By Martin J. Raffel
Can anyone doubt that Iran is getting very close to nuclear arms capability? This from an article inside The New York Times on June 6: “A week before Iran’s presidential election, atomic inspectors reported Friday that the country has sped up its production of nuclear fuel and increased its number of installed centrifuges to 7,200 – more than enough, weapon experts said, to make fuel for up to two nuclear weapons a year, if the country decided to use its facilities for that purpose.”
Given the existential threat that this situation poses to Israel as well as its enormous detrimental impact on fundamental American national interests, I have been perplexed by absence of a powerful grassroots response in recent years, at the least from the American Jewish community. Perhaps one of the reasons is that we have been talking about the danger of a nuclear armed Iran for many years – indeed, I recall in 1993 Israel explained its decision to seek peace with the PLO in terms of more serious dangers on the outer geographic rim, especially Iran and Iraq armed with weapons of mass distraction. Crises normally arise, we respond to them, and then they recede within a relatively short period of time. This is a “crisis” that has lasted 16 years!
In an effort to stir things up, I resorted to “scare tactics” in the form of an op-ed piece I’ve published a number of weeks ago called “Thinking the Unthinkable.” The piece drew upon a fictitious description of the impact of atomic bombs in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa. “In Haifa, entire freighters were swallowed up in the fire in the water, incinerating and drowning at the same time. The light was so strong, so blinding, that millions of people died without knowing what it was…. They disappeared, leaving thin, accurately drawn traces of their silhouettes on cement walls, floors, things that remained standing. Every single leaf on every single carefully tended and manicured branch on every single tree in the Bahai garden burned off in an instant…. Buildings near the port slid down the molten hills and into the seething sea.”
Iran cannot be business as usual, starting with the structures we have in place to deal with this issue. At the national level, we have created an interagency task force, involving the Conference of Presidents, UJC, the JCPA, AIPAC, national community relations and membership agencies, the religious movements and others. And the Israel Advocacy Initiative, a joint project of UJC and JCPA, has formed a working group to promote stronger community-based Iran advocacy. This framework assures our ability at the national level to maximize coordination and outreach, plan major initiatives, like a mass gathering in New York this fall in conjunction with the UN General Assembly that is directed to the international community, and a one-day leadership fly-in to Washington, DC directed to our government
Our hope is that local communities, with JCRCs serving as the central addresses, will also establish special Iran working groups modeled on national, and will include not just the “usual suspects,” but a broad representative group that includes local constituents of national agencies, religious leaders, social action chairs from synagogues, and select others with outreach potential in the community. Such coordinating bodies allow for greater coordination of information flow, development of agreed-upon messages and mechanisms for impact.
What is our role? To create a public opinion environment, to fill the public square with voices, that will convey to decision-makers in Washington, DC and in our communities that there is broad American support for an URGENT and SUSTAINED effort to divert Iran from its nuclear program. The word President Obama used during the campaign about the nuclear armed Iran was “unacceptable.” We agree, and now we have to make sure our leadership understands the importance of translating that “pledge” into reality.
Components of an effective community-based Iran advocacy program: We need to educate and mobilize Jews and non-Jews; use the media to get our messages out; communicate with national, state and local public officials on range of issues including federal legislation as described previously by the AIPAC representative and divestment; and communicate with representatives of foreign governments, including consuls general.
For community leadership: organize educational programs in the Jewish and general communities, meet with members of Congress, editors, key religious, civic and business leaders, foreign diplomats; place op-ed pieces and participate in radio/TV programs. For the grassroots: attend educational forums; supply volumes of letters and calls to the White House and members of Congress, possibly rotating responsibility among the synagogues; monitor and call-in radio programs; participate in Congressional town hall meetings; talk to friends and colleagues.
While the Jewish community inevitably will be the primary engine for this advocacy, don’t give up on recruiting non-Jewish allies to this cause. A nuclear armed Iran is not only a threat to Israel. It is a threat to moderate Arabs, Europe, the United States, the entire global community. UANI, whose representative you heard from before, was formed to provide a framework for American involvement across political, religious and ethnic lines. Also, remember, stopping Iran through diplomatic and economic measures, averting any possible need for forceful intervention, is not a right wing position — essentially, it is an antiwar position. My advice is not to look too hard for organizations to join a formal Iran coalition. Instead, we should strive to fill the public square with diverse voices by identifying and recruiting select prominent non-Jewish leaders who will associate themselves with public statements, op-ed pieces, letters-to-the-editor, ads, etc., and who will speak at public forums.
Finally, many communities have found it useful to broaden the agenda beyond the nuclear issue to include human rights, religious freedom, status of women, etc. There are potential allies out there who will be responsive to those issues.
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