead. Just remember, Rodhams were NOT poor or working class ppl. Hill's been a gal of privilege most all of her life. Wars barely affect Hillary's life style except $wise in the profit sphere. I love ya'll at Codepink. You do the world goodness. Peace out. by shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 592 comments [98 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 10:01:25 AM (0+)
|
|
We are rooting for Iran
The New York Times published an article last week about Iran having enough nuclear material to make a bomb. Of course by those standards, Iran has had enough material for a long time. This is because the article merely points to material that has been refined enough to be of use in a nuclear reactor, and not for a bomb. That's like pointing to a heap of Iron ore and saying "They're about to build a skyscraper!" One is very far from the other. But according to the Times article, they are one in the same. The article was more a reflection of the role the Times wants to play, rather than the actual state of nuclear development in Iran. The Times is as belligerent as the rest of the rat pack of Iran haters. It seems there's little that can be done to stop these criminals from rubbing out an entirely successful nation. But of course there are those who feel that the nuclear issue is only a pretext. So what is the real interest? To totally destroy the autonomy of the Middle East, and make whatever remains a vassal to US hegemony? Of course I admire the women of codepink for doing what we all should be doing--creating ties of peace and productivity with Iran. by Peter Duveen (13 articles, 0 quicklinks, 15 diaries, 197 comments [30 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 12:51:49 PM (0+)
|
|
Reply: Thanks, Pete.
Voices of sanity are so refreshing. And what do you suppose, the NYT just kept Paul Krugman on board because he'd been on board so long, and then he went and won a Nobel? by GLloyd Rowsey (104 articles, 65 quicklinks, 60 diaries, 828 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, Nov 23, 2008 at 4:33:17 PM (0+)
|
|
selective memory
I wonder if the code pink women plan on asking the president of Iran where all the homosexuals are in Iran.The President will chuckle(as he did at Columbia when asked this question) and claim that there are no homosexuals in Iran,that's an American problem.Of course there are no homosexuals in Iran because they are being hanged publicly every day.At least Iran is running low on homosexuals.If you people could put your Bush derangement syndrome aside for a moment(he's outta here,isn't that enough?) you might see the president of Iran for what he is.....of course you won't.He hates our president and that's enough to elevate him to sainthood.Bet pride week is pretty quiet in Teheran. by thom brown (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Monday, Nov 24, 2008 at 12:48:03 AM (0+)
|
|
A small step towards good relationship
by hafeez khan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Monday, Nov 24, 2008 at 3:36:38 PM (0+)
|
Want to post your own comment on this Article? 
|
||||
|
||||||||||||||
Well Said (0) 
News (0) 
Funny (0) 
Supported (0) 
Interesting (0) 
Valuable (1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tell a Friend:
|
Copyright © 2002-2009, OpEdNews |
