Following this front page story in yesterday’s Australian – the proposal that a Labor-led government would attempt to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with “inciting genocide” – this letter appears in today’s paper:
US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh recently told CNN that the White House had received “expressions of interest” from Australia to support a military strike against Iran. Kevin Rudd is equally determined to appear tough in dealing with President Ahmadinejad. But his desire to bring him before the International Court of Justice on charges of “inciting genocide” is misguided politics dressed up as principle.
There is nothing to be gained from such action, and moreover, it fundamentally misunderstands the way in which Iran operates. In foreign policy and military matters, President Ahmadinejad is subordinate to the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
Independent Australian Jewish Voices categorically rejects this latest attempt to appease the Jewish community. Despite the support offered by NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Vic Alhadeff, IAJV speaks for many Jews who believe that playing diplomatic games is not the way to solve the current crisis between the US and Iran.
The only way to resolve this conflict is to diplomatically engage with the Iranians, something the regime offered unconditionally in 2003. Another war in the Middle East would be a disaster for all parties concerned, not least the Iranians themselves.
Antony Loewenstein
Independent Australian Jewish Voices, Petersham, NSW