I wrote recently on the lack of any public statement by the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR) on the situation in Iran. To date, there is still no statement on the CAIR website. I did mention a brief statement by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), which called on the Iran government on June 19, 2009 to release protesters, journalists and opposition leader Ebrahim Yazdi. (Yazdi was arrested in a hospital and subsequently returned to his hospital on June 22.) Since June 19, the same statement still appears on the ISNA website. Here it is:
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ISNA Calls on the Iranian Government to Release Journalists and Human Rights Activists (Plainfield, IN – June 19, 2009)
"The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is troubled by the recent arrest of 500 journalists, political opposition leaders, and human rights activists, including Ebrahim Yazdi, the Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement of Iran. Dr. Yazdi was taken from his hospital bed in Tehran, where he was undergoing treatment for recurring cancer.
ISNA calls on the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Dr. Yazdi and all political prisoners and to respect the civil rights of the members of the media and political activists. The government must respect the rights of all individuals to exercise their freedom of expression and peaceful protest, which Islamic values and traditions affirm, and which are guaranteed by the Iranian constitution.
Ebrahim Yazdi pursued his graduate work in the United States and later joined the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, with appointments in the Departments of Pathology and Pharmacology. He was a founding member of the Muslim Students’ Association (MSA) and the Islamic Medical Association of the United States and Canada (IMANA).
Dr. Yazdi served as deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the interim government of Mehdi Bazargan in 1979. He opposed the hostile takeover of the US Embassy by Iranian students and resigned in protest when the Revolutionary Council endorsed the student takeover."
Contact
Louay Safi, ILDC executive director
louay@isna.net
317-839-1807
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Fousesquawk comment:
Maybe I'm just nitpicking here, but this seems to be pretty tepid and specifically concerned about one individual. Where are the follow-ups? Where is the outrage about those protesters shot down in the streets, like Neda Soltan? It would seem to me that additional statements would be forthcoming as the events have progressed since June 19. Or is this just a pro-forma "statement of concern" to be put on the record to show that they have "spoken out" against the government of Iran?
Pretty weak, if you ask me.
1 comment:
Such a weak statement, written weeks after the first demonstration.
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