Civilian Diplomats: interfaith delegation departs for Iran
Focus on Interfaith Dialogue and Preventing War
November 26, 2008
In the wake of today’s news from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that she will not pursue the creation of a U.S. “interests section” in Tehran — which would have created a permanent U.S. diplomatic presence in Iran for the first time in three decades — a 14-member interfaith peace delegation to Iran will depart New York tonight, November 26th. The ten-day delegation is organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), the oldest and largest interfaith peace organization in the United States, and is FOR’s eighth fact-finding and friendship delegation to Iran.
Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, one of the first ten women rabbis in the history of Judaism, will co-lead the delegation, along with FOR Executive Director Mark C. Johnson. In May 2008, Gottlieb became the first woman rabbi to visit Iran and the first U.S. rabbi known to travel there in a formal peacemaking capacity since the 1979 revolution. “Last spring, I was received graciously by Iranian political and religious leaders,” said Rabbi Gottlieb. “I am pleased to return to that country, accompanied by colleagues from different religious paths, to engage in intensive dialogue. This is a time for finding common ground between religions and nations.”
The delegation includes nine Jewish Americans, and individuals who practice Protestant Christian, Roman Catholic, Quaker, and earth-based spiritual traditions, and will be hosted by Iran’s Center for Interfaith Dialogue, an official entity committed to facilitating interaction between different religious communities within and outside of the country. The delegates hail from New York, California, Illinois, and Michigan, and include leaders who represent several national organizations, including CODEPINK: Women for Peace, the American Friends Service Committee, the Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.
Six of the delegates are young adults, and they will seek to engage in deep conversations about peace and faith with Iran’s youthful population. “It has been devastating to witness the impact of U.S. occupation on Iraq and it is further heartbreaking to hear some members of the Jewish-American community saber-rattling for war on Iran in the name of peace for Israel,” said Rae Abileah, 26, a Jewish-American environmental and social justice activist who works with CODEPINK. “It’s time we talk with each other. I’m going to Iran to do just that — to demonstrate to our elected officials and new president that diplomacy is real, possible, and achievable. Seventy percent of Iran’s population is under the age of 30, and so am I — it’s time the next generation stepped up and led the way to a better world.”
The delegation will travel to Tehran, Shiraz, Esfahan, and Qom, and meetings are scheduled with educators and students, politicians, artists, and religious leaders from the Muslim as well as minority Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian communities. The delegation’s reports will be published on FOR’s blog, www.forpeace.net, and background information about FOR’s Iran program can be found online at: www.forusa.org/programs/iran.
Media Contacts:
Until December 7:
• Ethan Vesely-Flad, FOR Communications Co-Director, cell: 510-701-5267
• Ruby Sinreich, FOR Communications Co-Director, work: 919-883-5224
After December 7:
• Mark Johnson, FOR Executive Director
• Leila Zand, FOR Iran Program Director
• Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Co-Founder, Shomer Shalom Institute for Jewish Nonviolence
