Source: American-Iranian Friendship
Committee (AIFC)
Photos by Amir Fardi
To All progressive Americans and
Iranians:
Following a period of educational
and local activities of the U.S. peace movement, the
demonstration in Washington, DC
on January 27, 2007 was well-attended and enthusiastic in spirit.
According to reports, over 100,000 people, including hundreds of active duty
service members and veterans of the Iraq and previous wars,
demonstrated in various forms their strong opposition to the U.S. government’s
continuation and expansion of the war and threats of another war, this time
against Iran.
The demands of the participants
could be summarized as follows:
Stop
the War in Iraq!
Escalation:
the Wrong
Way
Impeach Bush for War
Crimes
Stop the War in Iraq!
U.S. Release 5 Kidnapped Iranian
Diplomats
Ban Israel’s Atom Bombs
No
Sanctions on Iran!
Congress:
Stop Funding the War Budget!
End the Occupation of Palestine!
End Israeli
Apartheid
End the lunacy! End it Now!
East
Harlem Says: End the War! Bring the Troops Home Now!
As
we can see from these slogans, the demands of the organizations had extended
from opposition to the U.S. aggression in
Iraq to prevention of a
U.S. war against
Iran, the country that Bush
is now blaming for its failure in Iraq.
This was the first demonstration
that Iranians in bigger numbers had participated in the anti-war movement, and
their participation was noted in press reports. Iranians of all different
hues had one clear message to the U.S. government: the
U.S. has no right of
imposing a war on Iran,
destroying their civilization, and forcing them back to the Middle
Ages.
AIFC had a table under a large
yellow banner opposing war on Iran,
which drew many to receive our literature and sign the on-line petition: www.StopWarOnIran.org .
In the first hour, over 100 buttons reading: U.S. HANDS OFF IRAN!
NO SANCTIONS! created by AIFC had been scooped up by peace activists for
donations. Many Iranians expressed their appreciation for the work of the
American-Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC) and their strong willingness to
support AIFC’s future activities.
We in AFIC intend to use the success
in Washington, DC as a platform for building a stronger network of Americans and
Iranians willing to prevent the United States from attacking Iran under the
guise of Iran’s interference in Iraq and its alleged intention of building
nuclear weapons years from now. The politics of some Iranians who intend
to weaken Iran economically,
diplomatically, and militarily so that the U.S.
aggression and plots for regime change will proceed, were absent or
insignificant.
AIFC will make every effort to unify
all those who are truly against a war on Iran and do not fall for
Washington’s
strategy of “regime change” in Iran.
