Green Party's presidential hopeful, Ralph Nader, is the only candidate who has the courage to criticize the state of Israel for its illegal and brutal mistreatment of Palestinian people. This week, Mr. Nader called for a suspension of U.S. aid to Israel and blamed the Jewish state for the current violence in the Middle East. The statement paralleled a series of recent declarations by Mr. Nader which accused Vice President Al Gore of being "cowardly" in his stated support of Israel and criticized Gore and Bush for "taking sides" on Israel's behalf in the Middle East crisis.

Mr. Nader, a Lebanese-American who is fluent in Arabic, is a life-long champion of the weak and the downtrodden, with an impeccable track record as the leading national spokesman for public consumers. He is polling as high as 11% in several key states and worrying Al Gore who fears Nader is draining support from him. As expected, Mr. Nader's courageous criticisms of Israel and the unabashed pro-Israel politicians in the United States, who are completely out of sync with the world public opinion on the Middle East, has raised the ire of pro-Israel groups who have now embarked on a vicious campaign to discredit Mr. Nader, accusing him of holding a "distorted view of Israel." Fortunately, the televison images of Israeli tanks firing on unarmed Palestinian youth, who are fed up with the occupation status quo and seek their dignity, independence and freedom from the yoke of Israelis, leaves no doubt that it is in fact the pro-Zionist lobbyists, and their allies in Congress, who hold a distorted view of the situation.

The United Nations has repeatedly condemned Israel in the strongest terms possible, and yet the United States Congress and the leading presidential candidates, reserve their only criticisms for Mr. Arafat! Such twisted positions defy rational explanation, except through the prism of Zionism and its political buying power on the Hill. Mr. Nader, however, deserves great credit for his outspoken even-handedness on this matter, and on this account alone should be fully supported by all those in favor of a speedy end to the horriffic human rights vilolations perpetrated by Israel against the heroic Palestinian people on a daily basis. Hence, I call on all Iranian-Americans to cast your vote for Mr. Nader on the election day.