United on Iran?

To the leaders of the following organizations:

The National Coalition to Stop Iran Now,
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations,
United Jewish Communities,
UJA-Federation of New York,
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs,
The Jewish Community Relations Council of New York,

I am writing to express my sincere displeasure at your short-sighted decision to withdraw your invitation to Gov Palin to speak at the rally protesting Ahmadinejad in New York.

Regardless of whether one supports one political party or the other, it is vital for the security of both the United States and Israel that we are united in facing the threat to our national security that Iran poses.

Gov Palin is the vice-presidential nominee for one of the two dominant political parties in the US, and therefore a 50-50 probability exists that she will be the next American Vice President. Her presentation would have sent a strong signal to Iran, and it is important to have her speak. Additionally, it would also be appropriate for candidates from the Democratic Party to speak as well. We should encourage all the candidates and other leaders to do everything possible on Iran. On this issue, we cannot be divided.

However, your decision to withdraw your invitation to Palin speaks volumes. The answer that the decision was made to ‘depoliticize’ the event is no more than a convenient, shallow and misguided excuse. Rather than depoliticizing the event, you in fact introduced and magnified its political significance.

These are dark days when we allow partisan politics to supersede unity in facing the largest security threat to the peace and stability of the free world.

Ahmadinejad can only be laughing aloud as he witnesses our self-destructive behavior while Iran continues to develop nuclear weapons.

I would urge you to reconsider and, if not, urge Americans of all political affiliations to withdraw their financial support for your organizations until such time that you are replaced with truly non-politically partisan leaders.

Elad Yoran
New York, NY