2008 Woodie Awards
Students Protest Against Iranian Nuclear Proliferation
Michael Lavner
Issue date: 12/6/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
On November 21, the Iran Action Committee, a group of students from Yeshiva University and other colleges, protested outside the Iranian Mission to the United Nations. They came with a simple and clear message: the free world must not tolerate Iran's development of nuclear weapons. According to the US State Department, Iran has been the most active state sponsor of terrorism for over twenty years. She has supported Al Queda, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah-Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, and Hezbollah.
Both the American and Israeli governments suspect that Iran is in the initial stages of developing nuclear weapons. "The question that we need to answer is what we intend to do about it," said Yigal Gross, co-chairman of the IAC. "We shall not allow our dreams to be extinguished, to be swept away into the darkness of the night by enemies of freedom, by those who possess nothing but hate and the will to put their destructive thoughts into actions." The Iran Action Committee is the first to organize a public protest against the Iranian nuclear program.
In order to demonstrate the clear and present danger which Iran presents, the IAC constructed a model missile in front of the Iranian Mission. This twelve foot missile was designed to model the Shahab-3 (a weapons deliverer that Iran has recently developed). The technology would give Iran the capability of delivering nuclear warheads up to 1300 kilometers of its borders. This places American forces, America's allies, and the entire Middle East, in grave danger.
In 1968, Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, committing itself to abstain from the production of nuclear weapons. Over the past decade, there have been continuous signs that Iran has secretly been developing nuclear weapons. In March 2004, Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani acknowledged that the Iranian military had produced centrifuges to enrich uranium. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Colin Powell cited intelligence reports that assert that Iran plans to fit its missiles to carry nuclear weapons. Despite these reports, Iran continues to claim that its nuclear program is meant for peaceful purposes, energy among them.
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin decided in 1981 to bomb Iraq's nuclear reactor. The reactor would have been capable of producing nuclear bombs comparable to that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Israel acted to protect itself and the international community from imminent danger. The IAC expressed the growing need for the world powers to take action once again, just as Israel did over twenty years ago, on behalf of international security.
The IAC co-chair sounded guardedly optimistic about the prospect that Iran's nuclear designs will diffuse. "We hope that this issue can be solved on the streets, in the political arena, through the efforts and resolve of ordinary concerned citizens," said David Wildman, YC '04.
Both the American and Israeli governments suspect that Iran is in the initial stages of developing nuclear weapons. "The question that we need to answer is what we intend to do about it," said Yigal Gross, co-chairman of the IAC. "We shall not allow our dreams to be extinguished, to be swept away into the darkness of the night by enemies of freedom, by those who possess nothing but hate and the will to put their destructive thoughts into actions." The Iran Action Committee is the first to organize a public protest against the Iranian nuclear program.
In order to demonstrate the clear and present danger which Iran presents, the IAC constructed a model missile in front of the Iranian Mission. This twelve foot missile was designed to model the Shahab-3 (a weapons deliverer that Iran has recently developed). The technology would give Iran the capability of delivering nuclear warheads up to 1300 kilometers of its borders. This places American forces, America's allies, and the entire Middle East, in grave danger.
In 1968, Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, committing itself to abstain from the production of nuclear weapons. Over the past decade, there have been continuous signs that Iran has secretly been developing nuclear weapons. In March 2004, Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani acknowledged that the Iranian military had produced centrifuges to enrich uranium. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Colin Powell cited intelligence reports that assert that Iran plans to fit its missiles to carry nuclear weapons. Despite these reports, Iran continues to claim that its nuclear program is meant for peaceful purposes, energy among them.
Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin decided in 1981 to bomb Iraq's nuclear reactor. The reactor would have been capable of producing nuclear bombs comparable to that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Israel acted to protect itself and the international community from imminent danger. The IAC expressed the growing need for the world powers to take action once again, just as Israel did over twenty years ago, on behalf of international security.
The IAC co-chair sounded guardedly optimistic about the prospect that Iran's nuclear designs will diffuse. "We hope that this issue can be solved on the streets, in the political arena, through the efforts and resolve of ordinary concerned citizens," said David Wildman, YC '04.