Solidarity Tour! First Stop: Havana - Immense Support with the People of Iran
When the campaign “Solidarity with Iran – SI!” was
initiated in mid October 2010 through an appeal under the same name, the
initiators – House of Latin America (HOLA), an NGO based in Iran - were
confident of the promising prospect of the campaign. Now, the
campaign's success in a short period to gain the support of 100s of
activists and 10s of organizations involved in the international peace movement
indicates the correctness of such assessment.
Encouraged by the campaign's support at its initial stage, Amir Tafreshi
and Hamid Shahrabi as members of a delegation from HOLA started a tour to Latin
America on November 17, 2010, to further mobilize world public opinion in
defense of the Iranian people at a time that Iran is faced with intensified
aggressions by hegemonic powers, manifested by new rounds of economic sanctions
and war threats. The countries that will be visited in this solidarity
tour are: Cuba, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Bolivia, Uruguay and Brazil.
The first stop was Cuba, whereat the representatives of major mass
organizations endorsed the appeal of “Solidarity with Iran –
SI!”, which demands: Lift economic sanctions against Iran; Recognize the
right of Iran to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes; and,
Stop military threats against Iran. The appeal is posted at:
www.solidaridad.ir
Cuban organizations that supported the SI appeal
include:
- Committees for Defence of
the Revolution (CDR) with 8 million members, representing 92% of Cuban
population above 14 years of age.
- Federation of Cuban Women,
with 4,200,000 members, representing 88% of Cuban women population above 14
years of age.
- Continental Organization
of Latin American & Caribbean Students.
- Union of the Communist
Youth.
- Federation of University
Students; Federation of High School Students.
- Organization for
Solidarity among the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin America
(OSPAAAL).
- Cuban Institute of
Friendship with the Peoples.
- Cuban Movement for Peace
and Peoples' Sovereignty.
- Hermanos Saiz Association
(Association of Young Artists).
- Martin Luther King Jr.,
Memorial Centre.
The above list indicates the fact that almost the entire people of Cuba are
in line with the position of the leader of that nation, Fidel Castro, and fully
support the Iranian people in their struggles for peace, justice and national
sovereignty.
The Coordinators of “Solidarity with Iran –
SI!” campaign visited Cuba at a time that the 6th International
Colloquium in solidarity with 5 Cuban antiterrorist patriots who have been
imprisoned in the United States for more than 12 years was also taking place in
the island’s eastern city of Holguin, from November 18 to 22.
Participation of the SI Campaign Coordinators in this event, in which over 350
delegates from 56 countries of 5 continents were present, provided a chance for
them to express their solidarity with the Cuban 5, while being able also to ask
for the support of other delegates for the campaign in solidarity with the
people of Iran. All those approached responded positively to this request
and the result was the endorsement of the “Solidarity with Iran –
SI!” appeal by solidarity groups and peace organizations from 28
countries listed below:
Argentine, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, England, France,
Germany, Guadeloupe, Laos, Lebanon, Palestine, Peru, Puerto Rico, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, United
States.
With the above supports, a partial list of prominent
supporters of the “Solidarity with Iran – SI!” campaign on
the date of dispatching this report is as follows:
Adolfo Perez Esquivel, winner of Novel Price for Peace; Ramsey Clark, the
former Attorney General of US; Cindy Sheehan, the distinguished anti-war
activist; Denis Halliday, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United
Nations; Cynthia McKinney, former U.S. Congresswoman; Rev.
Raúl Suárez Ramos, Director of the Martin Luther King Jr, Memorial
Center and member of Cuba's Parliament (Congress of Peoples Power);
James Cockcroft, writer, lecturer, poet; Father Geoffrey Bottoms, Catholic
Priest from United Kingdom; Kenia Serrano, President of Cuba Institute of
Friendship with Peoples; Father Roy Bourgeois, the Founder of the SOAW (School
of Americas Watch); Jose R. Rodriguez Verona, President of Cuban Movement
for Peace and Peoples’ Sovereignty; Alfonso Fraga Perez, General
Secretary of Organization for Solidarity among the Peoples of Africa, Asia and
Latin America (OSPAAAL); Sara Flounders, Co-director of International Action
Center; Brian Becker, National Coordinator of the ANSWER Coalition; Eva
Golinger, lawyer and the winner of the International Award for Journalism in
Mexico (2009); Altilio Alberto Boron, economist, author and university
professor, Argentine; Ramón Labañino and Fernando González, on
behalf of Cuban 5 anti-terrorist heroes; Gloria La Riva, Coordinator of the
National Committee to Free the Cuban Five; Alicia Jrapko, National
Coordinator of the International Committee for Freedom of Cuban 5; Phil
Wilayto, Editor of The Virginia Defender and Author of "In Defense of
Iran"; Anwar Jassin from Lebanon who was imprisoned for 17 years in
Israel; Zafar Banghash, Director of Islamic Society of York region; Ferial B.
Diab, Chief of External & Diplomatic Relations of Tayyar Al-Tawhid,
Lebanon; Canadian Shia’s Muslim Organization; Ali Mallah, the Vice
President of the Canadian Arab Federation and a founding member of Toronto
Coalition to Stop the War; Don Foreman, representative of Canadian Union of
Postal Workers; John Thompson Parker, Bail Out People Movement; Mara
Verheyden-Hilliard, civil rights attorney; Kazem Azin, Political Activist, Stop
War Against Iran before it Starts; Ellie and Ardeshir Ommani, American-Iranian
Friendship Committee; Simin Royanian, Women for Peace and Justice in
Iran; Arnold August, Canadian author, journalist and antiwar activist; Morteza
Gorgzadeh, Toronto Coalition to Stop the War and Toronto Forum on Cuba; Ekin
Koichi Sakaguchi, Japan to Gaza Committee; Feroze Mithiborwala, India Palestine
Peoples; Konstantinos Konstantinidis-Amphiktyon, Major General (Ret)
Author-Columstni, Generals For Peace & Disarmament*, Chalandri, Greece;
Monica Moorehead, Editor Workers World Newspaper; Dave Blalock, Speaker, Vvaw
(ai) Germany*, Heidelberg, Germany; Alison Bodine, Co-Chair, Mobilization
Against War And Occupation (MAWO), Vancouver, BC, Canada; Shahid Comrade,
Secretary -General, Pakistan USA Freedom Forum, Brooklyn, NY
Coordinating Committee of Solidarity with Iran
SI!
3 December 2010
