IJV condemns bus bombing, calls for negotiations with Iran to stop the violence

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IJV condemns bus bombing, calls for negotiations with Iran to stop the violence

July 22, 2012

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) unequivocally condemns the recent bus bombing of Israeli civilians in Bulgaria that killed seven people. We do not know who is responsible, but IJV deplores any attack on civilians.

American security experts have declared that Iran is responsible for the attack. They contend that it was mounted in retaliation for Israel's earlier killing of Iranian nuclear scientists. If this is the case, the attack was tragically predictable in the context of the escalation of violence and threats between the governments of Israel and Iran. IJV firmly believes these hostilities can only be brought to an end if Israel and the U.S. embrace a strategy focusing on robust diplomacy instead of promoting an escalating confrontation.

IJV is alarmed by the fact that Israeli leaders, encouraged by members of the White House, the U.S. Congress and politicians in Canada, are adamantly opposed to negotiations with Iran unless Iran first renounces its right to develop any form of nuclear energy. Their approach runs counter to our belief that negotiations must be mounted without prior conditions. This is the key to the peaceful resolution of such conflicts. Instead, the U.S. and Israel have heightened tensions in the region by initiating a series of assassinations and cyber attacks while promoting crippling sanctions whose impact is predominantly upon the people of Iran.

Egged on by organizations like the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which takes its cues from the government of Israel, the U.S. adamantly refuses to engage in comprehensive and sustained negotiations with Iran.

In addressing the threat posed by nuclear weapons, IJV supports the creation of a nuclear weapons free zone in the Middle East, one which includes Israel. Only a commitment by the states of the region to engage in serious diplomacy can achieve that goal. This is the only alternative if we are to avoid an escalation of tensions that could easily result in the eruption of a disastrous regional war with potentially catastrophic fallout for the entire world.

To that end, IJV calls on the government of Canada to join the diplomatic initiatives that are being mounted by NGOs and European as well as certain Middle Eastern governments. It is this approach that is necessary in order to defuse the increasingly dangerous confrontation between Israel and Iran.

For more information contact:
Sid Shniad
Spokesperson
Independent Jewish Voices
Phone: 604-314-5589
Cell: 604-314-5589
Email: shniad@gmail.com
Website: www.independentjewishvoices.ca

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