US Jewish group to rally against Iranian President
The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington will hold a rally at 12:15pm on Monday (Sept. 22) to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who plans to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York Sept. 23. The rally will take place in Farragut Square Park (intersection
of Connecticut Ave, 17th Street and K Street NW., across from Farragut North Metro Station - “Red” line; next to Farragut West Station - “Blue” and “Orange” lines), near the United Nations Information Center.
Several guest speakers, including Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), Rep. Steven King (IA), Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, Susan Gelman, President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin, will speak at the event. The Washington, D.C. rally is in solidarity with the protest demonstration that will be held at the same time in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, outside the UN building in New York.
As per the group, “Ahmadinejad’s presence is an affront to the American people. The Iranian regime, led by Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is the leading state sponsor of terror; its leaders are pursuing a nuclear program in defiance of the international community and have promised to share that technology with other countries. Iran’s leaders also deny the Holocaust, have repeatedly called for the annihilation of both the United States and the State of Israel and are responsible for human rights abuses including religious persecution, hanging homosexuals, and stoning women to death.
With Ahmadinejad addressing the UN, we have an obligation to highlight the evil nature of this regime to the entire international community. Ahmadinejad’s government wishes to bring the world to the brink of destruction, and it is our duty to thwart it. We are calling for comprehensive significant sanctions backed by the international community, and for a unified divestment agenda to pressure the regime to peacefully provide a solution to Iran’s dangerous nuclear pursuits. Diplomacy can only work if the other side knows we are serious. The world must stand up to such barbaric behavior.”
