Early reactions to FOR's Iran dialogue
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I have been scanning the reports of media and blog coverage about Wednesday’s dialogue between American peace activists and the President of Iran, which was organized by FOR’s Iran Program.
Robert Dreyfuss is a former FOR peace delegate and a writer for The Nation. He summarized the meeting well noting that "the questions to Ahmadinejad weren’t softballs" but that "the answers were, well, less illuminating than the questions." Dreyfuss also pointed out ongoing problems with civil liberties and women’s rights in Iran, and expressed frustration at the reliance on religious fundamentalism that plagues the executive branches of both the U.S. and Iran these days.
The U.S. News & World Report also covered the meeting (at the invitation of President Ahmadinejad) and largely focused on the Iranian President’s assertion that our current economy and existing military obligations would keep the U.S. from even being able to attack Iran in the next decade. (Unfortunately, for some politicians where there’s a will there’s a way. Deficit and lives be damned.)
Leaders of Code Pink also commented on their participation in the meeting, saying “It’s rare for a head of state to take time during an official U.N. visit to meet with the peace community, especially in a situation where the host government””represented by the Bush administration””is so hostile… The fact that the meeting took place and was so positive is, in itself, a major step forward.”
Some conversative bloggers who were not present also mentioned the meeting and were not so complimentary, but these are to be expected. In some ways, I consider it a healthy sign that FOR is continuing our role of challenging the violence that is not only a part of our politics but ingrained in American culture. Historically, some detractors have not taken too kindly to our work with conscientious objectors or civil right organizers either. But FOR is proud of our legacy of challenging structural violence in its many evolving forms, and with your help this work will continue for another 93 years.
